SirBalon

He didn’t want to go and apparently he was told by Valverde that he wouldn’t be selected for his teams as there were others ahead of him.

Have we? Barcelona had been going at Thiago Silva at PSG for three years and being willing to offer almost €100m for him with PSG unwilling to budge at all. Then Barça centred their attention on their (PSG) younger Brazilian centre-back, Marquinhos but again PSG didn’t want to know even though at the time of Barcelona’s interest Marquinhos hadn’t hit the first team proper yet... But the reasons behind PSG’s reluctance to do business with Barcelona had nothing to do with maintaining their team because of ambition with those two players as it was an ongoing war between FCB and the owners of PSG... That’s another story that doesn’t concern here. What I’m saying is that thankfully the poor work done in pinpointing attention on the two Brazilian defenders who would’ve been massively more expensive and not as prosperous and good scouting as what was done with Umtiti, wouldn’t have been as satisfying. But you already said that it was a good deal regardless. Barça didn’t have to go through an auction to obtain the services of Samuel Umtiti which shows how bad scouting has become in the modern game in my personal view.

Really mate? Ill trust that you knew mate... I said at the time when Barcelona signed him that I knew who he was, but not much else. Put it this way, I didn’t know he’d end up being this good and if that’d been common knowledge, trust me, he wouldn’t have gone for €25m. To be honest, I haven’t followed the French League properly (like I tend to follow football when I’m into it) since the early 2000s.

I’d like to know if it is infact fake news... Do you have proof seeing as you seem to know? Pass me a link so I can send it to a friend that is adamant it’s true as I also think it’s far fetched.

Der Spiegel release information about a supposed offer Real Madrid made to Messi in 2013 It sounds far fetched and almost James Bond 007 like this story, but according to an investigation made by German magazine Der Spiegel, Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez met with Lionel Messi and his father on a private jet over that flew over the Atlantic Ocean and turned back while the conversations took place so as they could remain as secret and private as possible. According to the Spanish lawyer who was the family’s representative back in 2013 and who now works for the Spanish news network El Mundo, Iñigo Juárez is the guy who released the documents to Der Spiegel. Apparently Florentino Pérez wanted to get rid of Cristiano Ronaldo after he had publicly come out at the time saying that he wasn’t happy and thus creating a boom in the Spanish media which resulted in him getting a massive pay increase with a new contract. Words were spoken the day Cristiano Ronaldo said this between the president and himself which were leaked to the press with witnesses where he told him; “You can go if you like, go and bring me the fee a club signs you for so I can sign Messi”. It was apparently due to what was occurring with Cristiano Ronaldo at the time why allegedly the this meeting on that private plane was made, and that Florentino Pérez offered Lionel Messi back then the astronomical sum of €28m per season before bonuses and €1m for Messi’s father. Florentino Pérez then went on to tell the Messis that Real Madrid would pay the then buy-out clause Messi had at Barça which was set at €250m if he agreed to the move. Also at this time in 2013 was when Lionel Messi’s tax fraud case had gone into motion with the Spanish courts and that Florentino Pérez told Messi’s father and Leo that he would put pressure on the Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy to help drop the case and make it all look like an error. That’s the story... Far fetched? Crazy? Not half! True? Who knows, but there are parts to it that sound familiar almost and quite believable. Other parts just sound like something out of a movie. But nothing surprises me anymore in the world of football and how it moves brandnames in a manner that nothing else does.

