Douglas Costa touches down in Torino
MediaBayern’s Brazilian winger has found greener pastures south of the Alps.Yesterday evening, Douglas Costa flew to Torino, Italy, in anticipation of his medical examination and presentation by his new club, Juventus Turin. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had indicated on Monday that talks with Juventus were drawing to a close.The beans - or should I say fagioli - were spilled by an old friend, Medhi Benatia, who tweeted a welcome message to his fratel(l)o before Juventus itself had made any announcement:Welcome to Torino fratelo @douglascosta ⚪️⚫️ #forzajuve #OnEstLarge http://pic.twitter.com/Y5pmW2jzBN— MBenatia5 (@MedhiBenatia) July 11, 2017Costa touched down at the Torino-Caselle airport later that evening, as reports in Italian media confirmed the deal, and Juventus live-tweeted Costa’s arrival, bidding him welcome in his new sporting home.The transaction is a tidy bit of business for Bayern. Juventus are reportedly taking Costa on loan for a fee of €6 million with an obligatory option to buy for a fee of €40 million, bringing the total price to €46 million with the majority to be paid next year.That price falls much closer to Bayern’s initial asking price of €50 million than to Juventus’s reported offer of €35 million - a mere €5 million more than what Bayern paid Shakhtar Donetsk in 2015. That total of €46 million neatly offsets the €45.2 that Bayern will pay Real Madrid over the next two years for James Rodriguez.@douglascosta è a Torino ⚪⚫ http://pic.twitter.com/fg0b1dVAYk— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) July 11, 2017The Douglas Costa experiment at Bayern Munich has thus come to a close. Costa dazzled the Bundesliga in his first half-season, winning recognition by his peers as “player of the Hinrunde” 2015/16. He struggled to recapture that magic thereafter.In his two seasons with Bayern, Costa played in 77 games, scored 14 goals and provided 27 assists across competitions. After playing a grand total of 3,408 minutes under Pep Guardiola, Costa saw his playing time shrink dramatically to 1,925 minutes under Carlo Ancelotti.That late resurgence of both Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben no doubt played a major part in Costa’s decision to seek playing time elsewhere. Costa now will take his chances with la Vecchia Signora in white and black. Alles Gute, Douglas!more...
MediaBayern’s Brazilian winger has found greener pastures south of the Alps.Yesterday evening, Douglas Costa flew to Torino, Italy, in anticipation of his medical examination and presentation by his new club, Juventus Turin. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had indicated on Monday that talks with Juventus were drawing to a close.The beans - or should I say fagioli - were spilled by an old friend, Medhi Benatia, who tweeted a welcome message to his fratel(l)o before Juventus itself had made any announcement:Welcome to Torino fratelo @douglascosta ⚪️⚫️ #forzajuve #OnEstLarge http://pic.twitter.com/Y5pmW2jzBN— MBenatia5 (@MedhiBenatia) July 11, 2017Costa touched down at the Torino-Caselle airport later that evening, as reports in Italian media confirmed the deal, and Juventus live-tweeted Costa’s arrival, bidding him welcome in his new sporting home.The transaction is a tidy bit of business for Bayern. Juventus are reportedly taking Costa on loan for a fee of €6 million with an obligatory option to buy for a fee of €40 million, bringing the total price to €46 million with the majority to be paid next year.That price falls much closer to Bayern’s initial asking price of €50 million than to Juventus’s reported offer of €35 million - a mere €5 million more than what Bayern paid Shakhtar Donetsk in 2015. That total of €46 million neatly offsets the €45.2 that Bayern will pay Real Madrid over the next two years for James Rodriguez.@douglascosta è a Torino ⚪⚫ http://pic.twitter.com/fg0b1dVAYk— JuventusFC (@juventusfc) July 11, 2017The Douglas Costa experiment at Bayern Munich has thus come to a close. Costa dazzled the Bundesliga in his first half-season, winning recognition by his peers as “player of the Hinrunde” 2015/16. He struggled to recapture that magic thereafter.In his two seasons with Bayern, Costa played in 77 games, scored 14 goals and provided 27 assists across competitions. After playing a grand total of 3,408 minutes under Pep Guardiola, Costa saw his playing time shrink dramatically to 1,925 minutes under Carlo Ancelotti.That late resurgence of both Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben no doubt played a major part in Costa’s decision to seek playing time elsewhere. Costa now will take his chances with la Vecchia Signora in white and black. Alles Gute, Douglas!more...
