Pep Speaks, a.k.a. “Eto’o, you gotta go!” (edit)

By: Kevin | July 20th, 2009

It’s the season! Pep Guardiola is back, and the world has blown up, thanks to his press conference. Here’s everything, so live it up! This is a cut-and-paste from the official site, and my comments will be in bold. I’ll think up some fancy piccie later but for now, off we go.

The biggest news, of course, is Eto’o, and boy did Guardiola upset the apple cart on that one, saying that he takes “full responsibility” for developments with Samuel Eto’o. He says the decision to do without the player is due to “feeling” and has nothing to do with football or behaviour issues.

“Without him we wouldn’t have done what we did last year. There are no football or personal or behaviour issues here. It’s just a feeling I have. I think there is a need for change. Maybe I’m wrong but it’s my responsibility and decision.”

Guardiola had not one bad word to say about the striker. He said Eto’o is an “exemplary” player willing to play out of position on the wing and a “marvellous” footballer. He thinks Eto’o was crucial in winning the treble and is “very grateful” for all he’s done for Barça over the last five years.

He also did not criticise his character: “There are no personal issues and I’m not here to change his character”. Doing without the player is just a “feeling I have.”

“I think there is a need for change,” said Guardiola. He didn’t specify what he meant by this, but did refer to “lots of things that bring it about.

“After winning what we’ve won and after five years, I think we need to change things which my experience as a footballer tells me we need to change.” Recall my nattering about taking a risk.

Guardiola is aware that Eto’o has the whip hand as well, saying “he’s fully entitled to accept or reject Inter’s offer, and if he stays we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

But….”It’s my responsibility. Maybe I’m wrong and maybe it won’t work out.”

Guardiola was asked if he’d thought about signing Ibrahimovic if Eto’o stays. “We’re rich, but not that rich,” he replied with a smile. “It won’t happen. You don’t want too many players in key positions and both of them are starters.”

Guardiola also had things to say on many other players, and here we go. This guy is a news smorgasbord!

Henrique: “He’s here to stay. He’ll help us a lot. He’s adapted well at Bayer Leverkusen and played a lot. I’ve heard good things about him and we’ll see how he fits into the squad.”

Cáceres: “We might put him out on loan because next season maybe he won’t have that much game time.”

Maxwell: “He’s been at the top for years. He’s played at Ajax and Inter and he’ll bring us a lot.”

Keirrison (Palmeiras player): “He’s very young and has very good stats. It’s hard scoring. The club has decided to get him but in principle that’s to send him out on loan and he’s not in my plans for this season.”

Messi: “He wants to train and it’s great for me that he’s here.” He came back a week early, ready to go. That’s the kind of message that the team leader needs to send. Awesome!

Puyol: “He’ll renew. Carles isn’t going anywhere. If he’s thinking about moving, he can forget about it I’m sure there was much laughter. He’ll play where he’s told because he’s great in all positions.”

Márquez: “He’ll renew. He’s getting over his injury, he’s come along and he’s very enthusiastic.”

Gudjohnsen: “I’ve spoken to him and for the moment he’s staying.” Because there is that hole in the midfield, if Hleb is part of this Inter deal for real and for true.

Henry: “His role depends on him. If he’s okay he’ll play a lot. He’s Henry.”

Sylvinho: “To be sure he might be angry with me. When he played he was great; in the Champions League final we saw that when everyone, Ronaldo, Rooney and Park was on his side.”

Ibrahimovic (Inter player): “He’s still an Inter player.”

Ribéry: “I reckon no way. He won’t come, firstly because Bayern won’t let him and secondly because his agent wants him to go elsewhere.”

Villa (Valencia player): “I spoke to him.”

Wow! But wait….there’s more!

“We shouldn’t go around saying how good we were last term. “We already celebrated that in April and May when we were doing it.”

“The team is a joy, and if we can we’ll do some fine tuning. I’d like to have 16 or 17 reliable players to rotate and so people can’t guess our line-ups.” Like we were doing last season.

