Soldato
Summer Transfer Window 23/24
- Thread starter Bigpig
- Start date
Year left on his youth contract when bm signed himBit baffled as to how Bayern can buy Gravenbirch for 16m, sit him on the bench for a year, then flog him for more than double the money
Soldato
Don't get me wrong, I think he's a player with a lot of potential. But it seems we got bent over on this one. Left it until the last minute, smacks of a bit of desperation.
34 million for a player with ridiculous high ceiling - if he comes close to anywhere near his potential its a steal.
Don
It is win-win for both club and player. Player are guaranteed massive wages even if they're rubbish, club will demand a stupid fee because they are Chelsea and they have so long left on their contract!
Sounds like pochettino had absolutely no say in signing the player
We've been linked with him all summer, in fact Jose Enrique let the cat out the bag at the end of last season when he told everybody he has the same agent and it's already been agreed. The issue has always been Bayern weren't willing to sell. Reading between the lines it appears that Bayern as a club wanted to keep him but that Tuchel wanted rid so he could bring somebody else in and eventually Tuchel won the argument.
I get your point about the fee but ultimately Bayern got him at a bargain price due to his contract and (presumably) his desire to join them, leaving Ajax little bargaining power. In a world where Lavia has gone for north of £50m despite playing 1 season of senior football and Cole Palmer is going to Chelsea for £40m when he's played sub 700 minutes of PL and CL football, £35-40m for a player of Gravenberch's potential but also experience despite his age isn't ott.
Associate
I also question how good some of these “wonderkids “ are. He was nothing more than a bench warmer at a top level club, they’ve now deemed him surplus to requirements and selling him for such a low fee…based on that I’d be questioning how high his ceiling actually is now.
Caporegime
There's always going to be questions around most players that age unless you're the likes of Messi, it's part of what makes football exciting.
He doesn't fit the way Tuchel wants to play and when you've got established players like Kimmich, Goretzka and Laimer playing his position, it was always going to be difficult for the lad.
Liverpool have just started the midfield rebuild so he's got a great opportunity to cement a place in the team if he's got anything about him.
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Because no player in the history of football has ever failed at a club but been successful else where. Forget that he's 21 and moved away from home for the first time in his life, we see countless proven star players go to a club and sometimes it just doesn't work out. As I mentioned above, the reports all summer were that Bayern weren't willing to sell him but that Tuchel didn't want him or at least wanted to replace him with a more out and out defensive player.
Who knows, maybe he won't ever live up to the hype but anybody that watched him at Ajax, playing in Europe not just in the Dutch League, could see how talented he is. It's a bit of a gamble but it's a calculated gamble and we could end up with a star on our hands for a very modest fee.
Soldato
Is ETH doing what he did at the start of the last season, forcing through transfers by putting out teams that expose our main weakness areas (admittedly these areas are in all positions)? Hence why mount was played deeper before he decided to take an injury to save further embarrassment (hyperbole).
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Caporegime
Is there an amount you'd be happy to see him go for or is it too late in the window to let him go at any price.
It would have to be stupid money to sell him now. They'll spend big on him again next summer too and he'll probably go then.
Caporegime