Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla)

Can't see this deal happening, we have from what ive heard agreed to sign Fernando Reges from Porto.We surely don't need any more midfielders after this?

Can't see this deal happening, we have from what ive heard agreed to sign Fernando Reges from Porto.We surely don't need any more midfielders after this?

have you actually watched us play at all this season?  our midfield has been on the whole extremely poor, down to a man.  Stevie has been poor except for a few games, culminating in that stinker at Everton.  Lucas has been his usual post-injury self, too slow, poor in his passing, etc. 

And for the umpteenth time, quantity does not equal quality.  If we had 10 Poulsens, would you say "we don't need any more midfielders"?  of course not, because 10 sh*te players are still 10 sh*te players.  We need BETTER players, not just more of them.  Reges has the potential to challenge Lucas for his spot in the team.  Rakitic has the potential to challenge Stevie for his spot in the team.  We need long term improvements in both positions.  So yes, we absolutely do need more (better) midfielders. 

Reports in today's Mirror we are in for him.
Hope so think he would be a great buy especially below £10 mill

Definetly worth the gamble at ten million. Versatile across the midfield as he can play a number of roles has technical ability in abundance and an eye for a pass, great from dead ball situations too. My only complaint is his speed he never was the quickest player even when used out wide at Basel and Schalke I guess through experience he has developed an ability to make up for the lack of pace by being an excellent reader of the game though.

Was just reading in the Croatian paper where he was very coy about his future saying something along the lines of "only being focused on the next game but ail that's changed at Sevilla and they are no longer in contention for titles so anything can happen".

Sorry for being a pedant (again) but "Opportunity cost" only really works if you know a) how much you have to spend and b) what your alternatives are. Do you know either?

I don't, that's why I said people make assumptions to discuss them. That isn't the only subject where people make assumptions to debate what's happening at the club though, even if apparently it's the only one where they're often rejected or the fact you need assumptions is seen as impossibility to rationalize and discuss. (example: Rodolfo Borrell's sacking - even with next to zero inside information, the thread already had a few pages and many theories to explain it)

By the way, I was keeping out of this thread cause I didn't want to get into an argument with someone I like in Christmas time
To sum it up, I agree it's a difference of opinion, for in my opinion "relevance" has very little importance for what's done in this forum - basically all we do here is pretty much irrelevant to the decisions the club actually makes, even if I consider most of them worthy of debate. After all, it's not my money being used on transfers, just like absolutely nothing else on the club belongs to me so I don't really see the point of going down that road.

have you actually watched us play at all this season?  our midfield has been on the whole extremely poor, down to a man.  Stevie has been poor except for a few games, culminating in that stinker at Everton.  Lucas has been his usual post-injury self, too slow, poor in his passing, etc. 

And for the umpteenth time, quantity does not equal quality.  If we had 10 Poulsens, would you say "we don't need any more midfielders"?  of course not, because 10 sh*te players are still 10 sh*te players.  We need BETTER players, not just more of them.  Reges has the potential to challenge Lucas for his spot in the team.  Rakitic has the potential to challenge Stevie for his spot in the team.  We need long term improvements in both positions.  So yes, we absolutely do need more (better) midfielders. 

We need midfielders now , not potentials to challenge . Our team is dwindling before our eyes and after the game today we could have more injuries to deal with . We bought some deadly sh*te in the summer lets hope our targets this time are the real deal .

Reports in today's Mirror we are in for him.
Hope so think he would be a great buy especially below £10 mill

If we got him for that little I would do a mighty jig.

We need midfielders now , not potentials to challenge.

alright, forgive me for being tactful.  You want the non-sugarcoated version?

Neither of Reges or Rakitic will be "potential" challengers to Lucas or Rakitic.

Because the harsh truth is that Reges is better than Lucas and Rakitic is better than Stevie at this point in his career.

so, there you go.

Rodgers may have the bollocks to bench Lucas but I doubt he's got them to bench Stevie, no matter how poor he's been of late.

By the way, I was keeping out of this thread cause I didn't want to get into an argument with someone I like in Christmas time

Merry Christmas mate. 

alright, forgive me for being tactful.  You want the non-sugarcoated version?

Neither of Reges or Rakitic will be "potential" challengers to Lucas or Rakitic.

Because the harsh truth is that Reges is better than Lucas and Rakitic is better than Stevie at this point in his career.

so, there you go.

Rodgers may have the bollocks to bench Lucas but I doubt he's got them to bench Stevie, no matter how poor he's been of late.

You should get your cv into the club , John Henry might give you the shout if Rodgers doesn't work out .

alright, forgive me for being tactful.  You want the non-sugarcoated version?

Neither of Reges or Rakitic will be "potential" challengers to Lucas or Rakitic.

Because the harsh truth is that Reges is better than Lucas and Rakitic is better than Stevie at this point in his career.

so, there you go.

Rodgers may have the bollocks to bench Lucas but I doubt he's got them to bench Stevie, no matter how poor he's been of late.

How much of Reges and Rakitic have you seen? Honest question that.

How much of Reges and Rakitic have you seen? Honest question that.

You expect any answer other than bullshit Red5man?

You expect any answer other than bullshit Red5man?

Fair enough, I was hoping not because I'm curious.

How much of Reges and Rakitic have you seen? Honest question that.

He hasn't time to answer you , too busy watching LA Liga  . I wonder how he finds time for our poor little club .

Watched a couple of Croatia's qualifiers. The 2-0 home win v Serbia stands out. Had a cracking performance. I'd be content with him. Probably get him for around £15-20m. The €40m is a buy-out clause, but he's valued at about half that. Sevilla would take that for sure. I guess it's down to where he wants to go, i.e. who offers him the best contract.

One thing in our favor, he's already used to wearing crap Warrior kits

How much of Reges and Rakitic have you seen? Honest question that.

Only saw this just now.  When I heard we were interested in Reges I went and watched four of Porto's CL matches this season to get a look at him.  As for Rakitic, last summer when we bid for Diego Costa I watched a bunch of games with him, three of which were against Sevilla.  Over the last couple of weeks, I've watched a handful more Sevilla games specifically keeping an eye on Rakitic, if you're interested the Real Madrid game where they beat Sevilla 7-3 is a cracking match to watch, despite Sevilla losing Rakitic was pure class.

So about 5 or so games for both of them.  Is that enough for you?  I'm not going to go and watch all 38 league games just to watch a player we might not even sign, FFS.

I'm not going to go and watch all 38 league games just to watch a player we might not even sign, FFS.

i F***ing did this in the summer, downloaded 10 full games and over 15 highlights to watch gaston ramirez, and we didnt even sign him.

i f**king did this in the summer, downloaded 10 full games and over 15 highlights to watch gaston ramirez, and we didnt even sign him.

Silly Billy !

A goal and an assist last night in Sevilla's 3-0 win.

8 goals and 8 assists for the season, 18 month left on his contract, stalling on signing a new deal and United fans want him too, we should be all in for this one.

i f**king did this in the summer, downloaded 10 full games and over 15 highlights to watch gaston ramirez, and we didnt even sign him.

Happy to say I got Gaston all wrong. Has been a bit of a dud signing for them.

Its great to be in a position where players would rather come to us than Old Toilet.