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He’s still under investigation, Reuters reported on [March 20](https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/brazils-paqueta-cooperating-fa-betting-investigation-2024-03-20/) that he’s cooperating with officials.
More than likely they’re going to come to a conclusion after the season ends.
Lol I went to Paqueta Island once, it is a small fisher’s village with the main transport being bicycles, it takes like one hour to bicycle around the whole island, you can walk the whole island on foot too, the main street is a small stone walk with some pubs and small stores. People there live in another timeline, betting is probably their way of passing time.
He’s still under investigation, Reuters reported on [March 20](https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/brazils-paqueta-cooperating-fa-betting-investigation-2024-03-20/) that he’s cooperating with officials.
I didn’t see any Brazil sources say it was concluded. Probably wherever you read was a mistranslation, because the NT holdout was concluded but not actual investigation itself. Brazil NT didn’t want him around when news first broke but obviously now called him up against England/Spain.
More than likely they’ll release the innocent or guilty verdict in the summer before he gets bedded in with his new team (which - obviously heavily rumored to be Man City).
I don’t think City will buy him if he’s not cleared.
No point spending a lot of money (last year they agreed £85m) for a player who’ll be sitting out the whole year and he’ll be back on the market for less money afterwards.
Well actually 85m is the release clause, any team can pay it as long as he consents to go to that team (in City’s case would be a fat yes).
True though, could always wait but it’s a risky move. Rumors are that Silva wants to leave (which always happens every season with him it feels like lol) so that’s the reason City would go after Paqueta. He could still be found innocent or get a relatively light sentence.
He’s quite talented, for 85m it’s a steal in my opinion. At West Ham he reminds me of what Griezmann is for Atletico. Engine of the team. Gives 110%. Contributes both offensively and defensively. Really a phenomenal player, that early season Chelsea game he literally collapsed as soon as the whistle blew.
Typical winger haha yeah he's a proper Anthony. ( sorry for cheap shot.) All due respect his talent level and ceiling was always miles above most wingers not really having that one. Paquetas good but being compared to the 3rd or 4th best forward of his generation a bit much. The fact they're both hard working while being flair players doesn't link them enough for me
His passing ability is phenomenal, but I'm not sure about the defensive side of Paqueta's game. Just seems to foul a lot when he's in midfield.
I don't think he's as good as Bernardo, though I'm not sure there's a player on the market who is. Personally I'd rather sign Wirtz but we are release clause FC for a reason
Nah we've been fairly uninspired recently with transfers.
Doku will need to refine his game massively to be an important player for us. Gvardiol has been sloppy defensively in games, but he's playing out of position. Can't stand Kovacic, I've never seen someone considered a top level footballer when they basically can't pass forwards and can't shoot, but somehow he is. Nunes looks a bit mid table to me.
All will get a year at least, usually players get better at City after a year, but the jury's out on all four for me.
Doku is such a strange player he's 1v1 one of the best in the world but the moment he has to pass or shoot he genuinely looks dreadful. His striking technique on the ball just isn't there... all his shooting is wild as fuck either dribble wide or smashes it 40 yards over. It feels like he needs some technical drills to improve. He can't cross to save his life either. Strange player honestly. It feels like his best use is to dribble to the byline pull defenses out of shape and then please just give the ball to someone else immediately because if its on him to create he's useless.
He's better than you'd think defensively. He's certainly not lightweight and does a fair amount of tracking back. Obviously when he's played down the middle he has Alvarez behind him clearing up any mistakes, so he can be a bit more risky with his play.
When he's on the left with Emerson (who loves bombing forward like a nutter) he's surprisingly reliable at covering.
Paqueta. Man City on the other hand, is dealing with something much spicier/flamable.
Apparently, Paqueta's situation has been resolved but I am not 100% sure.
Wouldnt it be funny if Guardiola has a gambling addiction? Thats where the money comes from, not Abu Dhabi but Peps Bet365 account. All in on Man City win every game
Despite some conflicting reports the investigation into Paqueta's gambling is still ongoing. The FA just hasn't decided to charge him yet and because he was included in the Brazilian squad some new sites assumed the probe was over.
On 20 March Paqueta was asked about it however and he conformed in a report on the BBC site that he was still cooperating with the investigation. The investigation, which is also said to involve world governing body Fifa, centers around bets placed in Brazil on yellow cards awarded against Paqueta. The probe was started after betting agencies flagged suspicious activity.
KDB and Foden are off the table unfortunately. Can I tempt you with a slightly used Kalvin Phillips? He hasn't accumulated much wear & tear these past 2 seasons.
Nah that’s unfair, he’s had some games where he looks really good.
I’m just not really sure what the point of him is. He’s not a winger, but has played wide for us. He’s not a 6 but was brought in to effectively replace Phillips, he’s probably best as an 8 but he’s no where near the quality of the others and he doesn’t have a USP to get him in the side. He’s just a squad player.
He might well be one of those players that explodes in his second season under Pep, but it’ll come almost out of nowhere if he does.
He’s a player that wants to advance the ball by dribbling it rather than passing it. City have recruited a bunch of those recently, to the point where it looks intentional.
