[SOLD] Luis Suarez

Not how it works though. There are so many examples of players forcing moves. Once they decide they're going, it's a case of trying to maximise the money you can get. This happens with players that have played for, and have a connection with, a club, let alone someone that's probably never even set foot in Hertfordshire.

I have no doubt he would've been part of our squad in the Premier League but gross mismanagement from our owner and the club hierarchy have meant that's not an option. Why should he put his career on hold for a club that means nothing to him at a time when his stock may never be higher?

 

Agreed. If there is any interest in him from La Liga, he will go I'm sure of it. We will just have to get the best deal we can for him. I guess the At Madrid interest is what he was tweeting about so excitedly earlier ?

 

Exactly. We'll tell him to play at Sevilla or Athetico Madrid and he's just going to have to damn well like it.

 

And yet we have seemingly let Marseille ‘poach’ one of our players with no comment.

 

Brilliant. So even if he isn’t leaving, he’s in Spain so has to quarantine when he gets to the UK. As I said elsewhere, given the short pre-season, as a club we really should have been better at making sure such situations don’t arise.

 

I think I had a Brian Clough moment earlier!

 

‘Pozzo model’ is turning into a joke to be honest

Spending money to buy top talents around the world who never actually end up playing for us is not delivering any enjoyment or satisfaction for Watford fans

It’s lovely having a roster of wonder kids on Wikipedia, yet when I actually turn up to Vicarage Road I still have to look at **** like Gray and Mariappa lumbering around

 

Turning into?

As far as Watford are concerned, the ‘model’ has been a myth. Sure we had Richarlison and Ighalo who turned big profit - but that’s over 6-7 years. Most clubs in the top division have produced at least two players who went for big money - does everyone laud over their models?

Burnley have sold Gray, Keane - and could sell Pope, Tarkowski and McNeil for fortunes. Does everyone talk about the ‘Mike Garlick’ model?

 

So our fans keep saying about all of our players, this isn't Football Manager. If a player doesn't want to play they won't, they know they can get a move/loan elsewhere and will push it through. The next few weeks is going to be a bit of a reality check for our more naive fans who have been chomping at every PR statement the club has made over the last few years about not selling players unless we want to etc.

 

"Spending money" - the likes of Suarez, Cucho and Pervis probably cost us peanuts tbf.

 

The 'model' was always over-hyped anyway. Although I'm generally pro-Pozzo I've said that since before promotion. You'd think it was some kind of sorcery the way some wide-eyed people go on about it.

The cruel twist this year though is that the first time it's potentially paid off and delivered 2 or 3 PL quality players we've vacated our PL place and are basically powerless to stop them slipping through our grasp.

 

This.

 

Yes, they could earn him a lot of dough. I'm sure I've heard pundits going on about "Garlick bread" before.


(Don't worry, I'll ban myself)

 

The truth about the model is that it was something that existed in the past, and it was based entirely on sending a legion of scouts to lesser South American countries and venues that most other clubs weren't paying any attention to, thereb managing to identify and scoop talent from them without anyone else interjecting. As we know, these days that isn't a set of circumstances that exist to be exploited, and any top team can do half their scouting on Football Manager if they like. That advantage is therefore completely lost, and it comes back round to merely hoping and attempting to identify young talent early enough and take a risk that pays off; just like any other team.

In terms of Suarez, do we have any guarantee that the picture featured in the tweet was taken at the time of the tweet being posted?

Could this tweet also not just be a general 'motivational' one from an agent, like football agents are inclined to do? 'Started from the bottom now we here' type ********, you know the drill. It's surely a possibility, and tone is hard enough to derive through text to begin with, let alone when it's in a foreign language.

 

Think people may be reading a little much into the agents original tweet.

He's since tweeted...

Para nada..pero ese es sueño q tiene él,jugar en Primera y debutar algún día en competiciones europeas y ha sido error mío el escribirlo,no quería molestar a ningún club ni a nadie!!
Translated from Spanish by
Not at all ... but that is his dream, to play in the First Division and make his debut in European competitions one day and it was my mistake to write it, I did not want to disturb any club or anyone!

