Principle of agreement with ManCity for Bravo

[JamDav1982]

His priority is Man City and making them a better team. That doesn't make him any less of a cule. His reactions when he watched us against City two years ago show that he'll always be a cule

Dont doubt he will always be a Barca fan dont think his rections at City game were anything to point to though. He almost looked worried at times!

Nor does being a Barca fan have any impact on his behaviour towards club or the fact he acts like a prick at times and gets a called on it.

 

[FCBarca]

I still love and respect Pep. But he did tap up Bravo this time. He wasn't in the market, but Pep needed a gk like Claudio, and he went for it.

We don't know that, at all. There's no reason to expect that either, it was inevitable as well since a decision was going to have to be made between the pair - the obvious one was always going, just a matter of when & for how much.

He was always going to push for a renewal since he was on much lower wages than Mats and the way you leverage your position is to see what your market value is. City knowing of his availability and the very recent decision to drop Hart meant it was an easy link to make even in the best of circumstances.

People seem to forget up until now it was Mats who was being linked to City due to his role here not being enough. Our keepers were on the market, there's no tapping up to be done when there is uncertainty for both. Had Mats pushed for a move and ultimately ended up at City due to not being guaranteed #1 would Pep be guilty of tapping him up or simply a beneficiary to our situation. It works both ways.

We had an unusual situation for two seasons, two excellent starting keepers - no club has that sort of depth. One was always going to have to go and considering the money made and the future for Barcelona? It's an ideal turn of events. Neither one of Claudio or Mats should've continued with so little match time, continuity is particularly important for that position - its not like with outfield players

 

[JamDav1982]

We don't know that, at all. There's no reason to expect that either, it was inevitable as well since a decision was going to have to be made between the pair - the obvious one was always going, just a matter of when & for how much.

He was always going to push for a renewal since he was on much lower wages than Mats and the way you leverage your position is to see what your market value is. City knowing of his availability and the very recent decision to drop Hart meant it was an easy link to make even in the best of circumstances.

People seem to forget up until now it was Mats who was being linked to City due to his role here not being enough. Our keepers were on the market, there's no tapping up to be done when there is uncertainty for both. Had Mats pushed for a move and ultimately ended up at City due to not being guaranteed #1 would Pep be guilty of tapping him up or simply a beneficiary to our situation. It works both ways.

We had an unusual situation for two seasons, two excellent starting keepers - no club has that sort of depth. One was always going to have to go and considering the money made and the future for Barcelona? It's an ideal turn of events. Neither one of Claudio or Mats should've continued with so little match time, continuity is particularly important for that position - its not like with outfield players

Robert said that Man City made an approach while contract was being discussed and if press is to be believed they had already sounded out Ter Stegen in past.

 

[FCBarca]

As a matter of principle as a 'cule' it would've been good had Pep just treated Barca players as off limits. Maybe it's a bit emotional but if he did have Barca organization at heart, he'd think that way.

And as a matter of principle, you have to give a person of Pep's background and contributions to the club the benefit of the doubt instead of drawing conclusions without facts. The assumption here is that Pep unsettled our keepers when we've known since last season they weren't settled, I mean it's as naive as English fans being dumbfounded about Hart's dropping

 

[KingMessi]

He never called Ribery after they...well...you know.

 

[Barcaman]

Pep was a great Barca manager and remains a legend.
If he's gonna pinch our players then he'll be called a prick.

Maybe he'll call Kompany smartest player he coached next and cry when he will be leaving City for PSG in 3 years. I am sure he won't lack the dollar bills to wipe his tears away.

 

[Devils]

Of course Pep had influence in luring Bravo away from Barca...I mean come on, if the likes of Everton or Roma came calling, Bravo wouldn't have pushed for a move to those teams.

There will always be a sour note because you can be sure that he will always come after Barca players as long as he is a manager, simply because he wants all his teams to play like Barca. So where better to get them than at Barca itself? It's simply foolish to believe that Pep wouldn't want to sign players that have Barca experience. He said he 'wouldn't sign Barca players' but he's gone against that statement and we should expect it from him now on.

There isn't anything wrong with that from a business point of view, but we all know that there is much more than a business relationship when it comes to Pep and Barca.

