17 | Kevin De Bruyne - 2024/25

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soon see re KDB - two 20 minute cameos plus around a months training. If he cannot do an hour in what is now a must win game on Wednesday then he is done and there is something very wrong.
 
I'm not in any way criticising De Bruyne he has been one of if not the greatest players the club has had... but he's another example of Txiki, Pep and the board becoming complacent.

It was obvious for all of last season that age and injury were rapidly catching up with him but there were reports of a huge money move to the Middle East.

The club should have cashed in last season, instead we're now left with an even older De Bruyne, still just as unfit and with minimal contract remaining, I doubt he's now worth even a quarter of what we could have potentially got for him just last season.
 
Blue2202 said:
Were they all way off their current levels though? Or were they just afforded chances to play and show what they can do?

My point is we were happy to shell £50m on doku, £55m on Nunes, £45m on Philips - who were all unproven to play at citys level when signed - instead of affording more chances to the likes of palmer, lavia and so on.

When Madrid or the like sell a promising academy player most of the time they include some kind of buy back option/clause.

It's my opinion we've made errors in managing youth outgoings on top of a lack of quality signings over probably the last 4 or 5 years excluding dias, haaland and rodri.

Luckily we have had a very strong core squad which has led us to the success we've achieved but the cycle with those players is looking like it has now come to an end.
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You really are missing the forest for the trees, and an understanding of what the Academy is and is not.
 
jacko74 said:
I'm not in any way criticising De Bruyne he has been one of if not the greatest players the club has had... but he's another example of Txiki, Pep and the board becoming complacent.

It was obvious for all of last season that age and injury were rapidly catching up with him but there were reports of a huge money move to the Middle East.

The club should have cashed in last season, instead we're now left with an even older De Bruyne, still just as unfit and with minimal contract remaining, I doubt he's now worth even a quarter of what we could have potentially got for him just last season.
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I think he's one of those players with whom, if you have the luxury of not prioritising finances, you don't.

Where there's room for sentiment in football, it should allow Kev to retire here if he wants to. No amount of money we could get for him would reflect his significance to the club.

I expect that if he'd wanted to go to the Middle East, we would have let him go. We don't hold players against their will if an offer comes in and they want to go. Personally I don't see him wanting to uproot his young family.
 
jacko74 said:
I'm not in any way criticising De Bruyne he has been one of if not the greatest players the club has had... but he's another example of Txiki, Pep and the board becoming complacent.

It was obvious for all of last season that age and injury were rapidly catching up with him but there were reports of a huge money move to the Middle East.

The club should have cashed in last season, instead we're now left with an even older De Bruyne, still just as unfit and with minimal contract remaining, I doubt he's now worth even a quarter of what we could have potentially got for him just last season.
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He’s worth nowt without time left on his contract!

Let’s not write off the man just yet. He’s clearly not fit, as he has explained, and while there may well be behind the scenes issues, you can’t play a player who clearly knows his own body when he’s telling you he’s not fit.

Don’t forget, this is a player who played half a season with a hamstring injury, during which we did the REAL Treble. Then, tried to comeback, failed, had to have significant surgery (just look at the fucking zipper scar up the back of his leg!), was out for months, then came back and immediately won us the game at Toon and helped drag us to 4 in a Row!

Yeah, THAT guy gets the benefit of EVERY doubt in my book, because he’s proven he’s a player and a fighter.

He hadn’t caused a minutes trouble in a decade and doesn’t even have an agent trying to shop him to every club in Europe every season for a nice payout.

When he’s ready, he’ll give his all…whether that’s on Pep’s timeline or Bluemoon’s timeline or not, I don’t care. If his all isn’t good enough, then decisions have to be made.

That’s reality.
 
jacko74 said:
I'm not in any way criticising De Bruyne he has been one of if not the greatest players the club has had... but he's another example of Txiki, Pep and the board becoming complacent.

It was obvious for all of last season that age and injury were rapidly catching up with him but there were reports of a huge money move to the Middle East.

The club should have cashed in last season, instead we're now left with an even older De Bruyne, still just as unfit and with minimal contract remaining, I doubt he's now worth even a quarter of what we could have potentially got for him just last season.
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Him and Bernardo
 
Tier2Blue said:
soon see re KDB - two 20 minute cameos plus around a months training. If he cannot do an hour in what is now a must win game on Wednesday then he is done and there is something very wrong.
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Maybe he has an injury (which he has discussed) that is not getting better very quickly, because it’s about the mechanics of kicking the ball?!
 
Blue2202 said:
You mean similar to the likes of Nunes, Doku, Savinho and Philips then? Those 4 alone signed for over £180m.

Can you not see my point?
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Two of those players will either kick on or we'll get more than our money back on them. Nunes is better than most of the players you listed. The nature of a transfer policy is you'll get some wrong coming in and some wrong going out.

Players that come out of our academy are going to be the best player in the Ipswich team, it is what it is.
 
Brightwell Bros. said:
Two of those players will either kick on or we'll get more than our money back on them. Nunes is better than most of the players you listed. The nature of a transfer policy is you'll get some wrong coming in and some wrong going out.

Players that come out of our academy are going to be the best player in the Ipswich team, it is what it is.
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So could many of the academy products had they been afforded a proper chance. Nunes has done nothing for city and will never justify his price tag.

