Samir Handanovic

wera said:

He is too old for Saudis. Stop your day dreams, dude is at the end of his career and even at his peak, no club offered good money for him for us to even consider selling him. He's just not that ... popular? Known?

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Meanwhile, we rejected offers from Real Madrid, PSG and Barcelona during his prime...

When? And what kind of offers?

The only confirmed rumour I found was that Barcelona offered 23 mil for Handanović in 2013 and we said no. Obviously we said no, since we just bought Handanović out-right that summer.

That's 10 years ago. I don't think there was really a lot of interest for him, not like it was for Oblak.

wera said:

When? And what kind of offers?

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Barcelona in 2013 and 2014 (we got him in 2012)

PSG tried several times.

Real Madrid tried in 2014 but they lowballed the fuck out of us.
They also tried in 2017 and 2018 (not as warm) but we dismissed it.

If Handanovic was in his prime now, Marotta would have sent him packing to one of those teams for sure.
There were also some PL bids made. Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City (before Guardiola and in his first season iirc).

We never wanted to sell him and he never wanted out either.

You're letting your bias severely affect your judgment here. This was arguably the best GK in a league that's known for great GKs during Buffon's last decade. You think top or wealthy teams weren't interested and they wanted to play with Joe Hart, Victor Valdes, Salvatore Sirigu or Kevin Trapp?

Most teams weren't spending more than 12m on goalkeepers until City and Liverpool decided to break the bank for the Brazilians. You think we'd sell our best player for 15m? We barely settled for selling Kovacic for 35m, a player that wasn't even our star player.

Handanovic and Icardi had no price tag for us.

wera said:

The only confirmed rumour I found was that Barcelona offered 23 mil for Handanović in 2013 and we said no. Obviously we said no, since we just bought Handanović out-right that summer.

That's 10 years ago. I don't think there was really a lot of interest for him, not like it was for Oblak.

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Just to keep busy during work, I also checked and also only found Barcelona 2013. So, would love to see the sources of Brehme in this one.

Just because they had shit goalkeepers doesn't mean they were after Handanovic exclusively or even remotely interested in him.

We were looked down upon clubs like Barcelona at the time, so they were throwing offers left and right.

I feel Skriniar, Barella, Icardi, Martinez, Lukaku, Bastoni and Dimarco got a lot more interest from big clubs than Handanović, ever. See, I'm not saying Handanović is a bad goalkeeper because of it, far from it, it's just that he wasn't really so eye popping and in demand as some of you are making him.

Maybe it was because we already got him on the cusp of being 30 years old and now all the rage is younger goalkeepers?

Problem with that logic is that clubs don't really change goalkeepers much.

Check their tenure. Even shitty ones like Valdes stuck there for 10 years or so and Barcelona could have signed almost anyone they wanted. But did not. Does that mean that Barcelona couldn't upgrade or didn't know that there were better ones out there?

There's also the valuation issue. Top teams never really bought goalkeepers from other top teams. And we were still regarded as one despite not playing in CL. You don't stop being a top club after 3 bad seasons.
Goalkeepers weren't lucrative signigns until Liverpool bought Alisson.

The rest of the GK transfers were usually from midtier leagues to top teams or from midtable teams to top teams. And in some cases from almost top teams of one league to a good team in a more lucrative league.

We got Handanovic from Udinese. A GK that was ranked the best in the league when we had Buffon, Julio Cesar and a few other well rated ones at the time like Sirigu, Muslera and De Sanctis.

Barcelona got Ter Stegen from Gladbach and Bravo from Real Sociedad.

Real Madrid got Navas from Levante.

PSG got Sirigu from Palermo.

City got Ederson from Benfica.

Arsenal got Ramsdale from Sheffield United.

Tottenham got Lloris from Lyon. And Vicario from Empoli.

Juventus got Sczsesny from Roma.

Atletico got Oblak from Benfica after half a season...

Bayern got Sommer from Gladbach.

Chelsea got Kepa from Athletic Club Bilbao. And Mendy from Rennes.


Relatively high profile signings were De Gea and Onana to Manchester United. In a space of 12 years!
Donnarumma on a bosman to PSG.

Goalkeepes don't move that much and aren't replaced as often.

De Gea took 12 years to replace.
Ederson is in his 7th season.
Alisson is in his 6th season.
Neuer is in his 13th season and only had brief replacements whilst injured in 3 of them.
Buffon was at Juventus for 17 seasons in a row!
Handanovic was at Inter for 11 seasons and only lost his spot in the final 6 months.
Cech lost his spot only after 10 seasons and left at the end of the 11th.
Valdes was starting for Barcelona for 11.5 seasons!
Casillas at Real for 16 seasons and only lost his spot in Mourinho's final season, his 14th! And he was starting in his last despite missing the penultimate.


How many teams were out there in the 2010s chasing goalkeepers really apart from 1-2 summers?

brehme1989 said:

You're letting your bias severely affect your judgment here.