The reasons English clubs don’t make those signings from Latin America is because they haven’t got a network of scouts there traditionally. Infact scouting in UK based football has always been poor historically and only started to become nothing more than ok in the late 90s and through the early 2000s... Most of them being Scandinavian footballers in the late 90s to be honest. Since the advent of the Premiership/Premier League, English football clubs haven’t really invested in scouting, not proper scouting in the traditional sense because of the money that’s entered into the game over here. What does scouting players doing well in Europe’s top leagues actually mean? You could do that job, anyone here could do that job if they’re an avid aficionado to the game that goes beyond an insular outlook on the world of football where everything seems to start and finish with this league. Did Manchester United really pay a scout a salary to sit at Juventus matches all of that previous season to signing him so as to ascertain that he was one of Europe’s most signified players? Or maybe they paid someone to watch a load of BT SPORTS. Who knows, but what I do know is that isn’t what a scouting network is all about. Yes some decent finds are made every now and then, but they’re very few and far between with midium scale to lower defining sides being the ones to experiment in that sense and then you get a Van Dijk moment where Southampton get £75m for someone that even Holland didn’t play for ages and when he was played didn’t make much difference defensively. Of course Liverpool funded the signing of Van Dijk off the fact that the inevitable was going to occur with the sale of Coutinho but even then the sale of the Brazilian came post the signing of the Dutchman from Southampton... Barcelona on the other hand spent €25m (£19.5m) on Samuel Umtiti two years ago and is now one of the most renowned young central defenders in the world and have just spent €11m (£7.8m) on Yerry Mina who we now have to wait and see what occurs with him in the same manner that occured with Umtiti. But I can assure you that the Barcelona scout following Mina has been there for three years enduring every Palmeiras game home and away while sending all the info back home and not with the club basing their opinion on tv coverage or what the media are saying in various other countries, Yes Barça, Real and some other clubs spend big, but that’s because they are big and coupled with the great tracking they do with players, they also dip into the stardom market and pay top dollar for it becaus that’s also the nature of the game. What you won’t see a Barça or a Real do is spending that sort of money unless there are massive grounds to be doing it under. All of this obviously goes beyond whether an expensive player purchase ends up being successful or not because to know something based on the future belongs to science-fiction. Scouts do their homework or should be doing it correctly so as to acquire the necessary information required for what’s needed at the club they’re workings for... Hence why Monchi who isn’t even a head coach and never has been one is paid as much or more than some of the biggest coaches in the world because he knows and understands how to direct a network of scouts in the correct manner.

They definitely overpaid for Pogba, but then again there were a few clubs ready to do this but they backed out in the end and Pogba took his third choice.

What does that have to do with what I said and the €220m PSG paid for Neymar? If you want to continue your swipe at Barcelona for dodgy dealings, open a thread on that subject and we can all debate it but to bring that up eveytime Barcelona make a signing with all sorts of rhetoric just pushes the derailing of the conversation into another subject.

Overpaid like everyone has been overpaying since the Neymar departure to PSG and what it cost. Look at the prices all around. Even before that...

Aleix Vidal for me is probably the best full back in Europe when it comes to causing havoc to opponents defences. He has so many different techniques to his individual technical ability to make defences think twice and keep their own full back in his place. But defensively he has various holes which all have their roots in concentration... That’s the reason he’s been a bit part player for Barcelona due to the fact so much is asked from their full backs... Not only do you have to be decent defensively (decent is good enough at Barça), but you also have to be as good as any front man in knowing what to do with the ball at your feet and not just know how to get to the byline and blindly cross the ball. Barcelona’s midfielders and attackers are intelligent and expecting something more than just frenetic attacking. The curious thing in all of this is that under Unai Emery at Sevilla he was more than just decent in the defensive side of things which makes you think it was the wrong signing for Barcelona and that under the right coach he will be a massive asset.

That’s why Spain, Portugal and Italy have top quality scouts all over Latin America including Central America... The names that have gone through all three leagues over the decades shows us all this. From what I’ve learned about Yerry Mina through listening to experts, reading and watching some videos is that he’s ready for Europe without a doubt and that his defensive qualities are top level. His heading ability both defensively and in set pieces is better than anything we have in Europe right now. But he does lack pace for a side like Barça that plays a very high line almost on the halfway line of the pitch. That last detail is the only issue! But check this out... He cost €11m (just over £9m) and Liverpool spent £75m a week ago. This is why La Liga does so much good work in this aspect.

Obviously this is just a rumour and last night after Real’s horrible performance in the Copa del Rey against third division Numancia, he was asked about his future and he said he had only just signed a new contract at the club. He did also add that nothing is certain in football.

Shock horror! Apparently and allegedly Florentino Pérez has been in contact with the Germany national team Joachim Löw so as to enquire about the possibilities of obtaining his services as head coach after the World Cup in Russia.

Official: Yerry Mina signs for FC Barcelona

It hasn’t been made official yet by Barça but according to various Spanish media portals, Yerry Mina has signed for FC Barcelona.

Legend!