Of course you're going to get some wrong but the problem is we've made more wrong than right in the last 3/4 seasons.
 
jacko74 said:
I'm not in any way criticising De Bruyne he has been one of if not the greatest players the club has had... but he's another example of Txiki, Pep and the board becoming complacent.

It was obvious for all of last season that age and injury were rapidly catching up with him but there were reports of a huge money move to the Middle East.

The club should have cashed in last season, instead we're now left with an even older De Bruyne, still just as unfit and with minimal contract remaining, I doubt he's now worth even a quarter of what we could have potentially got for him just last season.
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Although I agree, this was a close call at the time. It was either cash in on a fast depreciating asset or keep someone who might still pull a rabbit out of a hat in a crucial game. And then, there were KdB’s own wishes to consider.
 
ChicagoBlue said:
You really are missing the forest for the trees, and an understanding of what the Academy is and is not.
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The academy is for producing young footballers capable of playing professionally and generating revenue for the club. A small number are expected to be good enough to represent our club in the first team. In addition, the academy ensures young people are taught good values and are afforded a great education so that when they leave us, for whatever career, they are well rounded individuals capable of contributing well to society.

I read the original post as a small number of academy players, Palmer, Lavia...have not been given sufficient opportunity to prove themselves and have been sold at the expense of inferior players being brought in. I'm not sure how anyone can disagree with that given the state of our current midfield. Both would be first picks just now.
 
Blue2202 said:
How so? Please enlighten me as opposed to not even offering an alternative view.
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The Academy is designed as a profit center, where the top prospects get a chance with the first team, but if they either don’t gel with the team, or fit in as Pep needs them to, they get moved on for a healthy profit. A few decent homegrown prospects can help Txiki buy a world class prospect (or known talent) from anywhere in the world.

Now, it hasn’t always worked out 100%. Some talents haven’t been able to adapt to Pep’s needs and some Academy players have flourished elsewhere in other, less rigid or demanding systems, but it’s hard to complain about the success of the First Team Squad or the pure FFP profit the homegrown Academy players have provided to the club.
 
ChicagoBlue said:
He’s worth nowt without time left on his contract!

Let’s not write off the man just yet. He’s clearly not fit, as he has explained, and while there may well be behind the scenes issues, you can’t play a player who clearly knows his own body when he’s telling you he’s not fit.

Don’t forget, this is a player who played half a season with a hamstring injury, during which we did the REAL Treble. Then, tried to comeback, failed, had to have significant surgery (just look at the fucking zipper scar up the back of his leg!), was out for months, then came back and immediately won us the game at Toon and helped drag us to 4 in a Row!

Yeah, THAT guy gets the benefit of EVERY doubt in my book, because he’s proven he’s a player and a fighter.

He hadn’t caused a minutes trouble in a decade and doesn’t even have an agent trying to shop him to every club in Europe every season for a nice payout.

When he’s ready, he’ll give his all…whether that’s on Pep’s timeline or Bluemoon’s timeline or not, I don’t care. If his all isn’t good enough, then decisions have to be made.

That’s reality.
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As I said my post wasn't being in any way critical of De Bruyne and if he wants to stay at City until retirement I'm quite happy with that, as you say he's been a fantastic and loyal servant to the club.

But, if there was a potential deal to have been done last season and IF De Bruyne was open to the move then the club should have been much more proactive in making it happen for the benefit of all concerned.
 
jacko74 said:
As I said my post wasn't being in any way critical of De Bruyne and if he wants to stay at City until retirement I'm quite happy with that, as you say he's been a fantastic and loyal servant to the club.

But, if there was a potential deal to have been done last season and IF De Bruyne was open to the move then the club should have been much more proactive in making it happen for the benefit of all concerned.
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If kev wanted to go we would have taken a token amount and let him go , why does it need constantly explaining that we treat our oldies with respect
 
Saddleworth2 said:
The academy is for producing young footballers capable of playing professionally and generating revenue for the club. A small number are expected to be good enough to represent our club in the first team. In addition, the academy ensures young people are taught good values and are afforded a great education so that when they leave us, for whatever career, they are well rounded individuals capable of contributing well to society.

I read the original post as a small number of academy players, Palmer, Lavia...have not been given sufficient opportunity to prove themselves and have been sold at the expense of inferior players being brought in. I'm not sure how anyone can disagree with that given the state of our current midfield. Both would be first picks just now.
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Spot on.
 
kaz7 said:
If kev wanted to go we would have taken a token amount and let him go , why does it need constantly explaining that we treat our oldies with respect
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Admittedly only paper talk but I'd heard he was open to a move but the club weren't keen on it happening, and the figure being mentioned (£100m) certainly wasn't a "token amount"

Bernie has also quite clearly wanted to move for a couple of seasons now but the club have effectively prevented it from happening... and we're now left with a player who, for whatever reason, looks a shadow of what he's previously been.

So your notion of the club always respecting the wishes of players doesn't really stand up to scrutiny.
 
kaz7 said:
I cant wait for him to come back and shove his boot up some of your arses
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Sorry its not happening, guy is shot and hasn't been able to shift the weight he put on while injured. A clear indication he isn't able to join in the endurance type training an elite athlete needs .
 
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