₦airaland Forum

Kilishihunter:
All talks for the media like Laporta na, While things dey take sup Underg


Thought he said he wasn't interested earlier?

Space no dey again na.
Fati, Auba , Ferran, dembele, Raphinha...

Lewa is coming.. These guys are either new, performing well, young or all.

If you were depay, what would you do? Stay and fight?

jpmoriarti:
If we manage to sign Lewandowski, he would be 34yrs. Is he also part of the oldies?

I see what you did there..

But Lewa is machine.

If all these Signings are successful , the squad depth will be crazy.

My only fear will be xavi's ability to handle this enormous amount of talent effectively and efficiently. There should be no room for favoritism or the oldies.

FirstbornWds:
Every player gats sit up now. Nobody is guaranteed a starting shirt, except Araujo, MATS and maybe Pedri. If you zuzu anyhow, you go chop bench.

You know what's interesting, is that Barça don't even view the goal keeping department as important rn.

Mats has been off for too long not to have a competition. But no p.

Na wa o.

I think say na romance/sexuality section I enter ó..

No wàhálà. Shall we talk football now.

felix00:
Coutinho definitely did not. There conversations but he never agreed. He only agreed to a paycut cause he wanted the villa move.
FDJ deferred wages are spread over the remaining years of his contract. It's not lump packed in one year

Laporta could have tried to engage frenkie in a paycut convo but instead he took the blackmail and character assassination way.

The ironic thing about all this is that busi is basically done and should not be a starter for Barça and we have signed a player in kessie that would have let Barça play the double pivot and maximize frenkie yet we are getting rid of him knowing fully well we will be hustling to replace busi when he leaves us next season.

Kessie - Frenkie double pivot with Pedri as the 10 should have been the way to go but what do know

And the only reason frenkie performance have not been great is cause of the box to box role xavi and koeman has been forcing him into.

Good point.

But lemme ask you..

Do seriously think Barça is ready to minimize busquets' play time for the sake of de Jong or anyone.

Right now Barça sees FDJ as surplus but bùsi is seen as still important..

jpmoriarti:
Then why do we continue to buy players that fits a particular style when we are not ready to be flexible with our playing style?

I love Barca's identity. It is the most beautiful type of football ever.

However, at this juncture, I think the club is caught in a crossroad. How do we ensure we hold on to our famed tradition yet whilst still attracting the best players and turning them to world stars. Not attracting best players and emasculating their talents until they become useless and then we sell them off on cheap or for free.

It's all down to management..

OhBritannia:
This is a picture of his injury history in Barcelona.
Observed the days he missed and note that unlike Dembele, Coutinho has competition in the position he played, he was even second eleven to begin with and he wasn't really missed so it was hard and difficult to get back his position even when he returned from injury.

I am not making excuses for him, i am just saying Injury affected his form too in Barcelona.

Well asides from 2021/2022 season when he missed a lotta games, his injuries haven't been really serious. Neither have these always been in Barça.

Overall, dembele injury record dwarfs those of coutinho, yet he performed better than coutinho, by far. 37 G/A in 105 games is poor for a big signing like coutinho.

jpmoriarti:
Memphis didnt flop but he didnt actually set us on fire with his performances. He came in as free transfer. So not much pressure there.

Maybe it is the failure of the club. Maybe the club needs more introspections to see why these things are happening.

Finally!!!

I said this once here. There are clubs that buy average or slightly average players and they go on to become great and super stars.

In Barça, it's difficult to thrive. Even star signings struggle. You've got to be special to shine(e.g pedri). Maybe it's the strict adherence to our philosophy of playing attractive football,which might not be favorable or fit some players.

OhBritannia:
I don't think Ferran has flopped.
Though he misses goals a lot but at the same time, he even haven't spent up to a year in Barcelona. There is always a room for improvement.

You know how many goals David Villa missed when he first came to Barcelona?
Even Luis Suarez

Like I said, Ferran seems to be taking the flop route.
Hopefully he gets his game back. Xavi was so patient with him last season. I don't think he'll have that luxury this season.

Fati is back, Lewa might be coming. Dembele and Auba impressed last season. And now Raphinha is here. Depay is still here and he definitely was more effective than Ferran.

OhBritannia:
Just like Dembele, i think Injury affected Coutinho too.
After that injury, he wasn't the same Coutinho anymore.

I wholeheartedly reject this..

Continho didn't suffer recurring injuries like dembele or as much as he did.. He ghosted in matches and had no impact whatsoever in the team's progress.

