Liverpool FC Forum

As it stands, we're possibly going to be beaten to the punch by manure for that Georgia keeper (imo, we don't need another keeper) and taken to the cleaners for Inacio.
Which may partly solve one position but not where surgery is most needed.
And meanwhile talent coming through is either sold or loaned out, meaning less strength in depth for a busy season.
All in all, a shocker of a transfer window.

Think of the dividends being paid out to FSG if they sold Carvalho and Gomez. Almost 50 million in profits!

Penguins » Mon Aug 19, 2024 10:06 am wrote:Think of the dividends being paid out to FSG if they sold Carvalho and Gomez. Almost 50 million in profits!

Liverpool and Montpellier are the only clubs across Europe's top five leagues yet to make a signing this summer   

kazza » Tue Aug 20, 2024 2:14 am wrote:Liverpool and Montpellier are the only clubs across Europe's top five leagues yet to make a signing this summer   :Oo:

Breaking News:  FSG buy Montpellier!       

Seems like that keeper we really need will be our 1st signing. Dont understand it unless we are losing both Kelleher and Ali within the next year. Talk is we upped the bid.

They won't leave it at that and my money is on Slot to at least get something.  Won't go down well if we make a ton of money this window.

The chaos of Barcelona: a revolving door, financial black hole and mortgaging the club’s future

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... -gundogan/

This is the chaos FSG fear most. How far away are Man Utd?

damjan193 wrote:Goalkeeper is probably the only posititon where we don't need any new signins lol. He's a decent keeper though, at least.

I read Brenford are close to signing van der Berg. So that's both him AND Gomez at the exit door. I guess it'll be up to Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams again then? They'restill here right?

Williams has gone out again on loan.  Hard to believe how far he has fallen since he got a run in the 1st team.  Still only 23 but doubt he has a future here. Phillips must be more than happy with his situation as well which is odd. He's 27 and should be playing every week but is another who isn't in our plans.  I don't get it with Sepp either, he hasn't been given a chance despite doing well in preseason. Only thing I can think of is he's got suitors that will pay the asking price whereas the other 2 don't. Would like to have seen him be a part of the squad for a year to see how he gets on. We could regret this in our drive to get in quick money, likewise with Gomez.

I watched that keeper in the Euros and didn't think he was great tbh. He's a good shot stopper but poor with his feet. Comes for absolutely everything but wears his heart on his sleeve. The emotion that you go through when playing for your country is different to club and that's why it's not a good idea to sign someone off the back of a few performances like that. I don't know what he is like for his club but know he has a lot of work to do if he is to fit into our system. Especially now seeing as we are starting to play in our own box a lot more. Anyway it's a silly signing at this moment in time and our track record of future scouting is rubbish. Can't recall one instance where it has worked out for us and Van De Berg being the latest example.

DO NOT EVEN TRY.....
Disgusting to even suggest FSG are being smart by making a profit :-(

Reg » Wed Aug 21, 2024 11:23 am wrote:The chaos of Barcelona: a revolving door, financial black hole and mortgaging the club’s future

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... -gundogan/

This is the chaos FSG fear most. How far away are Man Utd?

Paywall Reg. Can you do an auld copy and paste for the paupers!! 

Clark sold for another 10 million. More profits, yay!
And Van der Berg for even more profits!

I actually don't have a clue what the club is at. Make A few quid on sales of Clark, Sepp, possibly Gomez and Kelleher. And who do we bring in. A keeper - really not needed.
Nobody in defence. No new #6..
Slot would appear to not rate Nunez so we have an injury prone Jota and Gakpo. Plus Mo has been figured out.
And other kids out on loan.
I fear what's going to happen this season.

red till i die!! » Wed Aug 21, 2024 10:26 pm wrote:

Reg » Wed Aug 21, 2024 11:23 am wrote:The chaos of Barcelona: a revolving door, financial black hole and mortgaging the club’s future

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... -gundogan/

This is the chaos FSG fear most. How far away are Man Utd?

Paywall Reg. Can you do an auld copy and paste for the paupers!! 

Sorry Red I was out of town yesterday:

The chaos of Barcelona: a revolving door, financial black hole and mortgaging the club’s future
Ilkay Gundogan’s exit is another sign of the mismanagement of finances at Spanish giants

Sam Wallace,  Chief Football Writer 21 August 2024 • 7:34am

The chaos of Barcelona: a revolving door, financial black hole and mortgaging the club's future

The precarious state of Barcelona’s finances is a problem which the club, and Spanish football as a whole, seems determined to ignore for most of the time, but it is when the club is forced to give away one of its highest earning players it can hardly be avoided.

