Valdes Renews until 2014 UPDATED
By: Isaiah | July 7th, 2009
Victor Valdes, he of the occasional butterfingers and occasional brilliance (see Chelsea matches, pictured above), has renewed his contract with Barça until 2014. The salary is set at €5m per year with €2m in incentives (I’m assuming that those incentives are Zamora trophy and titles) and the buyout clause is now at €150m. Cause, you know, the previous buyout of €100m was getting a little risky. You never know when someone will give you 100 million freakin’ euros for the services of your keeper.
This makes Valdes the second player to renew this summer. If you remember, International The Yaya Re-signing Day was on June 26, a day to be celebrated henceforth forevermore.
UPDATE
Anyway, some stats from VicVal’s career at Barça:
Years with the team: 7
1st Team Appearances: 307 (225 League, 17 Cup, 63 Europe)
Average appearances per year: 43.8 (without 02/03 in which he appeared 20 times, average is 47.8)
Median appearances per year: 49
Average league appearances per year: 32.1 (without 02/03 in which he appeared 14 times, average is 35.2)
Median league appearances per year: 35
Honors: League (3), CL (2), Copa (1), Supercopa (2), Zamora (2)
Coefficient Zamora-winning seasons: 0.71 (05/06) and 0.89 (08/09)
Most appearances in a year: 52 (2007-08)
What are your thoughts on this new contract for VV?
Category: Team News
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Atleast there isnt that crazy everest of the top 6 teams in a row again this season. Meaning if we are competing in multiple competitions we can rest players more.
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United States
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Tough run in.. away to Espanyol(33rd), Villareal(35th) and Sevilla(37th)..
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United States -
At this point, things with Eto’o are irreparable. He can’t be our striker next season. He just can’t. Will he have the same drive to prove people wrong when apparently it didn’t work the season before? Will he decide to speak out in a press conference and call someone a “bad man” again? Will he decide to be the grumpy, “I stare at people when I celebrate” Eto’o? There’s too many ? at this point if Eto’o were to stay on. With all his agent’s accusations and what not, there is sure to be tension, somewhere.
Also, I may be wrong, but when I read Pique and Xavi’s recent statements about Villa and the prospect of him joining, I can sort of feel excitement coming from them. Like Pique said, it is always important to rejuvenate the squad and I feel like the players will be extra motivated if Villa comes.
About Villa, like Isaiah, I think his movement and runs in the oppositions end are the best in the world. Watching him receive through-balls time and time again from Xavi and Iniesta on Spain makes me want him to come even more. Many considered Torres to be the best striker in the world(I think he’s sloppy)but Villa consistently outshines him when they play for Spain and usually receives the best balls because he makes the best runs. I really think he would work out perfectly for us, but you never know. Also, on the left wing, he looks way better than Eto’o does when he drifts there from time to time. That could mean Henry playing striker for more than 2 minutes during a match and maybe even starting more matches as the main striker.
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thanks Isaiah for your thoughts. I just dont think Forlan deserve the bashing from people, after a season where he was one of the best strikers.
mann.. i need some hector pills. everytime i go to peps place wishing for a deal..
IMO we should push more harder on Filipe. just 3-5mil more. rather than buying a CB for 20mil. (bruno or chyrginsky)
and for personal pleasure, I like me some Bastos..
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I think we will find, when that happy day comes (for me) when Eto’o leaves, that our attack will be undiminished. We will lose some things that he brings to the table, and we’ll gain some things from whomever the replacement is. That’s just how it is.
Eto’o had crazy movement and some intimidation factor, but a wandering first touch and not much shotmaking versatility. Villa has good (not like Eto’o) movement, a much better first touch and shotmaking versatility. Forlan has good movement, better size and a better head than both, and a booming long shot.
I think that any representations about anyone not working as hard or not playing defense need to be shelved, however. Recall that Henry went from not playing ANY defense at Arsenal to being a fiend in efforts to win back possession.
I’m with Jnice on the Eto’o matter. The situation is damaged beyond repair, whoever’s fault it was. But even if the situation wasn’t damaged, I still would have been in favor of selling Eto’o, for the aforementioned reasons. He isn’t going to be any better than he was last year. Improving is all about risk, and we have to take them.
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” Will he decide to be the grumpy, “I stare at people when I celebrate” Eto’o?” This made me lol
.But i agree with all that jnice has said about the matter.Posted from
United States -
I just wish this shit would come to a close. I don’t like the feeling of starting to not give a crap about who is where. Just finish it already.
Eto’o: re-sign or go.
Villa: come or don’t.
Filipe Luis: come or don’t.
FloPer: shove it. twice.Transfer season makes me bored.
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And for the record, contrary to popular belief, I have not been anti-Eto’o all along, and still am not. I just don’t think he’s the striker we need any longer, if we are to improve.
Now, the way he’s handled the attempts to re-sign and sell him have moved me from the “should sell” to “good riddance” camp, but that’s the soci in me coming out.
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Kevin, I think that I’ve gone from the “keep Eto’o” camp to “make Eto’o a different person in the off season” camp. I mean, dude’s friggin’ good, but what a headache in between seasons.
I think that it would be best if we could keep Eto’o AND get Villa. That would give us such versatility, though it would also sideline Pedro! and Jeffren permanently.
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Hectored myself this time.
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Ok, people! Again, the only thing you can accuse Eto’o of doing this offseason is shutting his mouth. We haven’t heard a word from him, which is not a bad thing for him, because anything he says will be used against him.
People forget that at the beggining of this year, Eto’o was absolutely the king in la liga, when he had 21 goals in 22 games. If I remember well, Villa was second, 4 goals behind, then Higuain and Messi. Forlan was somewhere around Henry in the goal scoring charts. ATletico had dropped from tied for first place to almost 7th. Eto’o went through 2 one month long slumps, one in january, and the other in april/may, and still had 30 goals. Forlans flourish came at the end of the season, when they had only one thing to play for, champions league berth.