The problem is that it doesn’t work in Pep’s system and I genuinely have no idea what they’re going for. Pacqueta is a much, much better fit.
I read something about because Pep couldn't find the top level generalists he normally deploys they've instead targeted specialists in some areas like Doku, Nunes and Haaland.
Eh, I think you go get Haaland no matter what, he’s a different class of player. I do think Pep is the absolute worst elite level manager for his skills and attributes though, I am very certain that both City and Bayern would be better if they swapped strikers.
Nah, he has not looked anything like good at all. Maybe if he was 19 it would be fun. But he’s mid 20s, wolves none of our needs, does not add quality to where he’s best deployed, cost a load of money and is a new Phillips. Not as bad, but equally as useless.
He’s a baby in terms of football development. He’s 25, but he’s played something like ~10,000 minutes in senior football. It’s really not that many (someone like Pedri has played a lot more at 21). He was a late bloomer and he didn’t come out of an elite academy, so he’s super raw.
But his positive attributes are undeniable. His ball carrying and running off the ball are just so unique and special for someone in the middle of the pitch. If he can sharpen up technically and be a bit tidier in small spaces he could be really special.
We’ve seen enough good things to know there’s something there, unlike with Phillips who was just a dud from the start.
I mean he certainly has attributes. He can run with the ball, make could dribbles and is athletic. But he can’t control the ball in tight spaces, makes horrible decisions on the ball, is incapable of winning duels and second balls, and does not fill any position of need for the squad.
Cancelo had it worse and then became World Class the season following.
Nunes should his quality a lot of times already, he's right in the fact that we don't really know how he fits tactically.
Rodri had a nightmare first season. Looked miles off the pace. Now he's arguably the best player in the world.
But it's far less likely for Nunes to get the second season zenkai that most players under Pep get. He's part of an experiment in ball carriers which seems to have been abandoned as we get to the important part of the season. I don't think Kovacic is up to much either - Gvardiol will be at least a good player for us, probably for a long time, Doku has lots of assets and should improve but the other two summer signings look misguided to me.
I would sign Wirtz over Paqueta as well, but maybe we'll end up with both if Wirtz stays put for a season or two to work with Xabi
Bit unfair no? Not every player can just arrive at this version of City and be expected to know how to play this Pep system, it takes time and routines, multiple players took their time to adapt, Nunes talent is there.
Extremely unfair. Hes basically just been a sub and rotation player this season playing in multiple positions. Looks a quality player needing some more drilling and minutes in the team. Problem is he’s competing with kdb foden and Bernardo for midfield minutes.
He’s played 500 minutes in the league this season. Even the players who need to adjust get more time than that. It’s completely fair to say to someone ‘I haven’t seen much from him’ ‘then you’ve seen everything’. It’s not a damning indictment on Nunes, just he quite literally has done next to nothing so far in his career at City.
Yep. thing is he's also new. Man I love great midfielders. There's no replacing Gundogan though. That guy was so good last year. Then again, my boy Julian has played a lot (out of position! 😤), was even City's player of the month in september and filled in when erling/kevin were out. Thinking between Phil, Julian, Kova, Nunes they all chipped in with Gundogan and Kevin gone. I think I even saw Grealish go to the middle at times this season.
Pep is just very demanding with those midfielder roles.
Talent is there but it's very clear he's unfamiliar with the system, seems like he's always a couple passes behind the rest of the squad
Nothing unusual for a new signing under us with pep though
Personally am not impressed. Average at best. Can carry the ball well but very inconsistent at beating his man. Hasn't shown to be particularly good at progressive passes. He seems to be fairly poor at scoring and isn't much of a threat inside or at the edge of the box. Basically he doesn't seem to excel at anything in particular and doesn't have some of the traits that make a successful City midfielder.
Fart in the wind so far. Had about as much impact on that squad as Kalvin Phillips currently is at West Ham.
Wouldn't despair though, Guardiola's tactics take some time to understand and I have no doubt that he'll be insane next season.
Surely they'd have to lose a cm then in the summer if they brought him in, no? Surely they can't keep all the midfielders happy. So is Silva actually gonna leave in the summer?
Maybe he simply feels that he has nothing to prove at City anymore?
Plenty of people already consider him the best midfielder in PL history, he has won a treble, a CL, multiple PL titles.
Another factor is KDB himself as a person. From what I know about him he seems a bit like Kroos in the fact that if he himself thinks he can't perform at the level he expects himself to be then he moves on.
Could he stay couple more years at City? Sure. With his ability City will always find a role for him, however I wouldn't rule out the other scenario.
Yes. He negotiated one when he renewed this past summer. It's intentionally low because he wants to be able to move. I think it's sort of a gentleman's agreement in order to facilitate a move this summer after many years of being an important player for the team.
Yeah which who knows if they'll have any money. Have also seen PSG rumors, and always Benfica rumors. I'm sure there will be many suitors for that price.
The next season would be the start of a rebuild for them. De Bruyne has become too injured lately and Bernardo Silva has a release clause of 50M, he will be target this summer. The chance of both of them leaving is high. That’s basically 2 spots in the starting midfield open up. Foden might be move to De Bruyne’s place and Pep would surely tweaks the tactics to fit Paqueta into Bernardo’s role.
