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Player Frenkie de Jong

mill

Well-Known Member
May 21, 2007
10,385
37,100
With de jong off the table now does that mean we’ll move onto our next target?
 

doctor stefan Freud

the tired tread of sad biology
Sep 2, 2013
15,170
72,169
With de jong off the table now does that mean we’ll move onto our next target?
Absolutely

5762F9CB-4EF7-403D-A456-D21D437351C2.jpeg
 

Johnny J

Not the Kiwi you need but the one you deserve
Aug 18, 2012
18,118
47,881
OK, so we asked to be kept in the loop and now we're going to match the bid, right? Right?!
 

FibreOpticJesus

Well-Known Member
Aug 14, 2005
2,788
4,991
He's not actually a "top talent" though is he? He's looked really good for a season and a half in the Dutch league.

What's happening here is that the teams with more money than God have decided to start cutting out "middle-men" like ourselves because they are now so wealthy it doesn't matter if the players they buy fail to develop into actual "top players".

In this reality, Modrić, Bale and Eriksen never play for us.

They cannot buy all the talent. We are in I would say the top 15 clubs in the world so we are in for the top 50 players for midfield, top 30 for strikers etc etc. we must be able to purchase what we need. My only concern is the ability of some clubs to buy the cream and then loan them out.
 

Johnny J

Not the Kiwi you need but the one you deserve
Aug 18, 2012
18,118
47,881
With de jong off the table now does that mean we’ll move onto our next target?
At last, we can now move on from a player we were never in with a chance of signing!

To another player we don't have any chance of signing! Thank God for the academy.
 
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Lilbaz

Just call me Baz
Apr 1, 2005
41,363
74,893
Then we (and other clubs like us) might as well pack up and go home. There's definitely someone on here (could be @Lilbaz as he's the FFP guru, although it might have been old Bus Conductor) that's always maintained that the real purpose of FFP is to enable the traditional top clubs (plus a few oil-moneyed upstarts who got through a crack in the door as it closed) to shut up shop for good. If a player that might be the world's best CM in his late twenties is now the second most expensive player ever in that position, it's hard not to feel that the cartel has got it sealed up.

Not me. Ffp was voted in by the majority of clubs. They did that because 40% of clubs in europe were facing financial ruin.
A side effect was that for the bigger clubs it maintained their status and limited new cities and psg's coming on the scene. But it wasn't the main aim and isn't really designed for that.

It's not perfect by any means and needs work and backing by eu etc... to stop big cases rotting in courts.
 

RichieS

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2004
11,916
16,436
They cannot buy all the talent. We are in I would say the top 15 clubs in the world so we are in for the top 50 players for midfield, top 30 for strikers etc etc. we must be able to purchase what we need. My only concern is the ability of some clubs to buy the cream and then loan them out.
They can flash their knickers at all of them though. Sorry if I seem a bit morbid but I just feel as though the market we used to shop in (that has served us so well) no longer exists. In fact, the purchases of Aurier and Lucas and the alleged interest in Rabiot, James etc. rather suggests that the club believe that as well and are trying to adapt.
 

Johnny J

Not the Kiwi you need but the one you deserve
Aug 18, 2012
18,118
47,881
Not me. Ffp was voted in by the majority of clubs. They did that because 40% of clubs in europe were facing financial ruin.
A side effect was that for the bigger clubs it maintained their status and limited new cities and psg's coming on the scene. But it wasn't the main aim and isn't really designed for that.

It's not perfect by any means and needs work and backing by eu etc... to stop big cases rotting in courts.
Part of the problem is that the mega clubs have a lot more money than UEFA, and will strongly fight any significant punishment with legal action. UEFA basically have to look like they're in charge through largely nominal sanctions, and the mega clubs don't really suffer.

For an analogy in another sport, Fury obtained a favorable settlement of his drugs situation, with restoration of his license, because if he'd sued the regulator in question and won, it would have bankrupted them.
 

dwicker7

Active Member
Aug 14, 2017
73
201
I know it was said we would match any offer for him, but ITK also just said we cooled on Werner because his price was the majority of our budget and it sounds like the price of Werner and De Jong were decently similar in the end. And that doesn't even take into account his camp would've rejected a hypothetical match to go to Barcelona anyway. Oh well, will be sure to copy and paste this when Ndombele goes to PSG.
 

yido_number1

He'll always be magic
Jun 8, 2004
8,645
16,810
They can flash their knickers at all of them though. Sorry if I seem a bit morbid but I just feel as though the market we used to shop in (that has served us so well) no longer exists. In fact, the purchases of Aurier and Lucas and the alleged interest in Rabiot, James etc. rather suggests that the club believe that as well and are trying to adapt.
All those deals are classic spurs. Classy players that other big clubs either can't manage or don't want as they have the next shiney thing. See vdv, alderweireld from Athleti, as other examples.
 

Trix

Well-Known Member
Jul 29, 2004
19,336
329,025
Poch is probably pissed because we prob could have got him last summer.
We tried in the Summer he was holding out for Barca. Our hope was they wouldn't follow through with their interest. For me this is good news because hopefully we will move on now. Fwiw we were willing to go big to get him, but as soon as Barca showed interest they were all he was interested in.
 

The Mourneview Ace

Well-Known Member
Jan 8, 2019
197
513
We tried in the Summer he was holding out for Barca. Our hope was they wouldn't follow through with their interest. For me this is good news because hopefully we will move on now. Fwiw we were willing to go big to get him, but as soon as Barca showed interest they were all he was interested in.

Fair enough, they are biggest club in the world. Fan base, stadium, squad, Messi. Huge history of Dutch players. It would turn anyone’s head like. If you are going to miss out to anyone....
 

Cornpattbuck

Well-Known Member
Jul 23, 2013
6,873
15,942
We need to move quicker to sign players before they become stars like De Jong. Once they've made it big it's too late for us because we can't compete with the top clubs. Just look at Alli as an example of what we have to do. I would move fast for players like Berge before they become a big star too. Forget the big names that everyone can see is great already. While all the top clubs are chasing the Werners and Ndombeles we need to find the next big stars.

As a fan of Barca I am looking forward to see what De Jong is all about. I will say that watching Barca at the weekend that it was mentioned they have to sell Malcom to fund the signing. I'm not sure when they have to pay for De Jong (now or in the summer) but I would like to think we could put an offer in for Malcom now. He's another player who could potentially become a big star, it just seems his move to Barca came a bit too soon. He needs a club like us to build him back up again.

He only joined Ajax four years ago, as a 17-year-old, and has played, what, 40ish games for them?

Considering we were already heavily interested this summer, along with half the world, not sure how much quicker we could have been.

Think we'd have been a very good fit for him and Barca might be too early for him but, hey, this is football at the moment...
 

double0

Well-Known Member
Aug 29, 2006
14,423
12,258
You have to admire Ajax in how they continually produce well rounded footballers. Its a testimony we need to follow and I truly believe we have the players in our academy. Harry Wink and Kane we have proved the talents there, I hope Poch looks more towards our own. I keep going on about Onomah theres Skipp as well to.
 
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