Declan Rice

[Craig]

Glad we’re out of that race

 

[richards30]

Not a scooby now mate.

Was told for months Rice was a back up option to Bellingham.

I quite enjoy the fact I have nothing more!

If Frenkie wants to call, I'm up for that!

Dangerous if we dont sign another midfielder imo as its obvious we wanted one going for both Bellingham and Rice?

 

[Manx Blue]

if we dont get him the toy's will be thrown out of the pram

Do we have a pram as well as toy's?

 

[Damien10]

To be fair, people are allowed to be disappointed we've missed out on signing a great player, I'm sure there are players and coaching staff within the club who share this disappointment. But we move on.

If the club feel like missing out on the target is better then matching the Arsenal offer I trust them.

Maybe they are playing chess.

 

[DeBlueLou]

I just hope it doesn't piss Pep off. We've missed our first 2 choices in this position now, I really liked rice for his character and potential under pep.

I hope we attemt to tempt FDJ from Barca

FDJ is one 500k/w at Barca. He aint moving anywhere.

 

[Kippax77]

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.

I thought Mahrez and Johnny Stones are 2 of his biggest pals

 

[pavelsrnicek]

People need to trust the club especially the scouting network.

Many more opportunities will present themselves from now until August. This doesn’t spell the end of the spending.

The concern I have is it’s Gvardiol and done. We need to build from the treble win rather than relax after it. Refresh and inject hunger and make sure we have a good mix of ages in the squad. Our midfield (with or without Bernardo) needs more than just Kovacic.

 

[Kamaro011]

I think the fans are growing into this mentality as well. I’ve definitely found myself at times thinking, “it doesn’t matter who we sign because pep will make it work”

"Pep will make it work"

only if he still our manager, this kind dependencies on him doing his magic is too much for me like are we really going to be fine if Pep is not our manager anymore?

 

[mccity]

I wonder if United will come in with a silly bid anytime soon?

 

[edinburgh123]

Problem is next summer would the kind of players we’ll need want to join knowing there’s upheaval 12 months hence.

Would far prefer to take a half step back in moving Mahrez, Bernardo, Walker now and build a squad that’s peaking start of 2024/25 season. Get 2 years of new players working under Pep which should make the transition easier.

Other than the fact this is a true history making season. We win the League and it is 4 times on the trot. Having never been done every since 1888 that is a true history making season. If we don't win it - we may realistically never get a chance to break this record

 

[wolviedinho]

Kicking the can down the road on Bernardo probably isn't the smartest thing in the world. What Gundo said about Pep wanting the two of them to leave together, could equally apply to Bernie. That isn't the right thing to do. The right thing to do is to evolve the squad and refresh it so that when Pep leaves he doesn't leave a Ferguson situation with a bunch of ageing players who have won it all.

Having said all that. selling Bernie this summer would mean having to buy TWO players whereas if you keep him, you can probably just about get away with buying no one else and just going with Kovacic as the Gundo replacement. Tricky decisions, but I guess it all depends upon who is available this summer and what they'd cost.

There is no downside whatsoever in keeping Bernardo for 1/2 seasons. The lad has shown nothing but the upmost professionalism. Ideally we buy one more midfielder to give them time to bed in. The club has managed the squad very well and that is reflected both financially and the trophies delivered.

No matter how much we try to downplay it. Once pep goes we will need to accept a bit of upheaval.

 

[danielwood5]

Oh they care buddy. I wish we didn’t but the board do care very much how we are perceived in the market.

There's a difference between how we are prepared to being seen by others involved in the market (I.e. other clubs) and the general layman populace though.
Getting a reputation for throwing ridiculous money at targets doesn't help in the long run, look at United and the way they've managed to bid higher than quoted prices for players when nobody else was even interested in them, it makes all their transfers cost more and more than they should and that's really affecting them now, particularly in the new FFP world.
Arsenal may be able to get away with a one off huge, over pricedsigning like this but if they regularly start going above and beyond in the prices they pay they will have real issues in the future, particularly if they need a squad refresh at a time when they haven't qualified for the champions league for example.
What Derek the white van man from Grimsby or the lunatic fringe of the journalistic world think is irrelevant to pretty much anybody above the tea lady at pretty much any club in the world except those that define themselves on social media clicks and likes such as United, Liverpool, Real Madrid, etc.

 

[BillyShears]

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.

Absolutely. And to be honest it isn't even about downing tools or being a clown like Cancelo. They've just done the treble and got the CL that was missing. They've retained a third PL title on the bounce. I expect a drop from a lot of those who have been around a few years. Key thing is to bring in guys like Haaland, Alvarez, and Grealish who are fucking hungry for trophies.

 

[Xhavenjoe]

I thought Mahrez and Johnny Stones are 2 of his biggest pals

Ones his friend and the other is his dog

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Kicking the can down the road on Bernardo probably isn't the smartest thing in the world. What Gundo said about Pep wanting the two of them to leave together, could equally apply to Bernie. That isn't the right thing to do. The right thing to do is to evolve the squad and refresh it so that when Pep leaves he doesn't leave a Ferguson situation with a bunch of ageing players who have won it all.

Having said all that. selling Bernie this summer would mean having to buy TWO players whereas if you keep him, you can probably just about get away with buying no one else and just going with Kovacic as the Gundo replacement. Tricky decisions, but I guess it all depends upon who is available this summer and what they'd cost.

If we can somehow persuade him to stay, it would also mean a new deal. At 28, it would be his last peak deal, whether Pep is here or not.

Still think Saudi have a say in that :(

 

[Bluearmy]

We signed Haaland, alvarez, akanji and kovacic for a combined £105 million.

Win-win situation for us, we either get the player, become stronger and stop arsenal getting their primary target. Or, we've just made arsenal pay an extra £25-30 million and blow their entire remaining budget on Rice

We've been here before…. The competition are just too stupid to see it

 

[Lavinda Past]

A broken clock is right once every hour.

Ouch!

 

[pavelsrnicek]

There is no downside whatsoever in keeping Bernardo for 1/2 seasons. The lad has shown nothing but the upmost professionalism. Ideally we buy one more midfielder to give them time to bed in. The club has managed the squad very well and that is reflected both financially and the trophies delivered.

No matter how much we try to downplay it. Once pep goes we will need to accept a bit of upheaval.

I agree on the last point but I hope we would try to minimise other changes. If we sign Gvardiol our defence is set for a few years. Alvarez and Haaland up front is great for as long as we keep Haaland. Our future concerns our midfield.

 

[JewelZee]

Kicking the can down the road on Bernardo probably isn't the smartest thing in the world. What Gundo said about Pep wanting the two of them to leave together, could equally apply to Bernie. That isn't the right thing to do. The right thing to do is to evolve the squad and refresh it so that when Pep leaves he doesn't leave a Ferguson situation with a bunch of ageing players who have won it all.

Having said all that. selling Bernie this summer would mean having to buy TWO players whereas if you keep him, you can probably just about get away with buying no one else and just going with Kovacic as the Gundo replacement. Tricky decisions, but I guess it all depends upon who is available this summer and what they'd cost.

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...

 

[wolviedinho]

And most probably Gvardiol.

Do you think we'll manage the 40 points with that?

Without rice we will get relegated for sure. It might be time to get the Chelsea top out. They seem to spend lots of crap.