Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap

Frenkie to United?


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peridigm

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For full context you need to post the tweet that preceded that one

That's that then. If Frenkie does not play tomorrow, he's definitely off. Or maybe not. I don't know. There could be another lever. Who knows.
 

Giggsy13

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Ok I’ve zipped up, my limp member can’t take anymore false hope. Off to the Rabiot thread to make inappropriate jokes about his mum.
 

Tallis

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This bit about FDJ preferring Chelsea over us - it seems to be be getting repeated quite often now.
 

Zed 101

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Barca look like a complete joke of a club but are still out performing Utd in the transfer market several times over.... I have reached the point where I am taking pride in our incompetence, I mean if you do something really well celebrate it, right? we we are really great at being useless
 
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This is going on.
So Barca have beaten them to Raphinha and Kounde deals, can’t even register Kounde but want Chelsea to pay a silly fee for a 30+ year old, that they got on a free this year?

I wonder if that comes with a “we‘ll sell you de Jong for the same fee as agreed with United and sort his wages“? (probably from the Auba fee)
 

Gandalf

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Barca look like a complete joke of a club but are still out performing Utd in the transfer market several times over.... I have reached the point where I am taking pride in our incompetence, I mean if you do something really well celebrate it, right? we we are really great at being useless
Well to put it in context Barca have sold off potentially billions in revenue for 600 million right now to go on a shopping spree. Not sure I would be celebrating if we did the same. If by some miracle they don't get out of their CL group this year or even more hilariously end up 5th in La Liga they are going to be in an incredibly tough spot next summer with far fewer levers left to pull.
 

RaddyRed

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Refreshing livescore tomorrow to see if Frenkie starts whilst we are chasing an equaliser at Brentford is going to be a new low for many of us.
 

the_cliff

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Well to put it in context Barca have sold off potentially billions in revenue for 600 million right now to go on a shopping spree. Not sure I would be celebrating if we did the same. If by some miracle they don't get out of their CL group this year or even more hilariously end up 5th in La Liga they are going to be in an incredibly tough spot next summer with far fewer levers left to pull.
That would be the end of Barcelona if that happens.

If Barca don't make ucl next season they're finished.
 

Tweek

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I really think this is dragging on because of the implications it will have on the rest of the Barca squad. Why would any player agree to anything wage-related at the moment? Everyone will have their eyes on this saga and see Barca squirming while FDJ sits calmly and waits for a massive payout... players and agents will be salivating at the prospect that they are next ones to be asked to leave so they can have their turn shafting Barca.

Barca can't afford to settle with FDJ, or let another club settle with FDJ on their behalf, without taking into account the precedent it sets for all the other players they are negotiating with. They let one player win, they have to let them all win.
 

Charlie Foley

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So the 4th lever was selling to Orpheus Media, run by Jaume Roures.

For our french football fans Roures is also the CEO of MediaPro so…feck that guy.
(I should add that yes LFP fecked up horribly too in that scenario)
 

TheReligion

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This bit about FDJ preferring Chelsea over us - it seems to be be getting repeated quite often now.
Id say the opposite tbh. We had a few days which suggested he was close to Chelsea but recently it’s tilted again, especially given they haven’t even agreed a fee or spoken to his agent.
 

Powderfinger

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If the fourth lever lets them register most of the new signings and then some combination of selling Memphis or Auba plus Pique's wage reduction allows them to register the rest, why would anybody expect FDJ to leave afterwards? He hasn't wanted to go all summer despite all this uncertainty hanging over the club and all their hamfisted attempts to force him out. After making it through all that and with all the players now registered, why would he leave at that point? Just to be nice and allow Laporta to buy Bernardo Silva to replace him?
 

Brownie85

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Id say the opposite tbh. We had a few days which suggested he was close to Chelsea but recently it’s tilted again, especially given they haven’t even agreed a fee or spoken to his agent.
Yup it's gone from advanced negotiations close to agreeing a fee and matching what United have offered, to now back to interest and wanting to negotiate a lower fee.

Seems like the lack of enthusiasm for a move has knocked Chelsea a bit and they're just dilly dallying a bit.
 

Nicolarra90

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Crazy I left this thread around page 900 and over 600 pages later we are still waiting for the conclusion.
 

Tallis

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If the fourth lever lets them register most of the new signings and then some combination of selling Memphis or Auba plus Pique's wage reduction allows them to register the rest, why would anybody expect FDJ to leave afterwards? He hasn't wanted to go all summer despite all this uncertainty hanging over the club and all their hamfisted attempts to force him out. After making it through all that and with all the players now registered, why would he leave at that point? Just to be nice and allow Laporta to buy Bernardo Silva to replace him?
I guess he probably wants to play ? With Pedri, Gavi, Kessie and Silva (potentially), he is looking at being benched quite often.
 

