His mother is a problem, and raising his kid is pulling him towards Deutschland. He could while away two years here and become even better and then walk away for free OR City could cash in on a player they don’t rate nearly as highly as some in the media (and on here) rate him, and fund 1/3 to 1/2 of the spend for the summer.
The Sheikh is done pumping the cash, and self sustaining profitable growth is the name of the game. From here, revenues and expenses need to result in an annual surplus, and the debt-less balance sheet simply helps grow the value of the club each year. If Pep says, “I’d like to keep him, but for the money I think I could get a couple of players in,” and Khaldoon tells Txiki that ANY PLAYER who will not renegotiate with 2 yrs remaining is to be sold IF they have significant value and are not coming to the end of their most productive years, then he is already gone and we are just haggling over the price...just as Fernandinho and Gundogan will be gone with City’s blessing when their contracts are over. Although, I think a smart club might throw in a cheeky 3 year contract and a decent little bid on the table and walk away with Gundo this summer! He has been nothing short of brilliant in the last half of the season.
Additionally, I think players and agents are also now looking at Pep’s contract situation and realizing that he will not be here for the 21/22 season, so anything they sign beyond that will be to play under the next coach, whole ever that might be. Especially for new players coming in, the “rebuilding” of this team (without Kompany, Silva, Gundogan, Aguero, Fernandinho and possibly even Sané) starts to look like the “second wave” of The Project and they might want to join a club somewhere else further along in their own new team.
It will be very interesting to see just how many of the current first team squad is here at kick off next season, and even more especially the 20/21 season, as it will be Pep’s last one before heading to Juve.
