Latest posts of: Velvet78

Quote from: bering on June 29, 2023, 02:05:10 AM

Quote from: Velvet78 on June 28, 2023, 11:30:50 PM

Xavi has only one year left on his contract now. It looks like the board don't want to rush a new contract for him yet. Actually after winning the La Liga title I wouldn't have been surprised if the board offered a contract extension to Xavi. But interestingly there isn't any deal yet. Maybe they want to see whether there will be consistency next time as well.

I don't doubt their La Liga performance already now. But as for the Champions League it is really difficult to say a thing. Because the recent two years were really horrible for them. We need proof by Barcelona this time to start believing in them to do better than the recent participations.

If i am not mistaken Xavi has a contract until 2025 which mean he will be at Barcelona until summer 2025 and for time being Barcelona will rule out to talking about Xavi contract because this summer their focus is to buy new players and apparently Xavi has agree about that because his priority now is how to build Barcelona became an much better and performing well at Laliga and Champion league and maybe after end of next season contract extension will be discuss and Barcelona confident Xavi will be not leave and he will accept their proporsal and Xavi too will ensure he doesn't want to train other team besides Barcelona because he love this team so i think Barcelona fans shouldn't be worried about this because Barcelona will always be Xavi main priority

His contract ends by June 30, 2024 and this is the source for it: https://www.transfermarkt.com/xavi/profil/trainer/59876

Therefore this might be his last year at this team depending on the situation. He needs to maintain a satisfying level of success for the board to convince them to offer a contract extension. Winning the La Liga title twice in a row would be a point to start from. Besides I assume the board would expect him to be more successful in the Champions League rather than getting stuck in the group stage.

No matter what Dortmund must be still in a very good position financially. After Bellingham's sale they have made a big amount of money. This is their priority in the end so I don't think they are still thinking about how they can lose their title chance like that. Yeah it was really unbelievable but they are still able to reach their main goals according to their vision.

As long as they make so much money in sales of their players it wouldn't be important for them whether they are champions or not. I assume the fans think the opposite but they must be also aware of Dortmund's policy already. Otherwise Dortmund can easily build a squad that can be much more competitive for the league title to win.

Chelsea need to be much more active in the transfer market now. They even need to be the most active team among the top teams of the league. Because they have parted ways with many players in this transfer window. They will need to replace them with solid alternatives as soon as possible. They are in a rebuilding process in short.

Pochettino has a big responsibility to carry this team to the place where they need to be. Chelsea wouldn't target the league title for now of course. The first step will be to finish a season in top 4. They still need time to be able to fight for bigger goals after leaving a poor season behind.

Good for Tottenham that they have managed to reach an agreement for Maddison for a price they would like. First Leicester looked obstinate about demanding much more money but it looks like Tottenham still managed to convince them. This is going to be a solid improvement to the midfield for Tottenham without doubt.

It is great news for Maddison as well otherwise he was going to play in the second league. This would really harm his reputation while he is a really talented midfielder. It looks like it is finally time for Maddison to shine brighter in the Premier League. Tottenham aren't one of the very successful teams of the league these days. But this is still not a hindrance for Maddison just as it hasn't been for Kane.

The Declan Rice signing for an amount like 105 million pounds is really huge for Arsenal. In the recent times they have started to spend more money than before. Rice is a really good talent and hopefully he will strengthen the midfield a lot. However Arsenal still have a very young squad now. I think this also needs to change a little if they want to keep being competitive for the Premier League title.

Experienced players can bring that discipline to the team easier than the young ones. But I don't know whether Arteta has such plans for now. I assume we won't see that kind of Arsenal for many more years.

Quote from: arimamib on June 26, 2023, 11:18:37 PM

Quote from: Velvet78 on June 26, 2023, 10:38:01 PM

I also really don't understand why Allegri just didn't accept the offer from Saudi Arabia. Does he really think that he can still fix things at Juventus? I don't think so honestly. Because looking at the summary of the past season it was a disaster for them. They could have finished in top 4 still but the punishment turned things into nightmare for them.

Allegri had great years with Juventus before maybe but this relationship doesn't work anymore clearly. It would have been far better to see Juventus starting off with a clean slate to the new season. I hope I become wrong about Allegri for the new season.

He has stated that he is more comfortable at Juventus for next season. He's not going to throw in the towel and go to another team because he got everything he wanted at Juventus. Even the new Juventus board members also fully support so that Allegri can last longer with Juventus, this is none other than Allegri's good behavior towards Juventus last season. Where he had given a few words that when Juventus slumped he would still be with Juventus and that was a form of his loyalty in refusing an offer to coach a team from the Suadi Arab League.

