Gini Wijnaldum

The sports management of Bar?a don't see the need for Wijnaldum's signing, despite the player being a request of Koeman. The club prioritize the progression of Moriba. @sinconcesiones

Don't know how reliable is that, but I hope it is true.

I find it ironic that the reason why Koeman might not get Wijnaldum is because Koeman keeps playing Moriba

I'd be wary of giving into Koeman wanting Memphis Depay too.

Managers who get the players they explicitly want to sign often have a tunnel vision when it comes to them. Like Lucho with Andre Gomes or Pep who wanted to keep Chygrynskiy even though he was way out of his depth.

Cannot remember if Ernie got a player he requested.

I feel like we won't be seeing Wijnaldum and Depay at Barca. Might be for the better.

DonAK said:

I'd be wary of giving into Koeman wanting Memphis Depay too.

Managers who get the players they explicitly want to sign often have a tunnel vision when it comes to them. Like Lucho with Andre Gomes or Pep who wanted to keep Chygrynskiy even though he was way out of his depth.

Cannot remember if Ernie got a player he requested.

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Paulinho, was good choice.
Pep also was insistent on Adebayor over Eto when he came here.

When SD decided to totally go against the coach or not work with him, we will get situation like Malcom or Pjanic. We know Koemann can be stubborn.
Both sides need to work on this, no need to force player on manager or board.

Paulinho was rumored to be Valverde's choice, but was there any proof? It's hard for me to imagine Valverde, all spanish coach, wanting a player from China in his 30s.

But we've already seen Valverde has a great eye for talent

khaled_a_d said:

Paulinho, was good choice.
Pep also was insistent on Adebayor over Eto when he came here.

When SD decided to totally go against the coach or not work with him, we will get situation like Malcom or Pjanic. We know Koemann can be stubborn.
Both sides need to work on this, no need to force player on manager or board.

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They should work together, but if Koeman's plan is to play Memphis as a #9/False 9 then the SD should tell him there's no way it's happening as that's doomed to fail.

Ideally we sign a proper #9 and a a direct LW/RW with pace this summer. The only actual pacy winger we have is Dembele and he's afraid to dribble or cannot dribble anymore.

khaled_a_d said:

The sports management of Bar?a don't see the need for Wijnaldum's signing, despite the player being a request of Koeman. The club prioritize the progression of Moriba. @sinconcesiones

Don't know how reliable is that, but I hope it is true.

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Still we need another CM.
Pjanic is out of Koeman's plans and rightfully so.
Busi is getting older with every passing day.

You cannot rely on only Frenkie, Pedri, Busi, and then have Moriba to cover for a whole year.
We are talking about 3 positions here

Birdy said:

Still we need another CM.
Pjanic is out of Koeman's plans and rightfully so.
Busi is getting older with every passing day.

You cannot rely on only Frenkie, Pedri, Busi, and then have Moriba to cover for a whole year.
We are talking about 3 positions here

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Other than players who are most likely going out (Fernandes,Pjanic, Alena) we have Roberto, Puig,Moriba Collado, Nico and the starting trio.
We also have a promising youngster in Gavi in B team.
So, the 4 you mentioned + Roberto and one of Puig/Collado/Nico will be here.
Is that ideal? NO
Is it better than going after wrong player, considering we are still rebuilding the squad and specifically our midfield? I would say yes
Honestly, depends on how Koemann rates Nico (rumor is that he rates him very highly) and for which position, I would prefer going for DM rather than CM.

Puig is also out of Koeman's plans, Collado is a winger. Roberto can plug holes when everyone else is injured, but is below the required level to play regular role in Barca's Md

Do not know about Nico. I doubt Koeman will bet on 3 players that are younger than 20, when Pedri and Moriba are already part of the plans.

There is a reason he is pushing for Winaldum.
Wants another senior proven option, and prefers him from what he has seen over at the Dutch NT

Birdy said:

There is a reason he is pushing for Winaldum.

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And there is more reasons to push against him, as I said it isn't ideal if we don't get another CM/DM but it is better than getting the wrong player.
And Dutch NT is different team, Koemann came here thinking that 4231 will do FDJ good, in the end the later played his best ball as CM in 433 or Libro in 3 in the back.

catalinutzR80 said:

At first I was shocked but then I understood you , seeing that he's only 1.75m.


No midgets please.

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Not because of that.
Apparently there is a new problem which hasn't existed in the past:
1) players playing 45-55 matches per season
2) covered distance levels requirements going up each new season

That means that a 30 year old midfield-workhorse signing is different in 2021 than in 2006.
Players in 2006 had some energy left.
Players from today are absolutely finished.

Wijnaldum has played around 50 matches in a season (club+NT) for 7 seasons in a row.
His body and lungs are close to Rakitic's and Arda's level of finished.

I really don't think that he would be any better than Rakitic from his last season or Pjanic from today.
And fans hated both of them.

Busi will play a lot.
Frenkie+Pedri are playing every single match.
Moriba can play a lot.
And as Khaled said, we will have Roberto and a few other b-team midfielders.

That's 6 midfielders.

We ain't fight for a CL, so these guys will be more than enough for La liga.

Arda was more finished on the mental level. Rakitic I agree.

@BBZ
That's an interesting way to look at it.

Regarding the boards position with Wijnaldum. It would be crazy that two different boards can't provide the signings that the managerial team wants given that they are this summer free signings. It is not like a "Cesc or nothing case" with Pep while Modric and Ozil were on the market.

I think if we win LaLiga and CdR while exiting the CL it establishes both a credit for Koeman to get the profiles he is looking for while also suggesting we need extra depth/quality for Europe. No we're unlikely to win it, but we need a better team to try and win it. Income generated is also correlational to the appearance of being a leading club in Europe and that needs competing in the CL.

It is right to question what happens to Ilaix progression with Wijnaldum's arrival. The answer should be that it does not effect him, that Pjanic is not counted on and FdJ is now a hybrid defender we require more depth and experience in midfield for 3 competitions and the reduction of substitutions. So if the papertalk is true that they do not want to sign Wijnaldum then they should produce alternative profiles they could sign and not suggest an 18year old who may or not not make it.

@Porque

I think the new board's strategy is to cut down costs and the salary level to a point where they can afford one major transfer or take one big swing at a player like Haaland or Mbappe. Basically a player that will significantly improve the starting XI.

That's why they're reportedly re-negotiating terms the last board agreed with Eric Garcia and even Memphis Depay according to the latest reports.

A player like Wijnaldum who looks absolutely gassed in his 30s wanting a last big contract doesn't fit into what they're trying to do.