Signing players off the back off good international tournaments is the closest thing in football to pissing your money away, the list is endless who could forget pretty much the whole Greek team that got big transfers based on winning the European Championship only to be back in Greece almost to a man 18months later, Poborský, Alexi Lalas, Tarantini, Villa(OK perhaps not the best example for City supporters but the point still stands he was shit), Kleberson the list is endless
Yes, let the Rags do that! As many have pointed out on here, the failure to sign Jorginho, whilst disappointing maybe, would not be the end of the world and I trust those running our club to find an alternative who would be an eventual and worthy ‘successor’ to Fernandinho. And if it turns out not to be in this window, then in the next one or the one after that.
We’re in a healthier position squad-wise than we were after our last two Premiership successes, particularly if we do sign Mahrez, and I’m sure Pep will find a way to cope without Fernandinho when he has to. And it’s no use giving Txiki grief if Jorginho decides against signing for us: he can’t force any player to sign on the dotted line, even after months of pursuit, if the player subsequently has his head turned for whatever reason. Nor can we ‘blame’ Jorginho if he chooses Chelsea over us and level at him the the charge of stupidity, lack of ambition or greed. Chelsea may well be offering him a more lucrative deal (I don’t know) but other factors will probably play a part in his decision: the chance to re-unite in a different environment with a coach he trusts and who trusts him, the guarantee of being first name on the team sheet and the focal point of a newly moulded side (not a promise he can be made at City), the attraction of London, the preferred destination of his wife and so on. And, yes, De Laurentiis is a hard-nosed and slippery customer (to say the least) who may well have got what he wanted from all this but, again, we have no control over that side of things. And we don’t know, in truth, how close Jorginhno’s ever been to signing for us.
So if things turn out as, at the moment, they seem they’re going to, we move on. There’s no point in futile recriminations. If the player has decided against us, so be it. Let’s not have any indignant and entitled outbursts of “How can he not choose us?” Again, leave that sort of stuff to the Rags.