⚽ Football Transfers Speculation, Odds and Predictions

[Jostern]

Have you seen this?



I didn't know about it honestly. Barcelona is really in this desperate condition financially nowadays... Asking one of your best players not to score intentionally.

It's strange. Normally, a club would be very happy if its players scored a lot of goals each season. But Barcelona could lose out if Robert Lewandowski scores a lot of goals because Barcelona would have to pay Bayern Munich a large bonus. If I'm not mistaken, the agreement between Bayern Munich and Barcelona stipulates that if Lewandowski scores at least 25 goals in a season, Barcelona is obliged to pay a bonus to Bayern Munich. Barcelona's finances are truly in disarray.

Why should there be a clause like this? Barcelona should be able to think more carefully if there is no money, this clause should not exist, a great striker like Lewandowski must stop scoring goals because of a bonus that Barcelona cannot afford.
It's a bit strange to see news like this because Barcelona is a big club financially they are bad in terms of buying players still in installments that's what I know.

I must say Barcelona are very careless and stupid for accepting such a clause in the contract, because I don’t really understand how you tell a big player like Robert Lewamdoski to stop scoring goals and even went as far as keeping him on the bench all in the name of stopping him to complete that goal tally, so the club wouldn’t have to pay the money, such clauses are very stupid in the sense that this things are quite unpredictable and could actually come to happen, well this kind of clause are very rare and strange to me because you will never know what will happen with this easy clauses and difficult clauses.

[ThemePen]

I must say Barcelona are very careless and stupid for accepting such a clause in the contract, because I don’t really understand how you tell a big player like Robert Lewamdoski to stop scoring goals and even went as far as keeping him on the bench all in the name of stopping him to complete that goal tally, so the club wouldn’t have to pay the money, such clauses are very stupid in the sense that this things are quite unpredictable and could actually come to happen, well this kind of clause are very rare and strange to me because you will never know what will happen with this easy clauses and difficult clauses.

Your point is quite right since it is strange to pay star player such as Robert Lewandowski and to be worried when he scores. These contract rules are typically made to save money at first, but when club such as Barcelona is in financial trouble, player who is doing well becomes extra cost. It is not good idea to save money by benching star player as it will upset team and make fans very angry. Although these rules helped Barcelona pay for him at beginning, they are difficult to predict as no one imagined that he would continue scoring so much. When club behaves more like business than football team only to save few million euros that is big problem.

[reagansimms]

Nah, I oppose this, to be honest he has more contributions than the bad performance and he is still trying to get to his best, which is not something that is really worrisome since he still gives performance that is still okay.

Yes, Barcelona may dump him and opt for another attacker having issue with their club or who would want to come spend a loan at the club, promising an option to buy that won't be activated when the season ends, while stating it is because of financial crisis but you will see them signing fresh players that might be much needed, in the end it is just priority. Barcelona is among the worst team to be loyal to in recent years now.

I totally agree with you, Initially when Rashford arrived at Barcelona he was rough and unstable but after several matches and training we can see Rashford getting better, it isn't easy to find an attacker with 11 assists and 7 goals in 24 appearances in all competitions.

The only problem I had with Rashford, was his inability to track anytime he loses possession of the ball, and I can see now that he is trying to ammend, so Barcelona should keep him

Barcelona will be one of the busiest clubs in the 2026 summer transfer window, several positions such as left wing, center back, and striker needing improvement to add depth for the following season. Hansi Flick is very satisfied with Rashford's contribution and statistics after being given the opportunity to play regularly, it seems that Barcelona steps to make Rashford's permanent transfer will be slightly hampered because Man United included a purchase option worth 30 million euros.

Barcelona also need to bring in a strong center-back because their defense has not been completely stable since Martinez's departure, they are also trying to find a new striker to replace the aging Lewandowski. With the club's financial problems not yet fully returning to the 1:1 rule established in La Liga, it seems highly unlikely that they will be able to strengthen all three positions at once.

[harapan]

Have you seen this?



I didn't know about it honestly. Barcelona is really in this desperate condition financially nowadays... Asking one of your best players not to score intentionally.

Probably this is why Ferran Torres is likely to be seen more common in the lineup during the rest of the season too. I hope Barcelona can leave these bad days behind. They must learn their lesson from this and shouldn't spend tons of money like nothing.

