Erling Haaland

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Is it the old City mentality that anything good will be taken away from us or the "cups for cock ups" theme or what? There is nothing to suggest that Pep will leave anytime soon so why the pessimism? There is just as much chance of Pep staying for the next ten years as leave in the next two.
I think Pep is as happy as he can be at City. But he’s an extremely intense, passionate coach and I think it’s only natural that at some point he will decide he can’t give quite of himself the same as he once could.
Before he came most people predicted he would do his 3 years then go; it’s testament to the foundations put in place by the club that he’s felt so at home and comfortable. The idea that he would stay for 7 seasons was probably a pipedream for most blues but here we are. I’m sure with experience he’s learned to do the job in such a way that he doesn’t get burned out so easily. Having said all that I feel getting this long out of him is a minor miracle and although he loves it here he will feel the need to reset and have a break.
 
Going to post something that is a bit of a follow-up to a post by @ChicagoBlue in the Kane thread ( https://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/threads/harry-kane.346481/post-13829723 )

City and Dortmund haven’t played their last games in the season yet. The summer window is yet to open.

The tide has turned with regards to the perception that Kane is now the favourite to be our striker signing for next season.

However, I would just like to present a theory that maybe, just maybe, the fact that this narrative has stuck the landing so convincingly might actually be good for negotiating with Dortmund.

Let’s assume we were stuck in negotiating a fee with Dortmund. Is there anything better than a player that feels like the obvious second choice to come out and declare his own fee, that fee being much lower than any market estimate would have? And give hints in an interview about wanting to play for us? The interview was recorded six weeks ago according to Tolmie. Now, there were related stories about him wanting to leave immediately followed by stories about us being the preferred destination and already being in negotiations that were released JUST BEFORE clips from that interview leaked. It felt, to me, incredibly coordinated.
It also caught my eye how simplistic Paul Hirst’s story earlier in the week was. “City has moved on to Kane because they think Haaland is too expensive.” Hirst frequently puts out stuff that the club wants out there. His and other stories made sure to point out that Haaland is/was the number one target.
For this kind of stuff to work as a tool of negotiation, it has to feel convincing to everyone. It has to feel convincing even to the ITK’s and the “smart people” here. It can’t be a story in a newspaper that we all would just laugh off as a silly or weak rumor.

I do believe City might have Kane as a serious second choice and might have been holding conversation with his camp for awhile now. But we have also been in conversations with Dortmund and the Haaland camp.
I have already talked about how Txiki and Raiola have a very good relationship. Contrary to what some people here think, these two would work together in negotiating with Dortmund once they got to an agreement. A complex negotiation like this usually takes some cynical moves to work.
I wouldn’t rule out that City may have had something to do with that Kane/Neville interview. Like I said, it could serve their interest perfectly: works in pressuring Dortmund in the negotiation and, were that to fail, it would also work in negotiating with Tottenham. Using Kane like that is totally a Raiola idea that I seriously can see him giving Txiki.

Tottenham has already been putting out their narratives: “we wouldn’t do it for less than 150M“... now they’re up to 200M. Maybe they realize they’re being used in this, too, and are counterattacking.

I know the large majority here will think this is a crazy conspiracy theory, and that is fine with me. But I want to share it and claim credit if I end up being right anyway...
 
I have not seen much to suggest we are out of the running for Haaland. Dortmung getting cl or not, i am not to sure it had any real impact on Haaland's decision to stay or go. If the price is right he will go, i think!

Regarding the relationship between Txiki and Riaola i am not sure it is cosy. Txiki's loyalty is to Pep above all others and that is reciprocated i feel for the good of club operations besides their personal friendship. Pep can't stand Riaola and vice versa, this is no secret. Riaolo also likes to move his top stars around every 3 years for no other reason i can gather than to get himself a nice cut.
Pogba will stay at utd because i simply don't think the very best clubs are interested in him. Riaola has tried to get him to Madrid but there was nothing doing.

If Txiki can deal with Riaola for the clients you would call high tier, Philippe Sandler is not really that, then it could happen. I do think though there is a real worry we would be stuck with trouble should Haaland not enjoy rotation for example or Riaola starts getting loud about a new contract etc. We don't like that at all, nobody does but especially us, we like a smooth operation and consider it integral to the clubs operations. As opposed to say Chelsea where they will rip up the script if they feel it is not working or Utd who will, seemingly, tolerate it as long as the cash is rolling in from commercial stuff.

