Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap

[BluesJr]

I think they are/were but it's the fact that they're not willing to pay the wages/de Jong is playing hard ball about leaving too

They clearly are willing to pay the wages. If they really wanted him out the club he’d be gone. That’s my thinking now.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

They clearly are willing to pay the wages. If they really wanted him out the club he’d be gone. That’s my thinking now.

And how exactly would they accomplish this? He's got a contract. He can hold them to that. Not much they could do to force him out as far as I know.

 

[BluesJr]

And how exactly would they accomplish this? He's got a contract. He can hold them to that. Not much they could do to force him out as far as I know.

Not included in squads. Briefs making it known he’s for sale etc. I just think they could have done a lot more if the motivation to sell is as strong as is being reported. They just don’t seem that bothered.

 

[Chief123]

This has gone so dead, we aren’t even getting anymore BS tweets from Sport.

 

[mctrials23]

Not included in squads. Briefs making it known he’s for sale etc. I just think they could have done a lot more if the motivation to sell is as strong as is being reported. They just don’t seem that bothered.

There is always a balance between trying to sell a player and trying to get the most from any potential deal. They want the maximum transfer fee, to pay as little of Frenkies deferred wages and to keep the fanbase on their side. Not including him in their squad and briefing the media directly that he is for sale would achieve none of this.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

Not included in squads. Briefs making it known he’s for sale etc. I just think they could have done a lot more if the motivation to sell is as strong as is being reported. They just don’t seem that bothered.

He's not been completely exiled no because that would mean they'd have to be willing to continue to pay him for the length of his contract while getting nothing in return and I think they'd rather avoid that situation. They have however briefed about their negotiations with us and Chelsea and how they reached agreements on a sale for him and have tried to paint him in a bad light.

 

[TheReligion]

Tbh Barca have tired everything to get rid of him and failed.

I think the only way this changes now is if FDJ has been playing poker until the end of the window and Barca give him what he wants.

The more it goes on though it seems no one will budge.

 

[Volumiza]

If you equate my optimism about this signing to a tube of toothpaste, it is now spent, all rolled up from one end and cast carelessly into the bin.

 

[EggMan85]

Alright Phil Collins

I'm here to be the positivity police.

 

[EggMan85]

Get away from Romero.

He's just so magnetic.

 

[UnitedSofa]

This has fallen off a cliff

 

[Suv666]

Gotta admire FDJ's skills. Barca have tried everything to get rid but my man refuses to leave.

 

[Lash]

This has fallen off a cliff

It's just a stalemate. If they keep him, they either feck their wage structure or try and take him to court to say his contract is invalid. He's shown no inclination to lower his wage, so I have a feeling we'll be back when they finally decide to make a compromise.

 

[McGrathsipan]

This has fallen off a cliff

It was never on. 1600+ pages of muppetry all the same

 

[Tony247]

This has gone so dead, we aren’t even getting anymore BS tweets from Sport.

It could also mean they have passed all BS pressure tactics and some serious negotiations going on behind the door that they don't want to jeopardise.

 

[Adisa]

This one is dead.
Frenkie and Casimero occupy the same area but are different kinds of deep midfielders.

 

[romufc]

It could also mean they have passed all BS pressure tactics and some serious negotiations going on behind the door that they don't want to jeopardise.

I still can't believe that some fans think there is a possibility for this transfer.

 

[MF1138]

I'm still of the opinion that he will move by the end of the window. They're both playing chicken at the moment. He's not gonna budge until they pay him the wages he deferred, if anything they seemed to have pissed him off to the point he's dug his heels in more But it doesn't make financial sense for Barcelona to keep him on the wages he's on based on the status they have placed him in the team, so I think eventually they cut their losses and pay him.

Not saying he's coming here but I maintain the stance of him not wanting to move is solely down to the wage issue.

 

[Tony247]

I still can't believe that some fans think there is a possibility for this transfer.

Spoiler: Frenkie and I

 

[Red the Bear]

Casemiro links are seemingly getting serious so I guess that's were our load is gonna be spent but if we really did have some more in the tank I like to see us push for him one last time.

Almost impossible but getting those two in the same window would be transformative.

 

[Chief123]

Even though I would have loved FDJ, ironically Casemiro could end up being a more effective signing for us than FDJ.

