The club are in need of a good goal-keeper, as de Gea is no longer the player he was.
To my mind, while many focus on strikers, the position of keeper is absolutely vital for a team.
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The 2022-2023 Football Thread
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To my mind, while many focus on strikers, the position of keeper is absolutely vital for a team.
Saints fans online are saying that Saturday is D day for when things start to move for them - I am guessing that they simply won't start negotiating with anyone until 1 July (or other teams are awaiting contract expiries).
There's talk that JWP will go to Fulham, much interest in KWP, Livramento, ABK, Perraud, Lavia, Alcaraz, Aribo, Diallo to name a few.
We'll be stripped bare by week's end.
All good for a fresh start.
As it stands a few are already gone - some with contract expiries not being renewed and others that are early sales due to simply not performing (I'm looking at you, Orsic).
There's talk that JWP will go to Fulham, much interest in KWP, Livramento, ABK, Perraud, Lavia, Alcaraz, Aribo, Diallo to name a few.
We'll be stripped bare by week's end.
All good for a fresh start.
As it stands a few are already gone - some with contract expiries not being renewed and others that are early sales due to simply not performing (I'm looking at you, Orsic).
Hmmm...
We will have money; and many of the Championship Reddit crew are saying with our income generated from the upcoming fire sale and our relative wealth as a club, we should pick up decent players and add them to what we have left and then summarily walk the league.
I predict Mid-table glory at best.
I think that returning to the Premiership immediately might not be in Southampton's best interests.
Better to stabilise, and allow a new (fresh) team to settle and learn to play together, and then set out to seek promotion in the following season/year.
I tend to agree.
New manager, loads of missing and new players. New system. I just can't see an immediate return either being realistic or desirable.
I've said it before but I actually don't mind Football League existence. It's much less about who has what and more about playing well and succeeding on merit (to a point).
De Gea is only 32 yrs old, still prime years for a goal keeper. De Gea has had seasons where he has underperformed before, he has had seasons where he has had made silly mistakes before. Whilst there maybe aspects of his game that are lacking and can still be approved upon, he has still proven he is a world class shot stopper.
The thing with United is that they are big news and anything about the club will sell so football sports writers in my opinion are looking at United through a microscope, looking to find the smallest detail they can find so they can put it in the papers. De Gea has made some world class saves this season to help United get into the champions league, he also has the most clean sheets of any other goalkeeper in the PL and yet the football media are saying he's past it, he's lost it and the club need to get a replacement. It's ludicrous in my opinion.
De Gea had some great seasons in the past and was a loyal servant to the club, but his style of play is really obsolete. Being a world class shot stopper is not enough anymore. The top clubs have goalkeepers who are comfortable with the ball at their feet, and whose passing can launch counterattacks. Opposing teams know De Gea is weak with his feet, so they press him very tightly and he rarely punishes them. If he can't make a short, safe pass to a defender, he boots the ball upfield, where most of the time possession is lost. Look at his performance in the FA Cup final for examples of where the weaknesses in his game cost United.
I was hoping United would target Diogo Costa or Mike Maignan this summer, but it looks like they're in for Inter's Andre Onana. He previously played for ETH at Ajax. He's a true sweeper keeper: comfortable on the ball and a very good passer. He almost plays like a DM at times. He looked much more comfortable against city than De Gea did the previous week.
No disrespect to De Gea, but United has been stuck living in the past for too long. Time to evolve.
If his style is obsolete then why is it he got more clean sheets than any other PL goalkeeper? His style cannot be all that bad if he is getting more clean sheets than goalkeepers who are comfortable with the ball. All United need to do is get a goalkeeping coach he is very experienced of being a 'sweeper keeper'. Managers are always asking outfield players to learn how to play in other field positions, positions that they are not comfortable with but are told to learn it anyway when at the training ground. ETH should be telling De Gea to learn how to be a sweeper keeper and needs to have a goalkeeping coach who is very experienced of 'sweeper keeper' who can teach de Gea how to be one. de Gea is one of the worlds best shot stoppers and if i was ETH I would be pulling out all the stops on how to get De Gea to be a 'sweeper keeper' rather than get one in who does have such experience but does not have the shot stopping level as De Gea does.
