It's hard even for clubs that are competing at the top and winning trophies to keep a player, especially one from South America, from leaving to join Barcelona (or Real).
For clubs that only just scrape the top four, bomb out of the cups and piss about in the transfer market year after year, you might say it's near impossible.
IMO we may get another season out of Phil (through stubborn resistance on our part and loyalty to Jürgen on his) if we're lucky, but rest assured that without massive progress this season, he will be gone.
Why should he have the patience to wait for us to get our arses into gear when he could link up with Messi, Suarez and Neymar, virtually guarantee himself a league title and/or CL and a chance to write his name into the history books?
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