“Touré Yaya and Seydou Keita will be away for some time (at the African Cup of Nations in January) so we’re looking at [signing another midfielder]. It’s an option. He has to be good and cheap”

“I don’t want large squads like those at Madrid or Inter.” [And if necessary] “I’ll nick some players off Luis Enrique” and rely on the Barça Atlètic squad.

Guardiola says this season won’t be like the last one, especially in terms of relations with the players.

“Now we know each other. Everyone says the same: the second year’s tougher than the first. I have to do what I can so that they have the same stimulus and humility to continue winning. I have a lot of faith in my team.”

Some Related Barcelona Posts:

Category: Barcelona, Team News, Thoughts, Transfers/Transfer Rumors

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Eddie

“Without him we wouldn’t have done what we did last year." Yeah, that's always the best reason to get rid of someone. Hey Pep, maybe that's just gas, that feeling you have. Jesus, they're idiots.

Eddie
http://www.barcelona-football-...

(P.S. I'm a longtime reader, but a first time commenter. I hope it's OK to put my link in here. I tried to read your commenting guidelines, but the link goes to a travel site??)
estoverao

As a Madridista, I would like to wish ET'O farewell, as a rival he was intimidating, as a footballer he was transcendent, as a man he was someone who commanded respect both on and off the field.

He reminded me of MUHAMMAD ALI in his prime ie. he was unpredictable and he talked a lot of sh*t, but he always backed it up! I will definitely miss seeing him lineup against us in the SUPERCLASSICO.

There is no way IBRA will fill his shoes, although I'm glad he will try, it just means BARCA have downgraded at striker and it may allow us to win LA LIGA again. ET'O inspired fear, IBRA just inspires condescending laughter.

SEE U ALL AT THE SUPERCLASSICO!!
Kxevin

Bill, while he did indeed win with some ofRijkaard's players, Guardiola did change the system to a certain extent. In the Rijkaard days when possession was lost, the team would fall back and wait for the other side's offense to play out, relying more on the defense. It led to messy things.

Guardiola turned the mids and forwards into defenders when we lost possession, so Henry, Eto'o, Messi, Xavi and Iniesta all worked like crazy to get the ball back whenever it was lost. So the backs worked more like sweepers, just intercepting long balls, etc.

In addition, Guardiola brought in a new medical staff, and put Messi on a regiment (preventive exercise, stretching, diet) to ensure that he would remain injury-free.

Pique was new, as were Alves, Keita and Hleb (for his minimal contributions). All were critical parts of the treble-winning squad. Yes, even Hleb (who got Henry off and running v Valencia, and made the pass that set up the second goal in the first clasico.

Guardiola also changed the way that Gudjohnsen worked in the midfield, and got Abidal thinking of moving forward. The Yaya got a more liberal role in midfield, and because of the way that Alves plays, Guardiola and his staff were behind a scheme that allowed us to play with a 3-man back line.

I admire your loyalty to Eto'o, Bill. But coaches do lots of things on a hunch. Sometimes, it's what separates great coaches from merely good ones. Guardiola has made no secret of his desire for Ibrahimovic in the context of his overall offensive mind set. I say give him the player, then give him a hard time if it doesn't work. Otherwise, we'll never know.
dkvi

Bill,
Selling Eto'o was Pep's initial plan. A good bid did not come last year so Barca was "stuck" with Eto'o. He delivered and naturally, his value increase. It is logical for the unwanted player to be sold now with increased value, but Barca overplayed their hand by involving the media early instead of talking it out with Eto'o first, at least.

Now Eto'o rejected City and Barca is getting stuck again.

I dont blame PEP,
I dont blame Eto'o,
I BLAME LAPORTA.

He could've gotten a better deal with Inter last month or even earlier, but he soiled the deal by bad-mouthing Eto'o (I believe because he wanted the CITY money), but now they are almost getting "stuck" again with a player that doesnt "fit" the coaches plans... now Barca management will be looking for last resort.