Do you know at some stages, we all criticised Lewandowski without knowing the real reason behind. He had a penalty and he shot it into the crowd, all those where visible signs but we all kept mute. I hate that we all vent against him for not scoring goals but he was doing all that to protect his great club. Ferran Torres remains the highest goal scorer for Barcelona this season just to add that. Henceforth, I no longer believe that news of Barcelona signing Erling Haaland and Alvarez because they are not financially stable to have it done.

[IceLincoln]

Antoine Semenyo has been impressive for Bournemouth ever since coming to the EPL, I’ve always wanted to see him play at a big club and he’s worth the attention he’s getting from the big clubs of the EPL but it seems Manchester City is taking the lead in the race to sign him.
His representative are in talks with City and City is ready to talk about his release clause which will be open from January 1-10.
My fears is that will he be able to impress as much with Manchester City and they also have a lot of wingers available; Healthy competition or benchwarming for some.

[Fiatless]

Antoine Semenyo has been impressive for Bournemouth ever since coming to the EPL, I’ve always wanted to see him play at a big club and he’s worth the attention he’s getting from the big clubs of the EPL but it seems Manchester City is taking the lead in the race to sign him.
His representative are in talks with City and City is ready to talk about his release clause which will be open from January 1-10.
My fears is that will he be able to impress as much with Manchester City and they also have a lot of wingers available; Healthy competition or benchwarming for some.

Top clubs like Manchester City need more players. With the number of competitions they engage in, they also need a quality bench. Antoine Semenyo will be a good addition to the club. They already have lots of food players but he would play regularly if he impresses Pep Guardiola. I hope he will not end up like Omar Marmoush, who has been struggling to make much impact at Etihad. Bournemouth would be willing to let Semenyo leave Vitality Stadium for £65 million and City would be able to afford it.

[harapan]

Antoine Semenyo has been impressive for Bournemouth ever since coming to the EPL, I’ve always wanted to see him play at a big club and he’s worth the attention he’s getting from the big clubs of the EPL but it seems Manchester City is taking the lead in the race to sign him.
His representative are in talks with City and City is ready to talk about his release clause which will be open from January 1-10.
My fears is that will he be able to impress as much with Manchester City and they also have a lot of wingers available; Healthy competition or benchwarming for some.

Top clubs like Manchester City need more players. With the number of competitions they engage in, they also need a quality bench. Antoine Semenyo will be a good addition to the club. They already have lots of food players but he would play regularly if he impresses Pep Guardiola. I hope he will not end up like Omar Marmoush, who has been struggling to make much impact at Etihad. Bournemouth would be willing to let Semenyo leave Vitality Stadium for £65 million and City would be able to afford it.

He is a smart player and with his pace and energy, he will indeed to Pep Guardiola be worthwhile and useful. He brings both experience and goals for them. He will be playing against Chelsea tonight and may likely play against them when they face them during the next game if he completely moves to Manchester City within the next few days. Marmoush the Egyptian had games to play at least, Philips from Leeds United wasn't given the chance to work with Pep Guardiola

[asriloni]

By sustainable I think they mean to say cheaper with better value right?

No, you're wrong. Sustainable option means they're looking for someone who have cheap clause as Rashford, but lower wage than him. I know Rashford's deal is no brainer since he's being valued 30m, but his original wage is around £350k weekly. So it can cost Barcelona close to £20m yearly just to pay his salary.

It seems to me Barcelona may already told him to cut his salary, but he rejected it. That's why they're not willing to trigger 30m clause owned by him.

[Amphenomenon]

-Snip-

I totally agree with you, Initially when Rashford arrived at Barcelona he was rough and unstable but after several matches and training we can see Rashford getting better, it isn't easy to find an attacker with 11 assists and 7 goals in 24 appearances in all competitions.

The only problem I had with Rashford, was his inability to track anytime he loses possession of the ball, and I can see now that he is trying to ammend, so Barcelona should keep him

Barcelona will be one of the busiest clubs in the 2026 summer transfer window, several positions such as left wing, center back, and striker needing improvement to add depth for the following season. Hansi Flick is very satisfied with Rashford's contribution and statistics after being given the opportunity to play regularly, it seems that Barcelona steps to make Rashford's permanent transfer will be slightly hampered because Man United included a purchase option worth 30 million euros.

