De Bruyne?

[Neville Kneville]

You could look at it another way...maybe Allofs is deliberately stalling because he doesn't want to spend our money on players

He would rather pocket the amount for the club coffers

Absolutely 100% nailed on imo.

 

[FanchesterCity]

Wolfsburg haven't 'bumped up the price' since we started negotiating in January - they have compromised on the price they originally set. City have known the price 'range' from day 1 and have just been chipping them away in the meantime. Don't underestimate the internal politics/PR requirements of the selling club
We are in the final stages now, and the deal will be completed in the next 72 hours.
Keep the faith

And we'll have paid more than we would have liked due to Wolfsburg driving a hard bargain. That's what negotiations are. It doesn't mean 'ripped off' or 'more than we were prepared to pay' (otherwise we'd not be buying at all), but it does mean they've driven a hard bargain and secured the best price they felt they could. If you honestly don't think City have 'budged', you're deluded. We have. Nothing wrong in that, we'd expect to have to budge, but don't think for a minute we walked into Wolfsburg and got everything our own way.

 

[daztrueblue91]

I don't agree at all. Half that team is dogshite. They could have signed 5 or 6 players. A centre back & striker for a start.

The last two teams to sell their star player for a mega fee and replace him with 5 or 6 players did not exactly improve. Both Liverpool and Spurs were considerably weaker once Suarez and Bale left.

There's also the problem of the other clubs putting prices up when they know a club has money. Again this would hinder Wolfsburgs chances of getting value for money.

The sensible thing would be to bide your time in the market and approach players who would have already been on the list. Unless a good opportunity presents itself.

 

[gomer27]

I don't agree at all. Half that team is dogshite. They could have signed 5 or 6 players. A centre back & striker for a start.

I agree with you, without kdb Wolfsburg wouldn't have qualified for cl action this year that's just a fact

 

[FanchesterCity]

Absolutely 100% nailed on imo.

You're changing your tune as you go along here.
One minute you're claiming he's a moron, the next his acts are quite deliberate, and he's achieving his intentions. Make your mind up.

 

[Asian Blue]

Try this one then? So many to choose from..

Good Catholic Boy then !................................. hey no religion on here please

 

[LevyBee76]

Could they just be stalling to see what their group in the Champions League is, to see how screwed they are before they finally say yes to the deal

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

And without De Gea's performances last season United would not have qualified for the CL. That's another fact.
My dream final day of the window: KDB comes this way. And De Gea goes that way (i.e. Real way).

 

[Neville Kneville]

The last two teams to sell their star player for a mega fee and replace him with 5 or 6 players did not exactly improve. Both Liverpool and Spurs were considerably weaker once Suarez and Bale left.

There's also the problem of the other clubs putting prices up when they know a club has money. Again this would hinder Wolfsburgs chances of getting value for money.

The sensible thing would be to bide your time in the market and approach players who would have already been on the list. Unless a good opportunity presents itself.

So therefore, like Liverpool, they would have been better off strengthening their squad, then releasing DeBruyne.

they will just be doing that in a panic, or in Jan or next season now, instead. Not clever.

 

[FanchesterCity]

I agree with you, without kdb Wolfsburg wouldn't have qualified for cl action this year that's just a fact

It doesn't matter what he DID for them, it's about the future. If Wolfsburg believe they will lose KdB, their first plan of action is to decide on their strategy for his exit.
They can take the first offer they get, and blow the money of ill considered transfers (i.e. a rush job like Liverpool after Suarez), or they can drag it out for the maximum value, bank the money, and take their time on choosing new players, and if that fails, they keep their man anyway.
They appear to have chosen the latter (more sensible) strategy.

 

[andyhinch]

Is he here yet ???

 

[George Hannah]

Stuart Brennan ‏@StuBrennanMEN 3m3 minutes ago
City don't normally let players go until they have a replacement - is Lopes' impending deal a sign of confidence in de Bruyne deal? #mcfc

Good question and hopefully the answer is positive.

 

[FanchesterCity]

So therefore, like Liverpool, they would have been better off strengthening their squad, then releasing DeBruyne.

they will just be doing that in a panic, or in Jan or next season now, instead. Not clever.

Spending hurriedly in an ATTEMPT to strengthen is a mistake. There are two distinct factors at play:
1) The possible departure of a key player
2) What to do about replacing him.

There is nothing wrong with postponing 2) to give you thinking time. You can't always find a suitable replacement immediately so don't blow money for the sake of it.

 

[Neville Kneville]

You're changing your tune as you go along here.
One minute you're claiming he's a moron, the next his acts are quite deliberate, and he's achieving his intentions. Make your mind up.

Oh ffs.

It's EXACTLY what I've been saying in each post. My point is: I DON'T THINK IT'S A GOOD PLAN FOR WOLFSBURG. It weakens their team.

I think their fans will also see it like that, as would we, if it was a City player.

Please don't make me type this anymore.

 

[Nails]

Oh ffs.

It's EXACTLY what I've been saying in each post. My point is: I DON'T THINK IT'S A GOOD PLAN FOR WOLFSBURG. It weakens their team.

I think their fans will also see it like that, as would we, if it was a City player.

Please don't make me type this anymore.

Do you think it's a good plan for Wolfsburg, pal?

 

[daztrueblue91]

So therefore, like Liverpool, they would have been better off strengthening their squad, then releasing DeBruyne.

they will just be doing that in a panic, or in Jan or next season now, instead. Not clever.

Of course they would.

But no club can plan for a player wanting to leave. Bale, Suarez and De Brunye all wanted/want to leave.

All have/will have got an enormous fee for the player.

Liverpool and Spurs quickly reinvested the money and made major mistakes and were weaker.

Wolfsburg may choose to bide their time and make the right signings when they are available.

Spurs, Liverpool and Wolfsburg all would have been stronger if they had kept their stars and improved the team. However, for a number of reasons it wasn't possible.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Spending hurriedly in an ATTEMPT to strengthen is a mistake. There are two distinct factors at play:
1) The possible departure of a key player
2) What to do about replacing him.

There is nothing wrong with postponing 2) to give you thinking time. You can't always find a suitable replacement immediately so don't blow money for the sake of it.

Well good luck to them at sorting it out this weekend, oh sorry, Monday night.

 

[Bewar3them00n]

Are we still haggling over the finer details of the payment structure ? Or has there been a vorsprung dirk füchup while I've been trying to work?!!

 

[domalino]

Good question and hopefully the answer is positive.

Not really a good question because the reason we have tat policy is because we usually have a full squad. But we don't at the moment, and Lopes was on the u21 list anyway.

 

[FanchesterCity]

I don't agree at all. Half that team is dogshite. They could have signed 5 or 6 players. A centre back & striker for a start.

Are you honestly telling me you've been watching Wolfburg's games with serious scrutiny, and then you're also telling us that half the team are dogshite? Then to sound even more ridiculous, you're suggesting he could have found 5 or 6 players to improve them (at an average price of 8m?) and managed it all in one window. Honestly, this isn't fantasy football.