Summer 2019 Transfer Thread

[Lycan]

I think everyone here is in agreement that we'd be fools not to pay the agreed price for Jiménez.

He's been excellent for us.

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

Greetings from Lisbon, I come in peace lol :shakehand:
I was curious about the Jimenez situation, the supporters' opinion about him, etc, so I decided to join your forum.

The fee is €38 million, so "only" £32.5 million at the current exchange rate (Brexit may or may not significantly change this). You paid £2.55 for the loan.
Considering the positive season he is having, if Wolves don't active the £32M buy option, it's very unlikely Benfica would sell it to Wolves. As a matter of principle, and to discourage similar situations in the future with other clubs, we would probably be willing to accept a bit less money from another club instead of selling to Wolves, if you let the buy option expire. It's kinda the same logic why you shouldn't pay ransoms, if you pay once you will be targeted again in the future. There's also the realistic option of Benfica keeping him (especially if we qualify directly to the CL), we will need a new striker, assuming one of our best ones will retire at the end of the season, due to chronic back injuries. The previous manager, with whom Jimenez didn't play as much as he wanted, was sacked a few months go.

So basically if Wolves don't active the buy option, the probability of Jimenez returning to Wolves would be very slim.
Good luck for the rest of the season, especially the FA Cup

(btw, I made a typo when I typed the username too fast, it should have been Benfica1904, any way this can be changed? )

Welcome to the Forum! We have a few other SLB fans on here already, who have taken me to games at da Luz and been to Molineux too. I love Lisbon.

 

[jdrodrigues]

Ah, a fellow Portugueezer lad, and benfiquista to boot too. Welcome mate!

Like the rest said, we'll probably end up buying him through activating the clause. Absolute steal at that price. We shouldn't be able to find a striker with PL experience, and proven quality, for the price.

He fits the system like a glove and his partnership with Jota is astounding.

 

[b3h]

his partnership with Jota is astounding.

They're bringing back the ol' 1-2!

 

[Benfica1904]

Thanks everyone! Ah, more portuguese users, there's always a few of us everywhere haha
And special thanks to whoever sorted my username

It's funny because at the start of the season I thought Jimenez's price was too high, and because of that Wolves would not be interested in signing him, or would want a big discount. The main reason is that strikers coming from the portuguese league usually struggle in other leagues (especially the PL), due to the characteristics of our football, how 3 teams dominate possession in most games and create a lot of chances, etc. Other positions are often good value for money, but strikers need to be approached with caution (Slimani and Ricky Van Wolfswinkel the most recent ones who failed in the PL).

But Jimenez proved me wrong and I'm happy for that. He was always a lot more hardworking than all of those who failed.

If you win the FA Cup you should all celebrate by coming to Lisbon to celebrate Benfica's potential (knock on wood) league title. Insert "Yo dawg I heard you like celebrations..." meme

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

Thanks everyone! Ah, more portuguese users, there's always a few of us everywhere haha
And special thanks to whoever sorted my username

It's funny because at the start of the season I thought Jimenez's price was too high, and because of that Wolves would not be interested in signing him, or would want a big discount. The main reason is that strikers coming from the portuguese league usually struggle in other leagues (especially the PL), due to the characteristics of our football, how 3 teams dominate possession in most games and create a lot of chances, etc. Other positions are often good value for money, but strikers need to be approached with caution (Slimani and Ricky Van Wolfswinkel the most recent ones who failed in the PL).

But Jimenez proved me wrong and I'm happy for that. He was always a lot more hardworking than all of those who failed.

If you win the FA Cup you should all celebrate by coming to Lisbon to celebrate Benfica's potential (knock on wood) league title. Insert "Yo dawg I heard you like celebrations..." meme

I said the exact same to jrodrigues back in Nov, before Raul really kicked into gear. When we played 3-4-3 earlier in the season, he was up top on his own chasing balls into the channels and often ended up out of position. Now we have shifted position to a 5-2-1-2, he has the partnership with Jota and their link up play has been phenomenal. I would now gladly pay the asking price for Raul as he has shown that he is a complete striker in a front 2.

