14 Jul 2026 23:40:40
The irony of the Barcola posts after the heat I got last week. He would be a terrible buy and would drowned in the Premier League.
All these World Cup "superstars" are eventually shown for what they are against greater opposition.
Recent biasy for a lot of World Cup players and yes I'll go there, that includes Bellingham too.
Against top opposition the cream gets skimmed and reality hits again.
I go of players entire season not a 6 week tournament mostly against extremely poor opposition in comparison to what players face week in, week out in England and Spain.
Remember, this generation of player is not of the
Quality from 10,20 years ago. A lot of World Cup "giants" have pretty sub standard first 11's.
Look at England btw. Who is coming behind Harry Kane? Where's the future great English no 9's?
15 Jul 2026 00:36:09
Barcola is a top player. He's proven it consistently over the last 3 years and one bad game changes very little in regards to my opinion.
15 Jul 2026 00:57:10
Agree with MK here, using one game to justify your opinion of a player is ironic when you mention recency bias and 'World Cup players', isn't that exactly what you're doing with your post about why you don't rate Barcola? I really hope you're not one of the ones that rated Diomande, because that would spell double trouble for you on the irony department.
? I agree he's not worth that sort of fee, but from our top targets he's the best option on paper and it isn't even close. Barcola has shown far greater ability than Diomande currently. The conversation might be different in 2-3 seasons, mind.
15 Jul 2026 03:27:03
So basically there is no one we should sign then?
15 Jul 2026 06:40:24
I see Barcola struggling in the prem. He needs space.
15 Jul 2026 07:16:36
Classy move to use your post to have a swipe at Bellingham.
The guy is dragging England through this tournament. Quite staggering.
15 Jul 2026 07:32:25
Not sold on Barcola at all. And that's not because of last night.
15 Jul 2026 09:23:56
Barcola is a no from me. Every time I've seen him play, he does nothing of note. Fast, I agree, but so was Alan Wells. Same with Diamonde. Surely there are decent wingers out there not costing 100 mill... For that price id want the finished article, not of what they could be.
15 Jul 2026 09:52:40
Stroms, I really rate Barcola and think he's at a similar stage in his career to Mane and Salah were just before we signed them; ready to explode and become world class.
I don't know what to think about the £100m price tag though. Maybe I'm old, but to me, players of that ilk should be £35-40m players, but if Elliott Anderson is £116m, then what do I know.
Because to me he's at a pretty similar level to Jordan Henderson when we signed him for about £20m!
I've decided to just not worry about the money side of things anymore. None of it makes any sense to me. If Tonali is worth £100m, then Barcola is too. It's just crazy that what used to be a £35-40m player is now costing nearly 3 times that much.
15 Jul 2026 10:41:24
Agree with that, MK, and I wasn't overly excited to see Mane and Salah play for us.
However, we had a great manager with a plan to utilise and optimise their talent.
I feel we are on the same path now.
Iraola is good at getting the most out of a team and individuals.
Imagine Barcola being improved to the same degree Semenyo was improved under Iraola.
15 Jul 2026 10:56:39
Exactly that, Ron.
For me, we already have 3 attackers who must start; Wirtz, Isak and Szoboszlai. Barcola comes in and completes that as a front 4. How the manager deploys them together in terms of formation and individual positions is quite simply not my concern.
I'm excited to see just what Iraola can do with 4 of the most supremely talented attacking players in world football.
15 Jul 2026 11:12:34
MKS, I disagree. Barcola is not a top player and is nowhere near the level Salah and esp. Mane was when they signed for us. What Mane was at the Saints is not what Barcola is for PSG. The guy doesn't even play that much for them cos Khavaraschelia (now he is a top player) and Doue are well ahead of him. Now Khavara at Napoli? Yeah, he was at Mane's level before we signed him. Sorry, Barcola ain't that. Doue isn't even that and he is better than Barcola, imo.
You may rate him high and all that, and that's fine as it is all about opinions.
However, let's not start comparing any Tom, Dick and Harry who can bang ball to Salah and esp. Mane before they came to us as beast cos a lot of them weren't.
Seriously, you got people out here comparing that scrub Yacuba Minteh to Mane at Southampton. No way that is a thing cos I remember what Mane was like at Saints and I don't have a short memory. So, I'm not having this comparison neither. We're gonna have to agree to disagree on this one, mate. And that's okay. Cheers, brother.
15 Jul 2026 12:49:47
MK, I know you watch other teams and players around the world more than me, just that the 10-odd times I've seen him, he has been very underwhelming, n I agree with you on the prices of players, bit of a joke now, maybe it's that what's putting me off.
15 Jul 2026 13:20:15
Well, for them to start, MK, surely Dom has to be on the right, surely, which I'm not totally against. Would whip top crosses into Isak and is a pressing machine, which is something we need on the wings. Oli, people shouldn't be comparing Mane to Minteh. When Sadio was Minteh's age he was still playing in the Austrian league.