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La Liga Thread

The White Pelè

The White Pelè

Human Highlight Reel
La Liga is over. Here's the final verdicts:

Champions: Real Madrid
Champions League: Barcellona, Atletico Madrid and Seville
Europa League: Betis and Real Sociedad
Conference League: Villarreal
Relegated: Alaves, Levante and Granada

1-0 Getafe


1-1 Elche


2-1 Elche


3-1 Elche


1-0 Mallorca


1-0 Cadiz


2-0 Mallorca


1-0 Villarreal

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1-0 Atletico


2-0 Villarreal

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2-1 Real Sociedad


1-0 Sveille

 
The White Pelè

The White Pelè

Human Highlight Reel
Unbelievable scenes in Segunda Division: Eibar lost against an already relegated Alcorcon and miss out on the automatic promotion. Almeria and Valladolid are promoted.
 
Hunta

Hunta

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Country: England
Barca are gonna have some team if they make their signings.

Selling their future for a league title, mad.
 
Tomb Bombadil

Tomb Bombadil

Active Member
I thought they are gonna look more after their finances and cut their salaries? If they resign Dembele and sign Lewandowski they will have so much money on the bench:

Torres - Lewandwoski - Raphina
Fati - Aubameyang - Dembele
(Abde) - Braithwaite - Depay

I guess they will still sell some players but gonna be hard with their salaries (see Arsenal :lol:). And I mean this is just the attackers. They have so many players in midfield with FDJ (sell), Busquets, Kessie, Pedri, Gavi, Pjanic, Sergi Roberto, Riqui Puig. And in defense they still wanna buy/get Azpi and Alonso.
 
Gooner416

Gooner416

Master of Stonks
Trusted ⭐

Country: Canada

Shame this will be wasted away at Elche because Barca is skint and can't register him.
 
Macho

Macho

In search of Pure Profit 💸
Dusted 🔻

Country: England
Barcelona have told Frenkie de Jong they want to annul his existing contract and return to the deal he was on before, alleging the terms given to him by the club’s previous board involved criminality and provide grounds for legal action against those involved, The Athletic can reveal.

The Catalan side have serious financial problems and among the ways they are trying to improve matters is by selling De Jong or reaching an agreement with him over deferred wages he is owed.

There has so far been no sign of a compromise between the 25-year-old Netherlands midfielder and his employers in what is becoming one of the most extraordinary sagas the game has seen.

Manchester United had a bid for De Jong accepted, as reported on July 14, but issues with the player — the outstanding money owed and whether he wants a move to United — remained unresolved.

According to sources in Spain, Barcelona wrote to De Jong on July 15 claiming to have found evidence of criminal actions on behalf of the parties who signed his renewal on October 20, 2020.

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De Jong scored for Barcelona on Sunday (Photo: Eric Alonso/Getty Images)
It was a two-year extension until 2026 that is reported to have reduced his salary for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, leaving €18 million (£15.2m, $18.3m) to be spread across the subsequent four campaigns.

De Jong’s deal was announced alongside three others — Gerard Pique, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Clement Lenglet — and this proved to be one of the final decisions by then president Josep Bartomeu prior to he and the entire board of directors at the time stepping down from their posts.

The letter sent to De Jong last month is thought to inform the Dutchman that Barcelona think they are in a position to initiate criminal proceedings to establish what happened in relation to the signing of his contract and ascertain where responsibility resides for the supposed wrongdoing.

It is believed to then express Barcelona’s wish to rescind the deal and proceed with De Jong’s career at the Camp Nou under the conditions agreed when he arrived from Ajax in January 2019.

The Athletic understands the previous board are confident in the legality of the contract De Jong signed in 2020 and insist the deal was agreed after approval from legal parties and La Liga. In an interview with the Barcelona newspaper Mundo Deportivo last year, former president Bartomeu insisted the previous board’s management of the club was “serious and responsible”.

Sources around the Catalan club suggest there has been further dialogue between Barcelona and De Jong’s camp, in which the present board have identified their predecessors for the alleged criminality and warned that De Jong and his representatives may also be implicated.

That could be perceived to reinforce comments by Evgeniy Levchenko — chairman of the Dutch players’ union — that De Jong might be a victim of extortion, a notion current Barcelona president Joan Laporta denies. Global players’ union FIFPRO is known to be closely monitoring the situation and Barcelona’s attempts to try to make the player accept a vastly reduced sum from the €18m he agreed to defer during the pandemic.

Barcelona are engaged in similar conversations with Pique and Ter Stegen (Lenglet is on loan at Tottenham Hotspur) but it is unknown if they have also received communication of a legal nature.

De Jong’s preference is to stay with the 26-time La Liga champions but if a departure does end up materialising, he is said not to have made a decision so far on the team he would like to join.

Chelsea have a firm interest and while it is understood they are yet to submit a formal bid, sources indicate they are prepared to fund the transfer fee and cover the salary debt should De Jong pick a switch to Stamford Bridge. They have an advantage over United in playing Champions League football this season, although it is thought that alone will not determine his potential destination.

Despite their predicament, Barcelona have recruited heavily this summer; Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde are the most notable acquisitions. Barcelona declined to comment and HCM Sports Management, who look after De Jong, were approached for comment.


Chelsea started talks with Brighton over Cucurella at Boehly’s dinner

New Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly made good use of a dinner he hosted last month for representatives of the 19 other Premier League clubs.