<a href="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mvOfYP5i1mbN_JzK0q_-bc-6Kgs=/0x0:3543x2362/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68903409/1303556769.0.jpg">Juventus v FC Crotone - Serie A</a>Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty ImagesThis might be the cap on one of the worst seasons in club history — if not Bundesliga history.It’s been an awful season for fans of the Gelsenkirchen club FC Schalke 04. Just a few years ago the club was competing with <a href="https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com">Bayern Munich</a> and <a href="https://www.fearthewall.com">Borussia Dortmund</a> on the European stage. Now, the team is destined for relegation amidst a tumultuous season.And now comes the icing on this dumpster fire cake.One of Schalke’s best players in the last three years - American midfielder Weston McKennie — has officially had his option-to-buy rights executed by his current club, Italian giants <a href="https://www.blackwhitereadallover.com">Juventus</a>.This was reported on by Fabrizio Romano, and confirmed by both clubs:Official | Option rights executed for <a href="https://twitter.com/WMckennie?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WMckennie</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FinoAllaFine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FinoAllaFine</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ForzaJuve?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ForzaJuve</a>— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) <a href="https://twitter.com/juventusfcen/status/1367102949751730185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2021</a>For all of your work in 0️⃣4️⃣ years at Schalke, we say:
THANK YOU, WES! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SchalkeUs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SchalkeUs</a> <a href="https://t.co/XGfHovrMYw">pic.twitter.com/XGfHovrMYw</a>— Schalke 04 USA (@s04_us) <a href="https://twitter.com/s04_us/status/1367107460243345409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2021</a>The fee coming back to the <em>Königsblauen</em> is reportedly around €18.5 million (roughly $22.3 million USD or £15.9 million). According to Romano, there are about €6.5 million worth of fees that could kick in if conditions are met during McKennie’s career.Confirmed. Juventus have exercised the buy option for Weston McKennie from Schalke for €18.5 million, payable in three years. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Juve?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Juve</a>
The value may increase up to additional € 6.5 million on achieving given conditions over the course of the duration of the contract. <a href="https://t.co/lsmOVv2DJe">https://t.co/lsmOVv2DJe</a>— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) <a href="https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1367104079697215488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2021</a><strong>BFW Analysis</strong>There are some realities when it comes to this situation. Much like the sun rising, this season has proven that Schalke are always in desperate need of money.Things have been tough financially ever since Chairman Clemens Toennies was ousted from the board. However, I don’t know anyone who would defend keeping him there after he made some incredibly racist statements while in charge at the club.In the immediate time, yes, it’s a good chunk of cash for a team desperately in need of it. €18.5 million is nothing to scoff at and it’s a good thing the club was able to put themselves in a position to cash-in on players.Failure to sell younger players at the optimal time has been one of the biggest missteps in the club’s last 10 years. While they have made a good chunk of cash on players like Thilo Kehrer (€37 million to PSG in 2018/2019), Julian Draxler (€43 million to Wolfsburg in 2015/2016) and Leroy Sane (€52 million to <a href="https://bitterandblue.sbnation.com">Manchester City</a> in 2016/17), they have lost out on just as much money in the form of undervaluing academy players or letting them go for free.Because in the span of about 7-8 years, they let tens of millions walk out of the Ruhr valley for free. In the same window that Sane left for City, center…
THANK YOU, WES! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SchalkeUs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SchalkeUs</a> <a href="https://t.co/XGfHovrMYw">pic.twitter.com/XGfHovrMYw</a>— Schalke 04 USA (@s04_us) <a href="https://twitter.com/s04_us/status/1367107460243345409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2021</a>The fee coming back to the <em>Königsblauen</em> is reportedly around €18.5 million (roughly $22.3 million USD or £15.9 million). According to Romano, there are about €6.5 million worth of fees that could kick in if conditions are met during McKennie’s career.Confirmed. Juventus have exercised the buy option for Weston McKennie from Schalke for €18.5 million, payable in three years. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Juve?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Juve</a>
The value may increase up to additional € 6.5 million on achieving given conditions over the course of the duration of the contract. <a href="https://t.co/lsmOVv2DJe">https://t.co/lsmOVv2DJe</a>— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) <a href="https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1367104079697215488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2021</a><strong>BFW Analysis</strong>There are some realities when it comes to this situation. Much like the sun rising, this season has proven that Schalke are always in desperate need of money.Things have been tough financially ever since Chairman Clemens Toennies was ousted from the board. However, I don’t know anyone who would defend keeping him there after he made some incredibly racist statements while in charge at the club.In the immediate time, yes, it’s a good chunk of cash for a team desperately in need of it. €18.5 million is nothing to scoff at and it’s a good thing the club was able to put themselves in a position to cash-in on players.Failure to sell younger players at the optimal time has been one of the biggest missteps in the club’s last 10 years. While they have made a good chunk of cash on players like Thilo Kehrer (€37 million to PSG in 2018/2019), Julian Draxler (€43 million to Wolfsburg in 2015/2016) and Leroy Sane (€52 million to <a href="https://bitterandblue.sbnation.com">Manchester City</a> in 2016/17), they have lost out on just as much money in the form of undervaluing academy players or letting them go for free.Because in the span of about 7-8 years, they let tens of millions walk out of the Ruhr valley for free. In the same window that Sane left for City, center…