If Haaland is a grafter and not a marde arse it could work, if he is a bit of a diva Txiki will see the risk of trouble rise sharply. That is where i feel we stand with it. Does anyone have any insight on Haaland's personality?
 
I’ve gone off having Haaland here, if he did sign for us i don’t see him staying I’d give it 2 to 3 years before mino starts doing interviews saying his clients likes Spain, Real Madrid etc. Then pushing city for more money , new contract etc its just going to be constant hassle. Do you really believe Haaland would stay in the prem for 5 to 6 years or more? at one club when he has said that he wants to play in different leagues.

he will join score a lot of goals win trophies then leave after a few years. Then your looking for a replacement again.
 
Going to post something that is a bit of a follow-up to a post by @ChicagoBlue in the Kane thread ( https://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/threads/harry-kane.346481/post-13829723 )

City and Dortmund haven’t played their last games in the season yet. The summer window is yet to open.

The tide has turned with regards to the perception that Kane is now the favourite to be our striker signing for next season.

However, I would just like to present a theory that maybe, just maybe, the fact that this narrative has stuck the landing so convincingly might actually be good for negotiating with Dortmund.

Let’s assume we were stuck in negotiating a fee with Dortmund. Is there anything better than a player that feels like the obvious second choice to come out and declare his own fee, that fee being much lower than any market estimate would have? And give hints in an interview about wanting to play for us? The interview was recorded six weeks ago according to Tolmie. Now, there were related stories about him wanting to leave immediately followed by stories about us being the preferred destination and already being in negotiations that were released JUST BEFORE clips from that interview leaked. It felt, to me, incredibly coordinated.
It also caught my eye how simplistic Paul Hirst’s story earlier in the week was. “City has moved on to Kane because they think Haaland is too expensive.” Hirst frequently puts out stuff that the club wants out there. His and other stories made sure to point out that Haaland is/was the number one target.
For this kind of stuff to work as a tool of negotiation, it has to feel convincing to everyone. It has to feel convincing even to the ITK’s and the “smart people” here. It can’t be a story in a newspaper that we all would just laugh off as a silly or weak rumor.

I do believe City might have Kane as a serious second choice and might have been holding conversation with his camp for awhile now. But we have also been in conversations with Dortmund and the Haaland camp.
I have already talked about how Txiki and Raiola have a very good relationship. Contrary to what some people here think, these two would work together in negotiating with Dortmund once they got to an agreement. A complex negotiation like this usually takes some cynical moves to work.
I wouldn’t rule out that City may have had something to do with that Kane/Neville interview. Like I said, it could serve their interest perfectly: works in pressuring Dortmund in the negotiation and, were that to fail, it would also work in negotiating with Tottenham. Using Kane like that is totally a Raiola idea that I seriously can see him giving Txiki.

Tottenham has already been putting out their narratives: “we wouldn’t do it for less than 150M“... now they’re up to 200M. Maybe they realize they’re being used in this, too, and are counterattacking.

I know the large majority here will think this is a crazy conspiracy theory, and that is fine with me. But I want to share it and claim credit if I end up being right anyway...
Biggest load of waffle I’ve ever read
 
Regarding the relationship between Txiki and Riaola i am not sure it is cosy. Txiki's loyalty is to Pep above all others and that is reciprocated i feel for the good of club operations besides their personal friendship. Pep can't stand Riaola and vice versa, this is no secret. Riaolo also likes to move his top stars around every 3 years for no other reason i can gather than to get himself a nice cut.
Pogba will stay at utd because i simply don't think the very best clubs are interested in him. Riaola has tried to get him to Madrid but there was nothing doing.

I have exchanged messages with three different journalists (two from Barcelona and one from Madrid) who all told me about how Raiola and Txiki have a very good relationship.
You are painting Txiki as Pep’s puppy, as if he won’t get along with whoever Pep doesn’t like. No one here is claiming they are personal friends. But in the business position Txiki is in, he wouldn’t really be doing a good job if he cultivated many enemies.

