Isco

[roy.or.r]

Have to disagree. Every indication points to it being players choice - even Malaga media, who despise Real Madrid, are playing up the Zidane thing saying he flew to Israel during the Euros to convince Isco. If it was about fee, I'm sure we'd be willing to pay £21million up front, wouldn't we?

I honestly think we didn't. The fact that Isco was waiting for a counter offer suggests that we are his first choice and wants to go to us first. I actually think that Txiki isn't that keen on Isco and only entered the chase because of Pellegrini. In January, his release clause was around 15-17M yet we didn't make a bid on him. By the looks of it, Isco prefered us and wanted us as his first choice but Zidane , whilst not changing the fact that he viewed us as his first choiced, merely lessened Isco's concerns. I think Txiki wasn't convinced by Isco and didn't want the club to pay the fee and therefore we didn't. It looks like we dropped the ball on this one.

If we don't think he is worth 30 mill then the ball wasn't dropped we made a choice, 30 million is a big gamble on potential if as you say Txiki isn't convinced.
Maybe he sees better uses for the money.

Might be he thinks " add 2m and we get Reus"?

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

It's not about the fee, most indications are that Zidane + the Real Madrid boys in Spain's U21 team changed Isco's mind and convinced him to join Real. That Rafael Hernandez guy on Twitter has changed his story about 10 times, he's a KFA.

It's ALL about the fee. We pay what they want and we'll get him.

Have to disagree. Every indication points to it being players choice - even Malaga media, who despise Real Madrid, are playing up the Zidane thing saying he flew to Israel during the Euros to convince Isco. If it was about fee, I'm sure we'd be willing to pay £21million up front, wouldn't we?

You are entitled to disagree but believe me you're wrong. I don't know the numbers but I do know we believed we had a deal or at least a good basis for one.

What I also don't know is whether Txiki is operating under orders from Abu Dhabi or he is a lone wolf on this. If he's trying to be clever and he fucks it up then he's up shit creek. If he's operating under orders then we'll just have to accept that's the way we want to do things. Perhaps the Sheikh feels it won't do any harm for the world to know we won't be blackmailed. Maybe that's important for other things he's got planned.

 

[Pigeonho]

Look when he spends a year on their bench we will just sign him next summer. No biggie.

Sounds like you wish the boy a bad season? Also, do you think he would walk into our first team and play every game?

I think he has a much better chance in a Silva-like role starting on the left here than he does unseating Ronaldo. I'm not afraid to stake my claim on that.

I'm sure you're right, but there's no guarantee he will start every game and rip up the league. We've seen players come over here and take time to adjust. He may have been promised a different role at RM, or a more far-fetched scenario of Ronaldo moving clubs, who knows? I can't see him 'sitting on the bench' all season though. He appears to enjoy his football too much.

 

[NoahCity]

If we haven't upped our bid there will be good reason for it.

The likes of Txiki and Ferran are not fire fighting knee jerk characters. They will have a plan, we just haven't seen it yet. It's not as simple as them being pedantic over a few million, they will know what they are doing. Those that picture them in a room flapping about after finding out they have missed out on a target are doing them both a disservice.

Have faith.

Losing out to Isco won't be the end of Manchester City.

Neither was Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Sanchez, Hazard et al.

sure hope you are right. Just wish we could know who those other targets are, as well as alternatives to Isco and Cavani.

 

[Pigeonho]

Lady doth protest too much

Not really, you brought Red Cafe up, so i'm putting you straight on it. Said it many times before, why any City fan would go onto any other forum us puzzling, but a United one? The delicious irony of those who band the 'rag' tag at other posters on here is that they are the ones who go on that forum, some of them even have accounts on it, the main one being Pam. Now that's just bizarre whichever way you look at it.
I'll stick to this forum.

What are they saying about Isco on there pidge?

He he, nice try!

Pam's yer bird for all things Red Cafe.

 

[taconinja]

I honestly think we didn't. The fact that Isco was waiting for a counter offer suggests that we are his first choice and wants to go to us first. I actually think that Txiki isn't that keen on Isco and only entered the chase because of Pellegrini. In January, his release clause was around 15-17M yet we didn't make a bid on him. By the looks of it, Isco prefered us and wanted us as his first choice but Zidane , whilst not changing the fact that he viewed us as his first choiced, merely lessened Isco's concerns. I think Txiki wasn't convinced by Isco and didn't want the club to pay the fee and therefore we didn't. It looks like we dropped the ball on this one.

If we don't think he is worth 30 mill then the ball wasn't dropped we made a choice, 30 million is a big gamble on potential if as you say Txiki isn't convinced.
Maybe he sees better uses for the money.

Might be he thinks " add 2m and we get Reus"?

Christ. We aren't getting Reus. No amount of flapping in this thread compares to the "Let's just go after Reus!" nonsense.