The impending departure of midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, a crucial part of the side last year, who started more league games than any other player, is one such moment. The great German midfielder departed Manchester City as a treble-winning hero last summer, a free agent who chose to spend the last days of his career in Catalonia. And why not? But as Gundogan is finding out – Barcelona are not the club they used to be.

He has now been made available on a free transfer just one year after joining and is likely to come back to City - who perhaps cannot believe their luck. Gundogan has a contract at Barcelona until 2026, but his free agent salary, expected to be around £16 million, is too much for the club as they seek to register Dani Olmo, one of Spain’s Euro 2024 winning side. The signing from RB Leipzig does not fit into the permitted wage bill unless Barcelona can reduce current costs significantly.

It is another sign that the club’s huge debt, around €3 billion (£2.56 billion) including the borrowing for the building of the new Nou Camp, is controlling them – rather than the other way around. There have been many attempts to generate revenue which will permit them, under La Liga regulations, to spend more on wages. Both sides have an interest in those provisos being met although rival clubs, including Real Madrid, will wish for the necessary scrutiny to be applied.

The reality is that Barcelona have long sold many of their assets, or those they are permitted to sell under La Liga financial controls. Chief among those was the sale of future income streams to the US investor Sixth Street two years ago – 25 per cent of future domestic television revenue for the next 20 years – to build the Barcelona team that won its last league title in 2022-2023 under then manager Xavi Hernandez.

In the summer of 2022, Barcelona signed Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha among others using the Sixth Street money which La Liga permits them to book as revenue. The sale of future revenue, known in Spain as “palancas” or financial “levers”, is widespread in the Spanish game including the 2021 “Boost La Liga” deal with Swiss private equity firm CVC Partners.

Robert Lewandowski signed a four-year contract with Barcelona with a release clause of €500 million (£426 million) Credit: Getty Images/Jose Jordan
A key problem for Barcelona has been the sale of a media subsidiary Barca Vision, previously known as Barca Studios, that the club has valued at certain times at €400 million (£341 million). The small inconvenience is that none have been prepared to spend the money to corroborate that valuation. Barca Vision, the club says, “brings together projects associated with Web3, NFTs and the metaverse” and at various times parts of it have been subject to sale agreements.

Along the way the Catalan businessman Jaume Roures, the German football financiers Libero and socios, the fan engagement app, have been suggested as investors. These sales helped to raise booked revenue to permit greater wage bill expansion yet whether the investment ever arrived has been a harder question for the club. La Liga calculates a permitted wage bill relative to revenue, which has made selling off so-called assets such as future income and subsidiaries so attractive.

Yet by last summer, with Barcelona champions again under Xavi, and a Champions League campaign awaiting them, the club appeared to be operating under significant limits again. Not a single signing was made for a fee other than the return of Oriol Romeu from Girona for around €3 million (£2.5 million). One year on and agreement has been reached for Olmo but the salary restrictions placed on the club mean that he cannot be registered.

The potential departure of Gundogan, one of the great midfielders of recent years in Europe, demonstrates just how difficult a situation the club finds itself in. The new stadium, part of the Espai Barca project, is being built, albeit without the proposed extra venues for basketball and handball. The club’s academy continues to produce superb young players, including Lamine Yamal and Gavi. But the years of accumulating debt, and an addiction to signing players, whatever the cost, have accrued problems that will not simply go away.

The club released new images of the projected Spotify Nou Camp, with a 105,000 capacity, on Tuesday although for many the reality of the club’s finances are starting to take hold. Barcelona’s rivals have signed Kylian Mbappe as a free agent this summer after a long pursuit. Meanwhile, Barcelona president Joan Laporta has been forced to sanction the departure of Gundogan on a free transfer because his wages are the biggest obstacle to registering a new signing.

Another of Spain’s Euro 2024 stars, Nico Williams of Athletic of Bilbao, was long proposed as a Barcelona signing this summer but it became clear that his €58 million (£49 million) fee and wages were beyond the club. The Athletic president Jon Uriarte threatened legal action if Barcelona tried to get the deal done with no prospect of Williams’ registration being approved. Gundogan’s abrupt departure would suggest that Bilbao were right.

