Barca agree £6m fee for Pique

[Brophs]

Amazing that in three pages or so, very few people have pointed out what is blindingly obvious(well, to me at least). If this story turns out to be true, and the fee likewise, the reason will likely have been that Pique indicated to the club that he was not going to sign a new contract, and the club were hamstrung by the fact that he had only one year remaining on his contract. I though it was strange that SAF didn't choose to give him a minute in the Wigan game, so he might get his 10th appearance(and, as a result, an automatic medal), and this may have been the reason.

My(un)educated guess is that he engineered the move back to Barca. SAF probably didn't like it, but pragmatism rules, and here we are. The fee reflects a young player who is going to run down his contract, and a club that have cover for him if he leaves. As a few people have said, he wasn't genuinely good enough to be a contender for regular first team action. I also have my doubts if he ever would have been, in this league at least.

As for the sniping at the management of the reserves/youth teams, would you rather we sacrificed the immediate success of the club, to bring through these young players? Because, as far as I can see, the system is working just fine. The best players at the club will always play. Simple as. If we brought through a Rooney or Ronaldo, I have no doubts they would be able to break into the side. Only those with rose tinted specs could say we have produced anything like that level of talent, recently at least. Over £10m for players that never played with any regularity for us, or wanted more football than we could give them(Rossi, Pique, and Shawcross).

 

[Doevle]

i reckon the possibility of him making barca's starting eleven isn't any better than with united.

 

[theimperialinn]

feck off 6 million - he goes to 30mil valuation by 2011 in FM

in light of this new information I think we are making a grave error

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Re. me talking about potential. The Scouse scouts obviously saw that Agger had huge potential, and they were right - but the current Agger is much, much better than the Agger Liverpool bought 2 years ago. My point is, would Agger have gone for just 6 mill had he played for Real Madrid when Liverpool bought him? I doubt it.

Just to make something clear: I'm not saying Pique is brilliant, as I don't actually rate him that much, but £4 mill for a hugely rated Spanish talent in a deal between two of the biggest clubs in Europe just seems low to me.

Ok, fair enough. Our opinions are probably not that dissimilar actually. I don't think we've got a great deal here. But it's ok. The strong euro/weak sterling probably scratched a million off the fee, which didn't help.

Looks like neither of us see much of a future for him at the club anyway. Not worth having a major disagreement over.

 

[Don16]

i reckon the possibility of him making barca's starting eleven isn't any better than with united.

Dunno about that. Puyol-Milito is hardly Rio-Vida.

Any official confirmation anywhere?

 

[Richter]

i reckon the possibility of him making barca's starting eleven isn't any better than with united.

Milito will miss the first part of next season and Thuram is leaving. That means that currently Puyol,Marquez and Pique is fighting for a place in the starting eleven. And Barca is his boyhood club so it's not so weird that he's joining them again when he sees a chance of making a impact playing for them.

 

[Mr. Wood]

Amazing that in three pages or so, very few people have pointed out what is blindingly obvious(well, to me at least). If this story turns out to be true, and the fee likewise, the reason will likely have been that Pique indicated to the club that he was not going to sign a new contract, and the club were hamstrung by the fact that he had only one year remaining on his contract.

This sounds about right to me. Transfer fees depend on many many variables, and I think most fans either ignore them for the sake of simplicity or aren't aware of them.

A few determinants I can think of include age, amount of time left on the contract, the player's willingness to leave, the club's willingness to sell, the size of the buyer's transfer kitty, the competition from other clubs, whether there are other options available, the current inflation rate, marketing potential ... the player's wage could also affect how much the buying club is willing to fork over and how anxious the selling club is to get rid.

Even if supporters are aware of those variables, I don't think they're normally factored in when evaluating the appropriateness of a transfer fee. Most people claim that we always undersell and constantly overpay for transfers. The fact that we constantly do it, and it has had no ill effects, doesn't seem to matter to these people, as they're so obsessed with a hypothetical number with no discernible significance.

