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This is a new one on me, but apparently we are being snubbed for being too good a team for a player to join......................

Anderlecht youngster Dennis Praet has been linked with a £10 million move to Manchester City this month, but the Belgian midfielder is reported on Tuttomercatoweb.com to have declared that a move to a club of that size would not be in his best interests.

Praet, 20, has established himself as a regular in the Anderlecht side since making his first-team debut in September 2011, helping the club win three-straight Belgian Pro League titles thanks to his creative spark, as well as earning his first international cap in November.

With seven goals and nine assists in 26 total appearances this season, a number of big-name clubs are now reported to be chasing his signature, including Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle, as well as the Premier League champions, opening up the potential of a major bidding war in the near future.

A switch to the Etihad Stadium has even been mooted before the transfer window closes, but the in-demand prospect has suggested that he would rather join a mid-table side were he to make the jump to the English top-flight.

"I think for my development as a player I would be better off joining a medium sized team in a great league", he said.

If I go to Manchester, I would not have many chances to play."

Nevertheless, Praet’s agent does not seem to share that view, telling Sport Voetbal magazine in November that his client needs to test himself at a club like Arsenal as soon as possible.

"Dennis should go to a team where they play good football,” he said.

"He is not far from the level of a club like Arsenal, if they could give him a year's adjustment period.

SEE ALSO: Report: Arsenal monitoring unsettled Serie A star's situation

But I will never push a player in a direction of a transfer,” he added. “You can make a career of twenty years without a having a long term vision."

It therefore remains to be seen what Praet’s next destination will be but, given his clear talent, it shouldn’t be long before he is starring for one of Europe’s elite.

http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2015/01/ ... ster-city/?

The young lad seems quite sensible - prepared to take his career in stages

Nickyboy wrote:The young lad seems quite sensible - prepared to take his career in stages

Yes that's what i took from it too.

Just never thought i would hear those words spoken about us LOL,

It made me think who was the last player to leave us and go on to become a better player in terms of career progression achieve bigger things with another club?

CTID Hants wrote:

Nickyboy wrote:The young lad seems quite sensible - prepared to take his career in stages

Yes that's what i took from it too.

Just never thought i would hear those words spoken about us LOL,

It made me think who was the last player to leave us and go on to become a better player in terms of career progression achieve bigger things with another club?

Colin Hendry?

agent Vinny to call him ?

Actually this is the first sign we are getting it wrong.

The kid is dead right; 100% right.

If he signs for City, we won't play him, possibly ever. That will filter through to even the best kids in the world, until we start actually playing some kids in the team.

We don't have many more opportunities now this season, but it's time to start, or change the manager, next season.

smart kid

Ted Hughes wrote:Actually this is the first sign we are getting it wrong.

The kid is dead right; 100% right.

If he signs for City, we won't play him, possibly ever. That will filter through to even the best kids in the world, until we start actually playing some kids in the team.

We don't have many more opportunities now this season, but it's time to start, or change the manager, next season.

I hear you Ted, but I suspect that we will bring more youth into the team next season. Certainly we will not have the restrictions on squad players in Champions League and if we manage to actually get an easier group draw we could play them against the lower echelon clubs.

I think right now we have several players who are promised to be, at a minimum, rotation players and we are under a lot of pressure to win most competitions. The other issue is where some of our current "kids" fit into the team. If there is a place to get in it would seem to be on the right wing (possibly the left if you put nasri on the right), or either left or right back. Yaya isn't getting younger either, but we can barely afford to leave him out as can be evidenced by our performance this past weekend.

I feel the Count will get it right-er next season in this regard...unless he is out after the season as those "rumours" we read here are actually valid.

PrezIke wrote:

Ted Hughes wrote:Actually this is the first sign we are getting it wrong.

The kid is dead right; 100% right.

If he signs for City, we won't play him, possibly ever. That will filter through to even the best kids in the world, until we start actually playing some kids in the team.

We don't have many more opportunities now this season, but it's time to start, or change the manager, next season.