Let's wait and see... time shall tell. I hope at the end of the day, all can go home happy!
Mikel

I hear you Bill. If Eto'o was a cantera player, with all the goals he has scored, would he be pushed out so unceremoniously based on something as ethereal as feeling?: NO.
bill

Let me add that I'm not sold on him because of how he has handled Eto'o, Bojan and Hleb. But I do like how he has handled Henry and Iniesta.
bill

Okay you Pep Guardiola lovers! Im gonna be slaughtered in this Pep loving site, but You are elevating this guy to demagogue status.

Feelings? Feelings? Feelings? This is the most ridiculous thing I have heard from a professional coach in a loooong time. Feelings might be a factor, albeit a small one, when trying to bring in new players to your team. But while in a team, performance-yes, character-yes, results-yes, team chemistry-yes, financial reasons-yes, locker room balance-yes, but feelings? Not quantifiable, and therefore sinister to me.

When a coach says that there is no footballing issues or character issues with regards to a player (and the team president says it's not financial either), yet he feels that he has to get rid of the player, then that is very questionable to me.

Well, in some ways, I feel vindicated because i've spent a lot of time countering peoples accusations over here, about how Eto'o's "stonefoot" is a problem, or how he has character issues that most of us know nothing about, because I felt this particular striker plays really well in barcelona. But on the other hand, I would have felt better if any of the above factors was the reason why he is being pushed out.

I know that many of you absolutely love Guardiola as a coach, but I am not sold on him. Yes, he won the triplete which was way beyond anyones expectations, but let's not forget HE WON WITH RIJKAARD'S TEAM AND SYSTEM. All he really did was re-focus the team and enforce discipline, which was commendable of him, but this team already had the talent to win.

And by the way, add Edmilson to the list of current or Ex-players who have come out to say Eto'o is the best, and perfect for Barcelona....

http://goal.com/en/news/12/spa...

They way this whole thing has gone down has turnished Barcelona's Image, and has left a bad taste in my mouth with regards to how a great barcelona player has been treated, because of "feelings". Ridiculous.
Helge

Thanks Jnice for the great interview :)

Makes him definitely more likeable to me. I'm getting more and more torn apart about this swap being good or bad, with that video definitely contributing to judging it a good deal.
BA

oh and Guti in midfield with Kaka on the bench = hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
Pepino

@Aeneas
hey,
thanks man!
that was exactly what i needed.
thanks again.
BA

unfortunately Yaya was not able to complete his medical testing today. the club is forcing him to go last since last season he broke all the strength-testing equipment.
Isaiah

I have just Hectored all of you.
Muhammad

what a shitty performance by Madrid. I won't watch the second half for Ronaldo's salary. I think they need to air Villareal friendlies more often.
jordi

He said the camera catches him because hes bigger than everyone else :D, did you see the flick to maicon.WTF
jordi

There was an article on EMD last week saying how we needed pep to come back, and how we were missing him. And in the end it said he should never go on holiday again. :D I agree
Jnice

Little Interview with Ibra. Doesn't seem like the jerk many make him out to be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
Jason

I think it is the opposite Kari...

For weeks it was Villa this, Villa that, and boom we are in Milan talking about strikers...
Eduard

interesting theory..but nah
Kari

You know, this feels like the Filipe deal (minus the swap thing) all over again. While all the media attention was on getting him for the left back position, we suddenly got Maxwell under the radar.

I can't help but think that maybe it's the same for Villa. All the attention is on getting Ibra and then BAM!
We have us some Villa.

What do you guys think?
Hector

FYI. According to the Marca play-by-play commentary, the EE started out interestingly enough with a 4-3-3.

Gago, Lass, and Guti at Midfield, and Higuain (left), Raul, and Thong Boy (right) up top.
Ciaran

Hleb is just a useless bastard. Good for nothing.
He is not the only one who regrets his move to us.
€16million was completely thrown away.
Aeneas

@ pepino, do you mean these stats?..
http://www.fcbarcelona.cat/web...

