Arturo Vidal

[DonAK]

Yeah completely disagree on that one but to each their own.

I wouldn't be against benching Rakitic more often if so then it should be 100% Arthur to take his spot and not old Vidal.

- Vidal is quicker and more mobile

- He's as good technical as Rakitic and a more creative passer, you can check this out

- He's more physical than Rakitic and a more aggressive player and as good defensively

- Vidal is a true Box-to-Box midfielder while Rakitic is not

And Barca cannot play with two players playing like a DM. We need a faster, more mobile midfield that can cope in high intensity CL games. Vidal beats Rakitic out there.

Rakitic is a very good player, but Vidal is easily the better player IMO, IF he's fully fit and focused.

Vidal able to play well defensively and cover space efficiently and quickly means we can easily play Coutinho in the MF and not be exposed defensively.

 

[Jombi]

Here is a list of players who signed when they were 30+

Vidal is #16 on the list. He's cheaper than Mathieu and costs the same as Bravo. €18m is a good price.

Good list. 30 is different from 31 though. At that age, it can be the difference between dividing up the transfer fee into one or two good seasons, a 50% difference. Also take into account Vidal had a year left on the contract. Notice that almost none are 32 on that list, the big majority are 30 and goalies are seen as playing at a significantly older age than others so clubs pay more for that. Pretty certain we paid 17m for Mathieu and Vidal is 21m though.

 

[Vilarrubi]

Have we got an official price [MENTION=16751]Devils[/MENTION] seeing different prices reported and even undisclosed?

 

[DonAK]

Have we got an official price @Devils seeing different prices reported and even undisclosed?

You'll prob have to wait until his presentation to find that out.

 

[JamDav1982]

Good list. 30 is different from 31 though. At that age, it can be the difference between dividing up the transfer fee into one or two good seasons, a 50% difference. Also take into account Vidal had a year left on the contract. Notice that almost none are 32 on that list, the big majority are 30 and goalies are seen as playing at a significantly older age than others so clubs pay more for that.

So if Vidal was a couple months younger this would be a good deal?

Goalies also go for less in the market.

Higuain is less than 7 months older than Vidal and going for 36m.

Too fixated on this number of 31.

 

[Devils]

Have we got an official price [MENTION=16751]Devils[/MENTION] seeing different prices reported and even undisclosed?

All I'm seeing is 18-19m + some variables to 21m max.

That a bunch of people wondering how we got him for so cheap.

 

[Hamzah]

Actually 30-33 is the peak of a players career

 

[Devils]

TransferMarkt, who has a tendency to value players below what they actually sell for IRL, values Vidal currently at 35m

https://www.transfermarkt.com/arturo-vidal/profil/spieler/37666

We got him for nearly 1/2 that price.

Really Incredible business.

 

[jairzinho]

Doubtful to be honest. I think Valverde sees it as way too risky and weak defensively. Malcom/Dembele are not midfielders.

We lack a proper left sided midfielder. That's why EV wanted Willian for his 4-4-2 setup. I think EV will try to fit either Malcolm/Dembele at LM. Can't see Vidal playing there on a permanent basis as his natural position is more inside.

 

[xXKonan]

If Valverde was miffed about us selling Paulinho, He will be much happier with Vidal if he stays healthy and focus.

While Paulinho is healthier and a year younger. Vidal however is a massive upgrade in a number of crucial areas such as technicality and positional discipline, especially both Technicality and Positional discipline.

I like Paul but he was a chaotic player that is useful pushed forward than being stuck in the Midfield here due to his lack of technicality and positional awareness. Vidal will bring both to the table and it will certainly make Valverde happy in that regard.

 

[Donauwelle]

He always played but also there were always reports about him having problems, having a lot of little issues here and there in training etc so i guess people just assume that he's injury prone as in missing many games.

He didn't miss many games but these stats make it look better than it is, him staying healthy (really healthy) and in good physical form is a real concern imo.

No. The real concern is to have him motivated in the small matches. He sometimes needs a kick in the ass. And a coach that likes discipline. He can live with that - problem is when you let him too much freedom. Prior to this injury he was still very fast for a midfielder.

He is very popular with all of his teammates. You can expect that at Barcelona, too.

 

[wisconsincule]

Gotta say I am very impressed with how we’ve been doing business. No mention or link to the guy. He’s rumored to another club and bam we sign him. Very smart by our board. This way we aren’t getting fucked and overpaying. Let another club dictate the price and we just have to slightly better it and the player is likely to join us as we are Barca. Honestly this is how we should do business going forward. It’s nice not having the media drama involved and it just shows that 75% of the time these papers are just spewing shit to generate clicks.

 

[Donatello]

Matuidi had 10 months left on his contract and he went for €20 million. Nainggolan went for 40m and he's only 1 year younger. Bonucci is 32 and he went for €35m

18m is a good price. Especially when you realize his market value is double that.

Matuidi was a bargain at 20M..

 

[Jombi]

I looked through this fascinating list https://www.transfermarkt.com/trans...elerposition_id=&altersklasse=o30&leihe=&w_s=

and among the top 25 most expensive players 30 years or older, not a single outfield player is 32 years old or older. Except Ronaldo at the very top. The vast majority are 30 and some 31. So not even clubs with big oil money or in China spend big on those players at that age which is even abit surprising to me.

Actually 30-33 is the peak of a players career

no it isnt.

 

[Messi983]

A 27 year old dude who is supposed to be in his prime and has never made 20 league goals once in a single season.

I don't think he's good enough for us tbh.

Not many players outside of the big 3 clubs are capable of scoring 20+ league goals.

I'm not saying we should sign Rodrigo though. He had by far his best season last year with 16 league goals but he only scored 10 league goals combined in previous 3 seasons for Valencia. It's true the whole club was a mess for most of that time with coaches like Gary Neville and Rodrigo was used more as a winger than a strker but his goal scoring record was still far from good enough.