I hear you Ted, but I suspect that we will bring more youth into the team next season. Certainly we will not have the restrictions on squad players in Champions League and if we manage to actually get an easier group draw we could play them against the lower echelon clubs.

I think right now we have several players who are promised to be, at a minimum, rotation players and we are under a lot of pressure to win most competitions. The other issue is where some of our current "kids" fit into the team. If there is a place to get in it would seem to be on the right wing (possibly the left if you put nasri on the right), or either left or right back. Yaya isn't getting younger either, but we can barely afford to leave him out as can be evidenced by our performance this past weekend.

I feel the Count will get it right-er next season in this regard...unless he is out after the season as those "rumours" we read here are actually valid.

But fewer restrictions, means more chance of signing more players. Almost all the academy kids are available to play in all competitions right now, but we barely use any. Two or three more signings, means even less likelihood of a kid geting a game.

PrezIke wrote:
The other issue is where some of our current "kids" fit into the team. If there is a place to get in it would seem to be on the right wing (possibly the left if you put nasri on the right), or either left or right back.

Can I ask why you specifically mentioned right wing? I don't see any difference there, left or right. (well maybe if Kolarov is playing as he might need more help from his winger)

Moonchesteri wrote:

PrezIke wrote:
The other issue is where some of our current "kids" fit into the team. If there is a place to get in it would seem to be on the right wing (possibly the left if you put nasri on the right), or either left or right back.

Can I ask why you specifically mentioned right wing? I don't see any difference there, left or right. (well maybe if Kolarov is playing as he might need more help from his winger)

navas has gotten a lot of games this year and while i like what he offers (pace, crossing), as some have stated he sometimes feels like a "one trick pony." i think we could find a replacement or someone with other attributes that would elevate the team's performance (more creative, better finisher/passer) that might also suit the alleged formation (4-3-3) txiki wanted to implement, or at least offer a different kind of approach.

i don't really get a chance to watch our youth teams, so i'm sure someone could fill me in on what kind of formation we play. i recall txiki saying he wanted to employ the same tactics at each level of the club. do we do that now?

Ted Hughes wrote:

PrezIke wrote:

Ted Hughes wrote:Actually this is the first sign we are getting it wrong.

The kid is dead right; 100% right.

If he signs for City, we won't play him, possibly ever. That will filter through to even the best kids in the world, until we start actually playing some kids in the team.

We don't have many more opportunities now this season, but it's time to start, or change the manager, next season.

I hear you Ted, but I suspect that we will bring more youth into the team next season. Certainly we will not have the restrictions on squad players in Champions League and if we manage to actually get an easier group draw we could play them against the lower echelon clubs.

I think right now we have several players who are promised to be, at a minimum, rotation players and we are under a lot of pressure to win most competitions. The other issue is where some of our current "kids" fit into the team. If there is a place to get in it would seem to be on the right wing (possibly the left if you put nasri on the right), or either left or right back. Yaya isn't getting younger either, but we can barely afford to leave him out as can be evidenced by our performance this past weekend.

I feel the Count will get it right-er next season in this regard...unless he is out after the season as those "rumours" we read here are actually valid.

But fewer restrictions, means more chance of signing more players. Almost all the academy kids are available to play in all competitions right now, but we barely use any. Two or three more signings, means even less likelihood of a kid geting a game.

fair point. this could very well be the case, but next year our top academy players will be older and more experienced so one would hope that a few will get a real chance to prove themselves. we likely will sign more players, but some may be sold as well, and i am hopeful that a pozo or a lopes will get a few games next year if they do well enough in training/on loan.

we know pellers is under a lot of pressure to win the league this season and certainly perform well enough in the champions league to help with the club's reputation/global brand. now, why we played such a strong team in our last FA cup match is a key question to ask, but then look at the kind of performance we gave with nearly all first team players, and how frequently we seem to be complacent against weaker opponents. if you were him would you risk losing important games with academy kids with the way we seem to under perform in those circumstances?

the team needs to be consistently as good as possible while developing the brand of the club. that may be part of what is driving team selection or perhaps the appointment of pellegrini if txiki knew he chooses his teams this way.

many of our future signings seem likely to be driven towards getting us younger given the age of most of our first team/rotation players. that may mean some academy players could get pushed out, but as we can see, our manager does not choose players he feels are not good enough. if you do not live up to expectations then you will not get in the side. he wants his players to get their place through competition. januzaj is experiencing this with lvg now, but our managers' are stubborn about this thing. arguably that's partially why they have had past success (wait i take that back about lvg...haha). regardless, i think it's pretty clear that this challenge is the struggle for our top academy players...for now.

end of epic newish-comer essay...

