Marc Cucurella

[come-on-barney]

Watch us. We will tell them John Stones can play at RB.

But everyone knows that’s not true :)

 

[Centurions]

And quoting £45m is trying too hard to make it look as bad as possible. Why not go full Sky and stick the agents fee on too?

We actually paid Leeds £37m this summer - that’s a fact - if we pay the add ons, he’ll have been worth the extra £3m. And £5m for Gyabi is plainly way overpriced given where he was in his development - asset or not.

On Cucurella - my view is Brighton paid £15m for him a year ago, since which time he’s played one season at a mid table PL side - he’s 24 and has never played so much as a single game in the CL, and since joining Brighton he’s made precisely no appearances for his National side. I know you think that’s irrelevant, but it’s generally considered a barometer of how well a player is playing.

He’s a good player, of course - that’s why we want him - but if you don’t think £50m+ is a completely unreasonable figure for Cucurella, I’m happy to leave it there.

Otherwise I agree with everything you say.

Weakening our position by selling Zin before we’d replaced him was a ridiculous move - as was leaving a key position this late in the window, with the league less than a week away.

We’ve managed this situation very badly - but that doesn’t automatically make Brighton’s position on this in any way reasonable.

This situation makes neither Club look good - and I hope we walk away from it now, and make amends by signing an alternative professionally and quickly.

I agree with the bolded part (although Gyabi & Philips are entirely separate transfers), I do have to disagree with the 2nd part however purely because no one on here knows what's going on in the background.

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy."

 

[Tugay One Cup]

And quoting £45m is trying too hard to make it look as bad as possible. Why not go full Sky and stick the agents fee on too?

So £37m is amazing business but £45m would be bad business? At what point amongst that £8m difference do you think it changes from one to the other?

I'm not saying £45m for Phillips is bad business, I'm saying if we're willing to pay £42m (+£3m in potential add ons) for a backup defensive mid then I don't see why we wouldn't expect to pay more for a starter left back. He's young, has ages left on his contract and is the best player at a Premier League club.

On Cucurella - my view is Brighton paid £15m for him a year ago

That's got nothing to do with Brighton's asking price now. Why would it?

since joining Brighton he’s made precisely no appearances for his National side. I know you think that’s irrelevant, but it’s generally considered a barometer of how well a player is playing.

So again, where was this thinking for Laporte? How about the fact we've made Jack Grealish the most expensive English player of all time despite him rarely, if ever, making it into the starting lineup for his national team?

We've set a precedent for how much we're willing to pay for players who will improve both our starting lineup and our bench. Not only that but we've been spending the summer selling squad players for £32-50m.

Again, I struggle to see how Brighton are being in any way unreasonable for asking for £50m for their best player. I also doubt City see it that way because you'd imagine that if we thought Brighton were taking the piss then we'd have just left it and moved on weeks ago.

 

[come-on-barney]

City fucked up letting Zinchenko go 1st absalute Steel for Arsenal

Yes I understand it wasn't without tears but to let him go then try to sign a fullback its fucking really poor from Tixi
This isn't getting done now imo, Cancelo & Ake it is with young Josh as back up

Hope I'm wrong

Just want to put some perspective on the Zinny move as some don’t seem to have read his own comments after his move. He grew up admiring Arsenal more than any other side. It is a dream for him to go there. His comments of ‘OMG what a club’ when he arrived there put things into perspective. Not saying he would have left if we would have offered him more starts, but he also wanted the challenge.

 

[Bluewars]

So it costs City £50m for another club to take the risk. For a player to go under the radar for a while and then appear at Brighton somebody has taken a risk on him. Imagine if we had a collection of all these unproven talents that all turned out to be not good enough - five £10m players all sat on the books tossing it off for three or four years because they know they are not getting anywhere nea the first team. That is not the model

We don’t need to take these risks anymore to find an uncut diamond

And quoting £45m is trying too hard to make it look as bad as possible. Why not go full Sky and stick the agents fee on too?

We actually paid Leeds £37m this summer - that’s a fact - if we pay the add ons, he’ll have been worth the extra £3m. And £5m for Gyabi is plainly way overpriced given where he was in his development - asset or not.

On Cucurella - my view is Brighton paid £15m for him a year ago, since which time he’s played one season at a mid table PL side - he’s 24 and has never played so much as a single game in the CL, and since joining Brighton he’s made precisely no appearances for his National side. I know you think that’s irrelevant, but it’s generally considered a barometer of how well a player is playing.

