As with most transfers I won't believe it till I see the man holding up the shirt with his squad number on the back ,what position does Raiola play and what squad numbers are open to him ?
Personally, I'm waiting for the reality to hit Paul Pogba that there's no way he's getting £200k+ a week wages now...
On a free transfer, he’ll get a huge signing on fee and huge wages too. Pogba is a scapegoat at Utd. Very good player imo
One or two games per season when he has nothing better to do or hasn't had a new hair colour put in. Play's ok for France quite often though.
Bergwijn on his future to Dutch press: Here? I honestly don't think so. It's a difficult for me, I don't play much. Ajax would certainly be an option. A return to the Netherlands would certainly be an option for me. ——————————————- Can’t really blame him. I’ve no issue selling him this summer as I think we can definitely do better but I do have issue with how little he’s being used whilst here in comparison to lesser productive players.
It's outright been said by a couple of sources in the last week that his two late goals against Leicester scuppered a potential January move because there was no way the club could've sold him just days after that Which is basically what we've been saying on here ever since the second goal went in, as that would have bumped up his fee overnight beyond what an Eredivisie club would've paid in January, and likely seen the usual moaners become insufferable and organise another protest attended by so few people you could realistically get them home in a couple of taxis
I think we should’ve sold him due to the fact his stock had more re-risen than risen after the Leicester game. Since that game you’d barely notice he was still here. The only plus point is that those two goals and his goals for the Dutch national side are still in the memory and thus his stock won’t have fallen much since January, if it all. £20m should be gettable I’d say and I’d take that all day long for a guy that just about gets to have one or two sprints per game.
IIRC we were asking for something around £25m in January, which on January 1st was gettable - but then his late show against Leicester and his goals in the following international break made that less "gettable" and more "****, we're not going to sell him for £25m, are we?"
It weren’t that gettable because the Leicester game was mid/ late Jan and the only interest we had in him was from Ajax who at the time it was noted they weren’t gonna pay over the odds, unsurprisingly too as up to that game Bergwijn hadn’t scored a league goal all season and only scored one last season, his market value was pretty much in the mud. The Leicester goals would’ve then likely forced Ajax to cough up but we took him off the market to basically give him 5 mins a game and risk his stock falling again.
IIRC there were rumours of Roma looking to sign him in January as well, so it's not as if it were Ajax or nothing - but, naturally, neither came out the blocks with a bid and that's why we are where we are
Pretty sure they wanted Ndombele, which was quite amusing seeing as Jose wasn’t always his biggest fan when here - though is anyone…? No one was gonna bid for Bergwijn though at the time, especially if we were holding out for over £20m for a guy that had one league goal in 18 months. Moment he banged in those goals we should’ve kept the phone open for calls, not put it on ‘do not disturb’. In general I’d rather keep him over Lucas as I think he’s a decent player but he clearly wants out, Conte don’t fancy him and so it’s pointless the guy being here.
Now I remember, it was Sevilla who were the other team being linked with Bergwijn, presumably because they've seen what our wingers can do for them and thought of going back to the well
He suffers because he is effectively a like for like replacement for Son only not nearly as good, while his other position is to replace Kane who is even better than Son. If we are chasing a game it is bonkers to bring him on instead and of them and he doesn't really fit anywhere else. If the game is all sewn up then Lucas is a safer option.
He’s currently the best goal threat we have on the bench despite his poor 20/21 season. When we’re chasing a game he’s exactly the type of player to bring on, especially with his pace, it’s bonkers not too. And when in games we’re looking to rest/ rotate a player, it should be him and not Lucas that gets the chance to start.
He's no good on the right, though. It's arguable that Son could be pushed up with Kane and Bergwijn played on the left. That would require Conte to switch formations, so it's probably not going to happen.
He’s not bad on the right and has played it for Spurs, PSV and The Netherlands, he’s just like most wingers these days and prefers cutting inside, has goals and assists for us from the RW position though. If Kulusevski’s not to start, or Son for what it’s worth, it should be Bergwijn and not Lucas coming into the side. The Brazilian’s perfect for European football and cup games but he often flatters to deceive in the Premier League, generally running into blind alleys and losing possession. Bergwijn may not be amazing but there’s more optimism in him grabbing a goal.
Funny how we win a game and immediately the hacks snap back to Conte wanting to do a root and branch overhaul of the squad this summer...
