Other Clubs' Transfers

Forcing a coach to stay would be foolish especially a whiner like Conte

He’ll burn the building down to leave

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Conte is leaving, either in summer or next season but he is not staying

That’s what I want to happen. :grinning:

United is really the only place he could go. Nobody else will want to spend £100m on him, and on top of that, nobody else desperately needs him. Madrid and Barca aren’t interested.

I do want him to leave this summer though. Spurs go down a whole tier without him.

Not sure about that, next summer he has 1 year left on his contract, and at that point if he refused to sign a new deal I reckon they’d take £50m plus for him rather than let him leave for nothing.

I think there would be plenty of interest in a (just turned) 30 year old Kane for that price if the striker market is anything like it is now. He’s the kind of player that doesn’t rely on his speed so can see him going on until 34/35+

It wouldn’t surprise me if someone bought him for that figure at age 30 but it would be a hell of a gamble, especially given the wages he will ask.

The PL is by far the most physically demanding league and forward is the position that ages worst as you need that burst of speed and ability to be decisive in split seconds.

If you look at the top 20 or so forwards in PL history who spent most of their career in the league, basically every single one except Jamie Vardy (who had a very odd career trajectory) declined significantly somewhere between the ages of 29-31, in terms of their effectiveness, their consistency in availability, or both. Kane is a special player but a lot of these other guys (Shearer, Henry, Rooney, Van Persie, Sanchez, Drogba, Van Nistelrooy, Aguero, Cole, Hasselbaink) were special players too and age caught up to them all. Some were still good players but none were at the level of their peak roughly age 24-29.

How about a 37 year old Ronaldo who used to rely on his pace/dribbling? More of a change to his game than it will be for Kane.
Appreciate he’s not your average player and he hasn’t been brilliant this season, but I’d argue he’s been above average in a team of very expensive Man U players significantly younger than him…

I also look at that list of names you’ve given and not sure I’d class any as having a similar playing style to Kane, in terms of being good in the air, strong and creative. Some had one or 2 of those attributes, but don’t think any had all 3, which is why I think he’s a lot less reliant on pace than the others were.

I didn’t start properly following football until after some of these players were at the end of their careers, so could be wrong

Also worth considering that all managers that coached Kane have given him huge praise for his work ethic.
Could very well see Kane performing at a top level for the 3-4 years if he doesn’t suffer any major injuries.

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Ronaldo is good but definitely nowhere near the player he used to be.

I think people often talk themselves into the idea that certain profiles of players will age better or worse but there isn’t a lot of evidence for it. Vardy is probably the striker who has aged best in the PL in the last 10-15 years and he is exactly the type of player people commonly think won’t age very well (ie, extremely dependent on pace and a burst of speed). Robin Van Persie, on the other hand, had lots of characteristics people commonly think will make a striker age well, and he basically fell off a cliff at age 30.

It’s that slightly vacant look in his eyes combined with his slackjawed face.

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But Kane hasn’t had to spend his career lifting heavy trophies, so he’s a lot fitter than them. :grinning:

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Tbf, those were different times.
Recent examples show guys like Ronaldo, Benzema and Lewa reach an even higher level in their 30s.

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The PL is a different beast, its much easier to age gracefully elsewhere where the game is slower, the players less physical and athletic, and the weather much better.

Even Ronaldo, who has done very well overall, has looked absolutely cooked at times playing in England. And even in his best moments he is nowhere near his prior level.

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Well, Ronaldo is in his late thirties. He’s 10 years older than Kane and is the 3rd top goalscorer in the PL while also having a crucial role in Man Utd’s run in the CL. He didn’t miss many games either as we initially expected when he signed.
They also have a different play style. Kane doesn’t rely on his athleticism that much which will come in handy.
Granted, Ronaldo might not be a good example because he really is a freak of nature and we haven’t seen him in his second season, probably won’t happen as things stand.

We do have the example of Cavani who pretty much collapsed in his second season here.

I guess we’ll see how Kane fares in his 30s. Hopefully it’s not at Spurs unless he actually declines. :rofl:

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Squads are deeper now and 5 subs. Replays gone from cup competition so a lot of those players your using as an example played more games.
Less contact in the game too. Sports science improvement and genetics on different nationalities could well alter this thinking from now on.

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All that is definitely plausible, improvements in sports science in particular. On the other hand, the PL game is arguably played at a faster/more intense pace now than it was 20 or even 10 years ago. The demands on players athletically and physically are relentless.

I’m not saying you can’t be a very good player past 30 but I think forwards really do age the worst and sometimes what decline means is being able to play only 20-25 league games at a top level rather than 35-38 every year.

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Excellent move for him @SRCJJ

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Bayernliga gonna Bayernliga

We just need to hurry up and sack our coach so Mazraoui can return to the national team

Frenkie, Nunez, Richarlison and Pau Torres would be a very good window for United