Pogba has been in two clubs since 2009. That is significantly less than the majority of footballers. He was somewhat of a protagonist in France’s World Cup win. Raiola has always seen him as a potential brilliant superstar. As his agent, if you saw that potential in him, it is only natural that you would want him to fulfill that in a better place. He is stuck at the mess that is United and probably won’t get anywhere there. If United were doing great and winning titles, Raiola wouldn’t even touch him, just like he doesn’t touch many of his clients who are doing well at their clubs. I’ve said many times that this version of Raiola, or agents in general, as people hungry for fees every two years and moving players around against their will, is just false. They make more money when a player is being successful and doing well, even if they never change clubs
 
My concern with Haaland isn't Raiola. He's just an agent. He's not going to screw his client over to spite City, nor would City spite a potential era-defining transfer over their agent. Especially if it's an agent like Raiola that seems to only pop up for contract renegotiations or transfers (as Alf seems to be the main guy).

Dortmund are the problem. They held their ground over Sancho last summer and I'd believe they'd do it this year with Haaland, especially if they do sell Sancho this time around.


I suspect if we do move for Kane it'll be due to being priced out for Haaland by Dortmund. I wouldn't be surprised if the club and Haaland had agreed something, and Raiola had been on board too.
 
I have exchanged messages with three different journalists (two from Barcelona and one from Madrid) who all told me about how Raiola and Txiki have a very good relationship.
You are painting Txiki as Pep’s puppy, as if he won’t get along with whoever Pep doesn’t like. No one here is claiming they are personal friends. But in the business position Txiki is in, he wouldn’t really be doing a good job if he cultivated many enemies.

Pogba has been in two clubs since 2009. That is significantly less than the majority of footballers. He was somewhat of a protagonist in France’s World Cup win. Raiola has always seen him as a potential brilliant superstar. As his agent, if you saw that potential in him, it is only natural that you would want him to fulfill that in a better place. He is stuck at the mess that is United and probably won’t get anywhere there. If United were doing great and winning titles, Raiola wouldn’t even touch him, just like he doesn’t touch many of his clients who are doing well at their clubs. I’ve said many times that this version of Raiola, or agents in general, as people hungry for fees every two years and moving players around against their will, is just false. They make more money when a player is being successful and doing well, even if they never change clubs
I did not paint Txiki as "Pep's puppy" as you call it at all i was explicite that the respect is recprocated so maybe you could not create a false narrative of my words in order to give them less credence. You read what you wanted to read there, nothing more.

I also simply don't believe you spoke to journalists about the matter. I have no idea who you are so i am not going to believe some random on the internet at face value on such issues, i would be foolish to do so. If you can give weight to these claims i would of course be more inclined to believe you.

Riaola has a big mouth with diplomacy not his first port of call with negotiations. Spin it any way you like but history shows me his methods would be jarring for our club unless he gets exactly what he wants. Diplomacy is just a word in a dictionary to him very often. If we drop off a bit and Barca find 500m down the back of the sofa and Haaland wants to move; We may be happy to facilitate the move but Riaola would, going of his history, make it messy to drive the price down etc.

Pogba was not the main man for France at the world cup either this is rsimply nonsense, he was invisible the first 4 or so matches and was a cog in the machine after, not some stand out performer by any stretch. That is if you watched the games and not judged him based on some sympathetic journalists reports. He went back to utd for the money, any fool could see they were at best in some state of transition so when it doesn't work out don't throw your toys out the pram which i what happened innitially before the realisation came that no other big club was in for him.

Other agents seem to do pretty well in the diplomacy area of things where as Riaola seems to use the press to get his way as a primary tactic. In short dealing with him carries an elevated risk of disharmony.
 
Dortmund are the problem. They held their ground over Sancho last summer and I'd believe they'd do it this year with Haaland, especially if they do sell Sancho this time around.


I suspect if we do move for Kane it'll be due to being priced out for Haaland by Dortmund. I wouldn't be surprised if the club and Haaland had agreed something, and Raiola had been on board too.

This is basically the scenario I discussed in my penultimate post. I don’t know if Dortmund are the problem, but they definitely are the last hurdle. And Raiola would work with us to work something out with them.
 