 

[Flavia]

We don't know that, at all. There's no reason to expect that either, it was inevitable as well since a decision was going to have to be made between the pair - the obvious one was always going, just a matter of when & for how much.

He was always going to push for a renewal since he was on much lower wages than Mats and the way you leverage your position is to see what your market value is. City knowing of his availability and the very recent decision to drop Hart meant it was an easy link to make even in the best of circumstances.

People seem to forget up until now it was Mats who was being linked to City due to his role here not being enough. Our keepers were on the market, there's no tapping up to be done when there is uncertainty for both. Had Mats pushed for a move and ultimately ended up at City due to not being guaranteed #1 would Pep be guilty of tapping him up or simply a beneficiary to our situation. It works both ways.

We had an unusual situation for two seasons, two excellent starting keepers - no club has that sort of depth. One was always going to have to go and considering the money made and the future for Barcelona? It's an ideal turn of events. Neither one of Claudio or Mats should've continued with so little match time, continuity is particularly important for that position - its not like with outfield players

None of mats or Bravo were on the market. Lucho wanted to keep both. And as Robert said, they offered Bravo to renew. Pep did tap him up, and it's not better that he approached both players either. If city made no offer, both would stay at Barça this season, it doesn't matter how unsettled or unhappy with sharing minutes they were.

 

[barcafan161]

Bravo wanted to start and gets more money I imagine in the process.

 

[Neeraj]

None of mats or Bravo were on the market. Lucho wanted to keep both. And as Robert said, they offered Bravo to renew. Pep did tap him up, and it's not better that he approached both players either. If city made no offer, both would stay at Barça this season, it doesn't matter how unsettled or unhappy with sharing minutes they were.

This.

It's obvious that if City didn't come sneaking in, they would both be here, a case which we fans would be happy with, even if the two keepers weren't. Pep did make them choose one over the other, and then, of course, since Bravo wanted no 1, he made the move. But you cannot hide behind the argument that Bravo was unhappy and leaving anyway, which was not the case.

The only silver lining in this - potential blessing in disguise where Ter Stegen steps up, now confident he is no 1, and becomes a world class keeper, accelerating his progress. If Bravo was anyway going to be second choice, hopefully it shouldn't make THAT much of a difference, for cup games (unless another injury occurs ofc).

 

[FCBarca]

None of mats or Bravo were on the market. Lucho wanted to keep both. And as Robert said, they offered Bravo to renew. Pep did tap him up, and it's not better that he approached both players either. If city made no offer, both would stay at Barça this season, it doesn't matter how unsettled or unhappy with sharing minutes they were.

It does matter how unhappy or unsettled a player may be, that's how transfers happen - an open secret that has been discussed since the beginning of last season

None of us are privy to the sequence of how things like these unfold yet many are quick to conclude Pep would look to unsettle a Barcelona player for his benefit rather than acknowledge a situation that was going to have to change. It's scapegoating and considering who the target is, it's always disappointing to read cules trashing the club's legends

This despite it being more sensible if not altogether logical that an unsettled Mats was a legitimate target for City and once his situation at Barcelona was settled, Bravo's became undone and logically an alternate target for City & Pep. Was it really that long ago that we saw the reported visits from both keepers to get assurances about their future, would seem clear that the wheels were already in motion for a change - question was whom

Some of you would have it seem that both were happy to stay here and split duty, even if their wages were increased when that is clearly not how elite goalkeepers look to conduct their career, they want to play most if not all matches. Two years and double the profit on Bravo's sale. This would be the equivalent of another team coming in to take Pinto when he was Victor's understudy, no one would begrudge him to leave and start at another big club much less blame the pursuing club for unsettling

 

[FCBarca]

Of course Pep had influence in luring Bravo away from Barca...I mean come on, if the likes of Everton or Roma came calling, Bravo wouldn't have pushed for a move to those teams.

There will always be a sour note because you can be sure that he will always come after Barca players as long as he is a manager, simply because he wants all his teams to play like Barca. So where better to get them than at Barca itself? It's simply foolish to believe that Pep wouldn't want to sign players that have Barca experience. He said he 'wouldn't sign Barca players' but he's gone against that statement and we should expect it from him now on.