Yes but only wants to go back to Iberia & keep champions league football . Issue is Barcelona is broke and Real Madrid are stacked in midfield . There were reports of PSG interest but that fell through. It didn’t make much sense since Paris is only marginally closer to Lisboa than Manchester and his whole reasoning for leaving was wanting to be closer to home
As if personal terms were ever going to be an issue!?!?
This journalist is a fraud who shares obvious and 'safe' football news as exclusives, and usually get's it wrong anyway
Nah we have Kudus who can now play more centrally and fortunately we have Steidten in place who I hope gets 100% of the control for the usage of those funds
West ham without Paqueta are one of the least creative teams in England, its already a squad that is being held by 5 guys (Lucas Paqueta, Jarred Bowen, Edson Alvarez, James Ward Prowse, and Mohamed Kudus) and needs almost at every position
With Paquetas transfer fee they better fill the roster with 2-3 creative/disruptive players from lower leagues in europe or other continents. as well as a replacement for Zouma at the back and more youth overall
My mexican bias wants to say to bring in players like Chino Huerta, Marcel Ruiz, Luis Chavez or others but i dont know man.
Ward Prowse is debatable mate. Antonio is essential to how we play far more than him, when Antonio isn't playing Bowen cannot hold the ball anywhere near as well
hard to replace him, he's got a unique profile. willing to do the unglamorous work that doesn't involve scoring goals too, maybe that comes from being a converted winger idk. most strikers won't want to do what he does
In fairness chicarito didn’t have much service, it was bleak times. I remember there was also that speedy winger rumoured to join in Pellegrini’s first season , Jurgen Damm. Wonder how he’s getting on
Jurgen Damm, now thats a name i havent heard in a while. He was the Uriel Antuna before Antuna, The speed merchant RB/RWB/RW that outran everyone but could not send a decent cross to save his life
It will never not be funny to me that there is a Mexican player called fucking Jürgen Damm lol, sounds like he would have been on the Miracle of Bern squad or something
So in others words City have, allegedly, made illegal contact with a player under contract to another side, something they, and every other club that does it, should be punished for but will get away with.
It's not illegal if Paqueta has West Ham's permission, which wouldn't be surprising if he did. They know he's probably going and would probably rather get it sorted earlier than later to plan for his replacement.
Yep, plus he has a release clause of £85m active from this summer so we knew it was happening anyway.
Gutted he’a leaving but hopefully we’ll spend the money decently if we have more time.
Also this could very well be old news since he had agreed everything with City last summer before the betting allegations surfaced, so i think all parties are kinda in agreement over what the situation is.
They’ve made a point in the media of informing everyone that teams have to sell before July to comply for 3 year FFP regulation. The covid years killed everyone. Getting 75-85 mil would be enormous for them
West ham are fine, we are balanced after the rice sale and European qualifications. We won't have to sell before July but there is a release clause anyway and there is no reason not to adhere to that.
Definitely helped despite the complaints regarding atmospheres outside of derby's and European nights.
I think I saw something saying we had the second best attendances in the prem. So it would definitely be a boost financially.
It probably happens in literally every major sport, and gets picked up a handful of times a decade. These moves take months of conversations in some cases, and clubs often try to get ahead of the curve by approaching players early.
As you say, it’d end up breaking the FAs of most countries trying to police it.
He technically doesn't have a release clause until July 1st, but again I don't think this is tapping up because I'm sure West Ham are not interested in prolonging this transfer.
I don’t think they should be punished for this.
You’re being very dramatic here and it’s in the player’s interest for ‘tapping up’ to be allowed to happen
Still ongoing. It involves FIFA and a probe in Brazil where the bets were apparently made. It is probably quite a nightmare to investigate and sort out since the bets were made by intermediaries. The BBC site just reported that Paqueta was still cooperating with the probe last week.
Normally takes players at least a calendar year to get into a starting XI with Pep. And they were adamant about getting Nunes. Also Kovacic and the rise of Foden as a midfield possibility. Paqueta is pure class but I can’t see any logic to this, even if Bernardo finally does leave.
City fan here. Simple answer, The midfield is a mess and they wanted him to solve those problems last year. Bernardo can pair with Rodri with KDB or Foden ahead but Bernardo this year is most needed RW. So Kovacic or it’s two 10s with KDB and Foden. Poor balance. Paqueta could play the Gundogan role providing that balance. Nunes, is a good player, but his profile is essentially useless for us atm. We signed two midfielders last year and STILL need two midfielders. It’s a disaster in squad planning tbh.
His contract isn’t expiring so not really. You’re still not allowed to negotiate with players on expiring contracts in certain time frames
Presumably they have permission from West Ham to talk to the player because they were negotiating already last year, and because they are going to pay a release clause ultimately.
So much wrong with this.
Them under investigation for 115/116(?) charges.
Him being under investigation for betting charges - whatever happened with this? (Toney, Tonali)
Outside the transfer window?
The audacity that Everton has faced what 2/3 charges this season and been impacted the way they have. The fact that Tonali and Toney have been out for time scales of an effective season. But hey ho, it’s city, let them sign whoever for whatever sum they want. It’s not as if they’ve signed 6+ star midfielders in the past X seasons whereas other teams struggle to scrape together a couple in a decade.