Barcelona also need to bring in a strong center-back because their defense has not been completely stable since Martinez's departure, they are also trying to find a new striker to replace the aging Lewandowski. With the club's financial problems not yet fully returning to the 1:1 rule established in La Liga, it seems highly unlikely that they will be able to strengthen all three positions at once.

Barcelona are have broke but often have a way to sign the players they need, in the transfer windows they still end up getting a prolific player finding every means to get a good deal or maybe ending with their usual loan deal and then might go for a better or cheaper choice again the next season.

The broke club using every means to do this in order to protect themselves and really given much consideration to any player as long as they see a better option. Barcelona is like the worse team to plead loyalty but another transfer window is on the way and we will see players still want to play for the not so big club, ready to be considerate for their dream club or a big name.

[eisen33]

Barcelona are have broke but often have a way to sign the players they need, in the transfer windows they still end up getting a prolific player finding every means to get a good deal or maybe ending with their usual loan deal and then might go for a better or cheaper choice again the next season.

The broke club using every means to do this in order to protect themselves and really given much consideration to any player as long as they see a better option. Barcelona is like the worse team to plead loyalty but another transfer window is on the way and we will see players still want to play for the not so big club, ready to be considerate for their dream club or a big name.

I don't think it's fair to call Barcelona a bankrupt club, they've learned to cope and are gradually paying off their debts. Besides, many teams are in debt the only difference is the size of that debt. Or maybe you think Real Madrid has no debt? Although Real Madrid probably isn't the best example, as they posted record revenues this season, over €1.1 billion in 2024/25, and their current debt is only €12 million. By comparison, Barcelona currently has a debt of €1.45 billion, but a significant portion of that, about €907.7 million, is for stadium reconstruction, so these are planned expenses that I hope they'll be able to cover over time.

[KTChampions]

Do you know at some stages, we all criticised Lewandowski without knowing the real reason behind. He had a penalty and he shot it into the crowd, all those where visible signs but we all kept mute. I hate that we all vent against him for not scoring goals but he was doing all that to protect his great club. Ferran Torres remains the highest goal scorer for Barcelona this season just to add that. Henceforth, I no longer believe that news of Barcelona signing Erling Haaland and Alvarez because they are not financially stable to have it done.

In the case of a penalty, this seems questionable - if he did not want to score a goal, he could have ceded the penalty to another player. I think this whole topic is exaggerated compared to the fact that Lewandowski misses too many chances and in general age has affected him.
As for Haaland and Alvarez, they have enough options to take a huge risk and move to financially unstable Barcelona. It makes no sense to them.

[Amphenomenon]

Barcelona are have broke but often have a way to sign the players they need, in the transfer windows they still end up getting a prolific player finding every means to get a good deal or maybe ending with their usual loan deal and then might go for a better or cheaper choice again the next season.

The broke club using every means to do this in order to protect themselves and really given much consideration to any player as long as they see a better option. Barcelona is like the worse team to plead loyalty but another transfer window is on the way and we will see players still want to play for the not so big club, ready to be considerate for their dream club or a big name.

I don't think it's fair to call Barcelona a bankrupt club, they've learned to cope and are gradually paying off their debts. Besides, many teams are in debt the only difference is the size of that debt. Or maybe you think Real Madrid has no debt? Although Real Madrid probably isn't the best example, as they posted record revenues this season, over €1.1 billion in 2024/25, and their current debt is only €12 million. By comparison, Barcelona currently has a debt of €1.45 billion, but a significant portion of that, about €907.7 million, is for stadium reconstruction, so these are planned expenses that I hope they'll be able to cover over time.

Hehe...
I knew someone will speak about this. I do respect how well they have been coping since their huge debts but I won't disregard the fact that they treat some players unfairly and this is why I spoke in that manner. Yes, they are broke and now they sometimes act dirty because of this, finding the most cost effective way to survive.

The transfer window will be open soon but they will continue their scheme, maybe they may not show much interest in this January transfer but may end up trying to force some players out again including those they may be owing.