Ted Hughes wrote:Actually this is the first sign we are getting it wrong.

The kid is dead right; 100% right.

If he signs for City, we won't play him, possibly ever. That will filter through to even the best kids in the world, until we start actually playing some kids in the team.

We don't have many more opportunities now this season, but it's time to start, or change the manager, next season.

Good to see mate, let's change the manager because he won't play a kid instead of a (Edit: 25 million) Jovetic time a player!

Let's face it, they can't do any worse!

PrezIke wrote:

Moonchesteri wrote:

PrezIke wrote:
The other issue is where some of our current "kids" fit into the team. If there is a place to get in it would seem to be on the right wing (possibly the left if you put nasri on the right), or either left or right back.

Can I ask why you specifically mentioned right wing? I don't see any difference there, left or right. (well maybe if Kolarov is playing as he might need more help from his winger)

navas has gotten a lot of games this year and while i like what he offers (pace, crossing), as some have stated he sometimes feels like a "one trick pony." i think we could find a replacement or someone with other attributes that would elevate the team's performance (more creative, better finisher/passer) that might also suit the alleged formation (4-3-3) txiki wanted to implement, or at least offer a different kind of approach.

i don't really get a chance to watch our youth teams, so i'm sure someone could fill me in on what kind of formation we play. i recall txiki saying he wanted to employ the same tactics at each level of the club. do we do that now?

433 usually.

Navas is a good example.

Imo, he is doing a great job for City & is very underrated, but there was absolutely no reason to start him v Sheffield Wed. Coming off the bench if needed with 30 mins to go, when their legs are tired, he would be a real threat to win us the game, so we would lose nothing by starting a kid in the team rather than him.

PrezIke wrote:

Moonchesteri wrote:

PrezIke wrote:
The other issue is where some of our current "kids" fit into the team. If there is a place to get in it would seem to be on the right wing (possibly the left if you put nasri on the right), or either left or right back.

Can I ask why you specifically mentioned right wing? I don't see any difference there, left or right. (well maybe if Kolarov is playing as he might need more help from his winger)

navas has gotten a lot of games this year and while i like what he offers (pace, crossing), as some have stated he sometimes feels like a "one trick pony."

i think he's played the most matches overall of anyone in our squad

Ted Hughes wrote:

PrezIke wrote:

Ted Hughes wrote:Actually this is the first sign we are getting it wrong.

The kid is dead right; 100% right.

If he signs for City, we won't play him, possibly ever. That will filter through to even the best kids in the world, until we start actually playing some kids in the team.

We don't have many more opportunities now this season, but it's time to start, or change the manager, next season.

I hear you Ted, but I suspect that we will bring more youth into the team next season. Certainly we will not have the restrictions on squad players in Champions League and if we manage to actually get an easier group draw we could play them against the lower echelon clubs.

I think right now we have several players who are promised to be, at a minimum, rotation players and we are under a lot of pressure to win most competitions. The other issue is where some of our current "kids" fit into the team. If there is a place to get in it would seem to be on the right wing (possibly the left if you put nasri on the right), or either left or right back. Yaya isn't getting younger either, but we can barely afford to leave him out as can be evidenced by our performance this past weekend.

I feel the Count will get it right-er next season in this regard...unless he is out after the season as those "rumours" we read here are actually valid.

But fewer restrictions, means more chance of signing more players. Almost all the academy kids are available to play in all competitions right now, but we barely use any. Two or three more signings, means even less likelihood of a kid geting a game.

I hear what you are saying Ted but how many of the top teams play their youngsters in the top competitions really?

He should do what every other player does and do wtf his agent tells him!!