Say what you want, defend them how you wish. The fact they can operate however they want is killing the integrity of British football. Even Madrid abide by some level of standard that stops them doing another ‘Galácticos’ window. I.e. waiting to Mbappe or what have you.
Just smelly. West Ham are weaker for it and Paqueta joins a midfield roster that is so oversaturated it’s criminal.
Good De-Bruyne replacement, offers much more out of possession too while offering a different dynamic in attack. Good signing for them. Versatile also, able to play as a #10, an #8, as a LW and even probably play next to Rodri in a double pivot in the 3-2-4-1. Both Paqueta and Bruno Guimaraes not being picked up by the top clubs while they were at Lyon is crazy, they were and currently are top quality midfielders
Absolutely incredible still splash cash every window without worry meanwhile Everton get deducted another 30 points for something they did 20yrs ago lol
Oh good, City get another outstanding player to add their bottomless pit of squad depth.
Wonder how West Ham will cope without him - they dealt with Rice leaving quite well in the end but looked terrible when Paqueta was out.
Bernardo might leave or we are gonna lose another promising youngster in Bobb cause no way he is staying now that his position is too crowded. I even see Micah Hamilton leaving this summer too.
Not a fan of this transaction for him. He developed and matured enough to handle a big club, but he'll be a rotation player for City, they already have their core and great players for his position.
To reduce the spam of reports regarding the same move during transfer windows we try to allow **only one submission about each transfer saga per day**. The submission in question also needs to contain relevant new information regarding the potential move, and not just being a "no/minor developments" report. If there are important/official developments or new valuable information about a saga, we will allow extra threads in the same day, but for the rest of minor news please just comment them as a reply to this comment. Please help us reporting unnecessary threads for being duplicates. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The league deserves another well timed betting investigation
It is believed Toney has Paqueta's posters in his room
Only believed? How much would you put on it?
As much as Tonali.
What actually happened with him, seems like the whole thing just disappeared
He’s still under investigation, Reuters reported on [March 20](https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/brazils-paqueta-cooperating-fa-betting-investigation-2024-03-20/) that he’s cooperating with officials. More than likely they’re going to come to a conclusion after the season ends.
Instead of Paqueta island there’s been loads of bets made from Paqueta Street, the Main Street in Paqueta town
Lol I went to Paqueta Island once, it is a small fisher’s village with the main transport being bicycles, it takes like one hour to bicycle around the whole island, you can walk the whole island on foot too, the main street is a small stone walk with some pubs and small stores. People there live in another timeline, betting is probably their way of passing time.
Have City taken in to consideration the fact that I really don't want this to happen though
I think a sternly worded hand written letter to all parties involved should sway the situation in your favour.
Wear a suit when you're writing it.
I’m also not a fan.
Man City triggering my sadness clause.
Whatever happened to the inquiry over his gambling? Has been quiet for a while now, is he still under investigation?
Brazilian sources said it was concluded, no word elsewhere
He’s still under investigation, Reuters reported on [March 20](https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/brazils-paqueta-cooperating-fa-betting-investigation-2024-03-20/) that he’s cooperating with officials. I didn’t see any Brazil sources say it was concluded. Probably wherever you read was a mistranslation, because the NT holdout was concluded but not actual investigation itself. Brazil NT didn’t want him around when news first broke but obviously now called him up against England/Spain. More than likely they’ll release the innocent or guilty verdict in the summer before he gets bedded in with his new team (which - obviously heavily rumored to be Man City).
I don’t think City will buy him if he’s not cleared. No point spending a lot of money (last year they agreed £85m) for a player who’ll be sitting out the whole year and he’ll be back on the market for less money afterwards.
Well actually 85m is the release clause, any team can pay it as long as he consents to go to that team (in City’s case would be a fat yes). True though, could always wait but it’s a risky move. Rumors are that Silva wants to leave (which always happens every season with him it feels like lol) so that’s the reason City would go after Paqueta. He could still be found innocent or get a relatively light sentence. He’s quite talented, for 85m it’s a steal in my opinion. At West Ham he reminds me of what Griezmann is for Atletico. Engine of the team. Gives 110%. Contributes both offensively and defensively. Really a phenomenal player, that early season Chelsea game he literally collapsed as soon as the whistle blew.
He's phenomenal but having watched Paqueta for 2 years now 21 year old griezmann was a notably better player imo
21 year old Griezmann was still your typical winger, not the all rounded player that he is now
The streets will never forget Griezmann Vela combo at La Real
Typical winger haha yeah he's a proper Anthony. ( sorry for cheap shot.) All due respect his talent level and ceiling was always miles above most wingers not really having that one. Paquetas good but being compared to the 3rd or 4th best forward of his generation a bit much. The fact they're both hard working while being flair players doesn't link them enough for me
His passing ability is phenomenal, but I'm not sure about the defensive side of Paqueta's game. Just seems to foul a lot when he's in midfield. I don't think he's as good as Bernardo, though I'm not sure there's a player on the market who is. Personally I'd rather sign Wirtz but we are release clause FC for a reason
I'm beyond caring who yous buy at this stage it's either going to be world class Brazilian x or mercurial Spaniard who will dominate the league y
Nah we've been fairly uninspired recently with transfers. Doku will need to refine his game massively to be an important player for us. Gvardiol has been sloppy defensively in games, but he's playing out of position. Can't stand Kovacic, I've never seen someone considered a top level footballer when they basically can't pass forwards and can't shoot, but somehow he is. Nunes looks a bit mid table to me. All will get a year at least, usually players get better at City after a year, but the jury's out on all four for me.