I did not paint Txiki as "Pep's puppy" as you call it at all i was explicite that the respect is recprocated so maybe you could not create a false narrative of my words in order to give them less credence. You read what you wanted to read there, nothing more.
This is what you wrote:

“Regarding the relationship between Txiki and Riaola i am not sure it is cosy. Txiki's loyalty is to Pep above all others and that is reciprocated i feel for the good of club operations besides their personal friendship. Pep can't stand Riaola and vice versa, this is no secret.”

Are you not implying that Txiki and Raiola (please get his name right next time) don’t have a cosy relationship because he’s loyal to Pep above all others?

I also simply don't believe you spoke to journalists about the matter. I have no idea who you are so i am not going to believe some random on the internet at face value on such issues, i would be foolish to do so. If you can give weight to these claims i would of course be more inclined to believe you.

Fair enough, you don’t have to believe me! I am a journalist myself, curious by nature, and unlike the regular person here, I don’t like to go around making uninformed guesses. There is nothing wrong with that for the normal person, but as a journalist, information is always my guide, and I like to talk to as many people as I can, I know how to reach out to just about anybody I want, and that helps me get a better view of the world around me. And journalists also like to talk to other journalists, something not everyone knows. I have been discussing many things with these guys for many months, it’s not strictly Raiola or Haaland related.
I would never name them or show our conversations because they are private. And I don’t need you to believe me.
But just for your information, I am not the only poster here to have mentioned the Raiola/Txiki relationship.

Pogba was not the main man for France at the world cup either this is rsimply nonsense, he was invisible the first 4 or so matches and was a cog in the machine after, not some stand out performer by any stretch. That is if you watched the games and not judged him based on some sympathetic journalists reports.
Classy.
I said “Pogba was somewhat of A protagonist”. I didn’t say he was a star at the World Cup, but he left the competition bigger than he entered it as a face of France. This has nothing to do with the level of his performances necessarily — although I probably think more highly of him in that competition than you do.
And I didn’t just watch the games, I was working in the coverage

Other agents seem to do pretty well in the diplomacy area of things where as Riaola seems to use the press to get his way as a primary tactic. In short dealing with him carries an elevated risk of disharmony.

He is no saint. But the thing is, he gains from being seen as somewhat of a bastard, and likes that. Puts him ahead of others. But the way he operates is not unlike other agents. City got a taste of that this week, let’s put it this way...
 
This is what you wrote:

“Regarding the relationship between Txiki and Riaola i am not sure it is cosy. Txiki's loyalty is to Pep above all others and that is reciprocated i feel for the good of club operations besides their personal friendship. Pep can't stand Riaola and vice versa, this is no secret.”

Are you not implying that Txiki and Raiola (please get his name right next time) don’t have a cosy relationship because he’s loyal to Pep above all others?



Fair enough, you don’t have to believe me! I am a journalist myself, curious by nature, and unlike the regular person here, I don’t like to go around making uninformed guesses. There is nothing wrong with that for the normal person, but as a journalist, information is always my guide, and I like to talk to as many people as I can, I know how to reach out to just about anybody I want, and that helps me get a better view of the world around me. And journalists also like to talk to other journalists, something not everyone knows. I have been discussing many things with these guys for many months, it’s not strictly Raiola or Haaland related.
I would never name them or show our conversations because they are private. And I don’t need you to believe me.
But just for your information, I am not the only poster here to have mentioned the Raiola/Txiki relationship.


Classy.
I said “Pogba was somewhat of A protagonist”. I didn’t say he was a star at the World Cup, but he left the competition bigger than he entered it as a face of France. This has nothing to do with the level of his performances necessarily — although I probably think more highly of him in that competition than you do.
And I didn’t just watch the games, I was working in the coverage



He is no saint. But the thing is, he gains from being seen as somewhat of a bastard, and likes that. Puts him ahead of others. But the way he operates is not unlike other agents. City got a taste of that this week, let’s put it this way...
Pep and Txiki's relationship is paramount for the smooth running of the club. If Pep has reservations about dealing with high profile clients of agents he has issues with that should trump any agreeable relationship Txiki has with said agent. Considering Pep and Raiola don't get along at all, it is very much a consideration for any potential deal. To dismiss it as a non issue seems foolish. Is that clear enough for you to understand?