FDJ is a great deep play maker but his defensive shielding skills aren’t the best. In a situation where our defence has been a shambles and exposed for so long, a proper defensive midfielder who can offer protection to the defence may bring us bigger benefit than FDJ.

 

[TheReligion]

This one is dead.
Frenkie and Casimero occupy the same area but are different kinds of deep midfielders.

Do they?

I’d see Casemiro as Busquets.

It’s also well known that Ten Hag feels FDJ is more than just a deep midfielder.

They’d be an ideal fit together

 

[Red the Bear]

Do they?

I’d see Casemiro as Busquets.

It’s also well known that Ten Hag feels FDJ is more than just a deep midfielder.

They’d be an ideal fit together

It has insane potential.

 

[Ragnar123]

How the agent has acted is exactly called being professional and he is looking after the players interests. That’s his main job. The audacity of Barca fans and management to call the agent of FDJ and the player himself as unprofessional is quite frankly cnutish and bottom of the barrel scum!

I gave you a strong possible reason for his motivation, also some examples that he is not the calm selfless guy one might think of an professional agent. How is refusing to meet or demanding a double payment professional? Even if you don't agree, you sit down. His main job is talking, negotiating. You can't do that by refusing to speak. Further, you just childishly insult people who give their own opinion based on long observation without any counter arguments towards his behaviour, just because the word "barca" triggers you. I didn't say he did that, I only stated he might have done, because people wondering, why your club is chasing a player for months who didn't give any hint that he wants to leave our club. I don't even know why I answer to this to be honest.

 

[Chief123]

Do they?

I’d see Casemiro as Busquets.

It’s also well known that Ten Hag feels FDJ is more than just a deep midfielder.

They’d be an ideal fit together

They play best in the same zone as each other, however it’s still workable even if it means having a double pivot with one pushing forward more often. A FDJ slightly away from his favoured position is still massively better than anything we have.

However, as great as it would be I just think the fees being talked about for Casemiro is the FDJ money. I’d be shocked if we signed both for £130m ish while spending on a forward and right back too.

 

[TheReligion]

They play best in the same zone as each other, however it’s still workable even if it means having a double pivot with one pushing forward more often. A FDJ slightly away from his favoured position is still massively better than anything we have.

However, as great as it would be I just think the fees being talked about for Casemiro is the FDJ money. I’d be shocked if we signed both for £130m ish while spending on a forward and right back too.

I disagree. They are an ideal fit in a double pivot.

FdJ likes to carry and progress the ball. Casemiro is a pure DM holding player.

I don’t think we will get both (I don’t believe FDJ is going anywhere now) but they absolutely fit together.

 

[MDFC Manager]

However, as great as it would be I just think the fees being talked about for Casemiro is the FDJ money. I’d be shocked if we signed both for £130m ish while spending on a forward and right back too.

As it stands I'll be shocked if we got more than 1 player in the 2 weeks of window left

 

[sullydnl]

Do they?

I’d see Casemiro as Busquets.

It’s also well known that Ten Hag feels FDJ is more than just a deep midfielder.

They’d be an ideal fit together

Playing with Busquets has been part of FDJ's problem at Barcelona. His natural game is to drop into the areas that Busquets occupies to collect the ball. With Busquets there, his ability to play his natural game is restricted. That's exactly the type of player you don't want to pair him with to get the best out of him, as has been widely commented on by Barca fans.

And FDJ alluded to it himself when he spoke about playing his preferred role for the national team:

I like to be the first player to receive the ball from the defenders. In the national team I play differently compared to Barca. And I think this one fits me better

 

[Red the Bear]

They play best in the same zone as each other, however it’s still workable even if it means having a double pivot with one pushing forward more often. A FDJ slightly away from his favoured position is still massively better than anything we have.

However, as great as it would be I just think the fees being talked about for Casemiro is the FDJ money. I’d be shocked if we signed both for £130m ish while spending on a forward and right back too.

Well we apparently are trying to sell Garner and awb and seeing how we were willing to pay around €60 mil for Antony while buying de jong as well so there's a slight chance we're gonna try to pull this off.

Say we get them both and go for dest and pulisic on loan, a far shot and just wish casting on my side but it's possible.