[7juju]

Why should there be a clause like this? Barcelona should be able to think more carefully if there is no money, this clause should not exist, a great striker like Lewandowski must stop scoring goals because of a bonus that Barcelona cannot afford.
It's a bit strange to see news like this because Barcelona is a big club financially they are bad in terms of buying players still in installments that's what I know.

I must say Barcelona are very careless and stupid for accepting such a clause in the contract, because I don’t really understand how you tell a big player like Robert Lewamdoski to stop scoring goals and even went as far as keeping him on the bench all in the name of stopping him to complete that goal tally, so the club wouldn’t have to pay the money, such clauses are very stupid in the sense that this things are quite unpredictable and could actually come to happen, well this kind of clause are very rare and strange to me because you will never know what will happen with this easy clauses and difficult clauses.

When you are in desperate need of something and the other party that you are dealing with know how important the deal is for you they will try to insert some clauses that they believe will benefit them. They will like to take advantage of the situation. I wouldn't blame Barcelona for accepting such clause, Bayern thought they were smart but Barcelona had their own way of making sure sure clause were never fulfilled. Bayern also had such clause with Chelsea about Nicolas of Chelsea that if he makes certain appearances that the deal will be permanent, but we saw how Bayern Munich president came out to say that they won't allow Jackson make that number of appearances so they won't sign him. It's just a matter of being smart that's how I see it. So I won't blame Barcelona they were in need and they needed the player at all cost.

[Altryist]

By sustainable I think they mean to say cheaper with better value right?

No, you're wrong. Sustainable option means they're looking for someone who have cheap clause as Rashford, but lower wage than him. I know Rashford's deal is no brainer since he's being valued 30m, but his original wage is around £350k weekly. So it can cost Barcelona close to £20m yearly just to pay his salary.

It seems to me Barcelona may already told him to cut his salary, but he rejected it. That's why they're not willing to trigger 30m clause owned by him.

At 350,000 a week, that's 16.8 million a year, still quite a large sum, especially considering Barcelona already has significant debts to pay off. On the other hand, Rashford can hardly be called an irreplaceable player at Barcelona, ​​although he's clearly a useful player who can improve the game, and by the way he's working much harder at Barcelona than he did with Manchester United. Apparently, his relationship with the manager plays a significant role for him.

[Luzin]

The contract extension was full of drama and difficult agreements. Finally, Moh Salah will be with Liverpool until 2027, which happened last season when Salah's contract was set to expire. However, it seems Liverpool's progress hasn't been matched by Moh Salah's impressive performances. As a result, he started this season sitting mostly on the bench and not being a first-choice player. This situation seems to have prompted Salah to prepare to find a replacement. Rumors suggest Liverpool are interested in Juventus star Kenan Yildiz. The 20-year-old has scored 13 goals and provided eight assists so far.

Source: https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/47452376/transfer-rumors-news-liverpool-eye-juventus-kenan-yildiz-mohamed-salah-replacement

[Tonimez]

By sustainable I think they mean to say cheaper with better value right?

No, you're wrong. Sustainable option means they're looking for someone who have cheap clause as Rashford, but lower wage than him. I know Rashford's deal is no brainer since he's being valued 30m, but his original wage is around £350k weekly. So it can cost Barcelona close to £20m yearly just to pay his salary.

It seems to me Barcelona may already told him to cut his salary, but he rejected it. That's why they're not willing to trigger 30m clause owned by him.

At 350,000 a week, that's 16.8 million a year, still quite a large sum, especially considering Barcelona already has significant debts to pay off. On the other hand, Rashford can hardly be called an irreplaceable player at Barcelona, ​​although he's clearly a useful player who can improve the game, and by the way he's working much harder at Barcelona than he did with Manchester United. Apparently, his relationship with the manager plays a significant role for him.

Well it's not a surprise that Barcelona has refused to trigger the buy back clause because they already have almost every thing they need which is even better than Rashford or at least as good as he is. Raphinha and Dani olmo are good players of which Rashford has not played so special to make himself such irreplaceable. I wasn't even expecting Barcelona to accept him on loan with such large salary. Rashford would never accept a pay cut and would prefer returning to the Manchester United bench until 2028 when his contract would officially end.