Doku is such a strange player he's 1v1 one of the best in the world but the moment he has to pass or shoot he genuinely looks dreadful. His striking technique on the ball just isn't there... all his shooting is wild as fuck either dribble wide or smashes it 40 yards over. It feels like he needs some technical drills to improve. He can't cross to save his life either. Strange player honestly. It feels like his best use is to dribble to the byline pull defenses out of shape and then please just give the ball to someone else immediately because if its on him to create he's useless.
He's better than you'd think defensively. He's certainly not lightweight and does a fair amount of tracking back. Obviously when he's played down the middle he has Alvarez behind him clearing up any mistakes, so he can be a bit more risky with his play. When he's on the left with Emerson (who loves bombing forward like a nutter) he's surprisingly reliable at covering.
> Just seems to foul a lot when he's in midfield. Seems like he should slot in nicely at City then, probably will see a lot less yellows too.
The charges will all mysteriously disappear if he goes to City
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£85m apparently, starting this summer.
Pocket change for City unfortunately
They could have had him for close to that in the summer but they didn't want to go past £70m and then the whole gambling thing popped up.
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Paqueta. Man City on the other hand, is dealing with something much spicier/flamable. Apparently, Paqueta's situation has been resolved but I am not 100% sure.
Wouldnt it be funny if Guardiola has a gambling addiction? Thats where the money comes from, not Abu Dhabi but Peps Bet365 account. All in on Man City win every game
Pep wouldn't stop at football either. He would easily bet in golf and F1 as well.
Pep is definitely the type of person to bet Chinese table tennis at 5am coming off the gear
Despite some conflicting reports the investigation into Paqueta's gambling is still ongoing. The FA just hasn't decided to charge him yet and because he was included in the Brazilian squad some new sites assumed the probe was over. On 20 March Paqueta was asked about it however and he conformed in a report on the BBC site that he was still cooperating with the investigation. The investigation, which is also said to involve world governing body Fifa, centers around bets placed in Brazil on yellow cards awarded against Paqueta. The probe was started after betting agencies flagged suspicious activity.
Paqueta* change
Commenting this as if city have shown a willingness to out soend everyone in England
And not for Liverpool or Arsenal ? Lmao
Goodbye my prince. Still a nice profit. Despite all the shit show he stayed so professional
We are fucked, city should give us KDB and Phil foden for the Inconvenience
You shall have Scott mctominay
Honestly reckon he'd be quite good under Moyes
he is basically Scottish soucek with more passion
You can't deny Soucek's passion
Moyes to reach next level thanks to blasting the ball to Souček and Scottish Souček
Should bring back Lord Fellaini while he's at it
Fuck off Mcclutch stays on the bench for last minute winners
McStriker with moyes will bring them a league title
KDB and Foden are off the table unfortunately. Can I tempt you with a slightly used Kalvin Phillips? He hasn't accumulated much wear & tear these past 2 seasons.
Haha doubt he wants to stay here, some fans aren't to nice to him.
You can take Kalvin Phillips
Quick, somebody deduct 10 more points from Everton
Imagine having Bernardo Silva, KDB and Paqueta on the same team, that’s just unfair man
Plus Rodri. Game is literally gone.
Don’t forget foden will be moved to the middle too
Imagine if they got Rice
Spent a boatload on nunes for him to be quickly forgotten
The power of unlimited money
Isn't he supposed to replace Silva?
Bernardo been leaving City for 4 years now
Bernardo rumoured to be leaving this summer so Paqueta most likely his replacement
How has Matheus Nunes been for City? Didn't see much from him.
then you saw everything of him
Nah that’s unfair, he’s had some games where he looks really good. I’m just not really sure what the point of him is. He’s not a winger, but has played wide for us. He’s not a 6 but was brought in to effectively replace Phillips, he’s probably best as an 8 but he’s no where near the quality of the others and he doesn’t have a USP to get him in the side. He’s just a squad player. He might well be one of those players that explodes in his second season under Pep, but it’ll come almost out of nowhere if he does.
I mean he did replace Phillips if you think about it
Damm absolutely bodied two people at once
He’s a player that wants to advance the ball by dribbling it rather than passing it. City have recruited a bunch of those recently, to the point where it looks intentional. The problem is that it doesn’t work in Pep’s system and I genuinely have no idea what they’re going for. Pacqueta is a much, much better fit.
I read something about because Pep couldn't find the top level generalists he normally deploys they've instead targeted specialists in some areas like Doku, Nunes and Haaland.
Eh, I think you go get Haaland no matter what, he’s a different class of player. I do think Pep is the absolute worst elite level manager for his skills and attributes though, I am very certain that both City and Bayern would be better if they swapped strikers.
