21 - Frenkie de Jong
- Thread starter DonAK
- Start date
Saladin
Active member
Both De Jong and Arthur are not 'big names' but by the looks of their playstyle they both seem extremely confident in every area we need covered in the midfield; Passing skills are phenomenal, positioning, work rate are very high for both and their vision is unique.
Ajax fans did not mind one bit that they let Kluivert go, but they see a big star in De Jong. Comparatively better than even Eriksen at his age. Arthur is the talk of the town in Brazil and the 'gem' in midfield that helped Gremio secure a Copa Libertadores, which is still a great tournament.
Sergio - De Jong - Thiago/Arthur would be magic; De Jong can even play DM/CB and has an almost Beckenbaur'esque way to his play, never seen a player break the lines with such ease and tenacity.
Ajax fans did not mind one bit that they let Kluivert go, but they see a big star in De Jong. Comparatively better than even Eriksen at his age. Arthur is the talk of the town in Brazil and the 'gem' in midfield that helped Gremio secure a Copa Libertadores, which is still a great tournament.
Sergio - De Jong - Thiago/Arthur would be magic; De Jong can even play DM/CB and has an almost Beckenbaur'esque way to his play, never seen a player break the lines with such ease and tenacity.
Saladin
Active member
Yes, De Jong and De Ligt both have that X-factor; hope we sign both and bring in Thiago and Arthur; We just lost Iniesta and with Gomes and maybe D. Suarez set to leave, would make room for all 4, since De Jong can play everywhere from CB-->DM-->CM, Arthur can cover the central midfield and Thiago can play anywhere as CM/AM (both right and left side).
Rakitic to be given a more secondary role next year with Paulinho as a super-sub (dont think he'd mind, really).
EDIT: Oh, and fuck Piqué. Send him to Juvenil B and have De Ligt line up with Umtiti, please.
Raketa10
Senior Member
To be fair now is the right time to sell Rakitic since he had a great season which i doubt he'll repeat and he is over 30 years old. IMHO now is the last chance to cash on him.
snowy
New member
Exactly, Arda da Spartan was a Big Name and look how it turned out. Dude was playing Angry Birds on his mob more than he was practicing.
De Jong, De Light and DJ Flight look good. If still not sure, send our expert scouts to check them out and sign them already. Or 1 year later, they'll be twice the price in this bubble environment.
De Jong, De Light and DJ Flight look good. If still not sure, send our expert scouts to check them out and sign them already. Or 1 year later, they'll be twice the price in this bubble environment.
Messi983
Senior Member
You don't sell a starter until you are sure you have a replacement for him. Raki is far from perfect but he's a proven player and still the best we currently have in his position. Buy Arthur and De Jong and see if one of them will establish himself as a starter (or at least show enough potential to do that in next season when they'll be fully adapted to the team) and then we can think about Rakitić's future. Selling him before that would be stupid imo.
Raketa10
Senior Member
You misunderstood me. I never considered De Jong as a immediate replacement for Rakitic nor do I see Arthur or Alena as such. The can all become excellent players but they will all need time to adapt. I would never sell Rakitic until I found replacement. For me the only proper replacement right now is the guy who can enter the first 11 immediately and that's Thiago. Thiago is 27 years old player who is technically superior to Rakitic and for sure can contribute much immediately so if I had to choose beetween Thago or Rakitic I would opt for Thiago. And I am saying that as a Croatian and a forum member who defended Rakitic here numerous of times. IMHO Rakitic will start to decline soon and next summer we won't be able to get anything for him while right now we could easily finance entire transfer sum for Thiago by selling Rakitic. Even Iniesta and Xavi started to decline rapidly in their thirties so I have no doubt same will happen with Rakitic.
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Messi983
Senior Member
I think Raki is more valuable to Barça than other clubs so I doubt anyone would pay 50-60M and for 20-30M we'd probably get I prefer to keep him.
Even if we buy Thiago (who's injury prone) Raki would still be at least very useful rotational player and starter in many games. With Griezmann not coming I also doubt we really need money that much this summer. I don't see us buying other 100M+ player and we can afford 60M (our usual transfer budget every season) net spending overall if needed so transfer budget alongside selling the deadweights should be more than enough to cover for Arthur, Lenglet, De Jong/Thiago,... and maybe a new GK and/or LB if we get good offers for Jasper or Digne.
Also, it's easy to say we should sell Raki but I doubt he's even thinking about leaving and trying to force him out of the club could upset his team mates. No matter what fans think about him they still consider him as an important player and he's liked and respected inside the locker room so that's another reason for me to not sell him right now. Things could change next summer though if we'll get someone who could replace him in the starting XI and he'll see his time at the club is running out and more likely accept to be sold. Yes, we'd probably lose some money in that case (by keeping him for another season) but more likely around 10M than 20-30M.
Even if we buy Thiago (who's injury prone) Raki would still be at least very useful rotational player and starter in many games. With Griezmann not coming I also doubt we really need money that much this summer. I don't see us buying other 100M+ player and we can afford 60M (our usual transfer budget every season) net spending overall if needed so transfer budget alongside selling the deadweights should be more than enough to cover for Arthur, Lenglet, De Jong/Thiago,... and maybe a new GK and/or LB if we get good offers for Jasper or Digne.
Also, it's easy to say we should sell Raki but I doubt he's even thinking about leaving and trying to force him out of the club could upset his team mates. No matter what fans think about him they still consider him as an important player and he's liked and respected inside the locker room so that's another reason for me to not sell him right now. Things could change next summer though if we'll get someone who could replace him in the starting XI and he'll see his time at the club is running out and more likely accept to be sold. Yes, we'd probably lose some money in that case (by keeping him for another season) but more likely around 10M than 20-30M.
DonAndres
Wild Man of Borneo
Sadly, I don't think we're gonna get him. I wanted him almost as much as Thiago if not as much, his potential is that amazing.
Instead we'll get Rabiot. Doesn't matter that he has 1/4 of the potential and is mediocre as all hell, this board has 0 talent evaluation ability. Just like instead of Thiago we'll get crippled Gundogan. As if its the same thing. Things have only been getting worse and worse.
Instead we'll get Rabiot. Doesn't matter that he has 1/4 of the potential and is mediocre as all hell, this board has 0 talent evaluation ability. Just like instead of Thiago we'll get crippled Gundogan. As if its the same thing. Things have only been getting worse and worse.
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