Alex Sandro

[twosips]

I don't know if you're being serious, or joking because of @Silva_Spell 's weird age phrasing, but It really depends on the player doesn't it? Zabaleta & Clichy are done at 32, Dani Alves is still getting MOTM awards in CL semi-finals at 34.

If Sandro is a Zabaleta you get 4/5 years out of him, if he's an Alves you get 8 or more.

I was totally joking man.

 

[ADegenerate]

Why? No one at Barcelona is upset because they didn't scout Suarez from Ajax, Madrid fans don't care that Ramos was bought for a huge fee from Sevilla, or that DDG will cost them huge money, Juventus didn't bother trying to find another player who's almost as good as Higuain but not as expensive.

Sometimes big clubs just identify the player they want and write the cheque to get it done. Right this minute, Marcelo is probably the only better LB in the world than Sandro, and there's not much in it.

It's almost impossible for us to get cheap players. Directors of Football have literally said publicly that they just whack 15m on if we're the club interested, and if you have to pay bloated fees on the gamble that is a young promising player, you might as well just pay 15m more and try to go for the already world class.

That's been the case for a while and is one of the reasons why we've seen the club go for very young players like Unal, Roberts, Moreno etc. Get them 2 or 3 years earlier than when we would want them.

No one wins awards for net spend at the end of the season, I've spoken before about not liking overpaying because of the incredible pressure it creates for a player, but if Pep identifies someone as a must have, you just dump a bag of money on Marotta's desk and say thank you very much.

Great post.

@Dax777 has mentioned repeatedly how he's ageist so I can see why he'd be slightly against this signing and he does have a point about about the value differential between options. With so many necessary purchases it's at least evaluating. However, in this case you do exactly what we're doing and for the reasons you mentioned. For a top 3 player you just get it done. Especially in such a vital position. The only way you'd seriously consider the differential is if it would hamstring the other signings. We're pretty sure that shouldn't be much of a concern though.

 

[MCFC ISRAEL]

50 M for a LB thats crazy. -but- after years with Clichy and Kolarov our left side deserve a WC LB like sandro. Im still not sure about bringing Walker as a RB though

 

[BlueLarry18]

Haha so now that we're linked with Sandro he's the 2nd best Lb in the world and only marginally worse than Marcelo? Do some people even watch football? Marcelo is the best Lb in the world by a country mile. He's a bigger attacking threat than some of the best wingers in the world. Sandro has had his first really good season this year and is suddenly the 2nd best Lb in the world. Fair play lad.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Well, after only 53 years of life, and about 45 years of playing organized football, I just learned that left back is now a vital position!

Errr, OK!

At this rate, City are going to need to have spent/spend about £1Bn to field a team in the next year or two, because £50M appears to be the going rate for a LB?!

Here's hoping the TV revenue bubble doesn't burst, because if it does, football is going to be in a world of hurt and City will be on the receiving end of a large portion of that hurt! Those revenues are what drive every other sponsorship deal we have and covering a £200M+ wage bill might become slightly harder, and that's just for starters.

Oh, for the days of the old nugget...

"You any good?"
"Nah, not really!"
"Where do you play, then?"
"Left back.......in the dressing room!"

 

[Akiva]

Haha so now that we're linked with Sandro he's the 2nd best Lb in the world and only marginally worse than Marcelo? Do some people even watch football? Marcelo is the best Lb in the world by a country mile. He's a bigger attacking threat than some of the best wingers in the world. Sandro has had his first really good season this year and is suddenly the 2nd best Lb in the world. Fair play lad.

CIES rate him as the best full-back, not just left-back, in Europe.

Sandro had an amazing season in 2015/2016, making his debut after ten Serie A games (Juventus sat 12th and struggling) in which he provided the assist for the winner. Most experts, Juve fans and indeed Allegri himself credit their reversal of fortunes on Sandro alone.

Nice how you reserved one of your very rare posts to come on here and make up such a shit narrative about City fans though.

Well, after only 53 years of life, and about 45 years of playing organized football, I just learned that left back is now a vital position!

It's a vital position in Pep's teams and he's said as much himself.

 

[BlueLarry18]

CIES rate him as the best full-back, not just left-back, in Europe.

Sandro had an amazing season in 2015/2016, making his debut after ten Serie A games (Juventus sat 12th and struggling) in which he provided the assist for the winner. Most experts, Juve fans and indeed Allegri himself credit their reversal of fortunes on Sandro alone.

Nice how you reserved one of your very rare posts to come on here and make up such a shit narrative about City fans though.

Narrative? Yes I've clearly made up a story about every single City fan on the planet to paint them in a bad light. It definitely wasn't in response to a post or two on the last couple of pages.

Also fuck CIES. If you've watched Marcelo and Sandro and genuinely think Sandro is better then football isn't for you. Go watch a different sport.

 

[Akiva]

Narrative? Yes I've clearly made up a story about every single City fan on the planet to paint them in a bad light. It definitely wasn't in response to a post or two on the last couple of pages.

You've taken posts by people you know fuck all about and added the narrative that they only have this opinion of Sandro because City are linked with him. Then, you've elected to ignore the evidence that independent, neutral observers and experts happen to share said opinion of Sandro.

So yes, I think your agenda is quite transparent.

Also fuck CIES. If you've watched Marcelo and Sandro and genuinely think Sandro is better then football isn't for you.

If you come on to a public forum and expect everyone to share your opinion then posting isn't for you.

 

[BlueLarry18]

You've taken posts by people you know fuck all about and added the narrative that they only have this opinion of Sandro because City are linked with him. Then, you've elected to ignore the evidence that independent, neutral observers and experts happen to share said opinion of Sandro.

So yes, I think your agenda is quite transparent.



If you come on to a public forum and expect everyone to share your opinion then posting isn't for you.

Look mate I'm not going to do a background check on every person I respond to but if somebody comes and tells me Higuain is a better attacking player than Messi and they have stats to prove it, I don't really give a fuck. I know what I see with my own two eyes. Marcelo is levels above Sandro and it's not even debatable.

 

[Akiva]

Look mate I'm not going to do a background check on every person I respond to but if somebody comes and tells me Higuain is a better attacking player than Messi and they have stats to prove it, I don't really give a fuck. I know what I see with my own two eyes. Marcelo is levels above Sandro and it's not even debatable.

I agree on both counts, I take issue only with you trying to accuse people of hyping Sandro only because City are linked with him. He's a consensus top five left back in football today and it's not a stretch to consider him top two.