Next season juventus will probably return to a better position in the standings table and it is very likely that they will bounce back after this season they failed to do so.

I hope they return stronger with Allegri. I would really like to see that considering Allegri's history with Juventus. However this won't be easy at all if they don't be active in this transfer window and sign the right players to get more solid. I think they will need to consolidate their midfield and attacking line both.

Pogba hasn't been able to do anything properly due to being injury-prone. Paredes is returning to PSG as well so Juventus really need some transfers into this area. Besides Di Maria has left the team so his place will also need to be filled with a decent winger.

I don't remember Union Berlin joining the Champions League before. This must be their first time I assume. Therefore they are going to be an inexperienced team in the tournament. However I'm pretty sure they will care about it much more than the Europa League. Because they can increase their income significantly by getting positive results as much as possbile.

They need to get lucky with the draw as well though. If they have a really tough group in which all teams look challenging then Union Berlin might not do much. Even if they drop down to the Europa League at the end it would be great for them anyway.

I think Luka Modric won't go to Saudi Arabia after the end of his contract with Real Madrid either. I expect him to retire after having his last season here. He can even retire from national football as well at the same time. It just feels like Modric could have gone to a Saudi Arabian team or an MLS team maybe already. Because he is really old now.

Of course it is still admirable to see him being able to play for 120 minutes despite his age. We saw this in the Nations League you know. But he doesn't seem interested in going to a team outside Europe for now.

Quote from: cytpoway121 on June 26, 2023, 11:03:46 PM

Quote from: Velvet78 on June 26, 2023, 10:32:47 PM

Manchester United have been on the rise since Erik ten Hag era started. The question is how consistent can they be next season?

How consistent Manchester United will be depends on the signings made this summer transfer window. it will help shape up the entire season for Ten hag and Manchester United.

1. What happens to de gea? With Henderson getting sold to Nottingham and kovar coming back from loan; willl Manchester United sign a new goalie or reward De Gea with another contract?
2. What happens with the forward line? Manchester United scored as many goals as Brentford which is poor; will Rashford continue as 9 or will MUFC finally sign a striker in the mould of Harry Kane ??
3. What happens to Manchester United average midfield? they lack ball retention and cannot even progress play!

Whatever Ten Hag does about 1-3 determine how the season will be

Yeah transfers can play a big role in this. de Gea is about to leave and it looks like there won't be any contract extension with him. Manchester United have been after Inter goalkeeper Onana to sign for some time. It looks like he will be the replacement for de Gea and Onana would at least be a strong replacement for him. Onana's performance has really been impressive.

When it comes to Kane it depends on whether the Red Devils are ready to pay a huge amount which is over 100 million euros most probably. Bayern Munich have made an offer for him as well but it is only 75 million euros. It was rejected by Tottenham side as well.

Manchester United have been on the rise since Erik ten Hag era started. The question is how consistent can they be next season? Hopefully thanks to the working system of him they should be able to stay solid. I'm imagining the Red Devils fighting for top 4 again in the worst case. The most important question is about whether they can do well in the Champions League.

They had better do so. Transfers will be crucial to help us have some ideas about it. I wonder what kind of a plan they have for the attacking line. Rashford to be the main striker and a winger transfer? Or maybe Rashford to stay on the wing and a striker transfer? The second one can be way better in my opinion.

I really wonder what Bayern Munich are up to by signing this many right backs. Because there are literally five right backs whose natural position is this in the squad. Cancelo is returning to Manchester City though but this time Kyle Walker is likely to come into his place. It is actually up to Walker's final decision to stay or leave right now.

Actually it would be better for Bayern Munich to sign a left back immediately. Because Blind is about to be free agent so there will only be Alphonso Davies there. Even Davies might leave in case of having a solid offer from a top team. I think this position is more urgent as a result.

Among PSG, Lens and Marseille trio only Lens haven't changed their manager recently. And Lens really don't need a change at all after this superb season. The way they left Marseille behind and had a huge point gap with them at the end was really impressive. It is doubtful if they can do well in the Champions League group stage though. But it is early to say something before seeing their group there.

Lens' priority would be to keep consistent in the Ligue 1 of course. They will really need to work harder because this season might be more challenging than they assume maybe. I don't think Marseille would be this out-of-form next time.

Lampard was just a temporary manager for Chelsea and he wasn't expected to do bigger things much. Because Chelsea tried Lampard as a permanent manager before as well but it didn't work out well at all as you remember. Lampard just doesn't have it in himself. He couldn't do well at Everton either so I think it would be better for his career to do a different job then being a manager.

Pochettino is a decent manager and I feel myself confident about him to do much better than Lampard. If Chelsea build their lineup in a solid way I think they will be competitive for top 4 again in a short time.

