Come on, Pep. Do the right thing.
It appears Ancelotti was openly talking about meeting Pepe's agents yesterday. So we have our work cut out for us. I'd love to have this guy. Him and Ceballos would represent the new dawn

Is there a reason why Napoli have been linked to almost every player on the planet this summer?

He's the profile of player we should be after: 22-24, has performed at a high level, but not yet snapped up by a giant.

Lilles president said napoli have offered the 80m they're asking for. Wouldn't go near him for that money

Yeah, fuck off with that.

you guys sound like my old man - talking about he bought his house for 1,000 pounds can't believe how much I paid for my house.

Your old man would be comparing what your house costs now to what his cost a long time ago, while I would rather spend 80m on something else than Pepe now. Is he a bigger talent than Ndombele? Not even close imo. 

Different beasts. Pepe just blows past fullbacks and creates for himself and sets others up. The dynamism he will add to our attack will lift us several levels. I'm comfortable with the additional money versus Ndombele because attackers cost significantly more than central midfielders. Just the state of the world.

Ndombele is overrated by you guys. Yes he’s a good mix of power and technique but he’s not elite technically and that power advantage he often sees will be negated in the Premiership

He’s not much better than Moussa Dembele

Not sure Pepe is as explosive as Zaha, would much rather Zaha tbh. Not to mention 8 of Pepe's goal came from the penalty spot. He would be golden for around £45m-£55m, anything above that then you should be paying for the finished product, which Pepe isn't

Claudius wrote:

Different beasts. Pepe just blows past fullbacks and creates for himself and sets others up. The dynamism he will add to our attack will lift us several levels. I'm comfortable with the additional money versus Ndombele because attackers cost significantly more than central midfielders. Just the state of the world.

Meh, that's probably how Barca justified Dembele and Coutinho. Instead that's 1/4 billion riding the bench often enough. The risk that these guys won't work out has to be taken into account and Pepe is anything but a sure thing.

goon wrote:

Claudius wrote:

Different beasts. Pepe just blows past fullbacks and creates for himself and sets others up. The dynamism he will add to our attack will lift us several levels. I'm comfortable with the additional money versus Ndombele because attackers cost significantly more than central midfielders. Just the state of the world.

Meh, that's probably how Barca justified Dembele and Coutinho. Instead that's 1/4 billion riding the bench often enough. The risk that these guys won't work out has to be taken into account and Pepe is anything but a sure thing.

All this is fair. But you have to accept the risk. You either buy Pepe when he's 19 or 20 and shell out the 10-20m then and deal with the bullshit and even bigger risk he doesn't pan out. Or you pay the big bucks now. Or sit on your duckets like Wenger and Law watching lesser men live their best lives. You choose. 

When paying 80m the risk shouldn't be as big as I think it is with Pepe.

Claudius wrote:

goon wrote:

Meh, that's probably how Barca justified Dembele and Coutinho. Instead that's 1/4 billion riding the bench often enough. The risk that these guys won't work out has to be taken into account and Pepe is anything but a sure thing.

All this is fair. But you have to accept the risk. You either buy Pepe when he's 19 or 20 and shell out the 10-20m then and deal with the bullshit and even bigger risk he doesn't pan out. Or you pay the big bucks now. Or sit on your duckets like Wenger and Law watching lesser men live their best lives. You choose. 

You're right, you have to assess it on a case by case basis really, but generally speaking if a 10-20m gamble doesn't work out, you'll probably be able to recoup most if not all of that, so the actual loss wouldn't be significant. If an £80m purchase turns out to be shit, someone somewhere will still be willing to pay 30m for him maybe, but that's still 50m lost compared to just 5-10m.

You also have to consider that the higher the profile the more you're simply paying for hype rather than anything tangible.

£20m - £40m - Upcoming talents with future value.
£40m - £60m - Ready to lead step up.
£60m - £80m+ - Sure things.