 

[Don16]

Milito will miss the first part of next season and Thuram is leaving. That means that currently Puyol,Marquez and Pique is fighting for a place in the starting eleven. And Barca is his boyhood club so it's not so weird that he's joining them again when he sees a chance of making a impact playing for them.

Why's that?

 

[Jacob]

6M? That's fecking cheap for one of the biggest CB talents in the world.

This can't be true.

 

[Richter]

Why's that?

Injury.

http://www.itv-football.co.uk/story/0,19239,6145_3527899,00.html

 

[Top]

Why's that?

Injured.

 

[Dyslexic Untied]

Wasn`t Fergie out in the media just a week ago saying that Pique would get double digit games next year, that was for sure. He was going to be playing a lot. That shows that he was trying to convince him to stay, so he must have wanted him there. Pique though probably wanted back, and wanted to play more, fair enough. Good luck to the lad, he deserves chances. 6 mill is a decent price for us as well.


Sad to see another young player not make it though. I guess CB is probably the worst position to break through in, every team needs the finished article at CB, no room for learning by doing like there is up top for example. In addition we got the best pairing in the world in Rio/Vidic so he was never going to break through anyhow was he? We knew that all along.


Summary: No big loss to us, we still have Brown/Evans/Silvestre/O`Shea.

 

[theimperialinn]

Ok, fair enough. Our opinions are probably not that dissimilar actually. I don't think we've got a great deal here. But it's ok. The strong euro/weak sterling probably scratched a million off the fee, which didn't help.

Looks like neither of us see much of a future for him at the club anyway. Not worth having a major disagreement over.

If we are the selling club then I would imagine the deal would have been done in sterling with Barca carrying the exchange risk.

It would be a pointless exercise selling player in euros with the euro being so shite at the moment.

 

[Ekeke]

Lack of polish or a lack of the natural aggression that Vidic has in spades? Tough to tell.

Pique reminds me of a young Rio actually. Silky skills but a bit soft when it comes to heading the ball. Rio has got better and better in the air as he has matured. If you're not gonna dominate in the air you need great pace to compensate amd Rio has always been quick as feck. When you've got a central defender who is neither dominant aerially nor quick across the ground, it's a bit of a worry.



Fair point. And he may yet become a decent player. But doubtful he was gonna get enough opportunities to develop his game at United.

Again, he scored 2 goals (headers) in 4 matches (including sub appearences) in the champions league this season. I can remember 2 goals for Zaragoza too, both headers.

He's going to be good in the air, as he develops into a better player. I'd honestly love to see how Vidic was doing at 21 because I'm pretty sure he'd have been having the same accusations thrown at him.

And in a way I liken the situation to that of Clichy at Arsenal.

Arsenal fans will point out that Clichy is still very young and despite making several costly errors at the back this season, Evra didn't become as solid as he has done over the past 2 years till a later age. Which is true enough.

But Evra made his mistakes at another club. When he came to us he was far from perfect defensively, but he sorted it out in 6 months.

Now my Vidic example. If he was so aerially dominant and his pace didnt seem to be an issue at 21, then why wasnt he being talked about long before we signed him? There were a few people who knew of him, but not many - and nobody realised how good he was going to be in the air.

Again, Vidic came through at another club. He made his mistakes at another club - and then we bought him when we felt he had matured into a very good footballer.

Pique will go off and play for another club now and in 2 years time (we bought Vidic at 23? Or 24?) we'll take another look at him and see how he's doing. Because my money is on him being no worse a player and being quite strong in the air. Then again, Spain isnt the best league for improving your defensive heading...

 

[ralphie88]

£6m for Pique???

If that's true we should bite their fecking hands off.

 

[B Cantona]

With Ralphie on this one, thats quite a lot of money for a young player who isn't going to trouble the current order in the next few years. It was different with Rossi, he looked capable of coming in the starting line up straight away. Pique wouldn't be ahead of Brown in the central defence cover pecking order

 

[Nick 0208 Ldn]

Can understand him pushing for this, he knows he has much abiility and potential yet to achieve, and at the same time will realise the quality of Rio and Vidic.