There isn't anything wrong with that from a business point of view, but we all know that there is much more than a business relationship when it comes to Pep and Barca.

You may be sure but that's a nonsensical conclusion since the only Barcelona player that has gone to play for Pep until now was an unsettled Thiago who was being pushed out by the club. Now, one of two keepers who were unsettled - an unsettled player & agent look to the market and Pep is a draw

 

[Flavia]

It does matter how unhappy or unsettled a player may be, that's how transfers happen - an open secret that has been discussed since the beginning of last season

None of us are privy to the sequence of how things like these unfold yet many are quick to conclude Pep would look to unsettle a Barcelona player for his benefit rather than acknowledge a situation that was going to have to change. It's scapegoating and considering who the target is, it's always disappointing to read cules trashing the club's legends

This despite it being more sensible if not altogether logical that an unsettled Mats was a legitimate target for City and once his situation at Barcelona was settled, Bravo's became undone and logically an alternate target for City & Pep. Was it really that long ago that we saw the reported visits from both keepers to get assurances about their future, would seem clear that the wheels were already in motion for a change - question was whom

Some of you would have it seem that both were happy to stay here and split duty, even if their wages were increased when that is clearly not how elite goalkeepers look to conduct their career, they want to play most if not all matches. Two years and double the profit on Bravo's sale. This would be the equivalent of another team coming in to take Pinto when he was Victor's understudy, no one would begrudge him to leave and start at another big club much less blame the pursuing club for unsettling

You're missing the point. You act like Pep can do no wrong, but he can. And he did. The best thing, for Barça, would be keeping both gk for one more season, as Lucho wanted. Pep came and tapped up Bravo. Having tried for mats before.

If Barça had put bravo on sale, with a bidding war for him, than that'd be ok. But that's not what happened. Bravo only leaving to city won't help Barça. I don't think a 3m profit is that much, in the current market. And it gets worse, as the replacement will come for almost as much as bravo was sold for. And it's surely not the equivalent as getting pinto.

I really wonder why he can do no wrong to you. I still respect him as always, but he is man city's coach now, and have only his team on his mind, not Barça. Denying the obvious is really weird.

 

[FCBarca]

You're missing the point. You act like Pep can do no wrong, but he can. And he did. The best thing, for Barça, would be keeping both gk for one more season, as Lucho wanted. Pep came and tapped up Bravo. Having tried for mats before.

There's always the possibility that any one person may do something that you wouldn't expect from them, even those of the highest character etc. That's not what I am missing, of course it's possible that Pep was a prick and decided to purposefully tap up one of Barcelona's contracted players so that he would push for a move - possible but not probable. That's my point, everyone so quick to draw a wildly speculative conclusion with no basis in fact, just the timeline of things.

And yes, Pep is exceptional when it comes to Barcelona - I repeat this anytime he comes up in this manner, no one is more blaugrana than Pep. So not me, not you, not Bojan or anyone else that fancies themselves the greatest possible fan. Pep is Barcelona.

Yes, he likely has a grudge with this board, we know there's a huge amount of friction there. We also know something happened during Tito's last days that also caused friction between the lifelong friends & cules. But what we don't know is whether he's done any harm to the club, there's just zero evidence of that. So rather than go by the body of someone's work over their entire life, I'm not even speaking about professional career but the entirety of their lives - Pep is blaugrana, through & through

As for the goal keeping situation, again if you just go by the facts there's no reason to manufacture a tapping up. Was Mats unsettled? Did he want to be the undisputed #1 or simply play more matches else leave? Did he not say this last season? But it's easier to assume City or Pep tapped him up? Same for Bravo. I mean, I find it awfully naive that people think these two excellent keepers were happy to continue splitting the season while the younger (And less used) was getting nearly double the wages.

