Declan Rice

[Lavinda Past]

It’s a strange one. Don’t see where he fits in as

He isn’t a Striker
They already have Saka, Martinelli, Trosssard outwide along with Odegaard and Smith Rowe for the Number 10

Havertz is the new Aubameyang.

 

[BobKowalski]

The fact we bid a figure that had already been rejected tells me it was just a message to Arsenal that we were interested and intended to panic them into upping their bid.
It was a free hit for us.
If we were serious about buying him, surely our initial bid would have been higher than Arsenal's.

City are a serious business and run efficiently. They do not go around making spurious bids to bump up the price.

Our bid was higher in upfront fee, more achievable add ons and with a payment schedule more to WH liking.

Arsenal could have easily walked away and then what? Leaving us to pay £90m for a player we only bid on for kicks and giggles?

Sometimes things are just what they seem. We wanted Rice. We valued him at £90m. The end.

 

[Blue warrior]

Well we can give them their first slap in the community shield silver linings and all that.

 

[chesterbells]

Aluko's theory of Pep working with Arteta to help Arsenal is clearly nonsense.

but she also said "I dont think City really wants Rice", that is imo true, based on the events, we only register our interest once Gundo announce he is leaving, and we put in a bid that was 100% to be rejected than quickly we step out of the deal.

if this was the maximum value we go for 80+10, then we were naive to think that WHU will bite as they have just rejected 75+15 from Arse the day before. everyone was like ok what the next Arse bid and then whats the next City bid but we pull out quickly. did we really want him?
kind of like putting in a 40m bid for Kane, we know its rejected the second they get it.

I actually prefer players with release clause, less of a chance of this licit malarkey, Txiki knows as well what is the price and we dont need to set maximum amounts as we know what is the maximum. sometimes can be less than release fee but never more.
Grealish had a 100m clause, was just as overpriced as Rice now we may have tried to negotite with Villa about doing it at a lesser price but they were adamant and Txiki thought OK we pay it. had he not had this release clause we may walk away.

I’m not a big fan of journalist Andy Dunn but I did agree with his point on SSN paper review the other night about the ridiculous prices clubs are asking now for players with only 1 year left on their contracts. He said the market is out of kilter in that particular regard, and I agree.

There are loads of examples, but Spurs rejection of Munich, Chelsea’s rejection of united are two recent ones.
They end up shooting themselves in the foot by getting nothing next year, and especially it the team has nothing to play for, risk having a player going through the motions from February onwards to avoid injury.

I wonder how much some these asking prices would come down if a bud was made next January …

 

[Complex Simplicity]

Actually think we've played a very clever tactic to get Arsenal to pay way more than the actual valuation for Rice. Happens all the time in businesses.

Don't actually think we were genuinely interested in Rice. I dont see what he brings to us or how he'd fit in with Rodri and Phillips already here. I agree with Aluko.

 

[goalmole]

That takes their spending to around 470 million since 2021 but nothing is ever mentioned in the media about the money they have spent under Artega

Ah but, their money isn't filthy Arab oil money so it's ok.

 

[Bluemanc100]

We play the long game.
No point getting a player over our budget, that then ruins the next target.
You only have to look at United and maybe Chelsea lately to see over paying simply doesn't work.

It's like me bidding on ebay. I used to get caught up in bidding wars just to have the satisfaction of winning.
It didn't take me long to realise this was a mugs way to do things.
So i now do my research, set a budget and stick to it.

Yes now and again i regret not bidding more when i struggle to find an item anywhere near the winning price.
More often than not though i've found even better items for less money and find that more rewarding.

The secret on eBay is (obviously) set a budget but wait until the dying seconds to try and win... Use a sniper if you can't click the button in person... The thrill of seeing the system churning away and then telling you whether you've won or not is addictive ;-)

 

[Ghostofmerlin]

£167 million seems like an awful lot for Havertz and Rice. Maybe it will pay off, but that is 4-5 pretty good players if you do your research and scouting well.

 

[Lavinda Past]

Actually think we've played a very clever tactic to get Arsenal to pay way more than the actual valuation for Rice. Happens all the time in businesses.

Don't actually think we were genuinely interested in Rice. I dont see what he brings to us or how he'd fit in with Rodri and Phillips already here. I agree with Aluko.

Don't be daft. Nobody puts an offer on the table 'for a laugh' or just to bump up the price. Aluko is thick as shit and no doubt thought she was being clever.

City wanted Rice for £90m, no more than that. Arsenal offered £105m. West Ham haven't accepted that yet, probably due to unacceptable terms.

As I see it, it is possible that City's offer, although £15m lower, has terms that are more favourable to West Ham.

The ball is obviously in Arsenal's court, but they're fannying about like an old dear paying with 5p coins at a checkout.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that we're not actually out of the game yet.

 

[malg]

more than Chelsea and United over the same period. Any mention of this in the media?

How are they getting past FFP with no previous CL football

History......