Levy's Lament: The 2019 Summer Transfer Window Thread

PedroSpecialK

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If his (rumored) desired loan to Flamengo materializes at least he'll be able to attend his sister's birthday party
 

bosox4283

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I think Pogba’s had his bags packed for awhile. Between the weighty expectations demanded of his transfer fee and the Mourinho stench he can’t seem to wash off, I think his time in Manchester is over.

I’m finding Neymar’s ever-increasing toxicity to be remarkable. Clubs have proven they’ll put up with some serious shit from their star players, but Neymar is taking dumps his body can’t cash. Even Brazilian fans are turning on him in the wake of the side’s success without him. I wonder where he’ll play next year. PSG don’t want him, I haven’t heard a peep about his return to Barca in over a week, Real Madrid won’t have him, and his wages aren’t tenable for many other clubs. This could get really interesting.
The Spanish press is now reporting that Neymar has refused to show up for PSG worksouts/training. What a shitshow.
 

coremiller

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The Spanish press is now reporting that Neymar has refused to show up for PSG worksouts/training. What a shitshow.
It's even worse than that: PSG issued a press release announcing that Neymar didn't show up:

On Monday 8 July Neymar da Silva Santos Junior was due to return to pre-season activities with the Paris Saint-Germain senior squad.

Paris Saint-Germain notes that Neymar Jr was not in attendance at the agreed time and place. This was without the club’s prior authorisation.
The club regrets this situation and will therefore take appropriate action.
https://en.psg.fr/teams/first-team/content/club-statement-regarding-neymar-jr-s-absence-from-training
 

PedroSpecialK

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When it comes to a tough situation like this for a guy like Nasser Al-Khelaifi, all I can say is: Lol boo hoo
 

DJnVa

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They're totally going to teach Neymar a lesson by letting him ship off to Barca. That'll show him.
 

SoxFanInCali

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California. Duh.
Neymar isn't even the only player being threatened with fines by his club while holding out for a Barca transfer. Atletico and Griezmann are having the same public spat.
 

SoxFanInCali

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California. Duh.
Rumor is that Coutinho would be headed to PSG to offset part of the Neymar fee.

Apparently Barca were trying to get Atletico to accept Griezmann's release clause in installments and Atletico told them to pound sand.
 

SocrManiac

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The rumor mill merry go round of disgruntled divas is tres amusant.
The very real (if tiny) prospect of Neymar, Suarez, Coutinho, and Griezmann orbiting Messi is utterly delicious. It'd be like The Champions came to life with all of the associated comedic dysfunction. They'd need to pay a team of psychologists nearly as much as the divas' wages.
 

SocrManiac

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Fake edit: Bring in Mourinho to manage them, too. Barcelona would fucking implode (the city, not the club).
 

67YAZ

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The very real (if tiny) prospect of Neymar, Suarez, Coutinho, and Griezmann orbiting Messi is utterly delicious. It'd be like The Champions came to life with all of the associated comedic dysfunction. They'd need to pay a team of psychologists nearly as much as the divas' wages.
I’m in it for the entourage wars.

I suspect Liverpool are stalking about hoping for a cut rate deal on Dembele. But rumor is that Barca want to move Malcolm first, and Everton have lodged a bid.
 

bosox4283

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Rumor is that Coutinho would be headed to PSG to offset part of the Neymar fee.

Apparently Barca were trying to get Atletico to accept Griezmann's release clause in installments and Atletico told them to pound sand.
Yup. Atletico apparently rejected Barca's offer to payment in installments. I've read some speculation that Atletico wants to obtain Semedo in the deal.
 

Zososoxfan

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SocrManiac

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Huge signing for the Old Lady. Juve are usually the shrewd club that gets excellent players, but only at excellent values.
They haven't dropped that tradition, either, having signed Rabiot and Ramsey on frees this window.

Now if they could just burn down Adidas HQ for their horrific home kits, I'd be really looking forward to the year.
 

coremiller

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They haven't dropped that tradition, either, having signed Rabiot and Ramsey on frees this window.