TheReligion

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Yup it's gone from advanced negotiations close to agreeing a fee and matching what United have offered, to now back to interest and wanting to negotiate a lower fee.

Seems like the lack of enthusiasm for a move has knocked Chelsea a bit and they're just dilly dallying a bit.
I still don’t understand why Chelsea wouldn’t place a bid and strike an agreement with the agent, like United, then sit tight. This is the logical thing to do given it’s going to go to the wire. Surely you want everything good to go should it be a deadline day decision?
 

Tallis

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If Barca can’t register their players, I would be quite keen to see if we can take Kessie away. If he can’t be registered, I assume his contract has an out.
 

I Am Zlatan

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If the fourth lever lets them register most of the new signings and then some combination of selling Memphis or Auba plus Pique's wage reduction allows them to register the rest, why would anybody expect FDJ to leave afterwards? He hasn't wanted to go all summer despite all this uncertainty hanging over the club and all their hamfisted attempts to force him out. After making it through all that and with all the players now registered, why would he leave at that point? Just to be nice and allow Laporta to buy Bernardo Silva to replace him?
They also want to renegotiate his wages, which he doesn’t want to reduce it (and rightly so).
 

Jam

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If the fourth lever lets them register most of the new signings and then some combination of selling Memphis or Auba plus Pique's wage reduction allows them to register the rest, why would anybody expect FDJ to leave afterwards? He hasn't wanted to go all summer despite all this uncertainty hanging over the club and all their hamfisted attempts to force him out. After making it through all that and with all the players now registered, why would he leave at that point? Just to be nice and allow Laporta to buy Bernardo Silva to replace him?
This levels aren’t perfect solutions - their short term desperation and their long term plans are hamstrung by the levers.

In essence (made up number for explanation) they’re selling £1bn of revenue over ten years for £500m now. This solutions allow them some financial freedom now but is damaging for future finances. They’re relying on this cash injection now pushing them forward and paving for success to allow them to continue to invest and to also buy back their future revenues if the opportunity presents itself.

De Jong has been proven to not be in their long term plans, and he is clearly unwanted there (“we love you and want to keep you, but also feck off because you’re really expensive and we don’t even want to pay you what we owe you already nevermind what’s due in the future”, give me a break).

De Jong staying and forcing the board to sell more future revenue doesn’t endear himself to them or the fans. It’ll further strain the relationship.

His personal situation hasn’t changed, whether he wants to stay despite everything, or indeed would leave if the payments owed are sorted.
 

royalewithcheese2006

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Absolute basketcase of a club. They're just carrying on as if all of this is normal, and some of their fans are writing dissertations on why all of this is completely normal, and very necessary.
Apparently the old regime made mistakes with high player wages and therefore a new regime coming in and asking everyone to take pay cuts is very normal. Give them some time and they'll tell you how pay cuts are not enough and the players should instead be paying Barcelona for having the privilege to pay for the club.
 

Gandalf

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If the fourth lever lets them register most of the new signings and then some combination of selling Memphis or Auba plus Pique's wage reduction allows them to register the rest, why would anybody expect FDJ to leave afterwards? He hasn't wanted to go all summer despite all this uncertainty hanging over the club and all their hamfisted attempts to force him out. After making it through all that and with all the players now registered, why would he leave at that point? Just to be nice and allow Laporta to buy Bernardo Silva to replace him?
Technically they can keep him in this scenario but they really do not want to. The levers are part of a financial plan and they are projecting certain revenues within that plan and also reductions in operating costs. Selling FDJ would bring in a fee of 85M (revenue) and offload salary of 90M (operating costs) which is a pretty significant part of their plan that they could not easily replace. When you further consider that both of the above amounts are fixed it becomes more important, some of their other revenue projections link to performance such as reaching the latter stages of the CL this year, that is revenue they hope to receive but could miss out on if they flop in the group stages like they did last year.

Now your point about Frenkie is correct, he can stay and keep his salary and if push comes to shove they are not going to bench an asset that is costing them in the region of 500K a week. I think the reason he may still leave is that his relationship with the club has to be close to irretrievably broken at this point and their desperation to cash in is such that they will really ramp up their efforts to force him out of the door and we have seen that when it comes to dirty tricks there is no bottom in Barca.

He will probably still leave but he is going to hang in there and get every last penny of his deferred wages back before accepting a move. He is clearly stubborn and seems a strong enough character to shrug off their petty antics so they are going to have to back down if they want to resolve this. If we were not so desperate for him to revitalize our midfield I would be actively cheering for him to stay put and refuse a move at all costs and insist on seeing out his contract as I do believe this will place Barca in a position where they will end up needing to sell off even more of their assets to stay afloat.
 

Wrecking ralf

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When are Barca supposed to pay back all this money they’re “leavering”? Their wages are still stupidly high aren’t they and they’ve sold off potential income
 
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