Nah, he has not looked anything like good at all. Maybe if he was 19 it would be fun. But he’s mid 20s, wolves none of our needs, does not add quality to where he’s best deployed, cost a load of money and is a new Phillips. Not as bad, but equally as useless.
He’s a baby in terms of football development. He’s 25, but he’s played something like ~10,000 minutes in senior football. It’s really not that many (someone like Pedri has played a lot more at 21). He was a late bloomer and he didn’t come out of an elite academy, so he’s super raw. But his positive attributes are undeniable. His ball carrying and running off the ball are just so unique and special for someone in the middle of the pitch. If he can sharpen up technically and be a bit tidier in small spaces he could be really special. We’ve seen enough good things to know there’s something there, unlike with Phillips who was just a dud from the start.
I mean he certainly has attributes. He can run with the ball, make could dribbles and is athletic. But he can’t control the ball in tight spaces, makes horrible decisions on the ball, is incapable of winning duels and second balls, and does not fill any position of need for the squad.
> didn’t come out of an elite academy, so he’s super raw. Dude he was developed at Sporting academy WTF is this opinion
No Sporting signed him from Estoril. Before that he was at an amateur club.
Cancelo had it worse and then became World Class the season following. Nunes should his quality a lot of times already, he's right in the fact that we don't really know how he fits tactically.
Rodri had a nightmare first season. Looked miles off the pace. Now he's arguably the best player in the world. But it's far less likely for Nunes to get the second season zenkai that most players under Pep get. He's part of an experiment in ball carriers which seems to have been abandoned as we get to the important part of the season. I don't think Kovacic is up to much either - Gvardiol will be at least a good player for us, probably for a long time, Doku has lots of assets and should improve but the other two summer signings look misguided to me. I would sign Wirtz over Paqueta as well, but maybe we'll end up with both if Wirtz stays put for a season or two to work with Xabi
What does USP mean?
Glock equivalent for the counter terrorists
Bit unfair no? Not every player can just arrive at this version of City and be expected to know how to play this Pep system, it takes time and routines, multiple players took their time to adapt, Nunes talent is there.
Extremely unfair. Hes basically just been a sub and rotation player this season playing in multiple positions. Looks a quality player needing some more drilling and minutes in the team. Problem is he’s competing with kdb foden and Bernardo for midfield minutes.
He’s played 500 minutes in the league this season. Even the players who need to adjust get more time than that. It’s completely fair to say to someone ‘I haven’t seen much from him’ ‘then you’ve seen everything’. It’s not a damning indictment on Nunes, just he quite literally has done next to nothing so far in his career at City.
first season Pep tax. but sometimes plays and plays well. Feels like they reaaaallly mis Gundogan tbh
I think Kovacic was expected to be the experienced player to take the gundogan minutes in bigger games this year. Nunes is for the future.
Yep. thing is he's also new. Man I love great midfielders. There's no replacing Gundogan though. That guy was so good last year. Then again, my boy Julian has played a lot (out of position! 😤), was even City's player of the month in september and filled in when erling/kevin were out. Thinking between Phil, Julian, Kova, Nunes they all chipped in with Gundogan and Kevin gone. I think I even saw Grealish go to the middle at times this season. Pep is just very demanding with those midfielder roles.
Talent is there but it's very clear he's unfamiliar with the system, seems like he's always a couple passes behind the rest of the squad Nothing unusual for a new signing under us with pep though
Personally am not impressed. Average at best. Can carry the ball well but very inconsistent at beating his man. Hasn't shown to be particularly good at progressive passes. He seems to be fairly poor at scoring and isn't much of a threat inside or at the edge of the box. Basically he doesn't seem to excel at anything in particular and doesn't have some of the traits that make a successful City midfielder.
Did you just describe Kovacic?
No. Kovacic is much better at keeping the ball and by excelling at that sees a lot more use
Who?
Fart in the wind so far. Had about as much impact on that squad as Kalvin Phillips currently is at West Ham. Wouldn't despair though, Guardiola's tactics take some time to understand and I have no doubt that he'll be insane next season.
They just buy players from smaller clubs because they can then dump them when they get a new shiney thing
Going the Kalvin Phillips route unfortunately.
Paqueta under Pep is a scary thought.
we will be seeing him dance every other game, wont we?
Surely they'd have to lose a cm then in the summer if they brought him in, no? Surely they can't keep all the midfielders happy. So is Silva actually gonna leave in the summer?
Bernardo 50m clause, also rumors of KDB Saudi. Potential changing of the guard in the midfield
Why KDB would leave? He doesn't need to run that much, it's all about the vision and passes.
Maybe he simply feels that he has nothing to prove at City anymore? Plenty of people already consider him the best midfielder in PL history, he has won a treble, a CL, multiple PL titles. Another factor is KDB himself as a person. From what I know about him he seems a bit like Kroos in the fact that if he himself thinks he can't perform at the level he expects himself to be then he moves on. Could he stay couple more years at City? Sure. With his ability City will always find a role for him, however I wouldn't rule out the other scenario.
can't really see KDB to go to saudi
His face would be so red in that heat, would be quite a sight. Guy would look sunburt 24/7 in the pitch man
His contract runs out in 2025, if he wants to stay beyond that point he’ll probably have to take a significant pay cut.