 

[grunge]

i'll take him to Madrid myself to get this saga over there's no way he will come to us now, lets see what plan b is

Is there even a Plan B? I read yesterday that we wouldn't be looking for alternatives, although you can't trust what's written on the interwebs.

I would suggest not as this is one of those exceptional circumstances where they are trying to buy an exceptional player even though we don't really need to strengthen the position.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Splash the cash City FFs ! Madrid must be pissing themselves at having neutered us so easily. We either spend big to get our "A" choices to sign or we'll end up getting held to ransom when we have no alternative but to lower our sights.

 

[andrewmswift]

If we don't think he is worth 30 mill then the ball wasn't dropped we made a choice, 30 million is a big gamble on potential if as you say Txiki isn't convinced.
Maybe he sees better uses for the money.

Might be he thinks " add 2m and we get Reus"?

Christ. We aren't getting Reus. No amount of flapping in this thread compares to the "Let's just go after Reus!" nonsense.

let's get reus!

 

[Chevelle]

Splash the cash City FFs ! Madrid must be pissing themselves at having neutered us so easily. We either spend big to get our "A" choices to sign or we'll end up getting held to ransom when we have no alternative but to lower our sights.

For example.. Sinclair, Garcia, and rodwell...

 

[roy.or.r]

Might be he thinks " add 2m and we get Reus"?

Christ. We aren't getting Reus. No amount of flapping in this thread compares to the "Let's just go after Reus!" nonsense.

let's get reus!

Also Lewandowski and Gundogan as well!!

 

[skybluelyon]

i'll take him to Madrid myself to get this saga over there's no way he will come to us now, lets see what plan b is

Is there even a Plan B? I read yesterday that we wouldn't be looking for alternatives, although you can't trust what's written on the interwebs.

I would suggest not as this is one of those exceptional circumstances where they are trying to buy an exceptional player even though we don't really need to strengthen the position.

maybe not we have an exceptional array of midfielders maybe plan b is to strengthen the attack line up

 

[berniethebusman]

This again :(

I'd rather pay 30m for Fernandinho than Isco.

I'm not so sure about that. Players with Isco's quality don't come around very often. It's why Madrid are signing him.

Isco is good for his age no more, the thing thats exciting about him is his potential but theirs no guarantee any player will fullfill his potential. He wont play much for Madrid and the only reason he'd have gotten substantially more game time with us would have been down to his relationship with pelli.

.

 

[bluemonkey71]

So how many chairs are out then?

 

[oakiecokie]

1. Pellegrini was scheduled to commence work yesterday: Have there being any sightings of him in Manchester or at the Etihad?; is he still on holiday?. The same applies for Isco, is he still in Ibiza or has he cut his holiday short?

2. When the contract is signed and the deal is done between Isco and his chosen club, it will be reported as such by the eager media.But at the moment, Its all speculation, hear says, hint here, hint there, someone says this, someone says that and so on.

3. The reality is that nobody exactly knows what City, Madrid and Isco are up to at the moment and what is actually happening behind the scenes.

4.So, I will wait for the final outcome before I abandon my stand that Isco is still coming to city.

He has started work, but he is not coming to the UK until the weekend.The squad do not arrive back for training until Monday so not much point of him being there if he has "other" work to be getting on with.

 

[SWP's back]

Because isn't that what any club does if they are interested in a player they believe is available? I'm sure we will have done it a few times this last 4 and half years, as will many others.
As for Red Cafe, I don't go on it, it's strange any City fan would but there you go, to each their own.

Lady doth protest too much

Not really, you brought Red Cafe up, so i'm putting you straight on it. Said it many times before, why any City fan would go onto any other forum us puzzling, but a United one? The delicious irony of those who band the 'rag' tag at other posters on here is that they are the ones who go on that forum, some of them even have accounts on it, the main one being Pam. Now that's just bizarre whichever way you look at it.
I'll stick to this forum.

Whilst I would never take the time to create an ID, I go on united's, Arsenal's, chelsea's, Villa's - all of them really dependant upon the story or game.

It is good to know what other fans think and say. Broadens the horizons.

And yes I did bring up rag cafe, as I am sure you are aware, they reckon City's scouting system is wait until United declare an interest and then outbid them.

You keep saying it is weird fella if you want. Just reminds me of school (all boys) and those that used to be the most homophobic ended up being gay. Now that is a delicious irony.

 

[SupermanUnderpants]

I just cant see this happening now, every news agency saying Madrid and we're all relying on twitter and what the ITKs said last week. Not having a go at ITKs they tell us what they've been told, we just seem to be hanging on very little info right now while the Madrid PR is in overdrive.

I do have a feeling we could of tied this deal up around the same time as Navas and Fernandinho but as we didn't capitalise on our opportunities it left it open for others to do so.