"normal person" "uninformed guesses" get over yourself you self involved so and so, deary me. You obviously feel being a journalist puts you in a special category, well it does but we will be giving the word "special" different context i feel.
You write what you get given, which is largely nothing unless, as i say, you are delivered a few crumbs. The rest of what i see written is largely no different from what i see on fan forums, often with less objectivity so excuse me if i find your attitude rather laughable. There are some with legitimate high end contacts but i get the feeling you are not one of them.

Do you know what the definition of "protagonist" is? I do believe you are a journo now. A "protagonist" is defined as "the main character". You said that, nowhere did i say you called him a "star" but that is still what you inferred with the use of the word "protagonist", unless of course you don't know what it meant in which case you should have studied to a better standard maybe? Beyond that you are just juggling synonyms here.

You say you were covering the event, fair enough. Do tell how that has any impact on your ability to understand the game better than myself or is it this sense of self importance rearing it's head again? Otherwise why note it. Does that give you more insight perhaps? If so i would love to hear the mechanics of that.

Enjoy that smug unwarrented feeling of self importance my man, i hope it serves you well in life.
 
Is that clear enough for you to understand?
It is clear what your point is, I just don’t agree with it at all.

"normal person" "uninformed guesses" get over yourself you self involved so and so, deary me. You obviously feel being a journalist puts you in a special category, well it does but we will be giving the word "special" different context i feel.
You write what you get given, which is largely nothing unless, as i say, you are delivered a few crumbs. The rest of what i see written is largely no different from what i see on fan forums, often with less objectivity so excuse me if i find your attitude rather laughable. There are some with legitimate high end contacts but i get the feeling you are not one of them.
No, I don’t feel being a journalist puts me in any special category, as proven by my limited paychecks. I should have listened to my parents back then and chosen a different profession hehe
“You write what you get given, which is largely nothing unless, as i say, you are delivered a few crumbs.” I have no idea what this even means.
There are definitely people here who claim to have contacts within the club and with players.
That isn’t me. I have never claimed that. I live in Brazil, even if I wanted, I couldn’t build a relationship to get access or scoops from either case.

Do you know what the definition of "protagonist" is? I do believe you are a journo now. A "protagonist" is defined as "the main character". You said that, nowhere did i say you called him a "star" but that is still what you inferred with the use of the word "protagonist", unless of course you don't know what it meant in which case you should have studied to a better standard maybe? Beyond that you are just juggling synonyms here.

Again, you seem to ignore what I said. I didn’t say “Pogba was THE protagonist in France’s World Cup win”. If I had said that, you would have been correct. I said he was “SOMEWHAT of A protagonist”. See what’s in capital letters there. I took two chances to minimize his impact, with “somewhat” and then “a protagonist”, not necessarily the one. If your definition of protagonist leads you to believe there can only be one in a movie, a story, an event, it’s imprecise.

You say you were covering the event, fair enough. Do tell how that has any impact on your ability to understand the game better than myself or is it this sense of self importance rearing it's head again? Otherwise why note it. Does that give you more insight perhaps? If so i would love to hear the mechanics of that.

Again, you act pretty cynically. You were suggesting before that I had received my view of that event from sympathetic reports and I might not have even seen the games. I responded to tell you that I did more than see the games, it’s as simple as that.
And working behind the scenes, you do get access to things that don’t always make it to the final product. That isn’t to say I saw more of the game than the rest did (different angles, as proven by the advent of VAR, don’t lead to much).

Enjoy that smug unwarrented feeling of self importance my man, i hope it serves you well in life.

Thank you!

*
I have been trying to contribute to this forum with different perspectives, analysis, information and correlation. Never claimed to have been perfect. I definitely get things wrong a lot!
Maybe because of a cultural difference, you wonderful people of the UK who share with me the love for the same club, don’t take well some of my comments. I consider myself decently skilled enough with the English language, but something is clearly getting lost in translation. I do not mean to express myself, as I have been privately told before, with condescension and a patronizing tone. As moderators have made it clear to me, part of the blame for reactions like @TCIB’s is on me.
Most of the things I share here I also share with the groups of Brazilian and Argentinian fans I am part of and I never had any sort of issue of this nature. And I now think it will be better to stick to my local circle of fans, or as we are called here sometimes, “plastic international fans”.
The toxicity is just too much, it’s becoming unhealthy, getting too personal, and affecting me in a way it shouldn’t. I did not join this forum to have, months later, people creating fake profiles with the goal of attacking me personally, or ridiculing me.
It is also clear to me that the forum that doesn’t want me around will be better off when I leave. I’ll just start refraining bit by bit, and very soon close down the account for good and just become an observer, especially of the good contributors around here.