Here is the link to all of ramzi's articles in pep's place:
http://fcbtransfers.blogspot.c...

i think you mean this link about the transfers he wanted, or maybe not.
http://fcbtransfers.blogspot.c...
Eduard

lol @Muhammads comment.. it makes sense since he can't read the papers over there.
jordi

Where was the english media when Fergie disgarded of the likes of Beckham and Van Nistlerooy, and many before and after them ?

And fuck Hleb. Just needed to get that off my chest.
Kxevin

I've been checking Sport and EMD. Not confirmed yet. And don't forget that they were both saying it was done about a week ago.

Abidal looks like The Yaya's Mini Me. :D

And listen, anybody from the Prem should just shut the hell up about player treatment. It isn't as if they're all nice and cuddly over there. This is a business.
Muhammad

Hleb is threatening Guardiola that he will leave if he is not in the starting eleven next season.
apparently he hasn't heard of the swap deal yet.. I won't be so surprised.
Mast

"we shouldn't go around saying how good we were last term, we already celebrated that in april and may when we were doing it"

I just LOVE this guy! I don't care if my guts don't like ibra, he could've gone and get CR94 for all I care, in Pep we trust!
Pepino

hey,
anyone knows how we could get our hands on last year's stat.
It's not on the official site anymore!
Oh,
And I remember Ramzi having an analysis type of article on Ibra and Eto'o. Something along these lines, but can't seem to find it.

thanks for your help.
Eduard

thanks Poi....yes "puto amo" means that Pep is the f!N@ing Pimp...It's a compliment because he's the shit.

Samu is being treated how he should be treated, holding the club for ramson gives you nothing. Plus, lets remember that FCB is a business. We're letting him go because of business, nothing personal(like the godfather). It's legit. can't hate.
Ramzi

Actually, yes, there is something called "feeling" in the world of coaching. The same as when you see a 10 years old boy playing football, even when he may not show lot of skills you just feel that he has the "it".

Now dont ask me to explain the "it", it is just there :D

Yet, its not just feeling. There are massive reasons. lot of the old guards here and me talked about the reasons since a while.

Its "looking to the past" Vs "looking to the future". "Dont fix if its not broken" Vs "Fix it before it breaks"

My opinion is already known here since a while, so I will stick to it, now that Pep comfirmed lot of points.
Alex

@JeffP, I know what you mean, I watched the Copa final last night again and was amazed at what a FREAKIN BEAST he is and how amazing that shot was. I want his jersey!!! But I got Xavis instead.....
jazzy

well, its not confirmed, its reported.. does that make a difference? ;)
JeffP

@Alex....there's no question about it. Some of us have admiration for The Yaya that goes well beyond addiction. I'm fairly certain I can speak for Isaiah and many othes by saying we have a full-fledged man crush. Hail, The Yaya, god of the defensive midfield.
jazzy

barca4life from peps place say its confirmed in Sports and EMD that Etoo's agent is indeed in Milan and Sport reports the departure of Etoo could be within a matter of hours.
i dont know spanish, so maybe you could check the websites.
Jnice

LOL @ the "poor muyu"

jazzy, I sure hope that update is true, because you know if negotiations are successful, Ibra is flying out to Barcelona today, which means he makes it in time for the Wembley Cup.
poipoi

You have to agree that Barça is not treating Samu very well after the miles he run and the goals he scored for us. I only have best wishes for him.
poipoi

poor muyu :(
jazzy

theres an update in the oh so reliable goal.com:
"UPDATE 1835 CET: Sky Sport 24 claim that Mesalles is already in Milan, and is currently negotiating with Inter officials."
man... im just hoping that when i wake up, the sign all over is : OFFICIAL.
Hector