Furthermore there is Brown's new contract and Silvestre also may extend his time with us.

However as far as we as a club are concerned, £6m after all the usual installments, hmm. Were there not rumours last season with suggestions of more than that being open to us had we been willing?

Good luck to Pique though, kind of full circle ofr him all this.

 

[oleonenumber20]

I still think he will get more chances next season with the 7 man bench, and especially if someone like Tweety moves on. I'm sure Pique will develop into a quality player, the silly mistakes he has made this season will go from his game once he matures as a player. He has a great long ball distribution from the back and could be useful coming in at DM to close up games.

 

[WeWonItTwoTimes]

Does anyone else find it a little bizarre that Barca are in for him? Do they see the transfer as a gamble worth taking at that price?

I think £6m or £4m + £2m is a pretty good deal for us considering he has one year left on his contract. If he had 2 or 3 years left then the fee would be much closer to £10m.

 

[pert]

Does anyone else find it a little bizarre that Barca are in for him? Do they see the transfer as a gamble worth taking at that price?

I think £6m or £4m + £2m is a pretty good deal for us considering he has one year left on his contract. If he had 2 or 3 years left then the fee would be much closer to £10m.

Jesus

There is no way we would have got £10 million for him

No matter how many years he had left on his contract

 

[Ekeke]

Jesus

There is no way we would have got £10 million for him

No matter how many years he had left on his contract

Not from Barcelona, knowing the player would jump at the chance to rejoin them.

But normally when one of the elite clubs comes in for your players, you charge them top dollar dollar.

In normal circumstances we'd have got at least £6 million rising to £8 million.

 

[Castolo]

I can see him doing a Rossi and excelling immediately in La Liga, sparking off a load of threads about how wrong we were to sell him.

On the other hand, we're effectively selling a player who is unlikely to get much gametime at United in the near future for a tidy sum of £6m, back to the club whose academy we pinched him from. I can't believe the cheek of it.

 

[ecantona7]

Just seen this, I'm absolutely gutted we sold him. I'm more pissed about selling him than I was of selling rossi. Pique is going to turn out to be a real special player

 

[Ekeke]

I can see him doing a Rossi and excelling immediately in La Liga, sparking off a load of threads about how wrong we were to sell him.

On the other hand, we're effectively selling a player who is unlikely to get much gametime at United in the near future for a tidy sum of £6m, back to the club whose academy we pinched him from. I can't believe the cheek of it.

I wouldnt mind Cathcart being taken by another club for a pittance right now, so that we can buy him back in 4 years time for £4-6 million when he's become a good player ready to play in the first team.

I don't see this as us getting 1 up on them. Rather, we've developed their player for them and made a few million from it - when in the end he'll end up being worth almost 3 times what we are being paid.

 

[Chris H]

There is no point, same old shit with Fergie and Queiroz, they talk about hoow great our reserves our yet none of them get a fecking chance.

And how many of those players have turned out to be United class? I challenge anyone on the forum to name a single one, outside of Rossi and Pique. Our Academy lads have mostly been sold to Championship sides, which is where most have found their true level. No matter how much training, encouragement and playing time you "give" to Phil Bardsley, he will never be as good a fullback as Patrice Evra. Same goes for Shawcross/Vidic at CB, David Jones/Anderson in midfield, and Ebanks-Blake/Rooney at forward.

Given the fact that Pique only had a year left on his contract, £4m rising to £6m is a good piece of business for the club.

 

[ralphie88]

There is no point, same old shit with Fergie and Queiroz, they talk about hoow great our reserves our yet none of them get a fecking chance.

Can't blame the management staff. At the end of the day they have to balance a very tight budget and since the Glazers have come in they've done a brilliant job with very little funds. Our reserves are currently keeping them afloat, and I'm sorry but on the whole, they ain't that great.