 

[Benfica1904]

Very similar to his Benfica days. Up top on his own and sometimes he would end up almost playing as a winger, away from the penalty area, never really understood if that was manager's orders or not. With another striker the whole attack would be much more effective.

 

[Banjo]

Raul and Jota do so much more work than an old-fashioned front two though. They are both comfortable out wide, both comfortable tracking back and challenging for the ball and they are both incredible at finding each other in tight spaces when we break. Jota's goal against Cardiff and Raul's goal against Chelsea were really good examples of this.

 

[Alan]

To be fair to Jiminez I think he would have done a bit better in the 3-4-3 if our wingers had offered more than fuck all at the time.

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

Bit harsh?

Apart from Doherty's poor crossing, I dont think our wingers were the problem, it was our midfield

 

[b3h]

Around the time any suggestions that Saiss be brought in to the middle were met with "clogger!"

Low and behold we do add a more physical player and go to a 3 rather than a 2

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Bit harsh?

Apart from Doherty's poor crossing, I dont think our wingers were the problem, it was our midfield

Didn't it get somewhere around 10 games before Jota or Costa had registered either a goal or assist between them at the start of the season? Their output was appalling to begin with when playing 343, the midfield generally weren't having much problem getting a foothold in games aside from when Watford and Huddersfield rocked up with bespoke strategies to smother them.

 

[Alan]

Bit harsh?

Apart from Doherty's poor crossing, I dont think our wingers were the problem, it was our midfield

Maybe a bit, but such was the level of my annoyance at them.

We may as well have been playing a 3-4-1 at some points. The midfield became an issue after a bit but as Mark says it was ages before any of our forwards notched a goal or assist. I think Adama's goal against West Ham was the first goal or assist between the four of them?

 

[jdrodrigues]

Maybe a bit, but such was the level of my annoyance at them.

We may as well have been playing a 3-4-1 at some points. The midfield became an issue after a bit but as Mark says it was ages before any of our forwards notched a goal or assist. I think Adama's goal against West Ham was the first goal or assist between the four of them?

Think so yeah. What a mess. This new system is much better overall, imo

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

In fairness West Ham was only the fourth game of the season (unless we're counting cups, in which case Costa scored at Sheff Wed before then).

Jota wasn't fit at the start of the season, he has said so. Cav didn't even play until the end of September (and scored with his first touch).

 

[Kenny]

Wingers doing fuck all
Midfield offering nothing
A mess

Did imagine us being a mid table team before the formation change?

 

[Banjo]

I assume the reference to 'wingers' is our wide forwards in the front three, in which case they definitely did not contribute enough to justify playing three up front (irrespective of when one of them first scored/assisted). That was the main difference as compared to last season - our wide forwards just weren't contributing enough at the start of this season.

We've effectively sacrificed an under performing Costa / inconsistent Cav / [insert adjective] Traore with an extra CM and it's worked wonders. But the main reason it works is because of Jota and Raul, who are such hard workers as well as incredibly gifted players.

 

[Premier Quality]

Diogo was poor for the first part of the season before he was rested, presumably because of injury. Helder was awful and contributed nothing at all. The system may have worked better if those two had been in better form, but the change to 3 in midfield and Jota’s return to form has made a massive difference.

 

[Kenny]

They contributed just in other areas. Jota and Costa worked their nuts off helping the team but in the areas where it properly mattered their contribution is not what we expected. Despite that, we were doing fine until the nightmare week v Huddersfield & Cardiff.

That week turned out to be a blessing though.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

It was Watford that was the blessing. Their midfield blew us away and showed how to beat Neves / Moutinho as a two. We HAD to change at that point. And lo and behold there was Leander Dendoncker who turned out to be an absolute fucking God.