 

[Chief123]

Well we apparently are trying to sell Garner and awb and seeing how we were willing to pay around €60 mil for Antony while buying de jong as well so there's a slight chance we're gonna try to pull this off.

Say we get them both and go for dest and pulisic on loan, a far shot and just wish casting on my side but it's possible.

If we get FDJ and Casemiro, that would be dreamland. I genuinely believe that would transform our season and get top 4 at least. I just don’t think it’ll happen though.

 

[TheReligion]

Playing with Busquets has been part of FDJ's problem at Barcelona. His natural game is to drop into the areas that Busquets occupies to collect the ball. With Busquets there, his ability to play his natural game is restricted. That's exactly the type of player you don't want to pair him with to get the best out of him, as has been widely commented on by Barca fans.

And FDJ alluded to it himself when he spoke about playing his preferred role for the national team:

Disagree. There’s absolutely no reason why they can’t play together.

You can’t play FDJ without a DM given he’s not particularly good at that side of the game by comparison. The same way we found with Pogba (albeit FDJ is slightly better in his defensive duties)

 

[Red the Bear]

If we get FDJ and Casemiro, that would be dreamland. I genuinely believe that would transform our season and get top 4 at least. I just don’t think it’ll happen though.

Yeah as it stands we'd be lucky getting just one of em.

 

[AlexUTD]

If we get FDJ and Casemiro, that would be dreamland. I genuinely believe that would transform our season and get top 4 at least. I just don’t think it’ll happen though.

Im right here dreaming too mate, the team would be transformed by this. Would lift up the whole squad.

 

[Counterfactual]

I gave you a strong possible reason for his motivation, also some examples that he is not the calm selfless guy one might think of an professional agent. How is refusing to meet or demanding a double payment professional? Even if you don't agree, you sit down. His main job is talking, negotiating. You can't do that by refusing to speak. Further, you just childishly insult people who give their own opinion based on long observation without any counter arguments towards his behaviour, just because the word "barca" triggers you. I didn't say he did that, I only stated he might have done, because people wondering, why your club is chasing a player for months who didn't give any hint that he wants to leave our club. I don't even know why I answer to this to be honest.

What is this "demanding a double payment" about? I cant find other references to it.

 

[pocco]

Too many got played like fiddles with this one. Luckily (depending how you view it) the players forced us into action anyway, because I think if we'd have picked up 2 wins we wouldn't be throwing money around and the shit would have hit the fan eventually.

 

[Rolaholic]

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[Sparky Rhiwabon]

We’ve finally moved on and walked away

 

[sullydnl]

Disagree. There’s absolutely no reason why they can’t play together.

You can’t play FDJ without a DM given he’s not particularly good at that side of the game by comparison. The same way we found with Pogba (albeit FDJ is slightly better in his defensive duties)

You do need to pair FDJ with a defensively strong player. But that's not the same as pairing him with someone like Busquets, who sits in that channel between defence and midfield that FDJ wants to drop into. You can have defensively strong midfielders who don't sit and occupy that deepest midfield channel.

As I said, the fact that they don't suit playing with each other has been a wide point of discussion among Barca fans and FDJ himself has explicitly said that role at Barca doesn't suit him as much. It would be strange to keep disagreeing with that rather than just accepting that the Barca fans who watch them every week and FDJ himself know more about how/why his pairing with Busquets doesn't particularly work.

 

[TheReligion]

You do need to pair FDJ with a defensively strong player. But that's not the same as pairing him with someone like Busquets, who sits in that channel between defence and midfield that FDJ wants to drop into. You can have defensively strong midfielders who don't sit and occupy that deepest midfield channel.

As I said, the fact that they don't suit playing with each other has been a wide point of discussion among Barca fans and FDJ himself has explicitly said that role at Barca doesn't suit him as much. It would be strange to keep disagreeing with that rather than just accepting that the Barca fans who watch them every week and FDJ himself know more about how/why his pairing with Busquets doesn't particularly work.

I disagree that you can’t play Casemiro and De Jong together which is the point right?

 

[MegadrivePerson]

Is it at all possible that we could sign Casemiro and De Jong?

Even if its not in this window, its clear that we want him and Barcelona don't? If possible we could let him stay at Barcelona and move for him in January. If he's not playing for Barcelona this season he will be desperate for a move come January.