Barcelona’s bought and sold XI (from the last three seasons)
By Ewan Harkness

GK: Neto
Signed for: €26 million (£22 million) in 2019-20
Sold for: €3 million (£2.5 million) in 2022-23 to AFC Bournemouth
After joining in July 2019, following an impressive spell at Valencia, the Brazilian was unable to make an impact and acted as a deputy for Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Neto has since impressed in the Premier League for Bournemouth, despite only managing 21 appearances in three seasons at Barcelona.

RB: Hector Bellerin
Signed for: Free in 2022-23
Sold for €1 million (£853,695) to Sporting Lisbon in 2022-23
After an 11 year stay at Arsenal, Bellerin moved to where he began his career in Catalonia. What felt like a dream move quickly turned sour, as just six months after signing the Spaniard was sold after only managing seven appearances.

RB: Julian Araujo
Signed for: €5 million (£4.6 million) in 2022-23
Sold for €10 million (£8.5 million) to Bournemouth in 2024-25
The Mexican joined from LA Galaxy in January 2023, but failed to ever make an appearance for Barcelona. After impressing on loan at UD Las Palmas last season, he recently signed for Bournemouth and came off the bench in their 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.

RB: Sergino Dest 
Signed for: €21 million (£17.9 million) in 2020-21
Sold for: Free to PSV in 2024-25
After signing from Ajax, the USA international made 72 appearances for the club, the majority of which came in his first two seasons. He was then phased out of the squad, being sent on loan spells to AC Milan and PSV, who he eventually joined on a free transfer.

The chaos of Barcelona: a revolving door, financial black hole and mortgaging the club's future
Sergino Dest (right) joined PSV in June but is currently recovering from an ACL injury Credit: Getty Images /David S. Bustamante
CDM: Franck Kessie
Signed for free (22/23)
Sold for €12.5 million (£10.6 million) to Al-Ahli in 2023-24
The deal initially was touted as one of the bargains of the summer, with Kessie playing a key role in AC Milan’s Serie A title-winning season the year prior. However, the Ivorian was only at the club for one season, with Xavi admitting he was unable to guarantee him minutes after signing Ilkay Gundogan.

CM: Miralem Pjanic
Signed for: €60 million (£51.2 million) in 2020-21
Sold for: Free to Sharjah FC 2022-23
Perhaps one of the worst signings of all time. After having impressed at Juventus, the Bosnian international managed only 30 appearances in two seasons at the club, and was allowed to leave for the UAE on a free.

CAM: Antoine Griezmann
Signed for: €120 million (£102.4 million) in  2020-21
Sold for: €22 million (£18.7 million) to Atletico Madrid in 2023-24
Another incredibly poor signing. Griezman joined with a huge price tag on his head, which he was unable to justify. The Frenchman made 102 appearances, scoring 35 goals and assisting 17. Three seasons after signing from Atletico Madrid, the club re-signed him for a fraction of what he was sold for.

LW: Trincao
Signed for: €30 million (£25.6 million) in 2020-21
Sold for: €7 million (£5.9 million) in 2023-24 to Sporting Lisbon
Another failed investment on an exciting young player. Trincao made 42 appearances during his time in Catalonia, recording just five goal contributions.

ST: Martin Braithwaite
Signed for: €18 million (£15.3 million) in 2020-21
Sold for: Free to RCD Espanyol in 2022-23
Signed in February 2021, due to a La Liga injury rule which allowed the deal outside of the transfer window, Braithwaite made 58 appearances and scored 10 goals. The Danish international terminated his contract to bring an end to his two-year spell.


ST: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Signed for: Free in 2021-22
Sold for €12 million (£10.2 million) in 2022-23 to Chelsea
A deadline day move that caught the world’s attention, however Aubameyang only lasted six months at Barcelona. The striker has admitted he would have liked to remain at the club, but left due to the financial difficulties at the time.

CF: Memphis Depay
Signed for: Free in 2021-22
Sold for €3 million (£2.5 million) to Atletico Madrid in 2022-23
Depay managed 16 goal contributions in 42 appearances during his 18-month stint at Barcelona. Xavi has said the Dutchman asked to leave the club in January 2023, as he did not feel comfortable in the environment.

These are the players who left the club this summer:

Fábio Carvalho €23.40m
Bobby Clark €11.80m
Adrián free transfer
Calvin Ramsay loan transfer
Rhys Williams loan transfer
Joel Matip Without Club
Thiago Alcántara Retired

So midfield are down Thiago and Carvalho, back four Matip and maybe Joe...
Crazy... crazy.