He’s a good player, of course - that’s why we want him - but if you don’t think £50m+ is a completely unreasonable figure for Cucurella, I’m happy to leave it there.

Otherwise I agree with everything you say.

Weakening our position by selling Zin before we’d replaced him was a ridiculous move - as was leaving a key position this late in the window, with the league less than a week away.

We’ve managed this situation very badly - but that doesn’t automatically make Brighton’s position on this in any way reasonable.

This situation makes neither Club look good - and I hope we walk away from it now, and make amends by signing an alternative professionally and quickly.

Considering we paid £41 Million for a back up CB in Ake, £60 Million for a defender with no International experience in Laporte and £52 Million for Mendy who had one good season in Ligue 1, £50 Million for Cucurella is not unreasonable.

When I criticised the scouting system I was corrected by a good post on how City's model is not to unearth unknown gems but to buy ready made players ready for the 1st team, well then why are we surprised Brighton value Cucurella at £50million, Shouldn't we be prepared to pay a premium when Brighton have taken the risk on an unproven player protected their invested with a long-term contract and the player has had a very successful debut season.

He is tailored made for Peps style of play, there isn't a left back in world football (that's available) better than him. Bottom line is the negotiation of this transfer has been a shambles and a PR exercise.

 

[Churchlawtonblue]

Brighton now reported as wanting more than £50m . Definitely time to walk away City.

 

[GornikDaze]

Brighton now reported as wanting more than £50m . Definitely time to walk away City.

I’m sure if we leave it a couple of weeks we can get him for £75m ;)

 

[Cricket Blue]

City fucked up letting Zinchenko go 1st absalute Steel for Arsenal

Yes I understand it wasn't without tears but to let him go then try to sign a fullback its fucking really poor from Tixi
This isn't getting done now imo, Cancelo & Ake it is with young Josh as back up

Hope I'm wrong

Yes absoluley baffling considering this was the Ake stance when Chelsea wanted him.
This isn't happening by the looks of it.

 

[Cotontoquinn]

This thread is going to hit 1000 posts and we’re still no nearer knowing if he’ll be a City player!! Astonishing.

 

[Nicholas van Whatsisface]

So £37m is amazing business but £45m would be bad business? At what point amongst that £8m difference do you think it changes from one to the other?

I'm not saying £45m for Phillips is bad business, I'm saying if we're willing to pay £42m (+£3m in potential add ons) for a backup defensive mid then I don't see why we wouldn't expect to pay more for a starter left back. He's young, has ages left on his contract and is the best player at a Premier League club.



That's got nothing to do with Brighton's asking price now. Why would it?



So again, where was this thinking for Laporte? How about the fact we've made Jack Grealish the most expensive English player of all time despite him rarely, if ever, making it into the starting lineup for his national team?

We've set a precedent for how much we're willing to pay for players who will improve both our starting lineup and our bench. Not only that but we've been spending the summer selling squad players for £32-50m.

Again, I struggle to see how Brighton are being in any way unreasonable for asking for £50m for their best player. I also doubt City see it that way because you'd imagine that if we thought Brighton were taking the piss then we'd have just left it and moved on weeks ago.

I didn’t say £45m was bad business - that’s twisting my words. I said it was making it look as bad as possible. It’s including all the add ons as automatically paid, and ignoring the fact we sold them a player for £5m as part of the deal.

There’s a touch of the Sky’s to going down that route - but that’s cool if that’s the way you want to look at it.

Either way, Phillips had proven himself across two seasons in the PL, and had 23 caps for his National team by the time we signed him.

Him being a back up is pure guesswork at this stage, as his first season with us hasn’t even started. I’d very much doubt that’s how Pep, the Club or the player is viewing this situation - but again, it sounds better to say £45m for a back up. I get that.

On Grealish - you won’t get me ever arguing for that being a great deal, but he had just come off the back of a successful Euros competition where he was generally considered one of England’s best players. He was Captain and figurehead at his Club side, and had played over 60 games in the PL as their standout player.

Villa wouldn’t willingly sell, or entertain getting into any negotiations with us - so it was pay the clause or he stays. I’d have let him stay, personally - but the RC changes everything.

On Cucurella - like I said, if you think £50m+ is reasonable, I’ll leave it there.

I think it’s an absurd valuation for a player at the stage is his career that Cucurella is at - but we’re not going to convince each other of the alternative position so there’s little point clogging up the thread.