I don't think people appreciate the fact that dembele is kinda psychologically strong. Fighting Injuries, been criticised and so on.
Yet the boy keeps trying. 13 assists in 21 matches last season.

Coutinho has no excuse.

OhBritannia:
to be frank and sincere, if not for injuries, dembele would have been a super signing.
I don't think Memphis depay flopped though

Everyone knows dembele's rise to the top has been greatly hampered by injuries. We all know what he could have been.

And yes, Memphis didn't flop. Not like we were expecting a stat-shattering performer. Yet, he topped on scoring chart.

jpmoriarti:
Why don't you hope he takes the Dani Alves path? Or you already thought he would be a flop? Why did you have these premonitions? Why the pessimism? Do you think there is something wrong with the Barca setup that makes players not reach their full potential? Or you simply think he doesn't have it in him to reach these levels we all hoped for?

Pessimistic? He's a decent winger. I just hope all this hype won't end in disappointment.

Coutinho, griezmann and now Ferran is taking that route . I don't want Raphinha to follow suit.

jpmoriarti:
Is that the number he got? Because the number is vacant after Adama left. That would be a natural number for him to wear

It hasn't been confirmed, but it's most likely that's what he'll get.

If Adama can get it, why not Raphinha.

Blaxhex:
He's not even half as good as the others there.

Abi..
My prayer is that he doesn't flop. I just want a decent winger. If he grows to be world class, then good for him and the club.

OhBritannia:
History about to repeat itself.
If you know, you know.

The hype is getting too much. Abeg let's be calming down and hope he doesn't take the coutinho path.

Looks like FDJ might be leaving. 75 mill isn't small money.. Plus add ons.

Btw, what do y'all think about Raphinha been given the no 11 shirt?

FirstbornWds:
FC Barcelona and the player Ousmane Dembélé have reached an agreement for a contract until 30 June 2024.


Blaugrana since 2017

Dembélé was 20 years old when he joined Barça in the summer of 2017 from Borussia Dortmund, and made his debut on September 9 against Espanyol, contributing an assist to a 5-0 win. But despite his highly promising start, he never quite managed to get into his full stride due to an unfortunate string of different injuries.

In total the French winger has played 150 games in his five years at FC Barcelona. He has earned a fabulous reputation as an assist-provider, and in the 2021/22 season he topped not just Barça but also La Liga by setting up 13 goals.

All in all, he has given 34 assists as a blaugrana, while also scoring 32 goals of his own to help the team to two league and two cup titles.

66 G/A in 150 matches. Poor for a player with so much talent.

Hopefully his stats will improve.

Kilishihunter:
He didn't even need to pull all these pre-planned stunts again since Bayern are already willing to negotiate though for excessively much

He's coming to Barça. It's only a matter of time.
Bayern just despise Barça and don't wanna sell their most valuable asset to them.

Debroslink:
Thanks. I just wan know. He's good.

Mtcheew..

Someone that was hyped along side puig form the Barça B.
Next thing, Barca loaned him out. He's been around for quite some time. Now he's back, I doubt he'll get many opportunities.

OkpaNsukkaisBae:
Spanish media rarely hype barca players. I agree with u...make we watch him first. I knw xavi want his central midfielders to have good numbers ,be it goals or assists...the more reason they will ship FDJ to manure. Dis Torres guy fit the profile.

I really feel bad for FDJ.. He really wants to stay but Barça will have to force him out.

I really love him but as long as busquets is still available + the emergence of talents, he'll suffer.

OkpaNsukkaisBae:
dis pablo torres get hype.

hope he plays today.

Well, reports claim he convinced xavi in just one week. That has got to mean something.

He snubbed pedri last week. This has increased talks of competition, beef in the team, especially among the youngsters.

But I refuse to follow the hype till I see him play.

jpmoriarti:
I can't even believe there would be Barca fans still trying to make a case for Dembele after a frustrating 5 years and the unsavory drama that followed his renewal.

Left for me, I will say we let Dembele go. He didn't boast of a single good moment on pitch for the club after we splashed the cash to get him 5 years ago.

Now, they're trying to drag Raphinha that we haven't even confirmed as Barca player.

Simply shocking!

No one is dragging Raphinha. And please, many of us wanted dembele ungrateful ass gone, including me.

What is painful is the money we're splashing on Raphinha.

70 million+ is a sum for proven world class players.

If Vinicius is bought by city for that amount, who's gonna complain? Few. He's earned that price value, to some extent. Same with mbappe(who's worth more).
Even mahrez may or may not qualify for that price tag. But Raphinha?

Anyway I pray he doesn't flop. I pray...

BlaqFaze:
Bro, so you're rating Sterling make season start sha

Why shouldn't he rate sterling..

