(06-01-2020, 04:31 PM)Hitman Wrote: Really? No one wants Icardi and that’s why he’s going for 50m? So if no one wanted him, why 50m - why not 20m? A price of 50m + 7m bonuses shows a discount of 20m on the base price - 28.5% discount! And this is just the first transfer post pandemic! From a relatively healthy club financially in comparison to the rest of the market which represents 99% of world football.


Let me remind you of what I told you in the previous posts last week, UEFA has scrapped FFP for this year so what happens in this years (and probably next) financials is irrelevant. What matters is the REAL financial situation of the clubs (and owners) right now and not the FFP. No one cares about UEFA’s FFP right now so I don’t know why you keep bringing it up. Clubs are more concerned about surviving and getting that TV rights money, that is their #1 objective and the #2 objective doesn’t even come close in importance.

Sources: FUTAA and The Athletic (can’t find the UEFA link rn)


People will try so hard to push their narrative. How can anyone disagree that clubs will suffer/are suffering financially? Here are a few sources from only football-Italia and only in the last 3 days.


FIGC President Gravina: “some clubs were trying to stop the season, perhaps convinced it would allow them to avoid paying salaries.”
Lotito: “This is not a victory for Lotito, but for all Italian football,” the Lazio President told Adnkronos news agency.
“I am certain that with this restart, our football will be able to maintain the elevated quality standard that is recognised all over the world.
Preziosi: ‘it’s right to resume’ the championship but has pointed out that the Rossoblu will come out of the pandemic affected and in financial difficulties.’

Parma: “Year of sacrifices” ‘There were losses due to the shutdown and there will be more, especially as we’ll be playing behind closed doors, while the transfer market will certainly have to change.
“Parma players made a great sacrifice by accepting a pay cut and giving a show of unity with the club. It’s going to be a year of sacrifices for everyone, as don’t forget many regular workers won’t be able to go on vacation this year either.
“If we don’t restart now, we never will, so it’s important we get back to work, albeit without fans. It’s a problem playing in July and it’s an even bigger problem if we don’t play, so we’ve just got to deal with it.”’


QED. I won’t waste anymore time convincing you that the sky is blue.

(06-01-2020, 05:24 PM)nefremo Wrote: Discounts are just as likely as market freezes. In other words, clubs are just as likely to sell at a discount as they are not to sell at all at such low values (if they can hold off). Being able to hold off will be much easier in the top 5 leagues and even easier for the top clubs in the top 5 leagues. It's all going to depend on many many factors.....including, but not limited to: creditors requests/leniencies, season resumptions and TV rights payouts (full?, partial?, how is this going to work?), government subsidies and packages, players' willingness to take paycuts (many have already done this, etc, etc.

About the FFP issue.....maybe nobody cares about it....but clubs still care about balancing the books and more importantly freeing up cashflow. This is a business after all. Don't forget that Inter has to dish out cash for both Barella and Sensi this summer. Selling Icardi was always the plan for them. After what publically happened between Inter and Icardi (taking away the armband from him and that whole circus), Icardi was never ever going back to Inter. Inter was in a tight spot with this transfer. Options weren't exactly in abundance. I don't wanna make it seem like Covid didn't play a part in the price. I'm just saying it isn't quite the perfect example for future projections.

But anyway, I don't think anyone is "trying to push their agenda" here. Just good people discussing and sharing opinions. I don't think anyone is disagreeing that some discounts will be out there. I just think people, including myself, have reservations about the level of discounts we'll see. I think it's still very early for us to have a good idea of that. As I said, Icardi's transfer amount (on the surface of things) does seem like a discount. But I wouldn't be so quick to set that as a benchmark. We'll see what follows, and as I said, it'll be affected by many factors. One thing is for sure though, and on this I can agree with, we're not going to be seeing any Neymar/Coutinho/Dembele/Pogba type transfers this summer....meaning we're not going to see fees in the 100s of millions. But imo, that's also more likely to mean that players of that stature will not be moving clubs this summer. Having said that, nothing is ever 100% and who's to say that a Coutinho-Bayern type of loan+option won't happen for certain players. But it's very hard to say whether or not something like that is "Covid driven" or it was bound to happen anyway due to a number of other reasons.

(06-01-2020, 09:36 PM)nefremo Wrote: Neres is an excellent 1v1 player. I wouldn't be opposed to this at all.

Scamacca seems to be one of those guys that has great balance between physical and technical ability. Can't say I've seen much of him other than youtube and some of the U19 WC this last summer. He seems to have all the tools needed, but obviously at 21, you never quite know how he'll turn out? Bobo Vieri or Zlatan? Or Boriello/Petagna? In any case, these are the types of signins you take a chance on. In the current market (prior to Covid-19), 15mil would be nothing considering the possible upside of the player. So I'd be happy if this report was true and I hope Rangnick will see something great in Scamacca.

As for the RBs mentioned....I'm not at all happy with any of those names. Not impressed by Dumfries or Mazraoui, while I have no idea who Nieuwkoop is.
On Karsdorp...I was so jealous when Roma got him. I remember I first saw him play for the Dutch National Team, and his speed and ability to attack down the right was so impressive to me. I knew the competition wasn't good (I believe it was Belarus or Estonia...1 of the 2), but than he had a great performance against France as well. Anyway, when Monchi decided to buy him, it almost validated my opinion and I thought he was going to be great for Roma. Fast forward a couple years and some bad injuries, and he's totally failed to live up to expectations. So my concern is that he is simply not better than Conti and Calabria. Definitely not on the defensive side (and it's not that difficult to be better defensively than Conti).

