Maybe we've changed our transfer policy?

[ADegenerate]

You sure about that? These have been the tactics of Barca & Real for years and if you look at the facts, Txiki & Ferran used these exact tactics when they were at Barca.

But I agree that we seem to be struggling to get our shit out of the door

I think it's definitely appears that we are. We got a hell of a deal with Gundogan, Nolito, and we're playing hardball with Sane. We'll see how that ends up playing out and with Stones. We'll see what happens with Bony, Nasri, AK and the others. I love the route personally. I really want to see what Pep can do with these players that look past it. I have high hopes for Yaya and wouldn't even completely arsed with Bony.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Squad limits started about 6 years ago and in that time (imo) the quality of English players has dropped and clubs are all heading down the foreign players route and the premium for English is rocketing. 17 foreign players is not many and keeping within that is the big challenge for many PL clubs. Ditching failed foreign stars gets harder every year.

 

[TRUE BLUE NO1]

In 2008 when Sheik Mansour initially took over, we HAD to pay top dollar for players & pay top dollar for their wages to entice them to the club. However, I'm pretty certain that over the past few years, every player's perception of City will have no doubt changed.

What I mean by this is that we are probably seen as one of the 'major players' in the world of football now. This puts us in a position of strength when buying players. Yes we have the cash to throw around, however, I believe that we are now trying to bully so called 'smaller clubs' in the transfer market. Much the same way that Barca & Real always eventually get their man by playing hard ball on the fee & getting the player to force through the move. (Sanchex for a cheaper price than we had agreed springs to mind!!) This would obviously extend the sales cycle, hence the reason why we have only made the 2 easiest signings so far this window. They were both priced well for the players they are so we didn't need to get either Gundogan or Nolito to push against their former clubs.

Sorry if this is too sensible for the transfer flapping forum....& I could be completely wrong about this....in which case: Get Flapping!!! ;)

Good points but important to remember that even teams like Barca/Real spend big when they need to (Bale/Suarez) I think at some point we hope to become self sufficient with more and more young talent coming up from our youth teams but dont think we there yet. With almost 1/3 of the squad in the last year of their contracts, we've potentially got a big squad turnover coming next summer and unlike with Real and Barca, teams dont seem to want to pay the going-rate for our unwanted squad members. We getting close but still dont think the squad is strong enough to turn away from our top targets and in the end will pay what it takes to get it done. I think everything is in place and exciting times ahead, especially now we have the best manager in football to show them the way!;)

 

[nellyonthewing]

Maybe The Sheik has twigged that Txiki has chucked away large amounts of his cash on some pretty crap players but will see if Pep can work a miracle on them before releasing big sums again..

 

[domalino]

Maybe The Sheik has twigged that Txiki has chucked away large amounts of his cash on some pretty crap players but will see if Pep can work a miracle on them before releasing big sums again..

Or maybe the Sheikh realises that Txiki is the person who has brought him the thing he wanted most - Pep - and is now going about buying the players Pep wants whilst not wasting money if possible.

 

[Maly]

Good points but important to remember that even teams like Barca/Real spend big when they need to (Bale/Suarez) I think at some point we hope to become self sufficient with more and more young talent coming up from our youth teams but dont think we there yet. With almost 1/3 of the squad in the last year of their contracts, we've potentially got a big squad turnover coming next summer and unlike with Real and Barca, teams dont seem to want to pay the going-rate for our unwanted squad members. We getting close but still dont think the squad is strong enough to turn away from our top targets and in the end will pay what it takes to get it done. I think everything is in place and exciting times ahead, especially now we have the best manager in football to show them the way!;)

I get what you're saying about Barca & Real players going for better money than our cast offs. However, I'd hazard a guess that's because of the money our players are on. They were signed on big contracts to entice them to us when we weren't considered to be a 'big player', then re-negotiated all of their contracts to be heavily incentivised for FFP reasons. None of the players would be out of pocket from their previous contracts, so although their basic wage might be affordable for other clubs, add their bonuses on and they become unaffordable.

On top of this, most of the players both Barca & Real sell are either squad players or players they are looking to replace due to signing another expensive toy to play with (Sanchez & Ozil spring to mind).

 

[Maly]

Maybe The Sheik has twigged that Txiki has chucked away large amounts of his cash on some pretty crap players but will see if Pep can work a miracle on them before releasing big sums again..

I take it you're not keen on Txiki?

 

[domalino]

Txiki has created a brilliant position at Schalke.

Sané has been convinced to join us.

He's told his club he wants to join us, and he's willing to wait a year and join us for €33m.

So Txiki has offered a fair amount - €42m - and if Schalke refuse to budge on their €50m then we will simply get him next season.

If they come down on price then we'll find a compromise.

He's done absolutely everything any DoF could have done.

 

[Ric]

Nah, we are TRYING to tighten up, but ultimately it doesn't work and we end up paying anyway.

Plus we just can't get shut of our shite.

Ha, I think that's probably quite accurate. It looks like we're trying hard not to be fleeced, but the nature of the market with the new TV deal mean that it's a seller's market.

We either make a stance and risk missing out on our targets, or we bite the bullet and pay what it takes to get the players we need (within our means, of course).

I think we did very well getting Gundogan and Nolito pretty cheaply, but reckon we'll buckle and pay handsomely for Stones and Sane. Not that I really care, can't say I'm that arsed what we pay to get players as long as it doesn't impact hugely on us (i.e. through ticket prices).

 

[Rammy Blue]

Ha, I think that's probably quite accurate. It looks like we're trying hard not to be fleeced, but the nature of the market with the new TV deal mean that it's a seller's market.

We either make a stance and risk missing out on our targets, or we bite the bullet and pay what it takes to get the players we need (within our means, of course).

I think we did very well getting Gundogan and Nolito pretty cheaply, but reckon we'll buckle and pay handsomely for Stones and Sane. Not that I really care, can't say I'm that arsed what we pay to get players as long as it doesn't impact hugely on us (i.e. through ticket prices).

I thought Nolito and Gundogan were release clause purchases anyway? Not much negotiation required, lol.

I get the feeling the main negotiation is why we've tried to drip feed info on other targets, to ultimately put pressure on the primary targets - sometimes it works, sometimes not, but we are trying.

Sane and Stones though are different fish as it's bloody obvious we want them.