Yaya has 2 full sizd Bojan's for legs
Muhammad

muyu that is the worst generalizing I've seen in years. how long have Puyol and Xavi been playing for us?
Henry had the worst season ever in his history with us and yet he wasn't shown the exit door because of this feeling you are mocking.
look how far that feeling has achieved.
Alex

muyu, I respectfully disagree. Messi grew up with the youth teams. He, in essence, is like another Xavi or Puyol. I fully believe he will play with Barca until he is at least 30, maybe even retire.
Hector

Or....like Xavi, Puyol, Iniesta, the Yaya, and others...renew me.
poipoi

I saw the link to those Yaya-Abidal photos and I think it is a matter of perspective... but the man is a best indeed ;)

And after seeing the last photo all I can say is : Henry sucks.
muyu

NOt footbalistic reason but feeling.

If I was Messi now I will know (after the ronaldinho affaire, the eto affaire and others) that in three or four year, FCB will fire me and said, it's only for feeling.

I m a FCB Fan but I don't like the way we fired players
Muhammad

Yaya's stats:

Height: 191 cm
Weight: 90 kg

Ibrahimovic:

height: 192 cm
weight: 84 kg

Yaya wins again.
Muhammad

but he will face a stiff competition next season from Ibrahimovic.
Alex

Wow, you both linked the same Yaya photo. I think we all may have a serious and alarming Yaya addiction.
Muhammad

seems that I am late again..
Muhammad

yet with only 2 new players Guardiola was able to do the impossible with a team that was on the brink of losing CL position.
there's a great photo that demonstrates Yaya's physical power http://fcbtransfers.blogspot.c... Isaiah I thought you might be interested .
JeffP

The Yaya's quads are as big as Abidal's torso. The man's a beast.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_B1Jt...
Alex

Who else is gonna watch the EE vs Shamrock game? I sure am, anyone know if Telemundo or any of those latino channels will show it? Or is it rojadiraecta time?
Carles P

@Isaiah- LOL. RM is definitely the Evil Empire...

I guess there will always be the "Playa's" and the "Playa Hata's" and fortunately for us everyone cramping our style because we are the GREATEST!

I personally like Pep's directness. It is nice to hear some honesty in a sea of bull$hit (transfer season)!
poipoi

pep wouldn't have won all 3 championships with the evil empire for sure, not even la copa del rey :P FCB players are too good to be true. Guardiola said it : "they are the ones to blame, these players are too good"

messi iniesta xavi etoo yaya pique puyol alves busquets marquez abidal silvinho .... somos los putos amos
Tomatutomate

Sorry Isaiah I did not mean to steal your joke. Mine was not funny anyway so, there you go. :-)

Crap the Eto'o- Inter meeting won't be till tomorrow. I hate all this waiting, screw patience.
Alex

Anybody have a link to the full press conference?
Isaiah

Tomatutomate, I made that reference a bit ago in terms of Txiki's style right after we signed Maxwell. But it works just as well for Pep.
Isaiah

Carles P, welcome to the world where if you've won, you're more than likely to be cast as the evil tyrannical club the next year. It's just that, well, that's RM, not us. Ha.
poipoi

pep is the boss and if he wants samu out he should go out... but if it turns out to be a bad decision (if we don't win any trophy and loose vs the evil empire) all samu lovers like myself will jump to bite Pep's neck. nevertheless, with players like either Ibra or Villa it's hard that Pep can be proven wrong.

don't you think we need at least one (or two) incorporations more apart from the striker?
Tomatutomate

Jea-Paul what Pep said sounded a little mean beacause he is a cold blooded gansta.
"damn it feels good to be gangsta" that should be the song playing in the backroud at all his press conferences. Ala "office space style"
Isaiah

Thanks poipoi.
Carles P

The "England" based reports bashing Barca for the treatment of Eto'o choose to leave so much information out of the articles that it makes "Fox News" look like a credible source.

If people are basing their opinion from reading a lousy article that leaves out ton's of information, they are portraying an ill-advised point of view that pretty much is a waste of the person's time.

Get all the fact's together (if you read the previous posts here on this website you would be a lot more informed on this subject) and at least then people can make intelligent arguments.

