@rollingnakedinmoney I think you're following the media narratively a little too literally. The reality is that City are still trying to sign the same list of key targets they were a month ago. Walker, Mendy, and Bertrand are on that list of key targets along with Alves. The fact that Alves' name has only just been linked publicly in this window doesn't have any baring on other targets. Just means that somebody somewhere has gotten wind of Alves agreeing the move to City and leaked it to Marca ( that's where the story originated ).
I appreciate that may feel like we're not being "aggressive" enough with our targets but I want you to step back and consider something. Pre season training is 3 weeks away. So there is patently no IMMEDIATE rush to get players in today/tomorrow. Gives the club some room to negotiate with selling clubs.
I've said this before but I think sometimes the club can't win. They're constantly being accused of overpaying for players, but then as soon as a transfer window opens, there's also people demanding the club pay whatever it takes. My own take on it - and it's pretty simplistic but it makes the point - is that it's easy if you're only signing one or two players to overpay. But when you have a marketplace like the one this summer where the cost of every transfer potentially has an inflationary effect on the next transfer, it stands to reason that every club will negotiate as hard as they can to get the best deal they can.
There's so many games being played right now between clubs, agents, etc.
Ok mate I yield, I stop. I hope it's like you all are saying and we get our targets one by one. About taking the media narrative too literally, not that literally but what are we supposed to believe then. Ok maybe I'm overreacting too soon.
Now you're just moving the goalposts. You claimed he didn't have the pace to bomb up the wings as would be required for a Guardiola-style fullback. Now you are questioning his defensive ability. Meanwhile, you seem to think our squad has some sort of identity that eludes even Pep.
They don't play the way we do and not against the kind of physical pacey opponents that we do. They're as dominant in their league as Bayern are in Germany.
When they played against Barca, they didn't play as risky as we normally do. And when they played against Real Madrid he was ripped to shreds. I'm not against him, I welcome him as long as we get every single first choice priority target we have and not settle with Dani Alves because the clubs of our other targets are asking for too much. Pep's given enough money to buy whatever he needs. Ever since I read Sam Lee saying that he'll wait to see out Mbappe situation before taking care of defence, I've been getting nervous about how important he considers defenders should be.
Alves at Barca was one year ago.
I was talking about Alves years ago when he was in his peak. You have to remember that he'll decline more and more each year as he's 34, you can't really depend on him for an entire season. It's good that we have him, I consider him signed already, it's that we need someone else younger and pacey who's just as good.
That's why Juventus are letting him go for so cheap, they don't think he'll be a world beater by himself in the next 2 years.
And you think the club, with access to unlimited resources, will make do with only Dani Alves this summer after letting so many defenders go?
No I'm not, I read Sam Lee mention something, I explained above. There are other clubs which are in the market for the players we want too.
Maybe Pep likes Mendy more. What then?
If Mendy is who he wants, then he should get Mendy. I believe the 40m quoted for him is the cheapest among all of our targets. Cheapest! And he's the youngest of them all.
You're going to want to not look back at this thread for many years to come, I can assure you.
I hope I'll have to come back to this thread and apologize to all of you because I'd rather do that and see us get the best players out there.
After seeing Kolarov, Clichy, Sagna and sadly how Zaba slowly declined, and having to watch Navas and Fernandinho fill in for him, I think we deserve to have first class players.
Cheers.