Raphinha

[danhirons]

btw - does anyone follow Phil Hay on twitter?

always used to follow him as he gave useful insights/updates on what was going on - but has said basically nothing during the KP and Raphinha sagas and just posted the occasional article basically copying and pasting and fleshing out what has already been reported in the media - not going to both following him anymore as his content is now useless beyond the athletic articles which are an interesting read every now and again - really annoying

[mentalcase]

Don't follow anyone on twitter or any other SM polony, if I follow behind someone on t' street I have to cross over.

[mentalcase]

I didn't say wants I said thinks ....

Wasn't having a go at what you suggested, just does my head in regarding agents, because a lot of the time there is truth to whats best for the agent rather than t' player

[The Subhuman]

Wasn't having a go at what you suggested, just does my head in regarding agents, because a lot of the time there is truth to whats best for the agent rather than t' player

Fair enough, I was just saying a lot of moving parts when it comes to transfers. Not easy at all. Unlike American sports where the player has to move to wherever he gets traded too, along with his contract

[Jimang]

I just don't trust Barcelona will pay up, they suddenly find this magic money tree and Raph is cooling every other possible deal.

[Jimang]

Seems to be gathering momentum, latest reports say, Barcelona matching Chelsea offer, payment in three stages..... are we really going to let that happen?

[Lumiukko]

Seems to be gathering momentum, latest reports say, Barcelona matching Chelsea offer, payment in three stages..... are we really going to let that happen?

It has to at least match Chelsea, but I would not accept installments from a club who owe well over 100mill in transfer fees already.

[Cjay]

Fully expect us to allow Deco and Barcelona to dictate to us.

We've already shown in the past we are easily bullied by big clubs.

[Aussieleeds]

Can’t believe we have acted all along as if we weren’t in the driver’s seat. Our worst possible outcome was that we kept our best player for another year. Raph and Deco should have been told, either Barcelona stump up £60m up front or else you go to Chelsea or else you stay with us. They are the only 3 options on the table.
Spurs played hardball with Kane, and it did them nothing but good. Why don’t we learn?

[Cjay]

Can’t believe we have acted all along as if we weren’t in the driver’s seat. Our worst possible outcome was that we kept our best player for another year. Raph and Deco should have been told, either Barcelona stump up £60m up front or else you go to Chelsea or else you stay with us. They are the only 3 options on the table.
Spurs played hardball with Kane, and it did them nothing but good. Why don’t we learn?

Because Spurs could afford to play hardball.

Same as Villa could.

We don't have the financial backing for it.

Radz had already told everyone back in December our best players were for sale.

We would have to sell maybe one or two key players and buy other talents coming up, like Leicester have done in the past. We need to be humble and realistic with our means with how we want to grow as a club

A truly insane thing for an owner to say.

[whiteswan]

Because Spurs could afford to play hardball.

Same as Villa could.

We don't have the financial backing for it.

Radz had already told everyone back in December our best players were for sale.

We would have to sell maybe one or two key players and buy other talents coming up, like Leicester have done in the past. We need to be humble and realistic with our means with how we want to grow as a club

A truly insane thing for an owner to say.

I get the selling bit even if I don't agree with it, but just tell Barca to stump up or stump off!

[Cjay]

[Cjay]

Victor getting annoyed?

Subtle dig at Deco and Barcelona for using the media?

[Cjay]

I get the selling bit even if I don't agree with it, but just tell Barca to stump up or stump off!

We need the money Swannie.

It's obvious.

I hope we stand up to Deco and Barcelona but our need for the cash is well known.

[Kennyb41]

How the fck is the clown still in a job, it's beyond me

Can our business model (a Circus) last without Bert turning water type players into wine, or do we just carry on letting the Monkey with a pin loose in the transfer market, who's going to be our next KP with no Bert ? And how many attempts will it take the clown to unearth the next Raph and how much spunked away before he hits the jackpot again with a lucky strike.

[Aussieleeds]

Looks like ‘Team Barca/Deco/Raph’ are dragging this out until Chelsea lose patience and look elsewhere. Then Barca will lowball us with an offer closer to £50m and we’ll cave.

[Lumiukko]

Looks like ‘Team Barca/Deco/Raph’ are dragging this out until Chelsea lose patience and look elsewhere. Then Barca will lowball us with an offer closer to £50m and we’ll cave.

That thought had crossed my mind too. Stinks to high heaven. Out of principle I'd rather tell Raph he's going to sit in our reserves for 2 years than sell to Barca unless they pay the asking price and up front. I know business does not work that way unfortunately, especially one as cash-strapped as us. I would rather now we sell him to Chelsea for the right price, even if we have to play against him twice a season. At least Chelsea haven't mugged us around.

Hoping other teams sit up and take notice of Deco and Barca's conduct through all this and refuse to do business with them, particularly Deco. How Leeds haven't launched a complaint into the blatant shady practices, I don't know.

[danhirons]

That thought had crossed my mind too. Stinks to high heaven. Out of principle I'd rather tell Raph he's going to sit in our reserves for 2 years than sell to Barca unless they pay the asking price and up front. I know business does not work that way unfortunately, especially one as cash-strapped as us. I would rather now we sell him to Chelsea for the right price, even if we have to play against him twice a season. At least Chelsea haven't mugged us around.

Hoping other teams sit up and take notice of Deco and Barca's conduct through all this and refuse to do business with them, particularly Deco. How Leeds haven't launched a complaint into the blatant shady practices, I don't know.

unfortunately I think it's worth the hit with someone like rapha to be so strict - barca pay us what chelsea offered or the deal is off and you have to stay here until someone offers the same as chelsea did...for me the situation is a bit different to KP, KP did a lot for us, Rapha...I feel like we have done just as much for him as he has for us the last two years, we owe him nothing

I also really don't get the affinity for barca from players, they've been horrendously run as a business the last 5 years and have been on a steady downhill slope during this time as well and the future doesn't exactly look bright!

[The Subhuman]

unfortunately I think it's worth the hit with someone like rapha to be so strict - barca pay us what chelsea offered or the deal is off and you have to stay here until someone offers the same as chelsea did...for me the situation is a bit different to KP, KP did a lot for us, Rapha...I feel like we have done just as much for him as he has for us the last two years, we owe him nothing

I also really don't get the affinity for barca from players, they've been horrendously run as a business the last 5 years and have been on a steady downhill slope during this time as well and the future doesn't exactly look bright!

Maybe the chance to play in front of 99,000 fans at the Camp Nou. Euro football, the Real Madrid rivalry (I'd imagine that's one game all self respecting football players would love to play in, there's not, if any, bigger games)

[John in Louisiana]

Maybe the chance to play in front of 99,000 fans at the Camp Nou. Euro football, the Real Madrid rivalry (I'd imagine that's one game all self respecting football players would love to play in, there's not, if any, bigger games)

Plus, you get to live in Barcelona with a near unlimited supply of money.