Like Ndombele, if he goes for anything less than £60m it's a good deal.

Ray wrote:

£20m - £40m - Upcoming talents with future value.
£40m - £60m - Ready to lead step up.
£60m - £80m+ - Sure things.

Like Ndombele, if he goes for anything less than £60m it's a good deal.

That's fair, but also adjust by position. Attackers are significantly more expensive than any other position. By some margin. Wouldn't be surprised if it's it 50-100%

Ray wrote:

£20m - £40m - Upcoming talents with future value.
£40m - £60m - Ready to lead step up.
£60m - £80m+ - Sure things.

Like Ndombele, if he goes for anything less than £60m it's a good deal.

Too simplistic. 

Position,  needs of the buying and selling team, and alternative options ( or lack thereof) in the market help dictate prices. 

Skeptical of Pepe. Good player, but I don't get that world class vibe from seeing him.

Ricky1985 wrote:

His brilliance is masked on limited viewing because he's got a slightly awkward style and is very one-footed when dribbling.

His sprint capacity and movement are elite; he has a nose for space and the timing of his runs are exceptional. His finishing is extremely good, potentially elite; he has great composure in the box, and the inside of his left foot is more reliable than anyone not named Lionel Messi. If he can improve his weaker foot, he'll be unstoppbale in front of goal. He also has a very good appreciation of runners, especially in counter-attack situations; the weight and timing of his passing is surprisingly good. Also a very good ball carrier in transition; box-to-box in the blink of an eye.

My reading of him, and where I think a coach at a top club will have to work with him, is his ability to play against teams camped in their own defensive third. The patience, the practiced patterns, tight-knit control and accurate passing that's needed; he hasn't faced these things before, and I think it will take him a while to work it out and become effective in these situstions. But he has the ball control, intelligence and skill to do it, and he'll be certified world class when he does.

All you had to say was that he can do the Laudrup dribble. I'm sold! Reminds me quite a lot of Yaya in his awkward style.

If you are to believe this, then Zaha is our second choice. We are keeping him warm in case we do not get Pep. But I believe none of this

I’d rather use the 70+m to sign Tierney and Zaha

you're not going to get Zaha and Tierney for _70m pounds

Ricky1985 wrote:

His brilliance is masked on limited viewing because he's got a slightly awkward style and is very one-footed when dribbling.

His sprint capacity and movement are elite; he has a nose for space and the timing of his runs are exceptional. His finishing is extremely good, potentially elite; he has great composure in the box, and the inside of his left foot is more reliable than anyone not named Lionel Messi. If he can improve his weaker foot, he'll be unstoppbale in front of goal. He also has a very good appreciation of runners, especially in counter-attack situations; the weight and timing of his passing is surprisingly good. Also a very good ball carrier in transition; box-to-box in the blink of an eye.

My reading of him, and where I think a coach at a top club will have to work with him, is his ability to play against teams camped in their own defensive third. The patience, the practiced patterns, tight-knit control and accurate passing that's needed; he hasn't faced these things before, and I think it will take him a while to work it out and become effective in these situstions. But he has the ball control, intelligence and skill to do it, and he'll be certified world class when he does.

This is a very good summary and pretty much agree. To put it simply, I think he is similar to Walcott except 3 times better at everything. His finishing in the box is impeccable and timing of his runs is very good. He is a very good counter attacking player but I would have reservations about him in a possession team like Wenger. Luckily we have moved away from that for a long time now and he will be a very useful outlet in our direct play.

Zaha is more of a explosive and chaos player, extremely good at dribbling but I am really sold on him by VAR alone. The amount of penalties he will win every season would be absurd when you slow it down on the screen everything will look like a pen in the PL. I just think you can't go wrong with Zaha with all his PL experience. 

Ricky1985 wrote:

My reading of him, and where I think a coach at a top club will have to work with him, is his ability to play against teams camped in their own defensive third.