 

[Wibble]

With Rio and Vidic established and great back up available it is no wonder that Pique wanted to move for regular first team football. If he stayed he wouldn't get any more game time than he has this year for some time to come. It is the penalty we pay for having such a good defence.

 

[Castolo]

We haven't had an academy player who has gone on to establish himself in the first team since Wes Brown, who made his debut in 1998. I don't think you can honestly say that during this period there has been anyone who has looked like a Scholes, Giggs, Beckham or Neville. I appreciate that these talents don't come along very often, but I do find it concerning that the 'young' players in our squad that Fergie is so keen to praise in the media have mostly been expensive purchases from other clubs (Rooney, Anderson, Ronaldo etc.)

So when players like Pique and Rossi come through, people tend to get very excited about them. But if Fergie honestly thought these two were good enough then he would have kept them. He has one of the sharpest minds in the business when it comes to recognisng and nurturing young talent. He has watched Pique closely for three or four years and made a decision to offload him. I don't think there is anyone in a better position to judge than him.

 

[Ekeke]

We haven't had an academy player who has gone on to establish himself in the first team since Wes Brown, who made his debut in 1998. I don't think you can honestly say that during this period there has been anyone who has looked like a Scholes, Giggs, Beckham or Neville. I appreciate that these talents don't come along very often, but I do find it concerning that the 'young' players in our squad that Fergie is so keen to praise in the media have mostly been expensive purchases from other clubs (Rooney, Anderson, Ronaldo etc.)

So when players like Pique and Rossi come through, people tend to get very excited about them. But if Fergie honestly thought these two were good enough then he would have kept them. He has one of the sharpest minds in the business when it comes to recognisng and nurturing young talent. He has watched Pique closely for three or four years and made a decision to offload him. I don't think there is anyone in a better position to judge than him.

The only way to keep them was to play them. Which would have meant never signing Tevez and letting Brown go for free this summer.

We could probably have survived both things but the chances of us winning a double this season (pre-Brown exit) would have been slim.

I would have loved for Rossi to have stayed (more than most) and the same with Pique (again, more than most) but if we win the double this season and that has an effect on how long Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson want to stay at the club when Barcelona and Real Madrid come knocking for them, then it was worth losing those players I guess.

 

[Elliott]

I would have loved for Rossi to have stayed (more than most) and the same with Pique (again, more than most) but if we win the double this season and that has an effect on how long Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson want to stay at the club when Barcelona and Real Madrid come knocking for them, then it was worth losing those players I guess.

That's pretty much what it boils down to. Was a lot more painful losing Rossi though.

 

[VII]

So many of you complaining about how the youngsters do not get established before being sold or there's no point in the academy anymore but the fact of the matter is if the youngster are really that good SAF wouldn't have sold them.

I see it as a win/win situation for us. Sign them for less than a million, if they're as good as Scholes or Becks keep them, if they're not sell them for 4-6 million.

So in essence we bought Richardson, Pique and Rossi for next to nothing, have a first hand look at their development and they do not do well enough to be a regular on the first team (in Rossi's case he was almost there as a 4th choice but chose to leave), sell them for money to buy a Ronaldo or a Anderson. Brilliant.

If Rossi was as good as Tevez or Saha similarly surely SAF will guarantee him a certain number of games but he wasn't.

Bear in mind that we went into the last game level on points with Chelsea and are in the CL Final, there just wasn't opportunity to give the youths a run out. If we did a Liverpool then no doubt the youths will get the last 7-8 games all to themselves. The youths today only can look forward to the League Cup which they screwed up. If anything blame Chelsea for us not being to win the league by Easter.

Also would it be better to keep hold of Pique for another season fighting to be on the bench and see him walk away for free to Barca eventually?

In Sir We Trust

 

[anything about now]

I still don't understand why so many rate him as "future world class CB" or "future #1". Yes he was very promising, he's big and tall, but he has never really WOWed me like Evans, whose a much better all arounder and natural defender. Maybe if we didn't have Evans then we would've kept him and further developed him. But he's a Spanish lad, Catalan as well, his heart would probably still yearn for Spain and want to return there at some point. Hopefully if Evans turns out to be top class, he will stay with us forever.

