Winter Mercato

I don't want to spoil the party but don't you think that after selling Guily to Roma and previously letting Saviola go, Barcelona really plan to keep all 4 stars ?

Originally Posted by Tony29.

I don't want to spoil the party but don't you think that after selling Guily to Roma and previously letting Saviola go, Barcelona really plan to keep all 4 stars ?

They also plan to make a bid for Lampard.

Roma plan a bid for Lampard or Barca? Well WOW if Barca are planning a bid for Lampard does this not click into any of your heads that the surprise signing MUST be r10? Too many things show it's r10, 5 words that came out of Berlusconis mouth dont match up

Originally Posted by Paolo3

I really hope that's the case, but if they indeed a have a deal in place for either Ronaldinho or Eto'o I don't think they should wait for them to get their EU passport, I mean they still can get it while in Milan right? and those are players who can make a great impact on the 1st team, it's not like we don't want to sign them until they have their passport so they don't block the potential arrival of a bigger star.

Hmm that leads me to another question, why can't they just buy R10 and wait for him to get an ITALIAN citizenship in MILANO..?

Because doing that won't do us any good. If we buy him as a non-EU that means we can't buy another non-EU player for outside of Italy untill next June. Anyhow it is only speculation.
Tony has a point, however I don't know how much the departures of Saviola and Giuly will influence Eto'o or Ronaldinho. Saviola and Giuly were subs while Eto'o and Ronaldinho are starters and none of Henry, Messi, Eto'o or 'Dinho will settle for the bench. In any case, I think they have been wanting to promote their young star Dos Santos to get more minutes and they still have Gudjohnsen(?). They are backed up good so I really don't see how they can keep all four superstars in the squad. However if they do keep all 4 and they put them on the same pitch.....I would gladly play Barcelona any day with our current squad.

Today's Gazzetta seems to be certain that the 6th name was Tevez. It is, however, a very small possibility as United have pretty much wrapped up the transfer. Gazzetta seems to believe that the transfer which is closest to Milan current is that of Quagliarella. The player is an option that would not rule out any of the non-EU options.

So the door would still be open for Pato to come in 2008.

----

It does seem that Gazzetta is jumping around with names, but Quagliarella is apparently very well liked by Ancelotti. I would be very happy if he came.

Originally Posted by nefremo

Because doing that won't do us any good. If we buy him as a non-EU that means we can't buy another non-EU player for outside of Italy untill next June. Anyhow it is only speculation.
Tony has a point, however I don't know how much the departures of Saviola and Giuly will influence Eto'o or Ronaldinho. Saviola and Giuly were subs while Eto'o and Ronaldinho are starters and none of Henry, Messi, Eto'o or 'Dinho will settle for the bench. In any case, I think they have been wanting to promote their young star Dos Santos to get more minutes and they still have Gudjohnsen(?). They are backed up good so I really don't see how they can keep all four superstars in the squad. However if they do keep all 4 and they put them on the same pitch.....I would gladly play Barcelona any day with our current squad.

FR would obviously bench Messi, since he is the youngest and wouldnt complain that much. Maybe if they let Eto'o know that he would be Henry' sub, he would change his mind and come here But of course, he would first punch Rijkaard on the face. Too volatile.
I dont think playing the 4 of them at the same time is an option. If they all keep a team spirit, actually it would be nice to have some kind of rotation. There are tons of games to be played, but who is sitting the important games?

Thanks Tony for the Info earlier

You do have a point when you say none of the Barcelona stars will accept the bench but you're missing another thing here.... who says one of them will have to stay on the bench regularly ?
Every one of them can play 3 out of 4 matches and enter as a sub in the 4th match.
Just think about it....there are ~55 matches per season for a team like Barcelona. If every one of them plays 3 matches in a row and gets a rest in the 4th match then they'll play ~40 matches per season. All of them will be well rested this way and they won't be tired in April-May, plus they'll still get to start 75% of the matches, which is even normally a maximum, or close to the maximum matches they play every year .
In one match you'll have Messi-Dinho-Eto'o in the second match Messi-Dinho-Henry, in the third Messi-Eto'o-Henry and in the 4th match Dinho-Eto'o-Henry...perfect example for a squad rotation. Just imagine Kaka, Gattuso, Pirlo, Ronaldo, Nesta being rested in every 4th match and still a great replacement to take over their place while they are resting. It would be perfect for Milan.
Not to mention some eventual injury of one of them. Barcelona won't even feel it because they'll have a megastar to replace the injured one.
Financially it's also good for Barcelona. They got rid of the wages Giuly and Saviola were getting and they'll use these money to cover Henry's wages. It's no sacrifice at all.

If you think about it it's perfect. You have 4 stars to fill 3 positions and still you keep all of them happy and well rested. Perfect scenario !