Something was going to have to change, we all knew this last season - I'm just a bit stunned that the conversation somehow steered towards it being City or Pep's fault. We had a keeper situation that was untenable, that is a fact - from there it is conjecture, just like when I wondered if Mats was feigning injury because he was on the block. We just don't know so how you be so certain this is Pep's doing rather than the logical result of a very transparent problem at the club

And how would a bidding war go for a keeper of Bravo's quality and 33 in a market where no big club needed a keeper? Particularly for a club notorious for rarely getting fair market value in their sales. And it is similar to the Pinto situation because Pinto was the #2 keeper, even if his quality was not that of the Chilean. People forget we haven't rotated keepers like this in a long time, before I was a fan even. You rarely see that at a big club

Until Pep actually does some wrong to the club, then no I don't buy the shots at him - it's unbecoming of any club to tear down their heroes/legends but unfathomable how he's constantly in the sights of our own fans. It's a reminder that the media manipulates people all too easily

If Barça had put bravo on sale, with a bidding war for him, than that'd be ok. But that's not what happened. Bravo only leaving to city won't help Barça. I don't think a 3m profit is that much, in the current market. And it gets worse, as the replacement will come for almost as much as bravo was sold for. And it's surely not the equivalent as getting pinto.

I really wonder why he can do no wrong to you. I still respect him as always, but he is man city's coach now, and have only his team on his mind, not Barça. Denying the obvious is really weird.[/QUOTE]

 

[Flavia]

There's always the possibility that any one person may do something that you wouldn't expect from them, even those of the highest character etc. That's not what I am missing, of course it's possible that Pep was a prick and decided to purposefully tap up one of Barcelona's contracted players so that he would push for a move - possible but not probable. That's my point, everyone so quick to draw a wildly speculative conclusion with no basis in fact, just the timeline of things.

And yes, Pep is exceptional when it comes to Barcelona - I repeat this anytime he comes up in this manner, no one is more blaugrana than Pep. So not me, not you, not Bojan or anyone else that fancies themselves the greatest possible fan. Pep is Barcelona.

Yes, he likely has a grudge with this board, we know there's a huge amount of friction there. We also know something happened during Tito's last days that also caused friction between the lifelong friends & cules. But what we don't know is whether he's done any harm to the club, there's just zero evidence of that. So rather than go by the body of someone's work over their entire life, I'm not even speaking about professional career but the entirety of their lives - Pep is blaugrana, through & through

As for the goal keeping situation, again if you just go by the facts there's no reason to manufacture a tapping up. Was Mats unsettled? Did he want to be the undisputed #1 or simply play more matches else leave? Did he not say this last season? But it's easier to assume City or Pep tapped him up? Same for Bravo. I mean, I find it awfully naive that people think these two excellent keepers were happy to continue splitting the season while the younger (And less used) was getting nearly double the wages.

Something was going to have to change, we all knew this last season - I'm just a bit stunned that the conversation somehow steered towards it being City or Pep's fault. We had a keeper situation that was untenable, that is a fact - from there it is conjecture, just like when I wondered if Mats was feigning injury because he was on the block. We just don't know so how you be so certain this is Pep's doing rather than the logical result of a very transparent problem at the club

And how would a bidding war go for a keeper of Bravo's quality and 33 in a market where no big club needed a keeper? Particularly for a club notorious for rarely getting fair market value in their sales. And it is similar to the Pinto situation because Pinto was the #2 keeper, even if his quality was not that of the Chilean. People forget we haven't rotated keepers like this in a long time, before I was a fan even. You rarely see that at a big club

Until Pep actually does some wrong to the club, then no I don't buy the shots at him - it's unbecoming of any club to tear down their heroes/legends but unfathomable how he's constantly in the sights of our own fans. It's a reminder that the media manipulates people all too easily

Pep was Barcelona. Now he is man city. There're people more blaugrana than him, too. In the city of bcn, and in the club as well. He doesn't have Barcelona's interests at heart anymore, because he is very professional. And he did tap up Bravo, Lucho did not want him to leave. When a player leaves despite his coach and club wanting him to stay and renew, it's clear he was convinced by a 3rd party.

Both Bravo and Mats staying for one more season was the best outcome for Barça, but that's not happening because of Pep and City. I don't really care about their personal feelings, they're professionals and would continue to be like that. Change could come next summer, not now.

Pep already did wrong by bringing Cesc back, and now with Bravo. He won't try to sign Messi, but I'm curious if you stance will be the same if he tries to sign Neymar, or another good player, from us.