Ilkay Gundogan - Done Deal

[Fordyboy46]

Barca politics at play here, wouldn't believe a thing that comes out of that club. Flick has said he expects Gundo to stay, interesting days ahead

 

[Kippaxpete]

Think you can buy it from Tescos

Don't you mean Tescpo?

 

[Gremlin]

Think you can buy it from Tescos

Tescos - is that a Greek island?

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

I shall always love Zin and Raz for playing their part in possibly the most purely euphoric ten minutes of my life. I was not in the stadium for 93:20, but I was in the South Stand for this one. Hours later, I still didn't really believe what I'd seen.

 

[thismeansfour]

I used to like Gerrard before this match. Mid-table Villa, with fuck all to play for, performed like it was the Champions League final FFS!

At 5 minutes in, they were time-wasting so badly, at 15 minutes the ref had to warn their keeper! Their fans wouldn't return the ball when it went out either.

Gerrard set his team up to play defensively, waste time & to hit us on the break to help his beloved Dippers win the PL title.

It didn't occur to the Villa fans that if Gerrard had have put this amount of effort & planning in throughout that season, they wouldn't have ended up with fuck all to play for! Twats!

Don't disagree with how they played, mad how you think such an inept manager like Gerrard could influence to that level though. It was just one of them things.

 

[neph27]

I was willing to excuse not signing an a attacking midfielder last summer because Paqueta really screwed us. I really thought we got a bit unlucky.
This is now the second summer in the row we have failed to do it and on top of it we seem to be digging through our back catalog United style. There is reason to be concerned about our player acquisition strategy.

I mean the club thought Ilkay was only worth a one year contract before the 2023-2024 season so why would he all of a sudden be sufficient now? Basically it appears we whiffed and now are grab bagging.

The Paqueta thing seemed good as done but fell through.

Guimares and Paqueta are extremely close, Brazil internationals who share a midfield together.

The idea of them teaming up was likely very appealing to them.

Once Paqueta fell through, it became much harder to get Guimares to agitate for a move. Once Newcastle sorted their PSR concerns and didn't need to sell anymore, he became unwilling to move.

The club is likely looking at Musiala and Wirtz as long term targets that realistically cant be pried from their clubs until next summer.

Gundogan could be the perfect stopgap, a player who wouldn't need a long term commitment, who wouldn't need assurances of playing time, who fits the system perfectly.

They thought he was a one year guy at the time but the needs of the team are fluid and change constantly. A reunion seems to be the best case for the club at this present time. One more depth option really makes us that much more secure in the midfield.

 

[jimharri]

Could be shrewd signing but his age is an issue coming back to the Premier League. Can't completely ignore that factor.

If he does come back, I'm guessing it'll be as a squad player. No one would seriously expect him to play upwards of 50 games in a season at this stage.

 

[neph27]

Barca politics at play here, wouldn't believe a thing that comes out of that club. Flick has said he expects Gundo to stay, interesting days ahead

Flicks statements are 2 days old: the situation has evolved since then.

 

[Dribble]

Don't disagree with how they played, mad how you think such an inept manager like Gerrard could influence to that level though. It was just one of them things.

I disagree. Time-wasting after 5 minutes? It was the final game of the season, Villa were safe from relegation & had nothing to play for, so why all the negative anti-football tactics, with nothing riding on the match?

Nah mate... Gerrard was doing everything in his power to help his beloved Dippers overhaul us in the title race imo.

 

[Decepticon]