He was injured and didn't play in the Europa League qualifiers, would he be eligible for the Champions League knockout rounds?
You just knew this was coming after his performance at the Olympics. I bought him last year on FIFA and he developed really well.
If PSG offer 60 or 70 million for a 29 year old are west ham in a position to turn that down? They need to remake that roster and one elite player who is closing in on 30 turning into 3 solid 22-24 year olds who can grow in the club would seem best for them long term.
West Ham would probably be better off letting Payet go ASAP. An unhappy Frenchman is basically poison to team chemistry.
For a guy who is a clear backup under conte and has struggled to show he can be a full time starter that's a pretty good bit of business. Chelsea seem to have gotten in early with the agents who have influence in China. We also got one of the Chinese clubs to way overpay for Ramires last January.
No reason to get upset about it. Just excited my team fleeced a Chinese club and can give the manager some more funds to get players he wants.
Too bad you can't buy him back two years later for almost the same fee after he eliminates you from the Champions League.
Or we can buy him back for 6 times the amount we sold him for like matic. That's the issue when you have a revolving door of managers
You'd think you would quit getting excited about how much money your oligarch profits from selling certain players by now.
I was actually making the complete opposite point and making fun of the fact that we sold matic as a 4 million paperweight in the original Luiz deal and bought him back for 6 times that a few years later. In other news do you think McCarthy leaves Everton? Seems to be a lot of smoke about that
I don't think they would have to pay a transfer fee so god only knows what kind of wages he will get. Might come close to Ronaldo/Messi.
If we sign Schniederlin, I would guess he would more than likely leave. He won't be sold until a halfway decent central midfielder is lined up. No Evertonian relishes the prospect of Tom Cleverley getting more playing time. I saw an outlandish rumor of us trying to sign Strootman. That would be a terrible move for both parties. Don't really see any benefit for Strootman other than possible monetary reasons, and certainly either he or his agent has enough sense to know that the Premier League is horribly suited for him.
Not for lack of ability but the toll the increased physical exertions the league requires would lead to him being unavailable a frustrating amount of times. I used to find the whole "English football is way more physical than the other top leagues" as farcical as anyone else but with Guardiola starting to acknowledge that it isn't untrue I'm having my doubts. The risk of signing someone with less than 50 Serie A appearances in 3.5 seasons by a club in Everton's current situation would be astronomical. I could see it actually going well for him somewhere like Chelsea or United who wouldn't necessarily demand he start every match if fit unlike Everton where he almost certainly would.
He tore both ACLs and slotted right back into the starting lineup after basically 2 years on the sidelines. He is the epitome of a physical midfielder and one of 4 people on the team that I would say can go right into almost any Premier League starting lineups along with Rudiger, Manolas, and Nainggolan. You dont fuck with those dudes. Oh wait Rudiger tore his ACL, so I guess he isnt a Premier League player either.
I think that is a good move for him. More and more players are realizing that moving to the really big clubs too soon can stunt your growth as a player.
He definitely looks likely to leave in January. No idea to where yet tho. Everton and Roma have been the main two clubs mentioned. Both supposedly want loans with an option to buy.
Berahino is able to sign a pre contract this window, since his deal expires in the summer. West Brom really made a fucking mess of that ordeal, costing themselves about 25M.
I will never understand their stance on the entire ordeal. Pretty sure Newcastle made a 25mil straight cash bid last January.
I've heard the rumors but it doesn't seem like the right fit. James is a great player but like ozil I think he needs the team to play a 4-2-3-1 with him as the #10 and surround him with people that have the work rate to make up for him. He doesn't fit in well at real because Ronaldo won't put a proper shift in and you can't have 2 of them. Chelsea already have that guy in hazard. Maybe conte can get a bit more out of him. He would certainly be an upgrade on willlian or Pedro. I just don't see it. If roman wants a shiny new toy though it might not be contes choice
Think you're a bit off. He's at his best playing directly beneath the striker but he's played on both wings at Porto, Monaco & Real. The fact that Ronaldo & Bale are untouchable is what has kept him on the bench (and now the imergance of Vazquez). He's never going to be a B2B player but his workrate is fine for what he is. He'd fit into Conte's 3-4-3 really well, especially if encouraged to tuck inside. Hazard-Costa-James would rape & pillage the EPL imo.
Agree with this. I think what gets a lot of people confused is that he plays the "10" role so well for Colombia and a majority of people were first introduced to James at the World Cup.