Summer transfer window

[richards30]

Surely the club can’t help Bellingham just picking someone else and Rice seemingly wanting to stay in London? Kovacic for £25m is still a bargain in today’s prices and Doku has lit up games or changed games when he’s come on and gets you off your seat? Nunes is the strangest one as he hasn’t had a decent run in the team (although been injured) but there has been lots of positive going forward, driving runs etc but lacking the finishing touches and finesse but I’m sure pep can sort that out. Missing KDB has been huge along with Stones and we have our two mainstay defenders in Walker and Dias underperforming this season and making uncharacteristic mistakes which don’t help when they are the last line of defence. Gvardiol has shown plenty of glimpses to tell me he will be great in the future but it would be nice to see him play CB for a run of games and Ake back in at LB.

 

[John Wayne]

Maybe a constructive reply would be beneficial, agree or disagree? If so why

Ok, very well, first of all, what's with the 'We are City' in the thread title? This makes no sense in its current form.

Secondly, do we know Rice was attainable? Do you know he wanted to leave London to come to City? If you have any information which would show that Rice's heart was set on Arsenal any less than Bellingham's was on Real then let's have it. It's clear to me that City didn't want to enter into a bidding war with Arsenal and have David Sullivan as the puppet master.

Thirdly, so you're quite happy for the human trafficking of Kalvin Phillips to West Ham - a club he evidently did not want to join for a deal significantly less than he's on at City? How could we force him to go for less money when he's got four years left on his deal at City? Are you proposing that we undo all of the hard work of the last 10 years by just lobbing millions of pounds at Phillips to get him off the books? Thus in reality making the Rice deal somewhere around £140m? What message would that send to players, agents and other clubs? That Ferran Soriano is really Peter Ridsdale or Ed Woodward?

Fourthly, what evidence is there to suggest that we operate in a way so as to not upset others? We made Jack Grealish the first £100m player that this country has ever seen, taking him from his boyhood club where he'd earned hero status. Do you think that was popular? How about trying to buy Harry Kane in the same summer, another club legend and the best striker this country has seen for many a year?

I'm as disappointed as anyone that we're performing as we are, and I am underwhelmed by our signings up to this point. That said, I think it's wrong to accuse anyone at the club of not acting in its best interests. Our strategy in the market whilst Pep has been here has been an overwhelming success with only a few notable exceptions. Experience has taught us that not every signing works out immediately but some go on to be excellent. We need to be patient, accept that it might not be our year after three blockbuster campaigns, and not be so entitled as to think we can 'put people back in their box'. This is a tough league and nobody has a divine right to win it. That's what makes our achievements so impressive and our board/management so trustworthy.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Money though is the root of the problem. What comes first making a profit and showing how clever we are? All our transfer dealing seem to take an age, like we are being clever in pushing the price down, only to pay it in the end. Im not suggesting we should become like the rags or Chelsea just if we want a player, our number one target, then go out and get them. Even with Jack we seemed to be trying to negotiate a clause down, only to pay it in the end I do understand that it's not as simple as I made out but, we do seem to faf about and nobody can suggest the window was good. As I said, Pep comment on Wednesday was it a dig at Ferran is he frustrated?

A combo of everything is required.

My one - and admittedly disgruntled former sauce, suggested to me that there is a real delineation of roles and a lot of - that's their area not mine - we don't throw the kitchen sink at our persuasve wooing. No dimming of lights, lighting of a candle, mood music. Very much a we're doing you a favour take it or leave it. A Pep or Khal chat up phone call, a nice bunch of flowers may open things up.
A certain elderly Scottish tramp used to revel in the dating game, I believe an annoying German punk rocker does the same.

 

[John Wayne]

A combo of everything is required.

My one - and admittedly disgruntled former sauce, suggested to me that there is a real delineation of roles and a lot of - that's their area not mine - we don't throw the kitchen sink at our persuasve wooing. No dimming of lights, lighting of a candle, mood music. Very much a we're doing you a favour take it or leave it. A Pep or Khal chat up phone call, a nice bunch of flowers may open things up.
A certain elderly Scottish tramp used to revel in the dating game, I believe an annoying German punk rocker does the same.

Yet what you are suggesting we aren't doing for targets is exactly what we did for Kyle Walker in the summer.

 

[City_Sean]

Probably the worst window that Txiki has had. When you consider the downgrade in quality of the squad from last season to now it's staggering.

Kovacic is just a terrible footballer, he's 29, injury prone and Chelsea were happy to let him go for a reason.

Doku is fantastic but very raw and because of the squad being so thin he's been an automatic starter when he should be arguably be our Sane from 16/17.

Nunes I would give time as he has some quality but the idea of signing ball carriers yet trying to play control is just bizarre.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Yet what you are suggesting we aren't doing for targets is exactly what we did for Kyle Walker in the summer.

Not exactly apples and pears. One's more like begging your wife to stay, the other's getting Kate Moss to move in.

I believe that internal, already established relationship wooing worked too in Kyle's case.

 

[Dr Jacoby]

At the time, I think most were pleased with Kovacic, Doku and Gvardiol, with Nunes being a bit of a surprise signing.

In retrospect, missing out on Bellingham was a significant blow. But the interest in Rice never made much sense to me. You can’t spend £100m+ on a back up.

You’d have to say Paqueta would have offered a lot more than Nunes has shown thus far. But the betting allegations threw a huge spanner in the works.

 

[Fordyboy46]

Next summer I think will see Walker leave as the big name departure. So a new right back in together with a creative midfielder, and hopefully a left full back should do it. Not going to be easy with the euros in the summer though

 

[remember arthur mann]

Not forgetting, we are Manchester City, we don't throw money at it like the rags !

 

[richards30]

At the time, I think most were pleased with Kovacic, Doku and Gvardiol, with Nunes being a bit of a surprise signing.

In retrospect, missing out on Bellingham was a significant blow. But the interest in Rice never made much sense to me. You can’t spend £100m+ on a back up.

You’d have to say Paqueta would have offered a lot more than Nunes has shown thus far. But the betting allegations threw a huge spanner in the works.

Nunes although having that injury hasn’t been given a run of games or decent game time has he? Playing lesser teams or dead rubbers has looked good driving forward but lacking in the final execution department, maybe trying too hard?