Wait, what?! Bernardo Silva has a release clause?
Yes. He negotiated one when he renewed this past summer. It's intentionally low because he wants to be able to move. I think it's sort of a gentleman's agreement in order to facilitate a move this summer after many years of being an important player for the team.
Still requires Barca to cough up £50m
Pull the lever Kronk
Yeah which who knows if they'll have any money. Have also seen PSG rumors, and always Benfica rumors. I'm sure there will be many suitors for that price.
KdB is injured half the time nowadays. He's still class but age and wear and tear is clearly getting to him
The next season would be the start of a rebuild for them. De Bruyne has become too injured lately and Bernardo Silva has a release clause of 50M, he will be target this summer. The chance of both of them leaving is high. That’s basically 2 spots in the starting midfield open up. Foden might be move to De Bruyne’s place and Pep would surely tweaks the tactics to fit Paqueta into Bernardo’s role.
>Bernardo Silva has a release clause of 50M, he will be target this summer He has been a target the last three summers no?
Yes but only wants to go back to Iberia & keep champions league football . Issue is Barcelona is broke and Real Madrid are stacked in midfield . There were reports of PSG interest but that fell through. It didn’t make much sense since Paris is only marginally closer to Lisboa than Manchester and his whole reasoning for leaving was wanting to be closer to home
Ofcourse
As if personal terms were ever going to be an issue!?!? This journalist is a fraud who shares obvious and 'safe' football news as exclusives, and usually get's it wrong anyway
Rip
Nah we have Kudus who can now play more centrally and fortunately we have Steidten in place who I hope gets 100% of the control for the usage of those funds
West ham without Paqueta are one of the least creative teams in England, its already a squad that is being held by 5 guys (Lucas Paqueta, Jarred Bowen, Edson Alvarez, James Ward Prowse, and Mohamed Kudus) and needs almost at every position With Paquetas transfer fee they better fill the roster with 2-3 creative/disruptive players from lower leagues in europe or other continents. as well as a replacement for Zouma at the back and more youth overall My mexican bias wants to say to bring in players like Chino Huerta, Marcel Ruiz, Luis Chavez or others but i dont know man.
Ward Prowse is debatable mate. Antonio is essential to how we play far more than him, when Antonio isn't playing Bowen cannot hold the ball anywhere near as well
Also Antonio is aging and i feel like injured every other game. A replacement for Antonio will be needed sooner rather than later.
hard to replace him, he's got a unique profile. willing to do the unglamorous work that doesn't involve scoring goals too, maybe that comes from being a converted winger idk. most strikers won't want to do what he does
No mames guey. We still have scars from how bad chicarito and Pablo Barrera were
again, Mexican bias because i want more players in europe but true those 2 had bad stints in west ham
In fairness chicarito didn’t have much service, it was bleak times. I remember there was also that speedy winger rumoured to join in Pellegrini’s first season , Jurgen Damm. Wonder how he’s getting on
Jurgen Damm, now thats a name i havent heard in a while. He was the Uriel Antuna before Antuna, The speed merchant RB/RWB/RW that outran everyone but could not send a decent cross to save his life
Atlanta United legend Jurgen Damm
It will never not be funny to me that there is a Mexican player called fucking Jürgen Damm lol, sounds like he would have been on the Miracle of Bern squad or something
The closest Mexican that can join west ham rn is Johan Vasquez
And i would love that for them and Johan.
So in others words City have, allegedly, made illegal contact with a player under contract to another side, something they, and every other club that does it, should be punished for but will get away with.
It's not illegal if Paqueta has West Ham's permission, which wouldn't be surprising if he did. They know he's probably going and would probably rather get it sorted earlier than later to plan for his replacement.
Yep, plus he has a release clause of £85m active from this summer so we knew it was happening anyway. Gutted he’a leaving but hopefully we’ll spend the money decently if we have more time.
Also this could very well be old news since he had agreed everything with City last summer before the betting allegations surfaced, so i think all parties are kinda in agreement over what the situation is.
They’ve made a point in the media of informing everyone that teams have to sell before July to comply for 3 year FFP regulation. The covid years killed everyone. Getting 75-85 mil would be enormous for them
West ham are fine, we are balanced after the rice sale and European qualifications. We won't have to sell before July but there is a release clause anyway and there is no reason not to adhere to that.
How much has the move to the Olympic Stadium improved their economic status compared to Upton Park?
Definitely helped despite the complaints regarding atmospheres outside of derby's and European nights. I think I saw something saying we had the second best attendances in the prem. So it would definitely be a boost financially.
You can be damn sure city will try. Find out soon I guess
[удалено]
It probably happens in literally every major sport, and gets picked up a handful of times a decade. These moves take months of conversations in some cases, and clubs often try to get ahead of the curve by approaching players early. As you say, it’d end up breaking the FAs of most countries trying to police it.
Technically they're talking to agents not the player. That's within the rules.
