Spot on. Pretty certain some people were getting called flappers, rag or overly negative for saying stuff of a similar ilk a couple of weeks ago about De Bruyne and Pogba. As much as we'd like to pretend otherwise, we're not yet Bayern, Barca or Real. We're in that tier below and no impressive financial figures will change that, neither will recent success. Chelsea aren't there yet either despite being at the top level in recent history for longer than us. It takes a very, very long time to build that aura and we've got a fair few years left to wait, unless we have a couple freak seasons that propel us to the top. I.e we win the Champs league or sumat. Just the way it is.
That's simple! We are trying to sign world class players, but we don't have the pull of Real, Barca, Bayern yet. When those clubs come calling, the player doesn't say "I wouldn't mind going, but I'd be ok staying" like we are getting from KDB & Pogba. When they go for one of your players, the player says "It's my childhood dream to go there, I'm leaving", "I want to play with Messi/Xavi/Ronaldo". The players are desperate and the clubs are resigned to being a step below those elite tier clubs, so they know they can't really keep the player anyway.
We don't have that pull yet. So we will need to scrap and fight for these big transfers, and they'll be drawn out and miserable and we'll be bored of how slow they move.
But when they come off, they will raise the profile of the team and the pull of the club. Then we will win things, and the pull gets stronger again. And in 10,15,20 years of winning things and being a major team in Europe we will start to rival the draw that the other elite European clubs have, and then when we want a player like KDB they will bend over backwards to join us, and it will happen in a week, not 2 months.
There's a lot more to it than that, partly because your post has a whiff of the Likkle City about it.
We are a big draw now to players. We win things, have glamour, pay well, look after players and have an enormous future. The fact that we have agreed packages with these top drawer players shows that is the case.
The delay with De Bruyne and Pogba is clearly in negotiations with the selling clubs, clubs who are more or less having their arms forced by players who we have tapped up. City's recent history is of regularly overpaying, and Soriano's brief is of course to stop that, and to ensure that City don't get held over a barrel and forced to pay a City "premium". They've been very clever by ensuring that we have no rival bidders driving up the price, and now we are at the purchase point. Time arguably is on our side here, when the player(s) have mentally made the switch, and the best tactic we have is to walk away/play it cool.
I'd imagine if we had thrown £100m each on the table for De Bruyne and Pogba we would have had these players sewn up weeks ago. But the club is now integrating itself into the European giants and part of that is not been taken for mugs. These players aren't in the bag but it's obvious to me that we are playing things cleverly. We have signed two, and are close to two big name players, and there hasn't been a rival bidder for any of them. That's class in action, and the current delays are an extension to that.
There's a lot more to it than that, partly because your post has a whiff of the Likkle City about it.
We are a big draw now to players. We win things, have glamour, pay well, look after players and have an enormous future. The fact that we have agreed packages with these top drawer players shows that is the case.
The delay with De Bruyne and Pogba is clearly in negotiations with the selling clubs, clubs who are more or less having their arms forced by players who we have tapped up. City's recent history is of regularly overpaying, and Soriano's brief is of course to stop that, and to ensure that City don't get held over a barrel and forced to pay a City "premium". They've been very clever by ensuring that we have no rival bidders driving up the price, and now we are at the purchase point. Time arguably is on our side here, when the player(s) have mentally made the switch, and the best tactic we have is to walk away/play it cool.
I'd imagine if we had thrown £100m each on the table for De Bruyne and Pogba we would have had these players sewn up weeks ago. But the club is now integrating itself into the European giants and part of that is not been taken for mugs. These players aren't in the bag but it's obvious to me that we are playing things cleverly. We have signed two, and are close to two big name players, and there hasn't been a rival bidder for any of them. That's class in action, and the current delays are an extension to that.
DD consistently hitting the nail on the head. Good post.There's a lot more to it than that, partly because your post has a whiff of the Likkle City about it.
We are a big draw now to players. We win things, have glamour, pay well, look after players and have an enormous future. The fact that we have agreed packages with these top drawer players shows that is the case.
The delay with De Bruyne and Pogba is clearly in negotiations with the selling clubs, clubs who are more or less having their arms forced by players who we have tapped up. City's recent history is of regularly overpaying, and Soriano's brief is of course to stop that, and to ensure that City don't get held over a barrel and forced to pay a City "premium". They've been very clever by ensuring that we have no rival bidders driving up the price, and now we are at the purchase point. Time arguably is on our side here, when the player(s) have mentally made the switch, and the best tactic we have is to walk away/play it cool.
I'd imagine if we had thrown £100m each on the table for De Bruyne and Pogba we would have had these players sewn up weeks ago. But the club is now integrating itself into the European giants and part of that is not been taken for mugs. These players aren't in the bag but it's obvious to me that we are playing things cleverly. We have signed two, and are close to two big name players, and there hasn't been a rival bidder for any of them. That's class in action, and the current delays are an extension to that.
There's a lot more to it than that, partly because your post has a whiff of the Likkle City about it.
We are a big draw now to players. We win things, have glamour, pay well, look after players and have an enormous future. The fact that we have agreed packages with these top drawer players shows that is the case.
The delay with De Bruyne and Pogba is clearly in negotiations with the selling clubs, clubs who are more or less having their arms forced by players who we have tapped up. City's recent history is of regularly overpaying, and Soriano's brief is of course to stop that, and to ensure that City don't get held over a barrel and forced to pay a City "premium". They've been very clever by ensuring that we have no rival bidders driving up the price, and now we are at the purchase point. Time arguably is on our side here, when the player(s) have mentally made the switch, and the best tactic we have is to walk away/play it cool.
I'd imagine if we had thrown £100m each on the table for De Bruyne and Pogba we would have had these players sewn up weeks ago. But the club is now integrating itself into the European giants and part of that is not been taken for mugs. These players aren't in the bag but it's obvious to me that we are playing things cleverly. We have signed two, and are close to two big name players, and there hasn't been a rival bidder for any of them. That's class in action, and the current delays are an extension to that.
Well said. I think you may be right here!There's a lot more to it than that, partly because your post has a whiff of the Likkle City about it.
We are a big draw now to players. We win things, have glamour, pay well, look after players and have an enormous future. The fact that we have agreed packages with these top drawer players shows that is the case.
The delay with De Bruyne and Pogba is clearly in negotiations with the selling clubs, clubs who are more or less having their arms forced by players who we have tapped up. City's recent history is of regularly overpaying, and Soriano's brief is of course to stop that, and to ensure that City don't get held over a barrel and forced to pay a City "premium". They've been very clever by ensuring that we have no rival bidders driving up the price, and now we are at the purchase point. Time arguably is on our side here, when the player(s) have mentally made the switch, and the best tactic we have is to walk away/play it cool.
I'd imagine if we had thrown £100m each on the table for De Bruyne and Pogba we would have had these players sewn up weeks ago. But the club is now integrating itself into the European giants and part of that is not been taken for mugs. These players aren't in the bag but it's obvious to me that we are playing things cleverly. We have signed two, and are close to two big name players, and there hasn't been a rival bidder for any of them. That's class in action, and the current delays are an extension to that.
Wake me up at 759pm on the 10th of August......