Anyone checking the UK football transfer news this morning may see a number of articles saying that the Declan Rice transfer could be off because Arsenal and West Ham cannot come to a decision on the pay structure which is why even though the transfer amount has been agreed and personal terms have been agreed, Rice has not been seen taking a medical at Arsenal. Could West Ham playing hardball mess it all up?
West Ham don't have a lot of options outside of keeping a player who doesn't really want to be there. And they'll just lose him for free next season. At which point, West Ham hierarchy really need to look at themselves.
Don't see any other club coming in and beating £105m either
The deal will happen, it will just be protracted due to haggling of payment structure.
Don't see any other club coming in and beating £105m either
The deal will happen, it will just be protracted due to haggling of payment structure.
Could Arsenal trying to pay slowly to fund their other transfers targets mess it all up I think you mean?
Nope. West Ham are getting what they wanted. As long as they get their money within a respectable amount of time I see this as West Ham messing up, not Arsenal. I will change my view if the media report on the transfer and it is shown that Arsenal are wanting to pay over an unrespectable amount of time.
West Ham are not getting want they wanted. They wanted to keep their player. So if you are the selling club you set the terms. No difference to selling anything else. The seller sets the terms.
The Arsenal bias on here is a joke.
No Arsenal bias here. I just do not like the way this type of transfer and others like it are done.
I hear it time and time again from fans and clubs, X club does not want to sell their player but there they are trying to sell a player. It's total and utter BS because if a club does not want to sell a player, they do not have to regardless of what clauses are in the players contract.
West Ham are not legally obligated to sell Rice even if clauses are met in his contract. The clauses would allow interested parties to talk to Rice and his agent but it does not mean he's for sale. If West Ham wanted to keep him, they could have kept on refusing bids no matter how high they went and keep on saying 'he is not for sale, end off'. In that instance Rice can run down his contract and leave for free.
A transfer price was put on Rice meaning West Ham are happy to sell him because if they weren't they would have not put him up for sale. All this West Ham wants to keep him is BS in my opinion because they would not have offered him up for sale. They would have told him to honor his contract and see out his contract. West Ham set the transfer price, that price was met and now in my opinion West Ham should start with fair and honest talks in getting the transfer done as quickly as possible. It does not matter if Arsenal were want to stretch payments over 5 years, a fair offer has been met, a reasonable time frame for payments put forward and West Ham should say 'Yep, we accept' but no, they want to play hardball because they want to make the transfer as difficult as possible for a player they supposedly want but were happy to put on the transfer market.
Clubs all over the world do it. It's a mild form of modern day slavery in my opinion. Club buys players, that player becomes the property of the club and the player can not do anything with out the clubs say so. They have to train how the club say so, they have to eat how the club say so, they have to exercise how the club say so, they have to sleep when the club says so. They cannot party, they cannot drink, they cannot got weddings and on and on it goes. And then at the end of it, when the club is done with the player, they are put on the transfer list whether the player likes it or not.
So, if West Ham want to keep Rice, just tell Arsenal and everyone else to get lost as he's not for sale. It's that simple.
We did not put him up for sale. We said we would let him go due to a gentleman’s agreement.
You say it’s reasonable to pay over 5 years? Is it? Is that’s what’s been offered? Is that the norm?
I have no point of reference (as what you read online is 99% made up). Who’s to say Arsenal are not the ones at fault?
Comparing footballers whose salary’s are far in excess of most to slavery is pretty offensive.
Rice was quite happy to take the opportunity to establish himself in the West Ham team. He certainly hadn’t been treated like anyone’s slave.
