ponsaelius

People pinning anything on De Jong are gonna be sorely disappointed. He looked slow against Bradford City, ffs. Rafa is keeping him around and playing because his attitude is good, but he'll be behind Diame and Perez in the pecking order and his presence at the club probably stops us signing somebody there. The sooner we shift him the better.

Seems a late developer to me. Was highly rated as a youngster, didn't really get going at a big club and out on loan, but is starting to blossom now and still has years left to improve. To be honest I'm also not convinced he's as prolific as he appeared last season. But when I've watched him he seems a good allround player, and goalscoring isn't the only thing he offers anyway.

I've gotta say watching Everton it was clear how much Klaassen and Rooney will want to be playing exactly the same position eventually. Throwing 50 million on Sigurdsson who again will want to occupy that same place (and offer the same kind of skillset, too) seems a really strange move.

King is good imo. Good footballer, finisher and flexible in terms of positions too. Can't see him going for less than 20-25 million though so no chance. Gray isn't anywhere near as flexible, and can only really play one role. But with his contract situation and Burnley lacking the financial backing of AFCB he'd be far more attainable.

Douglas actually say that? or are you just guessing? just me talking shite

It is. The owner is the manager. He's some wideboy cockney arsehole.

A striker, a 'keeper, an attacking mid/winger. And a left back if we shift Haidara and Lazaar.

Rafa still wants 4 more according to Douglas. That would give us 9 including Catsu.

FWIW, Napoli have also been linked with him. He was rumoured to be going the other way if they sold Pavoletti to them. So this could perhaps be some kind of power play in trying to get Reina from them.

I watch and follow Serie A probably as much as I do the PL, in terms of matches and news. I wouldn't comment if I knew nothing about the player or the club - e.g. if he was a bottom half Bundesliga or Ligue 1 player.

Would be interesting to know who the players we missed out on were. Abraham is the obvious one we all know about.

Karnezis isn't bad. Would be a bit underwhelming though, but I guess our keeper signing has to be if we are really confident in Woodman long term. Udinese have both Alex Meret and Simone Scuffet on their books, two of the best young Italian keepers, so they will probably be willing to sell.

Rafa's number #10 isn't one in the purest sense though. He got the best form of Gerrard's career out of playing him there. Maybe he wants to do similar with Shelvey.

Gonna be minging when he signs for Athletic

He probably wouldn't leave CL Hoffenheim for us.

But, the reason they don't have a team 'full of superstar signings' is because of bad management. They are still spending more on their wagebill than any other club on the planet. It's like you're saying they deserve credit for wasting money and having an imbalanced side. The point was, as of right now, there isn't particularly any difference between Barcelona and the other big clubs in Europe in the way they operate, other than being worse at it. And based on the last 2 seasons or so their football certainly isn't any better either. Barcelona are as much a huge, corporate super club as Real Madrid, Bayern or PSG. I'm sure deep down you realise this fact, but are still arguing otherwise because you like Barca and Messi.

Well that's just bad management decisions. They spent 40 million on Andre Gomes and 30 million on Paco Alcacer. They are trying to 'hoover up talent' in the same way any other of the big clubs do, they've just done it badly. They have the highest wagebill in the world. Quite a bit more than either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. I'd love to know again why you think they are any different or more special than these other clubs.

I'm saying this as somebody who always admired, and favoured Barcelona. Have been to the Nou Camp twice. But the way they've been ran in the last decade has made them absolutely as much of a 'super club' as anybody else.

That's not really true like. Aside from Messi, Suarez, and Neymar they have no superstars at all. I think people tend not to mind when the football is on another planet because football trumps all. So apart from 3 of the 4 best forwards in the world they have no superstars? The football hasn't exactly been on another planet the last 2 seasons. They have long since lost their footballing identity. Well yes, considering you literally just said that it was a team full of superstars, when it quite obviously isn't. Add to that that Messi was homegrown and when it comes to the superstar signings, it's a grand total of two. It's hardly PSG, Man City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea level is it? Are you taking the piss? They absolutely spend as much money as those teams, only they often waste it on shite. How many of their starting XI next season will be homegrown? You're probably looking at 2-3 tops by this point, and it'll be less in a few years. Bayern and Madrid are playing just as many, probably more homegrown players. I'd love to know what you think makes Barcelona ANY different to those clubs in 2017? It's not 2009 anymore.

There was definitely a period of time when having the equivalent of Messi, Neymar AND Suarez in the same team wouldn't have happened. Talent used to be more spread out in European football than it is now, in terms of top players. I mean Ronaldinho went to PSG when he first came to Europe, Ronaldo went to PSV. Now the prices are so high that South American players are going directly to the giants even as teenagers. If the only way to readdress that balance is by having more teams bought out by oligarchs who can afford to compete with this then maybe that's about as good a compromise as possible.

That's a start, at least.

That's not really true like. Aside from Messi, Suarez, and Neymar they have no superstars at all. I think people tend not to mind when the football is on another planet because football trumps all. So apart from 3 of the 4 best forwards in the world they have no superstars? The football hasn't exactly been on another planet the last 2 seasons. They have long since lost their footballing identity.

Because people have a fetishizing of Barca. A hangover from when they genuinely had a team of homegrown players and played amazing football. Now they're no different to any other super club, with Qatari backing, a team full of superstar signings, and no real identity on the pitch. Neymar might as well go from Barca to PSG, they're basically the same clubs these days.

I don't think he's gonna go anyway, tbh.

If he wins the CL with PSG it'd be more impressive than doing it with Barcelona in Messi's shadow. Barcelona having Messi, Neymar and Suarez is fucking stupid anyway. Everbody whinges about the monopolization of talent by super clubs but nobody seems to have an issue with Barca signing arguably the 3 best forwards in the world. If Neymar goes to PSG it would be distributive movement of talent.