Abi what are you saying.
Let's be frank, Chelsea won big by getting sterling for that amount.
I consider this Raphinha deal a loss for us.

Ibukzy:
Is Ferran or Raphinha better than Sterling as a Forward/winger?

Nope. Sterling trumps both.

Oldboss:
нανє уσυ ωαт¢нє∂ яαρнιηнα ρℓαує∂ ιη єνєяу αѕρє¢тѕ αραят ƒяσм ѕρєє∂ нє вєαтѕ ∂ємвєℓє

Wait ó.. Is it not the same Raphinha I know from leeds. Abi it's another one. He beat dembele in every aspects
Let's drop sentiment. That's bullshit from you.

I would have wholeheartedly supported Barça paying 70+ million for Antony than Raphinha.

Kilishihunter:
Better goal threat index or whichever ratio, Raphinha utterly decimates dembele in front of goal currently bro

Are you saying he's better than dembele?

Let's get one thing straight:
Dembele is finally finding his rhythm in Barça. It started with koeman gradually and now with xavi, he's turning to a beast.

This is someone who turned boos into applause more than once at the camp nou. Shows you how special he is.

Dembele creates more goals. He was more of a creator last season and I'm sure with good guidance, he'll improve. I can't say same with Raphinha. Dembele has proven to be 'quality' enough.. Let that sink in.

That last part of your statement is an exagerration... Dembele beats Raphinha in all aspects of footballing abilities for attackers/footballers.

Tellwhat:
Honestly..well na this board know. Maybe they intend to recoup the money from shirt sales or something

There's something this board know that the average fan doesn't know

Because some of the mistakes they've been making over the years a lot of fans see it so how comes they can't seem to see it and yet they're supposed to know more

That Griezmann signing and so many signings were disaster waiting to happen

This Raphinha signing is a disaster waiting to happen. Once Leeds talk more than 50 Barca should have looked elsewhere

We'll make we dey watch their decisions are the ones that matter not ours

As in ehn.

Barça could 'bluff' with Dembele and then proceed to shit the bed with Raphinha deal.

I expected the club to ride on his 'desire' to play for us. Instead we went into bidding war with Chelsea.

OkpaNsukkaisBae:
72m dey too much. na chelsea cause dis bidding war...

I'm slightly disappointed.

72 million For a player from leeds?
This sorta price is placed usually on 'high performing' players in top-6-in-the-league clubs.
Why not focus on renewing dembele and get a decent deputy for the RW position.

It won't be funny if this guy flops. I hope he doesn't.

Debroslink:
Don't mind them. Suarez was simply La liga merchant. Overall in Barcelona, Eto'o beats Suarez hands down.

Our 2nd all-time goal scorer is who you're comparing to eto'o.

This disrespect is just too much. Y'all bring UCL as if it's the only competition in football. Ffs, judge both players all round.. Suarez is way better.

Suarez singlehandedly guided Liverpool to compete for things in England. Suarez at barca should have been top 3 in Ballon dor ranking. Popularity got CR7 there that year.

Debroslink:
"Eto won UCL without Messi or Ronaldinho" . Suarez really enjoyed Messi in La liga. Enter UCL KO he fumbled when we needed him. Those days when opposition caged Messi, Suarez couldn't save us.

But I remember the day when Arsenal caged Ronaldinho and also when Mourinho's Chelsea caged Ronaldinho. Eto'o saved us with winning goals.

Need I say more?

"Etoo won UCL without messi and Ronaldinho" .. You're talking as much if Messi and Ronaldinho were the only good players in that era.
Etoo played with an insanely in form sneidjer who was a front runner for Ballon dor. Milito was on fire. That inter squad led by Mourinho was strong.

OhBritannia:
These people comparing Lewandowski, Benzema with Suarez don't have respect at all.
Luis Suarez is the best top 9 in this modern era, even when Messi and Ronaldo were at their highest peak, Luis Suarez was still collecting accolades and awards in the presence of Messi and Ronaldo.
Now that Messi and Ronaldo have passed their peak and near retirement, Lewandowski and Benzema wants to flex muscles.

Football fans have short memories.
These people don't really know who Luis Suarez was.

What's so painful is the fact that benzema is been thrown into the debate.

Like who the Bleep is benzema when we're talking about Suarez.

Lewandowski vs Suarez can still be debated as the former as also been superb for years right from his time at dortmund till now.

But Suarez is just something else. Goals, assists, skills, everything... He beats them. And he's been great for years just like Messi and Ronaldo. But no one will acknowledge him cuz he ain't them.