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2018 Summer transfer thread

Ugh, this is why I haven't gotten to root for the Netherlands in the world cup or euros. Every young player that looked enticing on the past two world cup squads got bought by a club that was too big for them and got buried and never developed. Affelay, van der Wiel, Elia, Blind, Depay, all showed some sort of talent at the world cup and then spent at least a season if not more buried at a club after a transfer. The one positive of missing these tournaments is that our young non superstars will get to stay in the Dutch league and develop.
 
VinatieriDefinesClutch said:
Ugh, this is why I haven't gotten to root for the Netherlands in the world cup or euros. Every young player that looked enticing on the past two world cup squads got bought by a club that was too big for them and got buried and never developed.
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Exactly why I think most US fans' obsession with players "developing overseas" is stupid. Develop at the club that's the right fit for you as a player and a human being. I saw van Der Weil as a young player and the thought of a guy with his talent rotting away on somebody's subs bench has always made me a bit angry.
 
In his first 2 years at Man U, Blind made 53 league appearances under van Gaal but only 30 in 2 years under Mourinho. I just don’t think he fit into Mourinho’s scheme, he never really settled into a position, moving between DM, center half and fullback.
 
But even under Van Gaal he got yanked around into a pretty wide variety of roles ... some of which he was obviously ill suited for. I feel certain that he'd be a better player today if he had been allowed to play one position and had stayed in a situation where he could get consistent minutes. That move to center back, ugh.
 
jeffbear said:
But even under Van Gaal he got yanked around into a pretty wide variety of roles ... some of which he was obviously ill suited for. I feel certain that he'd be a better player today if he had been allowed to play one position and had stayed in a situation where he could get consistent minutes. That move to center back, ugh.
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Saw him at center back against PSG in the International Champions Cup a few years ago. I wondered WTF Van Gaal was thinking and Zlatan ABUSED him for a brace.
 
Blind has a little of that Phil Neville jack of all trades, master of none syndrome. Those guys can be really useful on a mid tier team, but tend to not find their place on a top tier squad that wants the best possible player at all positions.
 
Yeah ... I certainly don't begrudge guys who end up one step above their capabilities in terms of the level of their club's competition. But when young, developing guys throw themselves into those situations when it's obviously a good 3 or 4 years too early, I just get frustrated. It hurts their careers, their clubs and their country's programs ... all for what? A paycheck that you would have gotten eventually?
 
jeffbear said:
Stuck in 3rd for Liverpool, so he signs with Leicester to get stuck behind Schmeichel. Gotta say I don't understand the logic in that. Ward is a VERY good keeper and reaching the age where he REALLY needs to be playing a lot of games.
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Unless Schmeichel replaces Courtois at Chelsea...
 
VinatieriDefinesClutch said:
These are a combination of words that always seem to work out poorly.
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Especially considering that Everton are supposedly close to agreeing to sell Klaassen for like 12 million pounds after buying him in last summer for over 24 million ... and playing him in all of 7 games. That's the kind of crap that would NEVER have happened under their previous ownership structure.
 
andyt said:
The Vancouver Whitecaps sell 17 year old homegrown Canadian winger Alphonso Davies to Bayern Munich for a base fee of $13 million that could rise to $19 million with performance add-ons. It’s a record fee for an MLS export.

http://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-t...honso-davies-with-vancouver-whitecaps-reports
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He's a pretty good player and that's a nice return for MLS but I can't see Davies actually playing for Bayern anytime soon ... if ever. I mean, he's even got to wait until he's 18 to even sign the papers. This is another one of those cases where a player who is on a lovely development track decides to take a move to a big European club and will now be lucky to see any minutes outside of their age group units for 2-3 years, at which point he'll be begging for a loan move just to play in real games. If he stuck it out in Vancouver for a couple of years playing in 25-30 games a year at a pretty good level of professional football, then he could look at a move to Europe and maybe actually see the field.
 
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The article notes that they also signed 18 year old Chris Richards on loan from FC Dallas and he’s going to the U-19 team. Not everyone can be the next Pulisic, who made his senior debut for Dortmund as a 17 year old. But he played for their U-17 and -19 teams for a year before moving to the first team in 2016.


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