(06-02-2020, 04:03 PM)nefremo Wrote: So here are the players that we have been continuously linked to in recent times:

RB
-Dumfries - probably the most intense links. Most sources say about 20mil is required. It's worth noting that Rodriguez is already at PSV and could be used as a makeshift. This for me though, complicates things even more. I don't like RR, but there is no way that they have an option of 7mil for RR while we have to dish out 20mil for Dumfries. No way.

-Youcef Atal - links came up a couple weeks ago and than went away. He'd probably be my preferred choice from the RBs that we've been linked to.


CB
-Kouassi - free transfer from PSG (if he doesn't sign a renewal)

-T.Silva - the rumors pertaining to Silva have died down lately, but he's a possibility for a free transfer since he won't renew

-K. Ajer - most reports were saying a price of around 30mil. Some have died down lately, but the last round of reports actually said that we were leading the chase for his signature ahead of Arsenal


CMs/AMs
-Tonali - price between 30-40 mil. I don't think we've ever really fallen out of the rumors, but lately it seems that Juventus and Inter are dominating that. Still, many reports mention our interest.

-Szoboszlai - apparently one of the top targets for Rangnick if he is to come. Price rumored to be 30mil.

-Florentino Luis - long term links with him. Possible loan + option to buy as well as the possibility of a swap with Paqueta being mentioned.


FWDs/Wingers
-David Neres - we've been linked to him in the last year or so and now the links have renewed, particularly with some news coming out that we've had contact with his agent Bertolucci. No idea how much he would cost. I'd imagine it would be around 25-30mil.

-Jovic - probably one of the likelier transfers for us. Apparently R.Madrid is open to a loan + option to buy at around 40mil for him, even a 2 year loan. 

-Scamacca - links with him have been lingering around for several months now. In the last few days, several links came out that we have closed a deal for around 15mil. Not sure I buy this to be honest as the season is just about to restart and we don't even know who's dealing with transfers right now. To be interested is one thing...but to be closing deals is another. 


Based on that, something like this is very possible (as close to a 4-2-2-2 as possible):

--------------------Gigio---------------
Dumfries - Kouassi - Roma - Theo
---------F.Luis ------ Benna----------
------Neres---------------Rebic-------
--------Szoboszlai---------------------
--------------------Jovic----------------

Dumfries (15) + Kouassi (free) + F. Luis (loan or exchange with Paq) + D. Neres (30) + Szoboszlai (30) + L. Jovic (loan + option) = 75 million. Totally doable....but is it good enough?

I would feel more comfortable with Tonali instead of Luis, another RB instead of Dumfries (Atal?) and a different CF instead of Jovic (even though the ones we're linked to aren't exactly more proven than Jovic anyway...so hoping for some more developments here). Obviously that adds a crap ton of money on that total price though.

Still, even as is, if Rangnick can do his thing....this is a young, energetic, fast, dynamic and technically capable team.

(06-03-2020, 12:19 AM)porcho Wrote: 100% Would rather Atal as RB. 

On the others. I've removed the ones I'd rather not see us sign. I'm still not a huge fan of Luis but it's looking more and more like we're not getting Tonali so not sure we have much option. If we could somehow work it that we could sign all of those, it would put us in a great position. 
On the 3 CB's... sell off Musacchio and Duarte and not take the option on Kjaer. 
On the midfield/wing and front line, we already have some space, but sell off Kessie finally, and Hakan and we'd be getting the money for Suso also so it's potentially doable financially... We could even do a deal with Scamacca, if we're keepign Zlatan, to loan him for the season to a serie A team so that he keeps improving and gets game time.

(06-02-2020, 11:28 PM)Sleeping Giant Wrote: Internacional are ready to accept as little as 2M for Milan target Bruno Fuchs

(06-03-2020, 02:44 AM)nefremo Wrote: I would definitely take up the option on Kjaer. It's only 1.5 mil. We are not going to find a player of his quality for that kind of money. 
We currently have 5 CBs (6 if you count Caldara, but unless something crazy happens, he'll be at Atalanta for another year at least). If I was to list them in a pecking order as of the most recent games:
1) Romagnoli (sure to stay and start next season)
2) Kjaer (took Musacchio's spot and was very very solid. Would cost 1.5mil to keep)
3) Musacchio (lost his spot and actually holds a value, so could be sold for a profit. Not sure about the current environment, but I would imagine he could be sold for at least 8-10mil)
4) Gabbia (had some decent performances, but at 20 years old, he needs to play more regularly. I wouldn't sell, but a loan could be an option)
5) Duarte (hasn't really shown much, but hasn't gotten much look. He needs to play and grow in the European game. A sale wouldn't be the smartest thing as we would probably lose money...so actually, the best thing for him would be a loan to another Italian team where he could be the starter. A year from now, he can come back an improved player or at the very least regain some value and be sold)

So essentially, with Romagnoli as a starter, we would need a partner for him (i feel like this is the issue every summer). I would sign Kjaer for 1.5mil and make him the 3rd choice for the time being. I'd keep Gabbia to see how he compares with Kjaer for the 1st part of the season. If he's able to take over Kjaer as 3rd choice, great. If not, I'd loan him at that point, but at least it gives both Milan and Gabbia some time. Duarte should be loaned out for a year. Musacchio to be sold.

That leaves us with 3 CBs. Romagnoli (starter), Kjaer (3rd choice), Gabbia (4th/3rd choice). So 1 signing as a starter and 1 signing as a back up. But if we were not to take up the option on Kjaer, it all of a sudden means that we need a starter, 3rd choice, and another back up. Too much for that department imo. Not necessary when we can have Kjaer for 1.5mil.

(06-03-2020, 08:26 AM)Arildonardo Wrote: Reported Milan target Tanguy Kouassi is also wanted by Real Madrid. Kouassi's contract at PSG expires this summer.