Actually, I think that this is pretty much a done deal, - Arsenal have agreed to meet the asking price, thus, what is happening now is just haggling, and wose, haggling in bad faith - and anything further is merely an attempt to fill newspaper/online media space in the dog days of summer.
In any case, West Ham are set to collect the largest sum of money ever paid for a transfer in the UK, as the sum paid for Declan Rice is the largest ever paid for a domestic transfer in the UK.
More to the point, the player wishes to depart from the club, so the wishes of the club are moot.
That is, unless West Ham wish to hold Rice to his contract, which will mean letting him run it down (is he worth foregoing the £105million fee that you will not receive should you insist on him remaining at the club, as some Hammers suggest?) and allowing him to stroll away on a free transfer next year, with West Ham earning nothing.
In any case, my sympathies for the club, West Ham, - not least as they inherited a spanking new (if soulless) stadium after the 2012 London Olympics (when most other clubs who wished to expand had to either enlarge what they had, or migrate someplace else by building a new stadium, and, obviously, find some way of paying for it short of selling their soul) - are limited.
In any case, West Ham are set to collect the largest sum of money ever paid for a transfer in the UK, as the sum paid for Declan Rice is the largest ever paid for a domestic transfer in the UK.
More to the point, the player wishes to depart from the club, so the wishes of the club are moot.
That is, unless West Ham wish to hold Rice to his contract, which will mean letting him run it down (is he worth foregoing the £105million fee that you will not receive should you insist on him remaining at the club, as some Hammers suggest?) and allowing him to stroll away on a free transfer next year, with West Ham earning nothing.
In any case, my sympathies for the club, West Ham, - not least as they inherited a spanking new (if soulless) stadium after the 2012 London Olympics (when most other clubs who wished to expand had to either enlarge what they had, or migrate someplace else by building a new stadium, and, obviously, find some way of paying for it short of selling their soul) - are limited.
Declan has had his medical. Announcement video is done.
Declan and Russo will be announced together i think.
Only issue if any will from West Ham side. Maybe they should speak with Declan if they not happy rather pointing fingers at Arsenal. West Ham have every right to walk away if they are not happy with the terms. Arsenal are not forcing them to sell. Declan wants to leave.
Maybe instead of feeding or leaking rumours to press West Ham should show some courage and say NO to Declan.
Declan and Russo will be announced together i think.
Only issue if any will from West Ham side. Maybe they should speak with Declan if they not happy rather pointing fingers at Arsenal. West Ham have every right to walk away if they are not happy with the terms. Arsenal are not forcing them to sell. Declan wants to leave.
Maybe instead of feeding or leaking rumours to press West Ham should show some courage and say NO to Declan.
Like I said it's BS. If West Ham did not want Rice to leave they would have not put ANY agreement in place. As for the slavery reference, why is it offensive? Players are bought and sold at their bidding, just as slaves were. Can a player leave when ever they want? no, just like slaves were. Are players punished for not doing what the clubs says? yes, just like slaves were. There are clear similarities between the two but not everything.
If you want to see how much a players life is controlled by a football club, there are thousands upon thousands of biographies from ex players giving details of how their life was controlled by their football club. A very good example is that of Anthony Martial back in 2018. Look at the disgraceful behavior of his treatment by the club and his manager Jose Mourinho. Martial's wife was due to give birth so he left pre-season training in the US to be at his wife's bedside to see the birth of his 2nd child. Martial put the interests of his wife and newborn baby first and decided to stay at his wife's bedside and be with his newborn baby but as far as his club Man United was concerned, it was club first, wife and baby second and he was expected back in the US the day after his wife gave birth. He did not. Then it was speculated that the club did not give him permission to go. Just take that in for a second will you, it was speculated that the club did not give him permission to go be at his wife's bedside for the birth of their child!!!. Who the hell does the club think they are!!! Then whilst he is still away, he starts to get accused of being a trouble maker because he has not come back when the club told him too. The club owned him and as far as they are concerned his life belongs to them. Whilst he was not beaten as slaves were by their masters, his treatment by the club was in much very similar to how slaves were treated. Is just football fans have forgotten this.