Of course, it's not as perfect as i made it to look
It's not a problem for Messi-Dinho and Eto'o, but this could be a huge problem for Henry. He's changing the country, the league and this way he'll have to change his partners in attack in every match. He'll never have the same 2 partners in attack match after match !
And as GilAttack says, the important matches could be a problem...who'll sit on the bench then ? Or maybe they'll rotate them in the important matches also. There'll be plenty of those in La Liga and CL.

I don't know what could happen. Getting rid of Giuly and Saviola could really mean that Barcelona really wants to keep all the stars in attack and maybe they think the same way i do about making all 4 of them function in the same team.

Rijkaard won the UCL with that scheme, I doubt he will change it just to accomodate his players' wishes. Ideally, you would rotate Eto'o and Henry, with Messi and Ronaldinho being the two untouchable from the starting 11.
I think signing Henry and possibly Lampard (in case Ronaldinho leaves) gives Laporta the chance to save face. Especially if Dinho wants to leave and he isnt pushed out from the club. And of course, it wouldnt hurt him if Berlusconi does something crazy, like paying 70+M euros for R10.

Originally Posted by Tony29.

You do have a point when you say none of the Barcelona stars will accept the bench but you're missing another thing here.... who says one of them will have to stay on the bench regularly ?
Every one of them can play 3 out of 4 matches and enter as a sub in the 4th match.
Just think about it....there are ~55 matches per season for a team like Barcelona. If every one of them plays 3 matches in a row and gets a rest in the 4th match then they'll play ~40 matches per season. All of them will be well rested this way and they won't be tired in April-May, plus they'll still get to start 75% of the matches, which is even normally a maximum, or close to the maximum matches they play every year .
In one match you'll have Messi-Dinho-Eto'o in the second match Messi-Dinho-Henry, in the third Messi-Eto'o-Henry and in the 4th match Dinho-Eto'o-Henry...perfect example for a squad rotation. Just imagine Kaka, Gattuso, Pirlo, Ronaldo, Nesta being rested in every 4th match and still a great replacement to take over their place while they are resting. It would be perfect for Milan.
Not to mention some eventual injury of one of them. Barcelona won't even feel it because they'll have a megastar to replace the injured one.
Financially it's also good for Barcelona. They got rid of the wages Giuly and Saviola were getting and they'll use these money to cover Henry's wages. It's no sacrifice at all.

If you think about it it's perfect. You have 4 stars to fill 3 positions and still you keep all of them happy and well rested. Perfect scenario !

Of course, it's not as perfect as i made it to look
It's not a problem for Messi-Dinho and Eto'o, but this could be a huge problem for Henry. He's changing the country, the league and this way he'll have to change his partners in attack in every match. He'll never have the same 2 partners in attack match after match !
And as GilAttack says, the important matches could be a problem...who'll sit on the bench then ? Or maybe they'll rotate them in the important matches also. There'll be plenty of those in La Liga and CL.

I don't know what could happen. Getting rid of Giuly and Saviola could really mean that Barcelona really wants to keep all the stars in attack and maybe they think the same way i do about making all 4 of them function in the same team.

sorry to barge in. but i think there's too much rotation. this will result in poor consistency.
beside, i doubt they can maintain the rotation system as it is. maybe it'll be fine earlier on, but sooner i can sense trouble in it. just imagine, let say 'Messi-Dinho-Henry' produce better result, let say they score 2-3 goals in a single match and 'Messi-Dinho-Eto'o' score fewer, like 1-2 goals in a match, the coach will always has the tendency to use the formation that will give better result. even if they don't, we can't forget about their fans. the fans reaction can bring problems to the management.
but, either way, i'm pretty sure Barca would like to experience it first, maybe they'll sell one of their stars next season but very unlikely it'll be this summer. you'll never know unless you try it.

they still ahve another midfielder who a starter for barcelona by the name of Deco. I doubt he would want to warm the bench after all these while. one of them will be shown the door to accomodate henry but i might be wrong.

Ideally speaking, having a superstars rotation is great, and I doubt anyone of them would have problems if the team is winning.
Remember a few yrs ago when when Pippo was on fire and Sheva accepted the bench role. Thats only happened b/c Milan is winning so Sheva could not complain. However, once the team struggles a little, hell will break lose.

yup.. but the problem is barcelona is dealing with players with such high ego. who think they're the superstar of world football these day. they want people to see them playing. they're playing not just to win but to get attention too. so even if the team is winning but they're not playing, they won't be happy about it.
sheva is different, he know what milan had given him so he doesn't complaint much.

just my opinion tho..

Baptista???!!! We're they not watching his season at Arsenal? Unless he suddenly returns to the Baptista of Sevilla or he's available for 5 million euros, then we should stay well clear of him.

I'd prefer this 6th option to be Robinho like Dev said. Tevez is a pipe dream, he's already licking Ferguson's backside so i doubt we'll see him with us. Robinho will give us a good mix of skill and attacking ability, like Cassano would but without the mental problems.