Two insiders on Transfermarkt saying we have agreed to deals with Sanchez and James Rodriguez. Negotiations with Arsenal said to be done already, whereas Real still wants a slightly larger transfer sum. Both saying the transfers will be announced at the same time, via an event/press conference with both players. Would be amazing if true. One of those insiders has been an active member of Transfermarkt for 5+ years, so it doesn't seem like someone whoring for attention. Edit: Checked this users' post history and he actually broke the news of Schweinsteiger negotiating with ManU, which at that time wasn't mentioned by any media. So definitely a legit guy.
All in all I'm pretty underwhelmed by this years Bundesliga season - other than Bayern's fifth title in a row. Big clubs like Schalke, Leverkusen and Mönchengladbach completely failed. A weak ass club like Bremen, that should play for relegation at best, almost makes it to the international ranks, whereas Köln holds the 5th spot winning only 12 out of 34 games. Even though it's not the first time this happens, 49 Points shouldn't get you into international competition. Even teams like Hertha who played a quite decent season showed zero consistency and will get eaten alive in European competition next year. At least in Darmstadt and Ingolstadt two extremely limited bus-parkers go down, who hopefully don't make it back to the Bundesliga anytime soon. Some people point at Bayern when it comes to the dropping competition level, but only 12 points between #16 (Relegation play-off) and #5 (Europa League) speak another language. Mediocrity everywhere. Too many teams seem to be content to play for a draw and finish 10th. Usually I root for German teams (expect Dortmund) in international competetion, but Hoffenheim and Leipzig need to get eliminated asap. I really hope both of them collapse big time next year, these kind of clubs may not have success on longer terms.
Gabriel Jesus back from injury and has posted 4 goals+3ast in the six games since his return, freakin beast. Next years will be insane if he develops as I predicted, his debut season is already much better than I assumed. Btw, the Vinicius to Real deal will be made official this week, the guy will probably spend another season at Flamengo and then join Madrid. Has insane potential, really jealous of Real and City securing these bright prospects.
Also MLS and Vancouver. I think Lady Ancelotti is from Vancouver. Then again, Sheva's lady is from Minnesota and he never ended up in MLS.
Why do you believe Hoffenheim and Lepzing may not have success "on longer terms" and why is that a good reason if so, to not root for them in UCL next season? Let them enjoy their time in Europe regardless and who knows, they may perform better than other European sides and go far in the competition along with Bayern.
I should have written more clearly: I don't want these plastic clubs to be successful (so do most German football fans) and wish they would implode and never be seen again. Both teams are young and benefited from not playing international this season. Especially Leipzig was the big unknown this year, which helped them get on track early. Now they'll start the next season with three games within seven days on regular bases. That's a huge challenge for unexperienced players. Look at Mainz, who competed in the EL group stage this year and hence ran out of gas, nearly got relegated.
I'm kind of okay with Hoffenheim, as they didn't really pay monstrous sums for players and are more about stability than winning the league or CL, which is different from Matteschitz/Red Bull. Hopp is a great guy and does a lot for his community and region, sincerely believe he wants the club to just be financially stable. This is completely different from RB. What Hoffenheim did in the youth sector is huge bullsh** though, as they stole a lot of talents from other clubs and didn't naturally grow.
As good as Red Bull teams have been, they are nowhere close to winning the CL, maybe the UEFA League one day. Didi Matteschitz is a fun dude, I think he has better visions than Leslie Alexander IMO. A football network of Red Bull teams all over the world - Like the City Group, Melbourne City, Yokohama, Manchester City, New York City.
Not yet, but that idiot will pump absurd amounts into that club. Will be interesting to see whether stars will join them though, think it only works in the EPL if you're a club without history. Don't think true stars will join RB or stay there for more than two years.
I think another idea of him is develop talents from South America, Africa and some parts of Europe, and maybe Asia....... I am down with that. Ajax style
finally some good news coming from liverpool. a nice consolation after the harden debacle last eek. btw, if arsenal wins the fa cup vs chelsea, will they be qualified for champions league? or is that just for europa winners?
Maybe he is doing things the illegal way, (no evidence) but top clubs have been picking up talents as well. It is the same. The only thing a network can do better is to transfer talents from one RB team to the next Red Bull team. I do not think Matteschitz is doing all that stuff himself, he got people running things for him. I still think the Brand Red Bull is a bigger representer in Racing and Extreme Sports than Soccer. Soccer is just a minor part. Food chain Top club - Second tier top club - League middle tier or bottom dweller - 2nd league - 3rd league, Amateur clubs and youth teams...... Talent is going to be swallowed either way.
They are doing it in an extreme matter though, actively assembling all the good talent from other clubs in that region and leaving these clubs with no future. You rarely see that with other clubs, Bayern for example rarely touches 1860 talents.
Yes, then it might be time to rein them in. I dun follow them closely. All I know is Matteschitz is just pouring in the money, he does not have all the Know How or knows everything that happens around his 'clubs'. Still better than Alexander and Mauri, they got elite talents at the very least. No high draft picks the other way.
U19 Bundesliga Final on right now, Dortmund vs Bayern. Dortmund's Hüseyin Bulut seems extremely promising, guy can play as a striker or on the wings and is showing great vision and calmness for his age. Brehs should keep an eye out for the guy.
