Summer 2015 Transfer Window General Discussion

Andersonisgod wrote: »

On the De Bruyne thing, he's a fantastic signing. You can't judge his quality based on his time at Chelsea, in truth it's tough to judge a player's quality when they play under a manager who is as extreme in their philosophy as Mourinho is. For Mourinho, the philosophy comes before all others, if the player does not fit the philosophy then the player does not last very long at the club. De Bruyne, along with Mata and Luiz, were casualties of this. If you were to take Mata, De Bruyne and Luiz and match them up against Oscar, Willian and Cahill away from the Chelsea backdrop I think you could make a fair argument that the former 3 are more talented and more skilled than their Chelsea counterparts. This is not what Mourinho cares about because, in his philosophy, the individual does not take precedence. Oscar is more mobile than Mata and better when his team doesn't have the ball, Willian is more robust than De Bruyne and works harder off the ball, Cahill is less erratic than Luiz and is more suited to playing in a low block. That Mourinho ditched the former 3 players and stuck with the latter 3 isn't a comment on their individual quality, it's a matter of who best fits into his set up.

De Bruyne has shown that, free of the Mourinho shackles, he's a remarkable talent, the Bundesliga player of the year and a quality addition to any squad.

Andersonisgod wrote: »

To be fair, Willian cost somewhere in the region of £30 million (relatively close to that) so he's not like a Michu type signing.

I understand what you are saying, for the money they are paying you expect him to be one of the key players in their starting lineup, as would I. The problem with saying that these are fees reserved for Europe's elite is that actually attracting Europe's elite to England is difficult, attracting them to anywhere in England that isn't London is even more difficult, getting them to stay in England is more difficult still. In De Bruyne City have found a gem, he's got experience of the English league, he's lived in England, he's got friends living close, but more than that they've identified a world class attacking player who is actually open to the idea of moving to City. Are they overspending? Probably, but I wouldn't say they are overspending any more on De Bruyne than many clubs have on their recruits.

He's not a workhorse, he's not a utility player, he's a gifted, young attacking player. Unlike Silva, Hazard or Sanchez, who City, Chelsea and Arsenal got at relatively cheap prices, Wolfsburg aren't going to sell cheap so City must cough up the premium rate. Had Hazard, Silva or Sanchez been at Wolfsburg you'd be paying roughly the same price for them that City will pay for De Bruyne. The price is high but so too are the potential returns, Sterling, Silva, De Bruyne and Aguero almost guarantees the Premier League title, it should also mean a far greater tilt at European glory. They are buying a gem for the present and the future.

CSF wrote: »

I don't really see it that way. City have attracted players of similar or better quality to De Bruyne for much cheaper, with a much more proven pedigree. De Bruyne was class last season and all the things you said he was but I wouldn't go so heavily in my praise for him in any other season. Surely he needs to prove more to justify he can be that marquee player? We still have to see him play Champions League football even and we are talking about him in the terms of Hazard, Silva and Sanchez. I find that difficult. My point was that he's talented but unproven and I'm inclined to stand by it.

Andersonisgod wrote: »

To be fair the circumstances of the players they attracted for less money were different. Silva was sold off by Valencia because they desperately needed money, I mean look at the players who've arrived in England that have cost more than him, his price tag didn't equal his ability. Yaya wasn't the youngest, was an out of favor holding midfielder at Barcelona who rarely get a great price when they sell players anyway and his wages were massive. Aguero was a bit more money wise but again Atletico pretty much had to sell due to debt.

They did fantastically well to find players of that quality who were in situations where the price for each individual was less than £40 but that's simply not always possible. They are going to pay a premium price for a premium player.

That's fair enough, I believe he is a top class player and he'll continue to be. I'll just say that there's definitely examples of players being unproven in the CL that have gone for big money and gone on to do great things.

JPA wrote: »

Sunderland are doing nothing of note in this window, those in charge are really messing up.

rarnes1 wrote: »

Not good enough for Chelsea.

Mourinhio was proven right too