I sincerely apologize to those who may have been offended by posts of mine at some point. Whether I meant it or it was a case of linguistic disturbance, it shouldn’t have happened.
 
It is clear what your point is, I just don’t agree with it at all.


No, I don’t feel being a journalist puts me in any special category, as proven by my limited paychecks. I should have listened to my parents back then and chosen a different profession hehe
“You write what you get given, which is largely nothing unless, as i say, you are delivered a few crumbs.” I have no idea what this even means.
There are definitely people here who claim to have contacts within the club and with players.
That isn’t me. I have never claimed that. I live in Brazil, even if I wanted, I couldn’t build a relationship to get access or scoops from either case.



Again, you seem to ignore what I said. I didn’t say “Pogba was THE protagonist in France’s World Cup win”. If I had said that, you would have been correct. I said he was “SOMEWHAT of A protagonist”. See what’s in capital letters there. I took two chances to minimize his impact, with “somewhat” and then “a protagonist”, not necessarily the one. If your definition of protagonist leads you to believe there can only be one in a movie, a story, an event, it’s imprecise.



Again, you act pretty cynically. You were suggesting before that I had received my view of that event from sympathetic reports and I might not have even seen the games. I responded to tell you that I did more than see the games, it’s as simple as that.
And working behind the scenes, you do get access to things that don’t always make it to the final product. That isn’t to say I saw more of the game than the rest did (different angles, as proven by the advent of VAR, don’t lead to much).



Thank you!

*
I have been trying to contribute to this forum with different perspectives, analysis, information and correlation. Never claimed to have been perfect. I definitely get things wrong a lot!
Maybe because of a cultural difference, you wonderful people of the UK who share with me the love for the same club, don’t take well some of my comments. I consider myself decently skilled enough with the English language, but something is clearly getting lost in translation. I do not mean to express myself, as I have been privately told before, with condescension and a patronizing tone. As moderators have made it clear to me, part of the blame for reactions like @TCIB’s is on me.
Most of the things I share here I also share with the groups of Brazilian and Argentinian fans I am part of and I never had any sort of issue of this nature. And I now think it will be better to stick to my local circle of fans, or as we are called here sometimes, “plastic international fans”.
The toxicity is just too much, it’s becoming unhealthy, getting too personal, and affecting me in a way it shouldn’t. I did not join this forum to have, months later, people creating fake profiles with the goal of attacking me personally, or ridiculing me.
It is also clear to me that the forum that doesn’t want me around will be better off when I leave. I’ll just start refraining bit by bit, and very soon close down the account for good and just become an observer, especially of the good contributors around here.

I sincerely apologize to those who may have been offended by posts of mine at some point. Whether I meant it or it was a case of linguistic disturbance, it shouldn’t have happened.
If you disagree with someone, perfectly fine. Just be decent with it and talk to them as you would if discussing over a beer at the pub with a mate for example, with reason and consideration. You get much better exchange of ideas and opinions are given better consideration. If we all thought the same the world would see us still living in caves.

The Raiola - Pep dynamic for me is very much something that will factor in to this. How much i have no idea but it will be a factor to some degree. Not just Pep saying "i think he is a cnut and he can piss off" but objectively Raiola's methods are something Pep is obviously very aware of. If Pep, Txiki, Ferran and Khaldoon all sit down. The risk of dealing with Raiola will almost certainly come up.

Saying Pogba was a protagonist (main character)in the world cup, is what it is. If there are multiple it matters not. I don't think he did at all, you think he did. That is getting offtopic though if we focus on that any longer.

I think Haaland is still a realistic prospect, i just don't see Raiola's involvement as a possitive. More so, something to deal with. Levy won't make it easy for us with Kane and we have not heard a peep from BVB. They may be arsy about selling to for all we know. They seemed reasonable with Sancho though, here is the amount we want, this is the cut off point for deals. either way it will be interesting to watch unfold, Kane, Haaland or maybe even nobody.
 
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