You’re right that Neymar and especially his father squeezed the club for every cent they could get... As for the loyalty payment for the new contract he signed four months before they became a parody of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Barcelona didn’t pay it and won’t pay it because for the simple fact that there was no loyalty. The legal cases concerning Neymar’s transfer to Barcelona... Bloody hell mate, that wasn’t the Nixon Watergate case or the OJ Simpson case! Even then those legal cases never spent €200m on that and neither did Barcelona. Another thing I do agree with you on is that indeed FC Barcelona have indeed become hypcrcrites in terms of they’ve become an out and out buying club like Real Madrid have always been. This board should think twice about creating and displaying their gigantic banners or mosaics before games referring to La Masia. But let’s also celebrate that the fact Barça got into all that trouble revolving the signing of Neymar and the financial numbers they were trying to keep secret is all down to a Barcelona fan, Jordi Cases who took the club to court because he cared about the club and over 70% of the members (fans) supported him in doing so. That’s a far cry from all the legal battles that don’t get publicised as much by the centralised Spanish media on everything surrounding Real Madrid like their greasing of politicians for the sale of their old training facilities so as to build Valdebebas (their present training city), their greasing of politicians for the right to rebuild the Santiago Bernabéu into a spaceship and all the tax scandals that are currently going through the courts... No Real Madrid socio has as much as muttered and lifted a whisper against the club’s involvement in all of this corruption. But then again this is nothing new and it’s historic how silent everything has always been in situations such as these with that club. It gets a column every now and then but not much else. There’s nothing clean about either club but I suppose you’re right again in the sense that Barcelona have gone around publicising their holier than thou persona throughout the world... Hold on! Forgot about one of Real Madrid’s biggest mottos which is SEÑORÍO! I’ll leave that simple word for people to use Google Translate on.

Hahahahahahahaha Did you copy and paste that from somewhere or did you write all of that yourself? Hahahahaha

Oh, right! No, they definitely wouldn’t have spent that amount on Coutinho because even in the hypothetical world of them going in for Dembélé, they wouldn’t have spent what they did because the Neymar move wouldn’t have happened and nobody would’ve witnessed one club spend €220m (£207m) on a player. It’s like Liverpool now... Whatever move they look to make in the transfer window, the club that could potentially lose their player to them will want a lot more that they would’ve before Coutinho moved to Barcelona.

Before Neymar had gone or Barça even knew Neymar was dealing behind their backs, the plan was to bring in three players which were Verratti, Mina or Iñigo Martínez and Coutinho. The funds were there for all three players.

Not Dembélé, but definietly Coutinho as that story is about 4 years old.

I heard a rumour connecting Icardi to Real about a week ago but ignored it. I am shocked to be honest... A La Masia player at Real Madrid!!!

So it turns out that Coutinho’s injury was for real after all... He has a hamstring strain which will keep him out for a maximum of three weeks although could be back in two according to as.com.

I want that hoodie!

As incredible as it may sound, add another headache to it all and believe, it's a real headache. I'm not sure coaches want to have things as comfortable as he has them now the way the league table is at the moment. Motivation is one tough mental skill to keep alive with these sorts of people. The only motivational game he can play on the team at this moment in time for La Liga games is to tell them that they have a chance to make history by creating the biggest gap ever in winning a title. I'm not sure how he's going to go about this because when motivation winds down and you reduce the gears, you can then find yourself going into a bad run of results and all of a sudden going up the gears isn't so easy because you don't just select the, like you do in a car. As for everything you've said... Incredible to be honest considering what the situation looked like just before the season started. Even Gerard Piqué in an interview after Real wiped the floor with Barça in the Supercopa de España that for the first time in his almost 10 years playing for the club's first team he felt that Real Madrid were supremely superior to them. Never even on rate defeats since he returned to Barcelona had he felt that. But look at things now like you've said... What looked like Barcelona's worst squad in years, suddenly looks jam packed and add to that the team's confidence due to the fact they still remain undefeated in all competitions and we're now halfway through the season. What compares right now? Man City in the Premier League? Manchester a City also look absolutely sublime and on a particular role that creates not only confidence but also the sense of invincibility. The team starts to think that it's impossible to lose and even if they go behind, the confidence will drive them onto winning or as a minimum a draw if the performance isn't what it should be. Apart from that (on all fronts, in all competitions) nobody else looks at that level. There is Bayern in Germany, Napoli in Italy with Porto and Sporting in Portugal still undefeated too... Even Benfica have only lost 1 game. A coach's job has difficulties even when things are going marvellously.