He has a year left on his contract and had a pretty serious injury not too long ago. Plus Kroos in a similar position went for £25m, so their offer looks pretty fair.
Ah ok. Makes sense then.
De Bruyne wasn't cheap by any means, he cost 55 million pounds.
At the end they will pay it. There aren't many players of his class on the market - and the ones that might be aren't cheaper. And they are badly in need...
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What annoys me about this is we could have signed him, but LvG is a complete idiot.
You'll see some amazing prizes this season mate. TV deal in England will have everyone adding a certain tax to english clubs.
He wasn't a free agent, he was in the last year of his contract.
Its a time when he's coming back from long injury lay off, and how many would took a risk of signing him?
We took the risk on Bastian instead, wrong choice.
I think his form this season, and sort of allaying all fitness concerns about him, plus much more interest in him (probably because of his form and fitness) means the price is higher.
Bastian wasn't injured or in long lay off,anyway IMO we should have bite the bullet and took risk in signing both.
Bastians injury record was well known, missed a lot of games due to various injuries as he has once again this season. Also Gundogan was back playing and had been given a full bill of health and had overcome his back issues, but of course some must have been weary about it all.
Could say the same with Pep Guardiola.
True, but why not start thje negotiations high? The plastics have a stupid amount of money afterall. If they want him, let them bleed a bit.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I am sure he was a free agent last summer.
He had 1 full season with Dortmund and Germany. He started off slow, but from January was playing at a high level. He will always be a high risk player because of his injury, but risk would have been lowered with no transfer fee being involved.
No he had a year left
Yeah we should have gone after him last season considering no fee involved ,but who knows what else our people at top looking at.
His first contract ran until 2015 (when he joined) and was afterwards extended by one year in each of the two following Summers, meaning his contract when he negotiated with United was until 2016 and then later extended until 2017.
There was a fee involved, the fee was supposedly around 30m€.
For some I was thinking it was his final year of contract.May be that's the reason we stayed away ,30M and his injury issue.Hargo lesson proving to be costly.We should have started looking at him by last December if at all we had any interest in him.
Thanks for clearing that up. I think the best time to get him was last year. I do not see him at United at all, if he comes to England, then City would be his choice.
I think you're right, if memory serves he signed a new contract
In two consecutive summers, when he had one year of contract left, Gündogan extended his contract by one year. Therefore he hasn't been anywhere near to a free agent. Lewandowski, however, was; perhaps that's gets mixed up.
Dortmund aren't greedy; the fee was about €20m. By that time, Gündogan may not have had his best ever season but it was a very manageable risk. He had been playing from match day 8 (IIRC) to 34 without significant health issues.
Good fee for a player of his quality.
No it's not!! He's not the same player of 3 years ago and he had a year left on his contract. That's a robbery. They most be the German Chelsea!!
Hasn't he been fantastic this season? That's what I've heard. Other than Veratti, he'd be the ideal CM signing for us IMO, if he has. Maybe even more so given he's more attack minded.