Im not saying neither Villa or Forlan will be good at barcelona, on the contrary, they are both natural goal scorers and will probably do ok. But Eto’o, in our system, is a proven player, and still has a lot to give to the team.
But I agree with the above sentiments, relations may have been damaged beyond repair, but I cannot blame Eto’o for that. Afterall, the man hasn’t said a word this whole offseason. As far as he was concerned, he still had a contract and he looked forward to playing next year.
As for Villa or Forlan? Id go for Villa, he is better overall, and yes, he definately outshines Torres on a regular basis in the national team
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Kxevin, no point in denying your intense dislike for Eto’o. I like your articles alot, especially your game summaries, but in all your comments, your dislike for the guy cant hide itself.
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Bill, in essence Eto’o has been speaking with his actions rather than his words. He was offered a very good contract and has, apparently, turned it down. As I’ve said, either stay or go. I prefer the former to the latter, but if you’re going to play stupid ass hardball, then you can go.
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Isaiah, he was offered a 2 year contract extension, at the same salary, after a treble winning season where he was an integral part of a history making attacking trio, via text! And thats after attempts at getting Villa, ribery and Ibra failed, one season after being told he was surplus to requirements at the camp nou. if thats not a slap in the face, I dont know what is.
Now, he hasn’t handled things very well i must say, but he is not the only villain in this situation.
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Bill, I don’t mean to insinuate that there are Good Guys and Bad Guys in this situation. Pep doesn’t appear to want Eto’o, so they’re low-balling him, in a sense, but reports were that he was considering a move to ManU at a lower salary than at Barça. So yeah, both sides are dbags.
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I’d like to point out too that “low-balling” someone by offering them the like 6th or 7th highest salary in the world is by no means true low-balling.
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Eto’o just needs to go. IMO there is really no point in arguing whether we showed him respect by texting him the extension or by calling him and asking him to renew. The truth of the matter is, if Eto’o wanted to stay he could of signed an extension in the winter. He obviously does not want to stay, and if he does stay he is going to be hostile towards our goal of continuing a successful run at all trophies.
Barcelona FC is a business, first and foremost. The team has to be successfull in the present, and in the future to be a succesful company. Eto’o staying one more year and basically being a “lame duck” striker hurts our chances by letting him leave on a free when his contract is up. We bought him, and we should be able to sell him and raise funds to buy another player that will help the squad.
We all thank Eto’o for what he has done for the team, but Eto’o must also thank Barca for the opportunities the team (from the success they have produced) has given Eto’o. Just like Ronnie did when he left. It is a two way street.
Sorry for the rant. Let’s just sign somebody so we can have another topic of conversation.
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Not true, Bill. My back articles speak for themselves. I dislike him for this situation, but that is even beginning to rub his staunchest supporters (Isaiah is very firmly in that camp) the wrong way.
Accusing someone of bias just because you don’t like their view is plain wrong. You like him and defend him. That’s fine. I can respect that. Others feel the same. I respect them, too.
Personally, I feel that for the club to improve, it needs a different striker. Which in no way means that I diminish what Eto’o has done for the side, or foster some enmity that makes itself apparent in my posts. If you doubt that, go back and read them. I have evaluated Eto’o for his play. Periodl You’ll find the truth right there, in black-and-white (or dependent upon monitor background, maybe black-and-white).
We’ve said time and again that both sides have screwed up. We tried to sell him last summer. He dug in his heels and stayed, and had a very good season. We made an effort to renew him during that very good season. He said let’s discuss it at the end of the season, when we aren’t distracted. End of the season came, and nothing. He was on holiday.
It should have been abundantly clear that he wasn’t wanted. That’s just football. For him to turn it into something personal is sheer nonsense. Yes, both sides screwed up. So cut losses and move on. It’s easy for him to grab at the money with Citeh, and structure his contract with incentives that allow free agency if club performance standards aren’t met. Robinho has that same clause.
If my boss said that he didn’t want me, I would waste no time in packing my stuff, rather than saying “I’ll show him,” and staying around.
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Aaaaah. I love it when Xavi himself (an insider) pops up and clears up misconceptions about Eto’o, and reiterates constantly that Eto’o is not a bad teammate
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I don’t think any of us would argue with what Xavi said. He is a great professional, and he is a winner. I’m sure he’s fine in the locker room, as well.
But the question is why does Guardiola want to sell him, and what will happen when he does?
I think of a Cruijff saying, something to the effect of “I’d rather lose with my program, than win with somebody else’s.” I rather imagine that Guardiola feels some of that. He didn’t want Eto’o as his striker last year, and doesn’t this year. Now we just have to wait to see what transpires.
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You have a good point Kxevin, but the name of the game is to win. Everyone admires Arsene Wengers philosophy, but no one respects Arsenal as a winner/heavyweight team. They just don’t win. Barcelona has been beautifully assembled as both a fun team to watch and the heaviest of the heavyweights.
Yes, Guardiola did not want Eto’o in the team last season, but then again, he had not dealt with him on a personal basis before then. Thank God he did not get rid of him, because this treble winning season was a very delicate affair. Different players stepped up at the right time to win crucial games, Eto’o included. Would barcelona have won the triplete without him? We would never know, but thank God they did with him.
By the way, Guardiola didn’t want him last season, but we dont know how he feels this season…
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Come on, Bill. I think it is clear that Pep does not want Eto’o this season. A statement would have already been released by him. I’m sure of it.
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Singapore -
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Netherlands -
Adding this article to my bookmarks.
Posted from
United States
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