If Mbappe leaves PSG this summer he has a condition in his contract. As far as I know PSG will have to pay an amount like 150-200 million euros due to this condition. Therefore even if he leaves now PSG can't make a big profit in this transfer. They are in a really problematic situation as a result. But let's say PSG sold him for over 200 million euros then it is still better than letting him go for free.

I wonder whether Real Madrid are interested in paying that much money and sign him already. They can just be patient for six months to sign a pre-agreement contract with Mbappe in the end. I think they wouldn't rush things while there is such opportunity.

Quote from: Leviathan.007 on June 25, 2023, 11:10:24 PM

According to transfermarkt there are two teams that want to hire Neymar for the next season and there is a high chance for him to leave PSG for Arabian teams because for players at this age and in this situation there won't be many offers from top-level teams. There is a chance for Neymar to return to Barcelona but I don't think Barcelona will accept hiring a player like Neymar to pay his high amount of salary.
That's why I'm waiting to see him playing for Arabian teams like Al Hilal

I agree that Barcelona wouldn't be keen on signing Neymar right now. His cost would be really big to them and Barcelona would have signed Messi in the first place in that case. FFP rules are a big hindrance in this kind of transfers for Barcelona no matter how much money they have. They are going for safer transfers these days like Gundogan.

Rather than Saudi Arabia I think Neymar would prioritize the MLS. Because I think it is still early to sign for a Saudi Arabia team for him. It would be better to continue to watch him in Europe actually but let's see whether there would be an offer. There were rumours related to some Premier League teams.

Quote from: Cryptmuster on June 26, 2023, 08:06:49 AM

How much do Tottenham want for Kane? In my opinion, from the latest news there was information that Bayern is negotiating with Kane now. And if I'm not mistaken, this is not Bayern's first attempt to get Kane, especially since Lewandowski left the team. Mane did not live up to expectations and did not become the leader of the attack, so this is an urgent issue for Bayern. I would like to see what Kane is capable of in Bayern, in a team that is aimed at attacking Kane would have ideal conditions.

Some time ago I saw some news which was stating the asking price as around 120 million euros. Anything over 100 million euros would be considered as too high for Kane by most teams in Europe I assume. There have been so many rumours linking Kane with Bayern Munich so far but I don't feel like they will play that much for him.

Instead I expect Bayern Munich to look for cheaper alternatives. As I said before Vlahovic is one of the good candidates when it comes to that. I assume his asking price would be 70-80 million euros. Bayern Munich will need to pay a decent amount of money anyway if they want to be more successful.

Quote from: rendravolt on June 25, 2023, 05:06:08 AM

Quote from: Velvet78 on June 24, 2023, 11:22:18 PM

After talking about Milan's being in need of a better and more reliable centre-forward I have seen that they are interested in Lukaku seriously. They are even about to make an official offer to Chelsea to sign him permanently. The offer is said to be like 40 million euros. I know how much Chelsea made a loss by selling him and buying him back for a huge amount of money.

But there is really not much of a choice left for Chelsea. They don't plan to have Lukaku in their squad anymore so this is a good opportunity to get rid of him. He needs to be convinced to make this move. I don't know if he can improve his performance at Milan but at least he can stay in Italy just as he wants.

What Milan is thinking is very far from the fans' expectations and if it is true that Milan makes an offer to sign Lukaku this is definitely a setback. We know Milan have just secured around 70 million euros fresh funds after successfully selling Sandro Tonali to Newcastle and I think Milan should be able to find a much better striker than Lukaku with these funds. At Inter Lukaku has often failed to prove his worth and even though Milan started their bid at 40 million euros I don't think it was worth it and it would be better for Milan to start discussing his options again.

Yeah there are surely much better alternatives for Lukaku in the market. Lukaku's recent effort has been quite poor and it is one of the main reasons why Inter aren't keen on continuing with him anymore. Milan would just need to pay some more money than 40 million euros to buy a decent scorer. They should invest into the attacking line thinking of the future of the team.

It started to look like the probability of Lukaku to sign for Milan is going down but it is just an indicator on Transfermarkt of course. Let's wait and see what Chelsea want from Milan to sell him exactly.

Liverpool have signaled a rebuild before next season. However so far there is only Mac Allister signing. This isn't a rebuild process yet as a result. Firmino is leaving for example and his place should also be filled on one hand. It would be the best for Liverpool to make additions to as many areas as possible to get ready for next season.

If they make the needed change for the team then I don't see any reason hindering Liverpool from playing for the league title next season. Thankfully Klopp is still continuing to manage the team because I think there is no need of a manager change. It wouldn't be fair to Klopp after having great years with the team.