Sorry for the rant... But I have been running into articles that seem to ignore all the facts in an effort to make Barca look like a villain.
Muhammad

Inter are even starting to negotiate with Sampdoria to buy Cassano as a replacement to Ibrahimovic.
I will always respect a statement coming from a coach who won 3 cups in his first year.
poipoi

"the f*cking owner" it means that he rules
Isaiah

Jea-Paul, I have to argue that while it did strike me as odd that he would say "there are no footballing reasons, just feelings", there's no way that it's "classles". It's not a matter of "class" (which is a fairly meaningless term, especially if Mourinho is your basis for defining class).

For my money, Guardiola has more than proven his worth to this side and I'm willing to accept that if he wants Eto'o gone, there are reasons for this. Maybe he and Eto'o don't get along or something. I don't know. If it's a feeling Guardiola gets in his heart when he's got to deal with Eto'o, then that's a pretty decent reason not to want to work with someone, especially if you believe a replacement for him will be better.

I'd rather Pep just said "I don't want Eto'o because I think there are better options" but that's now how he chose to do it, which isn't really something we should be worried about because this 24 hour news cycle about "OMG DID YOU SEE WHAT GUARDIOLA SAID OMOMGOROFLGTGKTHX" is pretty absurd. He said what he said as diplomatically as he can say it, really, so whatever, Eto'o out, Ibra in. Yay transfer season getting the hell over.
Isaiah

Eduard, could you explain the term "el puto amo"? I'm not sure what it means.

As for the rest, yeah, no way do we need like 80 more signings. That's ridiculous. I've always maintained that. Glad to see a lot of people coming around.
Isaiah

All right, here's a little warning. All you "football fraternity" linkers are going to stop linking here and now in annoying and tedious ways. Or you will get deleted.

Link yourself in your name if you want people to visit and make good points. or don't post.
Muhammad

yes Kxevin actually Laporta even called Eto'o himself after negotiating with Inter. http://www.skysports.com/story...
Zito

Haha, Wenger rules, anyways Pep reminds me of Jose Mourinho, just his bluntness and his overall approach when dealing with players. Last week Mourinho came out and called out all the layers he wanted gone, I like that even if the player is too great(Eto).
jordi

Damn, i missed pep.
Eduard

first of all, Pep is "el puto amo".

Secondly & final, we don't need as many new signings as I originally thought because of a few certain B team players. So we won't spend more than 20mil. I certainly think Villa is for another season(unfortunately).
Kxevin

Inter's technical director, Mario Branca, is "confident" that the Inter/Eto'o talks will go well. As I said, the clubs would not have reached an agreement in principle, were there any significant doubt that things wouldn't happen. They still might not, but it will be from something out of the blue, rather than something basic and essential, like salary/terms/etc.

Sport says that Ibrahimovic's contract will fall like a domino once Eto'o signs off on an Inter deal.
Muhammad

I have no doubts that if Arsenal had the same budget as Barcelona Hleb would sit on bench there too.
Hector

If true, he is so gone.
Kxevin

Hleb speaks (any may I say from the bottom of my cule heart, "Fuck him."):

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/spo...

"When you mostly sit on the bench, winning titles brings very little joy, while getting to the last eight of the Champions League with Arsenal was unforgettable.

I regret my move from London, but unfortunately nothing can be done about it now. For me, Wenger was like a father. I consider him one of the best managers in the world. For such a boss one wants to die on the pitch. Arsene managed to create a smashing team with a wonderful atmosphere inside of it. I have no doubts that if Arsenal had the same budget as Barcelona, the Gunners would be among the three best clubs on the planet."
JeffP

Hleb regrets signing with us. Shocker.

http://fcbtransfers.blogspot.c...
Muhammad

true Hector haha, try to send that to Marca too, maybe they will stop bullshitting for 5 minute. on a side note, Madrid received 20 m pounds for Huntelaar, http://www.skysports.com/story..., now they only need another 80 m to complete part one of Perez's genius plan to finance his mega deals.
poipoi

Samu is leaving for sure and it is a "character thing" according to Josep Guardiola. We have to change bla bla but I thik it is a money and "felling" thing like Pep said himself.

