Raphinha

[Highbury Hillbilly]

Good decision by Arteta and Edu to walk away from the deal weeks ago.

Didn't want to be dragged into a wasted effort. Glad we're learning from our previous mistakes.

Less good decision from you to unleash the on the backs of weak Twitter rumours

I never for a second believed Arteta would be in for this type of player. Way too much flair and individuality.

[Salibatelli]

???????????? we spend a very long time trying and had no other players lined up.. and we did the same with martinez the hell you talking about learning?

We walked away from the deal because the hierarchy had a feeling he yearned for Barca. Instead of staying with him and trying to persuade him we've moved onto other targets.

Good decision.

he made it clear from day 1 he wanted to go to barca.. we still ended up spending weeks trying to get him. so what are you trying to say? almost sounds like you're a paid PR shill hired by the club. now thats something barca has done in the past.

Spot on, everyone knew he wanted to go to Barca from the start, if it took them a few weeks to work that out then there’s a problem somewhere.

This is just like Vlahovic in January.

Plus didn’t we offer half of what Leeds wanted. It doesn’t look like serious interest, not if you know a player has his heart set on going somewhere else and then on top of that offer a ridiculously low amount.

[Reiss]

Nothing like Vlahovic.

In fact we learnt from that mistake. It would have been like Vlahovic if we kept trying for Rafinha until the last minute, spent most of the window going for him, only to not get him.

We've done the opposite. We spent a couple of weeks trying for him and when it was clear we were second fiddle to Barca we backed off.

Good thinking.

[Salibatelli]

We’ve spent loads of time chasing Raphinha and Martinez admins got nowhere and so far have only signed 1 first team player. The others are backups/future players not ready to really make a difference.

I don’t see anything different from other windows thus far.

[Reiss]

We spent about 2 weeks on Raphina and swiftly moved on.

Martinez is one of a number of options. The club speak to more than 1 player, it's called... multitasking? Not even sure if the Martinez stuff is real or smokescreen tbh.

[Salibatelli]

Not seen much multitasking from this club over the years at all.

Seems to be one target at a time in fact. When that fails they scramble around for someone else to chase, usually with stuff about having spoken to the player and lowball bids that will never be accepted.

[Reiss]

It's called having a budget and not being drawn into bidding wars.

[Salibatelli]

Don’t bid for players you can’t afford.

[Reiss]

You don't know until you start bidding. Only then will you know if the club are willing to accept the offer or something close to it.

[Salibatelli]

You do when you offer half what the selling club wants.

[EliteKiller]

You don't know until you start bidding. Only then will you know if the club are willing to accept the offer or something close to it.

What utter rubbish - you always have preliminary discussions with the agent, you know exactly what the asking price will be - normally the deal with the player is already agreed before you even make a bid. No point bidding on a player who won't sign. Go read up how football transfers work there are loads of good articles on it.

[Reiss]

You do when you offer half what the selling club wants.

Is 45 half of 55? Maths ain't your strongest is it.

[Reiss]

You don't know until you start bidding. Only then will you know if the club are willing to accept the offer or something close to it.

What utter rubbish - you always have preliminary discussions with the agent, you know exactly what the asking price will be - normally the deal with the player is already agreed before you even make a bid. No point bidding on a player who won't sign. Go read up how football transfers work there are loads of good articles on it.

What players do you represent?

[Salibatelli]

You do when you offer half what the selling club wants.

Is 45 half of 55? Maths ain't your strongest is it.

We never made an offer of 45 million and Leeds wanted 60-65 anyway it’s just that the player wanted to go to Barca.

I think we bid 30 million plus add ons lol at add ons, as if that will convince them for sure.

[Power n Glory]

We spent about 2 weeks on Raphina and swiftly moved on.

Martinez is one of a number of options. The club speak to more than 1 player, it's called... multitasking? Not even sure if the Martinez stuff is real or smokescreen tbh.

You said early that Raphinha was exactly what we needed. If that's the case, should the club have put more money up? Also, do you think we'll move for alternative winger with similar qualities since this isn't on the cards?