Rival watch

Brighton have sold Aaron Mooy to Shanghai SIPG. Strange one.
Joins Oscar, Hulk, Arnautovic and a large bunch of random players that nobody's ever heard of. Hope he enjoys the cash.

 

That leaves jonjo shelvey as the number one cue ball impersonator in the uk

 

Don't say his name out loud, FFS!

 

Chelsea will have signed a new team for the start of the season. Wow! Anybody left over for Spurs?

 

It appears that Harry Maguire can't afford a decent lawyer, as rather than follow the Steven Gerrard path of selling his own mates down the river while he walks away scot free, instead he's going for the "I was fearing for my life..." defence preferred by police officers who shot an innocent person in the head seven times at point blank range

 

Nope, just pure bullshit for people like you to read

 

Where/when did this happen?

 

The inquest into the murder of Jean Charles de Menezes is the specific case, but the same defence has been used before and since

 

Sorry fella, forgot Menedeze, my thoughts were with the seven shots fired at Blake

 

What?
What do you mean by 'people like you'?

 

I bet your mum liked you!

 

Doubt it

 

American police have adopted a new way of ensuring that (black) people are no longer shot seven times in the back. They've replaced officer's automatic pistols with revolvers.

 

Claudio Bravo has returned to Spain, signing for Real Betis.
Joins fellow ex-City man Manuel Pellegrini, though their time at the club was separated by about two months.
Doesn't look like he's been replaced at the Etihad, yet.

 

So Rakitic is all but gone, Vidal is apparently seeking a free transfer exit, Suarez/ Pique/ Busquets fair to say have seen their best days and Messi wants out, all while Barca are apparently strapped for cash.

Could we be actually witnessing “the end” for them. Not in that they’ll fade into obscurity but in that they’ll have a decline similar Man Utd post-Fergie? From the top of the tree to a contender/ pretender?

 

So...Ndombele for de Jong swap?

 

Depends on what they can get from La Masia (though apparently that's been going downhill as well) and what Koeman can make of the squad. They've still got some really good players there but they'll be a completely different proposition without Messi.

 

They might have a bad season or two, but they've got too much of an advantage over most of the league to dip too far.
Wouldn't be surprised to see wholesale changes at coaching and board level, though.
Something's definitely gone badly wrong there.

 

The current Barca "fire sale" is probably a last ditch attempt to convince Messi to stay.