Right. Because that worked out so well when we "just signed" Antony. Felix will fare about as well, I suspect.
Joao Felix / on loan to Chelsea
- Thread starter Attila
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I wonder if Bruno or Diogo have any inside info on this.
How has Antony "worked out" in your opinion as I'm sure you wouldn't form that in half a season with us?
I'd all be for Felix at this point. We need numbers up front. Not for that quoted fee for a half season loan though.
How was his chemistry with Bruno during the WC?
They shared a bunk bed
It's not really a win for us either way really.
If we pay the €21m for the loan and he's crap then it's a waste of money and he wouldn't jave aided our CL qualifying hopes
If he starts like a house on fire and scores 20-30 goals in 6 months Atletico will hold all the cards when we inevitably want to make the move permanent.
If we paid a €15m fee with having the option to make it permanent for another €60 in the summer it would be a better deal, still overpaying as he and Atletico both want to end the relationship but making the loss a little more palatable for Atletico.
Problem is Atletico value him more than what they paid for him when he was a wonderkid breaking through, meanwhile he's failed in La Liga and isn't suited to their style of play - just like we're not going to get someone to pay a £10m loan fee for AWB with all wages covered and no buy option for the loaning club.
If we pay the €21m for the loan and he's crap then it's a waste of money and he wouldn't jave aided our CL qualifying hopes
If he starts like a house on fire and scores 20-30 goals in 6 months Atletico will hold all the cards when we inevitably want to make the move permanent.
If we paid a €15m fee with having the option to make it permanent for another €60 in the summer it would be a better deal, still overpaying as he and Atletico both want to end the relationship but making the loss a little more palatable for Atletico.
Problem is Atletico value him more than what they paid for him when he was a wonderkid breaking through, meanwhile he's failed in La Liga and isn't suited to their style of play - just like we're not going to get someone to pay a £10m loan fee for AWB with all wages covered and no buy option for the loaning club.
Of course they have, they would at least know what Felix wants.
I can imagine these footballers gossip like crazy on their whatsapp-groups.
What will actually happen in the end though, we'll see.
Well, I'm sold
Do we have half a season to wait for Felix to work out?
No. Which is why we need to sign him now.
There's absolutely nobody available in January to us that is a guaranteed success. Fact is however, that our options up front are paper thin and from the players actually available he seems worth a punt.
The only way a big loan fee makes sense is if there's also a relatively cheap option to buy. Obviously ETH and the team would also have to be fairly confident that they'll end up wanting to use that option.
A big loan fee and no option to buy (or an option that also had a high transfer fee) simply makes no sense whatsoever and is Atletico trying to take the piss.
A big loan fee and no option to buy (or an option that also had a high transfer fee) simply makes no sense whatsoever and is Atletico trying to take the piss.
if 12m plus salary it is a no brainer given our options, but only if ETH wants him and can use him, think we have seen with Ronaldo how badly it would work trying to fit a square peg in ETH's round hole
What's gone wrong with Antony? Other than a price tag that we knew was way overvaluing him from the beginning, he's generally made a good start; a couple of poor games since the World Cup doesn't change that.
I'm all for going for Felix if we can get Atletico to lower their absurd demands for a loan fee. Feels like a bit of a free hit; we add quality, options, and goals to our attack, and if it doesn't work out or he doesn't quite fit, we'll still have put him in the shop window for Atletico.
Hopefully. I get the feeling Martial's head will drop if Felix comes in though. His form fell off a cliff when we brought in Ibra, Lukaku, Sanchez and Ronaldo
Martial has the field to himself to impress and isn’t doing it and hasn’t done it for most of his time here. We don’t have time to indulge players if better options are available.
Sure I agree and want to bring Felix in, I was just replying to what the original poster said about him coming in will give our current attackers a kick up the arse.
If he’s still having those problems then he isn’t cut out at elite level, because the whole concept of having competition for your place is to push yourself to improve and maintain high standards. It is not as some slight on your person and therefore a reason to just sulk about.
Glass half empty type of person?
Absolutely, I just made that comment in response to the original poster saying Felix coming in should give our current attackers (including Martial) a kick up the backside.
Apologies if that came across as argumentative of me. I was somewhat agreeing with you since I noticed that about Martial and it’s one of my bugbears with him as a whole, with how he seemingly disappears when a new forward comes in.
Hopefully at 27 now, he gets it if Felix were to come in.
Of course it will, that's Martial all over though. He's not got the mentality to make it at the top level.
It has little to do with mentality, he doesn't have the physical attributes. His body keeps breaking down and the next injury is always around the corner. He played well before with competition around and other times he played badly without competition.
Tbf, either his form drops or he gets injured after 5/6 matches whether there is competition or not.
Just not reliable enough generally imo.
Well yeah that's another one of his glaring issues that isn't going to change.
You don't "take a punt" for 20 million for 6 month loan. Or 15 million for 6 months. Thuram is a punt. Depay is a punt. Felix is the furthest thing from that. He also plays in a role we not only have players already, but a role that is arguably more complex than that of a traditional 9 and dependent on good team play. By the time he gels with the team enough to be useful in his position, he will be going back to Spain without having done much at all. Unless Atletico Madrid massively reduce the fee, we should be going nowhere near him. And we also don't have time to play their games either. We were pulled into the same game in the summer with De Jong and where did that take us?
He isn't worth the money nor the wait. Pretty much what @yumtum said. A played that failed in La Liga is suddenly going to come for 6 months and do well in the Premier League. Right.
Antony's been fine and will be better in the future
It's a little shocking to me that people here are so flippant about possibly getting this level of quality up front in Jan after watching us play the last few weeks. We are 1 #9 competent player away from being a very exciting side. Now's not the time to haggle over a few dollars. If we can can get him, we should. I'm all for alternatives as well, but I haven't seen any that seem realistic...
Rejecting the good to wait for the perfect is terrible strategy in our position right now...
Yeah like I said last night if we want to haggle over this guy until end of window then OK but at least get some CF cover first ideally before City
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Yeah that's why I said he would make sense but not for that kind of money in my first post. I agree with that. For less I'd take him though
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I hate Atletico and Barca to the very core. Absolute cnuts to negotiate with. This Gil Marin and Laporta can go feck themselves. Florentino Perez all the way. Give us felix first then De Jong in the summer.
Hala Madrid
Just sign the magnificent bastard
Good post.
Just like you, I've no idea how Antony will fare here, but I'm pretty certain that Felix would be excellent because he's a high level player with a very high ceiling. He'd be one of our best 2-3 players, it's just a matter of whether he would be what we need in terms of a forward.
This lad is going to make martial look average and I like martial. World class technique and movement. Two footed. He seems tenacious and ambitious. At a good age and coming in with a point to prove. With a manager who believes in him he could easily become the unpredictable talisman in a PL and CL winning team. We also need the most technical players available to give the manager the best chance of success going forward
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I get many posters saying there is risk here, but let's look at the alternatives?
I see no sure fire quality available this window? Based on this why are we not talking to Bruno and Dalot? Bottom line if ETH says grab him I am all in.
I back ETH
I see no sure fire quality available this window? Based on this why are we not talking to Bruno and Dalot? Bottom line if ETH says grab him I am all in.
I back ETH
He’s a number 10 though, rather than a striker - don’t we need a striker?
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