That’s one of my many concerns with the Zaha deal. He’s been at his productive best in a team that allows him to play with total freedom, with little to no defensive responsibility, primarily on the counter. That’s not how we set up, not the same level of freedom or lack of responsibility he would have here.

Loads of talk about us being in for Pepe

Wonder if he’s the more attractive proposition to us because of his future resale value

Because he's going to be the better player.

That's debatable as, unlike Pepe, Zaha is Premiership proven.

Di marzio says we're 1st in the queue and his agents are pushing pepe to join us. Hm

Please let it be. I feel like cussing out some Pool assholes.
One key injury to either Salah or that tall bastard and we can finish ahead of them if we have Pep and Tierney. Even Mustafi will act right this season.

Bold Tone wrote:

That's debatable as, unlike Pepe, Zaha is Premiership proven.

To what extent? Up until last season he’s scored single figures and even last year he just about got 10. As an £60-80m player I’d say Zaha has a lot to prove.

I'd gladly suffer Mustafi for another season if we got Tierney and Pepe.

Come on Raul you dirty bastard.

MistaT wrote:

I’d rather use the 70+m to sign Tierney and Zaha

Id rather use it to get tierney and konate

Gazza M wrote:

Di marzio says we're 1st in the queue and his agents are pushing pepe to join us. Hm

If that’s true you have to hand it to Sanllehi, man is proving his worth. I guess nobody can resist those dulcet tones.

Clrnc wrote:

Ricky1985 wrote:

His brilliance is masked on limited viewing because he's got a slightly awkward style and is very one-footed when dribbling.

His sprint capacity and movement are elite; he has a nose for space and the timing of his runs are exceptional. His finishing is extremely good, potentially elite; he has great composure in the box, and the inside of his left foot is more reliable than anyone not named Lionel Messi. If he can improve his weaker foot, he'll be unstoppbale in front of goal. He also has a very good appreciation of runners, especially in counter-attack situations; the weight and timing of his passing is surprisingly good. Also a very good ball carrier in transition; box-to-box in the blink of an eye.

My reading of him, and where I think a coach at a top club will have to work with him, is his ability to play against teams camped in their own defensive third. The patience, the practiced patterns, tight-knit control and accurate passing that's needed; he hasn't faced these things before, and I think it will take him a while to work it out and become effective in these situstions. But he has the ball control, intelligence and skill to do it, and he'll be certified world class when he does.

This is a very good summary and pretty much agree. To put it simply, I think he is similar to Walcott except 3 times better at everything. His finishing in the box is impeccable and timing of his runs is very good. He is a very good counter attacking player but I would have reservations about him in a possession team like Wenger. Luckily we have moved away from that for a long time now and he will be a very useful outlet in our direct play.

Zaha is more of a explosive and chaos player, extremely good at dribbling but I am really sold on him by VAR alone. The amount of penalties he will win every season would be absurd when you slow it down on the screen everything will look like a pen in the PL. I just think you can't go wrong with Zaha with all his PL experience. 

The same can be said for Pepe last season.  At one point early on he'd scored more goals via penalties he'd won than via goals in open play.

goon wrote:

Gazza M wrote:

Di marzio says we're 1st in the queue and his agents are pushing pepe to join us. Hm

If that’s true you have to hand it to Sanllehi, man is proving his worth. I guess nobody can resist those dulcet tones.

Yep. Dimarzio has been scattergun with his info this window, but bouhafsi has at least confirmed we're one of the 4 that are in the frame

goon wrote:

Bold Tone wrote:

That's debatable as, unlike Pepe, Zaha is Premiership proven.

To what extent? Up until last season he’s scored single figures and even last year he just about got 10. As an £60-80m player I’d say Zaha has a lot to prove.

For the record, i prefer Pepe but know that many players joining the Premiership take a little while to get used to it. Of course nothing scientific and that's why i used the term "debatable".
With Zaha, we know exactly what we are getting and he should be good to go from the get-go.