And that is my point, if West Ham truly did not want Rice to leave they should have said no. All Rice would have then done is seen out his contract and left on a free.
The Guardian reports that Rice is expected to complete the move this week, undergo a medical, and join Arsenal.
They report that the "structure" of the payment has been under negotiation: Apparently, originally, Arsenal wanted to spread the cost over five years, while West Ham - obviously - resisted this, and wanted payment completed by next year.
According to the Guardian, it has now been agreed that Arsenal will pay the agreed price for Rice in three instalments spread over two years.
Worth noting also, is that (in the same piece) the Guardian mention - as an aside - that West Ham were placed on UEFA's FFP watch-list last September.
For those arguing that West Ham didn't wish to lose Rice, I will pose the question: Are you seriously prepared to forego the fee of £105million in order to retain his unwilling services for a further year?
Now, while Rice was indeed "quite happy to take the opportunity to establish himself in the West Ham team" as @Apple fanboy has written, I would also point out that he has served West Ham superbly in that time, leading the team to a trophy this past season.
They report that the "structure" of the payment has been under negotiation: Apparently, originally, Arsenal wanted to spread the cost over five years, while West Ham - obviously - resisted this, and wanted payment completed by next year.
According to the Guardian, it has now been agreed that Arsenal will pay the agreed price for Rice in three instalments spread over two years.
Worth noting also, is that (in the same piece) the Guardian mention - as an aside - that West Ham were placed on UEFA's FFP watch-list last September.
For those arguing that West Ham didn't wish to lose Rice, I will pose the question: Are you seriously prepared to forego the fee of £105million in order to retain his unwilling services for a further year?
Now, while Rice was indeed "quite happy to take the opportunity to establish himself in the West Ham team" as @Apple fanboy has written, I would also point out that he has served West Ham superbly in that time, leading the team to a trophy this past season.
This touches on what I have been debating about with regards to West Ham not wanting Rice to leave. If West Ham did not want Rice to leave regardless of what Rice wanted, West Ham would have never put a transfer price on his head in the first place. It is utterly ridiculous to say 'We (West Ham) do not want you to leave but we've put a transfer price on your head anyway'.
And I just did some searching and I can see why West Ham are willing to sell Rice because he only has 1yr of his contract left (signed the contract in 2018 and ends in 2024 with the option of an additional year). That means Rice value could drop if West Ham were to not win any trophies whereas at the present moment, he is a European trophy winner which means his value increased. Therefore it's simple, cash out on the player whilst his value is very high because there is no way of knowing what would happen in the new season considering it's the last year of his contract and if he were to not take the option of the additional year, he leaves on a free. There is no way West Ham is about to let that happen.
If West Ham had wanted Rice to leave they wouldn’t have offered him an improved contract.
Obviously we didn’t want him to run his contract down and leave for nothing either.
I’m glad Arsenal have agreed to pay a bit sooner than they were trying to get away with and hopefully this is now done and dusted.
Then we can get on with trying to find new talent to fill the whole left by a superb player.
I wish him well in the future, if maybe not the club he has gone to.
Obviously we didn’t want him to run his contract down and leave for nothing either.
I’m glad Arsenal have agreed to pay a bit sooner than they were trying to get away with and hopefully this is now done and dusted.
Then we can get on with trying to find new talent to fill the whole left by a superb player.
I wish him well in the future, if maybe not the club he has gone to.
West Ham had the choice of cashing in now on the value of Declan Rice - given the fact that the team had collected a trophy, along with his excellent performances, his value had obviously increased - or, forego the largest transfer deal in British history, and allow the player to depart on a free transfer - when they would proceed to pocket precisely nothing - a year later.
Are you seriously expecting me to believe that the club would have preferred the latter option?