Guess we just need to wait and see really on this one. Sounds more like a here is my client, he is chasing his dreams of europe tweet. Which upset Watford.

I suspect he'll be here this season.

 

Oh yes...the lost in translation tactic. It was quite clear that he has arranged something big for his client, involving European football. Pleased to see a bit of backtracking, but not convinced by it.

 

Fair enough. Shame his dream isn't to be quarantined for 2 weeks and play second division football against Rotherham with Andre Gray.

 

That is his dream as well.......but I think in England you call that dream a "nightmare".

 

I don't think there is anything to the tweet. He is a young lad coming off the back of a decent season. You would be concerned if his ambition wasn't to play first division football and get into Europe.

Pretty sure we have done quite a bit of work with the agency this guy works for, so I suspect someone above has told him it was a bit unwise in the circumstances.

Watford are a step up on Zaragoza, and if he is offered the chance to lead the line for us, it would be a decent a forward step forward in his career.

 

The model was never intended to provide players to play for us ! It was to make money by picking up lots of cheap young talent and selling a few for megabucks, not to play for us. If player trading makes a profit then there's more cash to buy players for our team but it would always be rare that a player would be developed and ready to play for us at exactly the same time that we needed someone in that particular position.

 

In what sense are we a step up from Zaragoza? They’ve spent more years in the Spanish top flight than we have in the PL/Div 1. And they’ve won a major European trophy.

 

Fair point, but I think the Championship is a tougher league than the Spanish 2nd div. So I still think this is a step up for Suraez.

 

Atlético Madrid have targeted Luis Suárez should Diego Costa leave. Suárez would like to play in Spain next season. Watford's valuation is €50m. However, the club could sell at his current market price or loan with an option to buy. [
@mundodeportivo
] #watfordfc

There is no way Atletico are paying £50m for him. He'll stay.

 

Neither of those things matters much in the here and now though. If his aspiration is to play in the Premier League then I'd say Watford is far and away a step up even in the Championship. If he'd rather play in La Liga or Serie A then it's probably not.

 

So reading this thread he's both too good to ever play for us in the Championship and not good enough to score enough goals in the Championship?

Ok.

 

This. The Championship is clearly a step up from the Spanish Second Division. If he bangs in 20 goals and we don't get promoted, he'll be as good as gone.

 

Zaragoza are a big club historically. Did they win their playoff? Can't be bothered to check. My point is, the standard in the Championship is clearly higher than that of Spain's Div 2.

 

That is all history. They have been in the second division for 7 years now and haven't really looked likely to get promoted until this season.

Watford have spent the last 5 years in the top division and unless our owners make a total shambles of the transfer window should have a squad capable of being in with a shout for promotion.

He will be playing in a stronger side in a stronger division, which is what i meant by a step up. He is Colombian, I doubt he gives a **** Zaragoza won the cup winners cup 30 years ago.

 

Zaragoza didn't score in the 2 legs and so lost 0-1 to Elche. Wonder if their key striker was out ?

 

Have Zaragoza got any decent players we could nick?

 

Naughty Gino.

 

I’m comfortable in believing that if he had a straight choice for next season - Zaragoza or Watford - that he’d stay there. Whereas Cucho said a few times that he’d like to play for us etc, I don’t believe Suarez made any such comments. In fact, there were numerous articles last season where he repeatedly said he’d finish the season and weight up his options.

I’d love him to come to us. He’s contracted to at the very least so that is the default situation. But this has all the hallmarks of the Lukebakio situation for me - I’ll be amazed if Suarez plays for us.

 

Just playing catch up with what's gone on this morning and I'm a bit confused.

Earlier in the week and even before that Suarez was a target for several clubs and Watfords valuation seemed set at £15m.

Now unless he's had surgery and had an extra leg added to increase both his speed and ability to get a wayward shot off, how is he now worth £50m?

 

50 mill? What moron made that up? The other one, the Barca one, might be up there but not our one. Anyone want to pay 50 mill for him snap their hands off. It’s a ‘go away’ price.