I wish there were more players with etoo's character (specially in the field) , if he ever plays in camp nou with another team the crowd should treat him as he deserves, as the third maximum scored of the club's history and scorer in two CL finals.

bring on some ibra or villa already!! and a midfielder or left wing!!
Maximus

I'm thoroughly imrpessed by the directness of Pep and it is a shame Kierisson isn't in his plans for this season. I wonder where he will go on loan.

Caceres on loan isn't a bad idea, and I like that Henrique is getting a chance...but then again I'm a die hard Brazil fan and would be happy if we got got Ronaldo as a back up striker, lol.
Hector

Sorry about that, Muhammad :D .

I guess we are on the same page, at least.
Muhammad

Hector.. well, you should have included that bottom line comment in your previous one haha, you could have saved me one comment.
Muhammad

exactly Hector, opportunity cost is relevant only to economists, our financial statements never looked healthier. what matters the most is that we are able to finance such a signing without loans, without negative income statement & the most important thing is getting Guardiola the player he wants.
skyislm

my instincts say that Villa is coming and that is it! :-)
Hector

Bottom line is that we don't need to get into debt up to our noses like a certain team that wears white to make this signinig. If a loan has to take place, rest assured it will not need to be that "big". Certainly not over 200 million euros.
Muhammad

well, at least now we know that we won't be looking for players on flanks or a CB, yet we are supposed to be still wanting to sign another 3.
Hector

RE: Ibra Deal. Let’s look at it from a different perspective.

1) Hleb is NOT part of the deal. It is a separate operation that will leave cash FOR Barcelona. In any case it is a COST REDUCER. I hate it when all the sites and rags publish that we are including him in a straight swap. False.

2) Samu has one year on his contract and we are not renovating. This drastically lowers his value. Something a lot of folks can’t seem to accept.

If the deal goes through, Samu will sign a new contract with Inter. Hence, if we include Samu we will technically be gifting Samu to Inter for 4-5 years but doing it at a cost of technically only 1 year of Samu to us.

Look at it this way. If Citeh were really offering 35 million euros for the right to sign Samu to a 3-5 year contract… Lets be conservative and say they were willing to pay that amount for Samu and intended to sign him for only three years. That would mean they valued Samu’s presence, salary notwithstanding at approx 11.6 million Euros per year. That said, this is a rather qualitative value but for the example’s sake, lets use it.

This implies that the cost of the deal would be 11.6 + 45 (lets go on the high end) = 56.6 million Euros - Income from Hleb. If you look at it like that then the deal makes a lot more sence.

It looks bad if you factor in opportunity cost (what if we had sold him to Citeh for 35 mill) but financially this is irrelevant.

Ibra will earn almost the same salary that Samu did so financially , our cost is technically 45 million Euros + salary increase for Ibra - Hleb Income.

In summary. The deal is, financially speaking, much sounder than it is being made out to be. Its the opportunity cost that makes it seem too expensive but in terms of the health of our books, that is totally irrelevant.
Jmo

I love Pep.

I'm not 100% sold on the Etoó deal, but I know there are things he's not relaying to the general public. I really trust this guy as our manager, and because he's a cule through and through, I'm honoring his judgment by just saying, GET IT PEP.

I know he wanted Ibra on his list of possible strikers, but I don't think he wanted him at the price we're being forced to offer. Lots of friend of mine think Ibra is going to stink it up, but I'm really optimistic, what does everyone else think.

I mean Ibra with Xavi, Iniesta, Henry, and Messi, that's going to give him SO much space, whereas at Inter, he was the only focus for the opponent's defense.
Isaiah

Pep just destroyed like 6 weeks of this board's discussions with a few minutes of, you know, Truthiness. Shit.