Although the event on July 26, after a meeting of shareholders, was essentially informal, Boehly began putting the wheels in motion for Marc Cucurella’s move from Brighton.

He broached the subject of the left-sided Spanish defender’s future with Brighton chief executive Paul Barber.

Multiple conversations subsequently took place between Boehly and Barber over the phone and via Zoom as it became clear Manchester City weren’t prepared to meet Brighton’s valuation of the player.

Agreement was finally reached with Chelsea on Thursday on a deal worth more than £60m ($72.4m) with add-ons. Barber represented Brighton throughout the process, with owner-chairman Tony Bloom on a family holiday in Australia.

Cucurella was thrown straight into action by Thomas Tuchel as a 75th-minute replacement for Kalidou Koulibaly in Chelsea’s opening 1-0 win against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday evening.

cucurella-1-scaled.jpg


Cucurella made his Chelsea debut against Everton (Photo: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Cucurella wasn’t the only transfer deal rooted in Boehly’s dinner invite last month. He also opened negotiations at the event with Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow for the £20 million capture of 18-year-old midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka.

Norton-Cuffy signs new deal at Arsenal

Arsenal prospect Brooke Norton-Cuffy has signed a new contract with the north London club, The Athletic understands.

The 18-year-old right-back had entered the final 12 months of his previous deal and was attracting interest from numerous suitors.

But the highly rated England youth international has extended his stay — the news is likely to be confirmed this week — and he could join a Championship club on loan for the 2022-23 campaign.

The Athletic reported in March that Arsenal intended to offer Norton-Cuffy fresh terms, amid admiration from sides in the Premier League and Europe’s other major divisions.

He joined Arsenal from Chelsea at the age of 12 and made a strong impression on loan at Lincoln City in the second half of last season, appearing in 17 League One games and scoring one goal.

Norton-Cuffy was also a part of the England team that won the European Under-19 Championship this summer, appearing as a substitute in the final against Israel.

norton-cuffy-scaled.jpg


Norton-Cuffy won the Under-19 European championship with England this summer (Photo: Christian Hofer – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Several promising Arsenal players have secured loan moves in this transfer window, with 18-year-old attacker Marcelo Flores joining Real Oviedo and 20-year-old defender Omar Rekik heading to Sparta Rotterdam.

Why were footballers pouring water on their boots this weekend?

Premier League footballers were seen reacting to the soaring temperatures in a unique way this weekend, writes Gregg Evans.

Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who scored both goals in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool, sprayed his boots with water before the game at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

mitrovic-boots-scaled.jpg


Mitrovic pouring water on his boots (Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Aston Villa attacker Leon Bailey went a step further during the closing stages of his side’s 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth. With 10 minutes of the game to go, the Jamaica forward asked a backroom staff member to tip two full bottles of water over his laces. Other players were seen doing similar at different games in England.

But why were they doing it? There are two explanations, one more obvious than the other.

Players often wear boots one size too small. They like the close-touch feel between foot and boot, believing it enhances performance. Though there’s no logical “performance” advantage to wetting a boot, it does help if there’s some pain or discomfort, sometimes caused by over-heating. New boots also mould better when damp, and there were a wide variety of fresh styles on show this weekend, with green and yellow a popular theme for the new season.

The other reason for players applying water to their boots — and some do it regularly — is to feel mentally engaged. A sports psychologist says: “Lots of players do it. It is a perceived sense of clean, tidy, and fresh readiness. It’s a type of pre-performance habit and players also sometimes do it on their knees.”

So there you have it. If in doubt, apply water to your boots and all will be well.

Leeds’ head of national academy recruitment joins City

Kalvin Phillips and Darko Gyabi were not the only people to move between Manchester City and Leeds United this summer, reports Phil Hay.

Before paying £42 million to take Phillips from Leeds, with Gyabi moving the other way for £5m, City secured the appointment of Paul Midgley, the highly rated scout who was Leeds’ head of national academy recruitment before leaving the club at the end of last season.

Midgley had responsibility for overseeing the recruitment of junior players at Elland Road in the age categories from under-12s to under-16s. He has joined City as a youth scout for the northern area.

Leeds advertised the role made vacant by Midgley in May and are understood to have appointed experienced scout Lyndon Tomlinson as his replacement.

Tomlinson is himself a former City employee who worked in academy recruitment for Manchester United last season.

Premier League interest in Southampton goalkeeper McCarthy

Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy has caught the attention of other Premier League clubs and could leave before the transfer window closes next month, reports Dan Sheldon.

Southampton are open to offers for McCarthy, who has one England cap from 2018, and there has already been interest in the player.

Including McCarthy, Southampton have four goalkeepers on their books — Gavin Bazunu, Willy Caballero and Mateusz Lis are the other three.

McCarthy signed a three-year contract extension last summer and is among the club’s highest earners. He was chosen ahead of Fraser Forster, who left Southampton as a free agent and joined Tottenham Hotspur this summer, to remain at the club.

Bazunu started for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side in their 4-1 defeat against Sp**s on Saturday, with McCarthy left on the bench. The 32-year-old joined Southampton in 2016 and has made 118 Premier League appearances for the club.

@bingobob
 
Lakersgooner24

Lakersgooner24

Established Member
Barca have failed to score against Rayo in 3 consecutive matches now with Rayo doing the double over them last season.

Also, Busquets is one of the greats but they really need to phase him out.
 
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