GT49er
Well-known member
Getting his wages off the books (or most of them anyway) was 'working well for Barcelona'! It was a good deal for them! Yes, it would have been even better fr them (and hugely better for us!) if he'd torn the PL a new one; that hasn't happened, but it's still benefitted Barcelona - just not as much as they hoped.I'm not sure that this has 'worked out well for Barcelona' at all. Yes they got a % of his wages off their books but I'd imagine that they were hoping that he would get back to full fitness/ form, with another club having done the work, and:
1) They would get a ~$100m elite player back into their squad
2) They would get a mega transfer fee from a 'big' EPL club
3) Worst case if he only did 'OK' then Brighton might offer ~$40m for him
However I now think the absolute best they can hope for is another club taking a loan punt on him
Don't think there was ever a chance of Brighton offering £40M (or any other amount) for him - not unless he was prepared to take a huge cut in wages. Which, being an elite footballer, he won't!