 

[RvN#10]

I had high hopes for both Rossi and Pique when they first arrived, sad to see them go.

 

[Gazza]

The sales of Pique, Rossi and Richardson will provide the money for Anderson. Fair trade?

 

[Ekeke]

So many of you complaining about how the youngsters do not get established being being sold or there's no point in the academy anymore but the fact of the matter is if the youngster are really that good SAF wouldn't have sold them.

I see it as a win/win situation for us. Sign them for less than a million, if they're as good as Scholes or Becks keep them, if they're not sell them for 4-6 million.

So in essence we bought Richardson, Pique and Rossi for next to nothing, have a first hand look at their developement and they do not do well enough to be a regular on the first team (in Rossi's case he was almost there as a 4th choice but chose to leave), sell them for money to buy a Ronaldo or a Anderson. Brilliant.

We're selling Pique at 21, as a player who has come in for a few first team appearences and scored a few goals.

Where was Beckham at 21? Starting to make his first appearences and contributions to the side - only with a lot less squad depth to compete with.

I think, if David Beckham were coming through our system now... We'd manage to keep him at the club, because he's British. But I honestly doubt he'd go on to be as good a player, due to having much less pitch time with our huge squad of better players. He'd be a bit part player a lot like Fletcher.

Having said that, the 7 sub bench should help get a few younger players on the pitch every so often.

There's still much more competition than we've had before, so it's literally going to take a Ronaldo, a Rooney, an Anderson or a Messi to really break into the side and make a big impact, big enough to get them the first team football they will want - not sit on the bench all season. The fact we ourself didnt produce any of those players tells you how uncommon they are.

 

[Mr. Wood]

The sales of Pique, Rossi and Richardson will provide the money for Anderson. Fair trade?

A good way of looking at it. Much more useful than assessing the 6m fee, which is meaningless IMO.

 

[VoetbalWizard]

the highest bar in the prem has been raised over the last 4 years. Players must be boy geniuses to break into the squad and play consistently.

i don't blame pique if he engineered the move.

4 rising to 6 million is also a fair deal on our part since pique only had one year left.

i doubt this is the case, but maybe this will open up some channels to discuss an eto'o move. but like i said, doubtful.

don't think there is any buyback clause on this one.

 

[VII]

We're selling Pique at 21, as a player who has come in for a few first team appearences and scored a few goals.

Where was Beckham at 21? Starting to make his first appearences and contributions to the side - only with a lot less squad depth to compete with.

I think, if David Beckham were coming through our system now... We'd manage to keep him at the club, because he's British. But I honestly doubt he'd go on to be as good a player, due to having much less pitch time with our huge squad of better players. He'd be a bit part player a lot like Fletcher.

Having said that, the 7 sub bench should help get a few younger players on the pitch every so often.

There's still much more competition than we've had before, so it's literally going to take a Ronaldo, a Rooney, an Anderson or a Messi to really break into the side and make a big impact, big enough to get them the first team football they will want - not sit on the bench all season. The fact we ourself didnt produce any of those players tells you how uncommon they are.

Well, that's just the nature of the beast isn't it? The stronger we become the more difficult it will be for anyone to come through.

Pique would have considered the prospect of challenging for a place with the best defensive partnership in england/europe, in a foreign country versus in his sunny home country where all his friends and family are, with a manager he knows well, getting paid more money playing for one of the biggest club in the world but with an embarrassing defence. It's a no brainer.

 

[davisjw]

Maybe Barca have promised us Eto'o so we've sold him to butter the deal

We've always favored British players- personally glad to see the chances of Evans getting a go-- kind of tired seeing a bunch of foreigners playing- someone in EPL needs to remember where the league is played

Fergie maybe favors Evans because he's been proven in the EPL this season and will maybe take another loan to Sunderland so he'll be ripe for us.

 

[Gazza]

"Eto'o, Pique?"

I'm hoping if people say that out loud it might make more sense