Declan Rice

[Thaksins Love Child]

Embarrassment.

What is?

 

[City Raider]

Are we walking away or are we playing the long game? Public knowledge West Ham don’t like Arsenal’s terms. We may have put Sullivan in a spot.

 

[Brewster's millions]

It's also worth remembering that just because Bernardo was a good boy and buckled down after not getting his move the last 2 years, doesn't mean he will this year.

Prior peformance no indicator of future results etc.

I don't think it's in his character to do what Cancelo did, but the Mrs. wants away, new kid coming, easy to take your eye off the ball and let other things in life take priority.

Plus IIRC Cancelo, Gundogan, Sterling and Laporte were some of Bernardo's closest friends at the club, and they're all gone/going.

Bernado needs someone to put an acceptable bid in for him first, something which hasn’t happened over the past two summers.

If such a bid were rejected by the club, then I agree he may well let his performances drop. But if no bid materialises, then he’s got no choice but to get on with it, as he has done for the past couple of years.

 

[hammocity]

A broken clock is right once every hour.

?????

Once every 12 hours for a non digital clock!

 

[BillyShears]

I wouldn't consider having a prime Bernardo stay for at least another year kicking the can down the road. Freshening up the squad is one thing but moving on from super players in their prime prematurely is another. If Bernardo stays that's better than just about any new addition we can make at the moment. There's plenty of time to address his potential departure down the line. Are we kicking the can on KDB, Walker, Mahrez? All much more in line with your position than the little wizard...

Knowing when to move on players is key to evolving a team without going backwards. I personally think that winning a treble, finally getting the CL trophy, after trying to leave the club for 3 years, is going to motivate Bernardo even more to leave. And if he stays, there's a bigger chance he'll coast.

KDB and Mahrez have not consistently expressed a desire to leave City. Hence, I'm not overly worried about replacing them because their attitude remains correct.

 

[N1985]

Well done City. Fucking 105 million quid. Fuck off

 

[wolviedinho]

There's an enormous downside to keeping him for 2 years. It is self evident. In 2 years he'll leave on a free the same year Pep's contract expires.

I appreciate that the club have managed the squad well, but a cornerstone of that success has been Pep. He has consistently worked small miracles by making players multifunctional and getting the best out of them in positions that aren't natural to them.

All I'm saying is that you have to prepare for life after Pep if you think he'll go in 2 years (which I think he will). You can't sleepwalk into that summer because the other side of that hill won't just be "a bit of upheaval" - it'll be one of the most difficult transitions in the history of the football club.

Again, none of this is a criticism of the club or of Pep. As I said earlier, if we keep Bernardo, I think we will be fine with Kovacic replacing Gundo. But I personally think selling Bernardo this summer is ripping off a plaster which needs ripping off and addressing the underlying issue.

No stopping the decline when Pep does leave. It’s something we all have to accept. This is as good as it gets imo. His departure will be brutal.

 

[hgblue]

Are we walking away or are we playing the long game? Public knowledge West Ham don’t like Arsenal’s terms. We may have put Sullivan in a spot.

Well Sullivan has certainly gone from sitting on his fat arse smugly rejecting bids waiting for both sides to keep offering him more money, to having one offer on the table, the terms of which he doesn't like.

 

[ws01]

If we wanted him, I'm convinced we'd have him.

Rodri and Phillips will do, Rodri's already one of the best in the world. Onto sorting out the backline

 

[eyalluvitt]

I wonder what Rice wanted City or arsenal it seems as if he had no choice just go to the highest bidder .
If he had a choice surely it must have been arsenal a player now a days goes to the club he wants within reason.
Saying that it does look like we have been used to bump up the price

Maybe he chose Arsenal over us for an English record transfer fee because he didn’t want to get booed at every away game for the rest of his career