The European Club Soccer Off-Season Thread

[devo22]

Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf

Coentrao on loan to United

great signing

what the hell? hopefully he comes with a buy clause ...

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by devo22

what the hell? hopefully he comes with a buy clause ...

this makes sense if he does, he's better than Evra/Baines, and he's also 24

he has at least 7-8 years in front of him, unlike Baines who has 2-3

[Bagor]

Where you hearing the Coentrao story?

[d_phaneuf]

sky talking about it on tv

Sam Wallace ‏@SamWallaceIndy 9m
That Fabio Coentrao deal is a season-long loan to #MUFC ...'

David Ornstein ‏@bbcsport_david 10m
Hearing Man Utd bid to sign Real Madrid left-back Coentrao on loan is a done deal. Awaiting confirmation either way #bbcfootball #mufc #rmfc

[d_phaneuf]

now some talk United didn't get forms put in time for Coentrao

also it's a 6m loan fee, which is excessive

[Bagor]

Deal sheet was submitted before 11pm.

Have until midnight to sort out the rest.

[The Big Chill]

6m is an enormous fee. That's crazy.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Deal sheet was submitted before 11pm.

Have until midnight to sort out the rest.

Andy West ‏@andywest01 18m
Coentrao-MUFC complication: Madrid needed to get Siqueira from Granada to replace him. If that didn´t happen in time, Madrid don´t want deal

[Bagor]

Deal to be concluded tomorrow. Cell phone issues .....

https://twitter.com/woodward_ed

[d_phaneuf]

Coentrao registered in Madrid's squad

[GirlySports]

The truth about how Arsene spent the "massive war chest"

[cam_wmh]

oops haha, reposted the Ed Woodward twitter.

[Matty81]

Must feel good for Arsenal fans to land a big fish at the deadline. I think they should have added some more depth though.

Don't know much about Liverpool's new defenders, will be interesting to see how their season goes now that they are in the pole position.

Thought Everton made out like bandits today... made 14.5 million pounds profit and swapped Fellaini for McCarthy, Lukaku and Barry, pretty impressive bit of business.

Fellaini's buyout clause was 23 million a month or so ago so that extra 4.5 million is a pretty rich little bonus. I dunno if his play last season is indicative of the player he has become but remembering him from the previous three seasons where he scored 6 league goals in total I can't help but think they did well to make so much money off him. Picking up McCarthy who I've liked since his Hamilton Academical days was a solid move. Will be interested to hear the terms for Barry and Lukaku, ie any fees paid and options to make the deals permanent. Either way they are a much better team today than yesterday.

[DeanOMac]

Originally Posted by Montana Moe

Revealed: How Arsenal & Real Madrid outwitted Tottenham to seal Ozil deal

With the Spanish giants frustrated at Spurs' delays on finalising the Gareth Bale transfer, they colluded with the Gunners to lay the foundation for the German's £40 million move.

Goal.com

Goal.com has a tendency to exaggerate, but even if it is not fully accurate, Spurs have to wonder what they are getting from this "partnership" with Real Madrid. So far Spurs have sold their two best players to Madrid and in return, Madrid has sold Ozil to Arsenal, possibly with a litte spite.

[cam_wmh]

#WoodwardOut

[devo22]

the impostor story is definitely not true ... more and more details now

basically the three guys weren't impostors, but Spain based lawyers that were hired by United and Herrera in order to push the deal through. Those lawyers helped Bayern sign Javi Martinez last year as well and have a very good reputation. Basically Herrera was waiting for the medical and the lawyers were waiting at the La Liga HQ for Uniteds money transfer.

Conflicting reports as to what happened then and what made the deal fall through. Bilbao say that it's Uniteds fault because the lawyers apparently had not the right permits to make the deal for United (I call BS on this one - they made the Martinez deal, why shouldn't they be allowed to do the same with Herrera?). More realistic reports out of Spain claim that Bilbao flatly refused to receive Uniteds money - which apparently is their right even if the buyout clause is met. Same happened to Bayern last year, but they had time to find a way to circumvent this obstacle by going to the Financial Council in Bilbao, which would benefit from the deal and therefore put pressure on Athletic to sell the player. After some weeks, Bilbao gave in and sold Martinez. Apparently they never intended to sell Herrera yesterday and they knew that United would not have time to go to the Financial Council.

Bottom line: Spanish buyout clause rules stink and Bilbao are #######s. Herrera is extremely disappointed.

[Locke]

I go away for the weekend and I miss everything....

[carom]

Originally Posted by devo22

More realistic reports out of Spain claim that Bilbao flatly refused to receive Uniteds money - which apparently is their right even if the buyout clause is met. Same happened to Bayern last year, but they had time to find a way to circumvent this obstacle by going to the Financial Council in Bilbao, which would benefit from the deal and therefore put pressure on Athletic to sell the player. After some weeks, Bilbao gave in and sold Martinez. Apparently they never intended to sell Herrera yesterday and they knew that United would not have time to go to the Financial Council.

Bottom line: Spanish buyout clause rules stink and Bilbao are #######s. Herrera is extremely disappointed.

Based on what you are saying I still fail to see how Bilbao are in the wrong here, you state that they are fully within their rights. Isn't this United's fault for leaving this so late? Isn't it United's fault for getting Herrera's expectations up without having their homework done? I find it funny that they were not able to push around a smaller team to get what they wanted, you seem to be acting like a spoiled child that didnt get all the presents he wanted at Christmas.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by devo22

the impostor story is definitely not true ... more and more details now

basically the three guys weren't impostors, but Spain based lawyers that were hired by United and Herrera in order to push the deal through. Those lawyers helped Bayern sign Javi Martinez last year as well and have a very good reputation. Basically Herrera was waiting for the medical and the lawyers were waiting at the La Liga HQ for Uniteds money transfer.

Conflicting reports as to what happened then and what made the deal fall through. Bilbao say that it's Uniteds fault because the lawyers apparently had not the right permits to make the deal for United (I call BS on this one - they made the Martinez deal, why shouldn't they be allowed to do the same with Herrera?). More realistic reports out of Spain claim that Bilbao flatly refused to receive Uniteds money - which apparently is their right even if the buyout clause is met. Same happened to Bayern last year, but they had time to find a way to circumvent this obstacle by going to the Financial Council in Bilbao, which would benefit from the deal and therefore put pressure on Athletic to sell the player. After some weeks, Bilbao gave in and sold Martinez. Apparently they never intended to sell Herrera yesterday and they knew that United would not have time to go to the Financial Council.

Bottom line: Spanish buyout clause rules stink and Bilbao are #######s. Herrera is extremely disappointed.

Doesn't that sort of make the buyout clause moot? Seems like an odd result.

[Locke]

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!