Rashford is a good player but he doesn't really worth such salary £325,000 weekly. If he returns to Manchester United I don't also see him working so well with Ruben Amorim after all his Media statements both against the manager and against the club. If he really thinks about his adaptation to Manchester United team now, he would accept a pay cut if it would guarantee his stay at Barcelona.

[puloweh555]

It's strange. Normally, a club would be very happy if its players scored a lot of goals each season. But Barcelona could lose out if Robert Lewandowski scores a lot of goals because Barcelona would have to pay Bayern Munich a large bonus. If I'm not mistaken, the agreement between Bayern Munich and Barcelona stipulates that if Lewandowski scores at least 25 goals in a season, Barcelona is obliged to pay a bonus to Bayern Munich. Barcelona's finances are truly in disarray.

Why should there be a clause like this? Barcelona should be able to think more carefully if there is no money, this clause should not exist, a great striker like Lewandowski must stop scoring goals because of a bonus that Barcelona cannot afford.
It's a bit strange to see news like this because Barcelona is a big club financially they are bad in terms of buying players still in installments that's what I know.

I must say Barcelona are very careless and stupid for accepting such a clause in the contract, because I don’t really understand how you tell a big player like Robert Lewamdoski to stop scoring goals and even went as far as keeping him on the bench all in the name of stopping him to complete that goal tally, so the club wouldn’t have to pay the money, such clauses are very stupid in the sense that this things are quite unpredictable and could actually come to happen, well this kind of clause are very rare and strange to me because you will never know what will happen with this easy clauses and difficult clauses.

I initially didn't believe this clause existed, but after watching Lewandowski's latest interview, where he admitted that the rumors that he was asked to stop scoring goals so Barcelona wouldn't pay Bayern a bonus were true, I was shocked. I also couldn't fathom why he would accept such a proposal given that Lewandowski is a prolific striker. Many people even anticipate his games based on his goals even though he plays well without scoring. This proves he's a striker hungry for goals.

But when you think about it Barcelona is indeed careless in accepting offers when making player purchases. I sometimes wonder if this is the same reason why Raphinha wasn't nominated for the Ballon d'Or even though he certainly deserved it. Because Barcelona knew that if he won the Ballon d'Or they would have to pay Leeds more than seventy million.

[Abbatty]

Crystal palace have now agreed to sigh Brennan Johnson for a record fee of £35 Million, green light have already been given by Tottenham as it is now left to the player to choose because Bournemouth are also intrested. Well I still wonder why Tottenham are letting Johnson leave the team, he is a very good player and right now on that left wing I don’t think Tottenham have a player much better than him.

He has not been Favour with game since the arrival of the new coach and maybe That why he wants to leave, we saw how good he was when he was having much playing time, his numbers were incredible. He will be a good signing for either of the clubs intrested in getting him. Soon we should hear when he chooses as his final destination but surely he his having a new club this January.

[GbitG]

I totally agree with you, Initially when Rashford arrived at Barcelona he was rough and unstable but after several matches and training we can see Rashford getting better, it isn't easy to find an attacker with 11 assists and 7 goals in 24 appearances in all competitions.

The only problem I had with Rashford, was his inability to track anytime he loses possession of the ball, and I can see now that he is trying to ammend, so Barcelona should keep him

Indeed, initially Marcus Rashford was bit low self esteem but when he started training with other player soon he just adopt the mentality of Barcelona player and because of this now we are seeing him in supreme mode. He is similarly competing with the others attacking player like his contribution regarding through the team is absolutely similar to Raphinha and Lamine Jamal which is quite impressive....

Besides that if we talked about his ball dispossessed inability then probably it is bit questionable but I hope spending some time in Barcelona can fill up his missing links, like maybe in upcoming season he will try to improve his ball retention issue.

[Sarah Azhari]

My fears is that will he be able to impress as much with Manchester City and they also have a lot of wingers available; Healthy competition or benchwarming for some.

I'm also worried that Semenyo could become a starter if he moves to Manchester City, as he'll have to compete with Rayan Cherki for a starting spot. It seems unlikely that he'll replace Cherki, given his incredible performances. Even Savinho, previously Pep Guardiola's first-choice player, has been forced to settle for a place on the bench due to Cherki's incredible performances. So, if Semenyo does move to Manchester City, he'll be a substitute player.