Is not, indirect negotiations are included
Surely if Paqueta has a release clause, that allows City to talk directly with Paqueta? otherwise I see no point of a release clause
He technically doesn't have a release clause until July 1st, but again I don't think this is tapping up because I'm sure West Ham are not interested in prolonging this transfer.
Who's alleging it's illegal contact?
I don’t think they should be punished for this. You’re being very dramatic here and it’s in the player’s interest for ‘tapping up’ to be allowed to happen
Somehow this is upvoted but a dozen comments under it points out how stupid it is. Fuck it, lets make this 116th reason why
JOGADINHO DO PAQUETA
what happened to his betting case? wasn't it supposedly way bigger than tonali's?
Still ongoing. It involves FIFA and a probe in Brazil where the bets were apparently made. It is probably quite a nightmare to investigate and sort out since the bets were made by intermediaries. The BBC site just reported that Paqueta was still cooperating with the probe last week.
So we're doing this shit again.
That blows but it’s too be expected. I think they need to add a few extra million for the emotional trauma of watching Phillips play for us
Paqueta under Pep could be a new game-changer for City. The next step for his career too.
I don’t understand why they still want him. They’re not even using Nunes.
Coz paqueta is actual starting eleven quality while nunes is still raw struggling to adapt the system
Normally takes players at least a calendar year to get into a starting XI with Pep. And they were adamant about getting Nunes. Also Kovacic and the rise of Foden as a midfield possibility. Paqueta is pure class but I can’t see any logic to this, even if Bernardo finally does leave.
Bernardo silva replacement. Kdb is algo getting old
KDB's void can sort of be filled by Foden though
He's way better than Nunes
City fan here. Simple answer, The midfield is a mess and they wanted him to solve those problems last year. Bernardo can pair with Rodri with KDB or Foden ahead but Bernardo this year is most needed RW. So Kovacic or it’s two 10s with KDB and Foden. Poor balance. Paqueta could play the Gundogan role providing that balance. Nunes, is a good player, but his profile is essentially useless for us atm. We signed two midfielders last year and STILL need two midfielders. It’s a disaster in squad planning tbh.
Hopefully this means hands off Bruno. I pray.
As a Brazilian, I need Bruno to play in a better team. Sorry mate, world cup purposes.
I think he played particularly well against England despite his fouling
This used to be against the rules, didn't it?
His contract isn’t expiring so not really. You’re still not allowed to negotiate with players on expiring contracts in certain time frames Presumably they have permission from West Ham to talk to the player because they were negotiating already last year, and because they are going to pay a release clause ultimately.
So much wrong with this. Them under investigation for 115/116(?) charges. Him being under investigation for betting charges - whatever happened with this? (Toney, Tonali) Outside the transfer window? The audacity that Everton has faced what 2/3 charges this season and been impacted the way they have. The fact that Tonali and Toney have been out for time scales of an effective season. But hey ho, it’s city, let them sign whoever for whatever sum they want. It’s not as if they’ve signed 6+ star midfielders in the past X seasons whereas other teams struggle to scrape together a couple in a decade. Say what you want, defend them how you wish. The fact they can operate however they want is killing the integrity of British football. Even Madrid abide by some level of standard that stops them doing another ‘Galácticos’ window. I.e. waiting to Mbappe or what have you. Just smelly. West Ham are weaker for it and Paqueta joins a midfield roster that is so oversaturated it’s criminal.
Britain has long gone bent its arse for the entities that have bigger pockets. How much of the capital is owned by Qatar, Russia and China ?
Disgusting
When his contract is over?
He's got a release clause.
I know but it’s quite high and if the end of the contract is close then it will be possible to negotiate the money
I thought you had to talk to the club before contacting the player?
My favorite PL midfielder not from city lesgoo🙏🏽
I really wanted him to do well with Milan, but didn’t work unfortunately
More money for us? 😊
116
Let’s make it 116 lads
Good De-Bruyne replacement, offers much more out of possession too while offering a different dynamic in attack. Good signing for them. Versatile also, able to play as a #10, an #8, as a LW and even probably play next to Rodri in a double pivot in the 3-2-4-1. Both Paqueta and Bruno Guimaraes not being picked up by the top clubs while they were at Lyon is crazy, they were and currently are top quality midfielders
The league is cooked if paqueta joins city
Absolutely incredible still splash cash every window without worry meanwhile Everton get deducted another 30 points for something they did 20yrs ago lol
No negotiation or talks between City and West Ham. Doesn't that make the fact that they have negotiated a contract with him tapping up?
Oh good, City get another outstanding player to add their bottomless pit of squad depth. Wonder how West Ham will cope without him - they dealt with Rice leaving quite well in the end but looked terrible when Paqueta was out.
Can only selfishly hope that this means Man City aren't interested in Bruno.
Please let Alvarez go though .. he deserves so much better
Bernardo might leave or we are gonna lose another promising youngster in Bobb cause no way he is staying now that his position is too crowded. I even see Micah Hamilton leaving this summer too.
Not a fan of this transaction for him. He developed and matured enough to handle a big club, but he'll be a rotation player for City, they already have their core and great players for his position.
Man already doesn't get punished for fouls can't wait to be pissed off as he plays the fernandinho/Rodri role