Now if they could just burn down Adidas HQ for their horrific home kits, I'd be really looking forward to the year.
Ramsey didn't have a fee, but they gave him ridiculous wages: reportedly 400k gbp/week.
 

Zososoxfan

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Ramsey didn't have a fee, but they gave him ridiculous wages: reportedly 400k gbp/week.
All in, that's probably still good value. I doubt Juve cares whether it's going to a player or club, although it does affect the likelihood of future suitors coming, but they probably are aware of this and are ready to pay some of the wages to make any such transaction work.
 

bosox4283

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Spanish paper AS is reporting that Atletico has reactivated its interest in Trippier. I often think teams use the Spanish press to try to fake out their real targets. In this case, I think Atletico wants Semedo from Barcelona but is trying to show interest elsewhere as a decoy.
 

Zososoxfan

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The interest for Trippier outside of England is baffling to me. He's a fine FB but not worth all the attention and money he is allegedly getting.
 

DJnVa

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All over twitter today that Trippier is essentially a done deal to Atletico for slightly under the 25 million.
 

OCST

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Zososoxfan

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Barca sold promising LB Cucurella to Getafe for double what they bought him (4M --> 8M). Likely means the Firpo rumor is true. Cucu was not that impressive IMO, but he had some of the worst (best?) futbol hair I've seen in some time:

Image result for cucurella hair


Image result for cucurella hair
 

PedroSpecialK

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Mario Hermoso to Atlético is official

Arsenal look to be close to locking up Saliba with a loan back to St. Étienne this year per Ornstein

Lo Celso has reportedly handed in a transfer request at Betis, with Nabil Fekir set to replace him at a cut-rate €25m from Lyon (1 year left on his deal)
 

DJnVa

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Sturridge suspended for 6 weeks (4 suspended) for providing insider info to his brother who would then bet.

The best part is that the info was regarding Sturridge's potential transfers to Sevilla, which then fell through. Which means his brother lost the bets he placed with the insider info.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/49031533
 

Zososoxfan

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Apparently Betis is already planning to replace Lo Celso (Spurs?!?!?) with Fekir for 20-25M Euros. Solid piece of business for Betis and surprising that Fekir could be had at that amount.

Even more importantly, it was reported yesterday that De Ligt's contract with Juve includes a player opt out in the summer of 2022. This is the first contract of its kind in modern football and it will be interesting to see if this becomes a trend going forward. It was cited as a major reason why PSG wasn't considered (gigglesnorts in Neymar).
 

DJnVa

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Betis has also said that it's gonna be 75M Euros to get Lo Celso, and Spurs aren't there yet.
 

Mugsy's Jock

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Even more importantly, it was reported yesterday that De Ligt's contract with Juve includes a player opt out in the summer of 2022. This is the first contract of its kind in modern football and it will be interesting to see if this becomes a trend going forward.
So remind me, did we decide if opt-outs were good for the player or the team?
 

SocrManiac

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What’s the point? These days if a player wants to opt out he just behaves like an asshole. Is this a face saving measure?
 

Mighty Joe Young

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What’s the point? These days if a player wants to opt out he just behaves like an asshole. Is this a face saving measure?
But - any player on a Bosman has huge leverage when choosing a new team - Emre Can , Adrian Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey can attest to this. They are probably making three times a salary from what they could have expected in a normal transfer.
 
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SocrManiac

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Also, I’ll never understand fans who view athletes as Indentured Servants.
Not sure if this was directed at me.

In my opinion, players sign contracts. I would think there is an inherent obligation to fulfill what they’ve committed to do. The behavior players use to shirk that obligation bothers me. We see players underperform, refuse to train, speak out to the press, etc. That all seems shady to me.

Of course, the opposite can happen. Gareth Bale is the shining beacon on the other side. He’s ludicrously overpaid and, for obvious reasons, would prefer not to leave.
 

DJnVa

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