Riyad Mahrez

[teddykgb]

I'm sure you'd be the same if Madrid were low balling us for Jesus on dead line day and he refused to play for us tonight.

In what fucking world is something around 60 million a lowball offer. Given his age I'd expect a higher fee for Jesus but if we had told Jesus he could move if someone meets a certain fee area and then we denied him I'd be more pissed at City than the player or Madrid.

People are going on like we offered 15m for this player. He's very good, he's worth a lot of money, but his worth is determined by the marketplace and as others have already pointed out they may very well struggle to find another bid this high in the summer, especially if Mahrez downs tools now. Many of the big clubs have spent and FFP 2.0 will be highly impactful.

 

[FogBlueInSanFran]

There's no flapping on my part. Nobody is calling it a disaster. All I'm saying is to not bring somebody in now is very likely going to hamper us in our quest for the quadruple. Obviously it's all ifs and buts right now but If it does, i think we will look back and see it as a missed opportunity when something as "simple" as bringing in an extra body(not specifically mahrez) could be the difference.

I realize that, but at what cost? If we spend these sums on Sanchez and Mahrez and the quad doesn't come off then we hamper our ability to add longer-term pieces to the puzzle next year, or the year after. I mean, I understand Mahrez and Sanchez would stay longer and add value in future years, but niether a re likely moldable the way Pep wants. And its not like we are haggling over 5 mill if reports are to be believed. These are huge valuation differentials, not Monopoly money to any club.

I think people forget that "youth" and "affordable" have optionality. "Youth" has time to get better; "affordable" frees up cash to add more pieces in future, whether for the long run or for truly desperate situations, which this is not.

 

[Cobwebcat]

Regardless. It's not how this deal was initially reported, and puts a very different light on it

I think he’s wrong. If it was Leicester’s idea there would be no need for a transfer request. They might have come back with that towards the end but we initiated it as Tolmie said.

 

[wilky]

Wilky and Wilko!

Good spot he's my Son.

 

[Machiavelli]

We thought it was meant to be so ez

Well it never ez, I mean iz, I mean is.

 

[PW]

What planet are city on? Tapping up a player a day before deadline then wanting to do it on our terms, plus leaving Leicester with a right mess on their hands after mahrez handed in a transfer request.

That is a bit of a shit trick all round. This is why the transfer windows need scrapping all together. The player and the selling club are left all at sea and I certainly wouldn't like us to be on the receiving end of the same situation. I know I might draw criticism, but I really don' think Txiki is to clever in the transfe market.

 

[sir baconface]

There is something odd about this transfer as it has been reported so it would not be a surprise that there is more we don't know about it yet as I have suggested in a few posts earlier.

As reported over the past day in here - Leicester wanted £90 m and we offered £50 m. Then a bit more up to £55 m. Way off the figure Leicester wanted yesterday.

But we kept on.

Overnight the feeling was almost certainly not going anywhere. City staff told this morning not expecting any incomings today.

Then lunchtime we hear from Tolmie that Mahrez put in transfer last night and kicking off and they spoke to the owner this morning who agreed to let him go for £70 m.

All day after that stories of Leicester edging closer with their fee dropping and in the end not far apart.

Tolmie said it was about £10 m and if we stump up it will be done.

Then suddenly late afternoon - we pull out and all off because they wanted £90m - the figure from yesterday.

The only thing that makes sense of the gap is that we thought £70 m including a player would do it and they wanted £70 m PLUS a player worth £20 - so never budged from the £90 m total.

If it wasn't that and now we hear they came to us asking for a player (my guess that was today to try to get the deal done and not yesterday - but who knows).

We will find out the story of this odd transfer and it might change our perceptions of what City did here and why.

Don’t believe everything you read on here. Almost everything is opinion or speculation.

 

[Manc in London]

Do we really want a mardy shit house who doesn't turn up for training just because he doesn't get his own way and doesn't bother telling anyone?
Whatever happens in life you turn up.
Dodged a bullet.

That's a fair point, assuming the rumours are true.

 

[CatMan]

If we were to liken this to buying a house we appear to have told Leicester that if they suddenly decide to sell their house this afternoon, without any indication it's for sale in the first instance, we were prepared to offer them an amount that we were happy to pay.

Leicester have with this approach obviously decided to think about how much their house is worth and have said well we don't want to sell but if you want to force our hand you will need to offer us a sum we feel we cannot refuse. On hearing that sum, and after having done no favours for how we are perceived to do our business, City have decided it's too much and walked away.

My question with this is why do City appear to no longer think that agreeing an asking price is not best done in private between the clubs?

 

[Machiavelli]

Good spot he's my Son.

I’m good at this shit.
From now on can we call him wee willy wilky? ;)