Plus side from this is we go head to head with a world leader in football for a top emerging world talent and pushed it right to the end. That there is an improvement on who we used to compete with on transfers. City n Real head to head, just think about that especially if your long standing fan of the blues. Would any of us thought that possible 5-6 years ago? It had been laughable IMHO, a joke we have in the stands.

Second, no of us know what kind of form the current squad will produce under Pelle and a new system. You have Nasri, Silva, Navas, YaYa, Kun, on top form is as dangerous an attack as any in Europe. Under less restrictions this team WILL play amazing football and that has to be something to look forward to.

For the Flappers and Happy Clappers I want(ed) Isco too. Sometimes though, You can't always get what you want, I said you can't always get what you want, But if you try sometimes well you might find, you get what you need. ;)

CTID

 

[Forzacitizens]

So the medical Tuesday turned out to be reliable

 

[Pigeonho]

Lady doth protest too much

Not really, you brought Red Cafe up, so i'm putting you straight on it. Said it many times before, why any City fan would go onto any other forum us puzzling, but a United one? The delicious irony of those who band the 'rag' tag at other posters on here is that they are the ones who go on that forum, some of them even have accounts on it, the main one being Pam. Now that's just bizarre whichever way you look at it.
I'll stick to this forum.

Whilst I would never take the time to create an ID, I go on united's, Arsenal's, chelsea's, Villa's - all of them really dependant upon the story or game.

It is good to know what other fans think and say. Broadens the horizons.

And yes I did bring up rag cafe, as I am sure you are aware, they reckon City's scouting system is wait until United declare an interest and then outbid them.

You keep saying it is weird fella if you want. Just reminds me of school (all boys) and those that used to be the most homophobic ended up being gay. Now that is a delicious irony.

It would be if I was a United fan, i'm not though so there's no irony there at all really.

 

[Open Goal]

I don’t want to be accused of flapping and unwarranted pessimism but it’s really getting untenable to maintain hope amidst the flood of information over the past few days:
Marca, AS, El Confidencial and a host of other Spanish media outlets confidently proclaim Isco is joining.
ITKs and people close to Spanish football like Graham Hunter have conceded that he will join RM.
Monreal, a former teammate at Malaga, says Isco will go to Real.
Al Thani reveals that he prefers selling to a Spanish club.
Sergio Ramos and Madrid’s charity account start following Isco on Twitter.
Perez declares that Isco desires a move to Real and that he wants the same.
Isco himself announces that Madrid are an “exciting option”.
It’s widely circulated that Zinedine Zidane was influential in convincing Isco to accept Madrid by guaranteeing playing time.
Betting odds at BetVictor for Isco to Madrid are now 1/20.
Reports emerge today that Pellegrini is disappointed and angry at recent events surrounding Isco.

Meanwhile, some here are desperately clinging on to the slim chance that he’ll join City (and others are even expressing confidence) based on what three BM members have reported. I’m not questioning the sincerity of the ITKs who post here but I cannot see how it is reasonable to believe anymore given the sheer amount of evidence to the contrary.

It’s also my inclination that Madrid will be a bad move on Isco’s part. The priority at this stage of his career is really playing time under someone who knows his game well. If he impresses in this role then he can possibly force his way into his national side for the WC next year on the grandest stage of all. Three or four years later, in the prime of his playing career, he can move back to Spain a la Ronaldo and Fabregas. Also, playing in a foreign country, despite the attendant difficulties of adjusting to a new language and culture, will lead to personal development, which will be important down the road. He gets all this at City but at Madrid I see Isco spending a lot of time on the bench despite assurances to the contrary. Unless they sell a number of midfielders, he is competing with Ronaldo, Ozil, di Maria, Kaka, Modric, Bale (if not this year then next) for three spots and I can’t see him regularly breaking in despite his immense promise.

I do think people are downplaying the importance of missing out on Cavani and Isco. Whilst I am thoroughly satisfied with the acquisition of Navas and Fernandinho, we need a marquee signing (preferably a goal-scorer) to bolster our attacking options. Assuming Chelsea land Cavani as recent reports indicate, let’s compare our likely first XI attacking line-up against one of our main title challengers next season –

-------------Yaya---------------Fernandinho----------

-----Navas---------------Silva---------------Nasri--------

------------------------Aguero---------------------------


-------------Ramires---------------Lampard----------

-----Oscar---------------Mata---------------Hazard--------

------------------------Cavani---------------------------


Does ours really stand out as superior? Looking at that, Chelsea’s is probably better because their midfielders are far more capable of scoring goals than ours (including Schurrle who has a good scoring record). If we’re being honest, there needs to be another big signing to elevate us to the next level. I’ve excluded Utd above and although the manager change will affect them, it’s obvious that they’ll be right up there too, especially if they obtain the services of Thiago and manage to keep Rooney.

If someone wants to point out where and why my logic is faulty, without calling me a doom and gloom merchant, branding me a closet rag or posting cat gifs, then please go ahead.