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This is kind of funny, coming out from you in particular

varmin said:

This is kind of funny, coming out from you in particular

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That's a very common thing said to me by a set of fans who are extremely biased and disagree with what I say about their favorite players or rigid storylines they have in mind.

Remarkably, most objective fans don't feel this way.

I say things as they are and/or as I see them. I don't allow bias. You consider it bias because you're set in your own version.

I'm happy to change my mind, or version of a story or be proven wrong. Provided that there's an actual reason for it and not just based on my mood when I woke up..

And unlike that set of fans I mentioned, I think I more than compensate my "bias" by actually explaining the shit I say rather than be dismissive of whomever disagrees with me.

I agree, big clubs tend to hold on to their goalkeepers for a long time. That's kinda a captain obvious statement to make though in this argument.

We clearly agree to a point with each other. Where we disagree is that you read Handa's agent talking about how there were no PSG or Real Madrid talks as lies? And I don't until the other side proves that wrong. Please clarify if I'm wrong, I'm obviously working on assumptions here, because you said there was clear interest from PSG, Barcelona (true) and Real Madrid.

Are we really disagreeing about the fact that older GKs are less hyped than younger ones? That the players I listed weren't more in demand from big&mid clubs than Handanović?

wera said:

I agree, big clubs tend to hold on to their goalkeepers for a long time. That's kinda a captain obvious statement to make though in this argument.

We clearly agree to a point with each other. Where we disagree is that you read Handa's agent talking about how there were no PSG or Real Madrid talks as lies? And I don't until the other side proves that wrong. Please clarify if I'm wrong, I'm obviously working on assumptions here, because you said there was clear interest from PSG, Barcelona (true) and Real Madrid.

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I mean, agents lying in public? A new thing? Lol.

But at the same time "nothing" could also be valid.

Lautaro Martinez told Marotta that he doesn't want to discuss with any other club this season.

At least four enquiries actually arrived (Bayern and Real Madrid amongst them). Lautaro probably doesn't even know the details. His agent maybe even doesn't know that much either. Because they don't want out.
So if the agent says there's nothing about Lautaro leaving, that's true. It doesn't mean it's because there's no interest.

Same with Barella. Or Brozovic until summer.
And with Handanovic. Or Icardi earlier, it was Ausilio on the other hand that tried to exchange him with Higuain + money when Spalletti was here and Wanda said no to Juventus.

wera said:

Are we really disagreeing about the fact that older GKs are less hyped than younger ones? That the players I listed weren't more in demand from big&mid clubs than Handanović?

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Of course not. Reason? We said that above. Clubs want goalkeepers that last a decade.

Signing a 30+ year old GK can work out but you cannot be looking at more than 4 seasons. Like Cech to Arsenal for example. Or Sommer now, can you see him being the main guy here for more than a couple of seasons? He's also one of the most expensive old GK transfers. Twice. And we hardly paid anything if you compare to the market.
Now imagine having to pay 30m for a 34 year old Handanovic which was our asking price when Marotta arrived. No one was willing to pay that much. Drop that to 10m and you suddenly have a huge line.

So we actually fundamentally agree, since I've already said all that. It's just that we have a lot less proof that Handanović was mega sought after when he was in his prime at Inter. Or at his prime at Udinese. We got lucky that we got him for that cheap, IMO. He was overlooked - which coincides with my point.

You were trying to make me sound unreasonably biased there for a minute though, which I do not appreciate.

wera said:

So we actually fundamentally agree, since I've already said all that. It's just that we have a lot less proof that Handanović was mega sought after when he was in his prime at Inter. Or at his prime at Udinese. We got lucky that we got him for that cheap, IMO. He was overlooked - which coincides with my point.

You were trying to make me sound unreasonably biased there for a minute though, which I do not appreciate.

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We didn't get him for cheap man. What is this even about? Barcelona wanted him then too but were outbid by us.

Apart from a couple of years with the Buffon & Toldo frenzy and its aftermath (Frey to Parma for example), the only more expensive GK transfers came much much later.

At the time:
1. Buffon to Juventus from Parma [still a semi-direct rival at the time]
2. Toldo to Inter from Fiorentina [almost a direct rival but they spiraled downwards afterwards]
3. David De Gea to Manchester United from Atletico Madrid [from an almost top team to a top team]
4. Frey to Parma from Inter [Buffon money]
5. Peruzzi to Inter from Juventus [you couldn't get any more direct rivals than this]
6. Peruzzi to Lazio from Inter [direct rivals]
7. Handanovic to Inter from Udinese

The GK transfer system got broken once Alisson and Kepa made those big transfers. Liverpool actually wanted to sign Handanovic the year before and the year they got Alisson, but first they were rejected and then they decided to prioritize Alisson for a variety of reasons. And they made a crazy bid for him, too. Not sure if Chelsea asked for Handanovic in 2018, but they definitely broke the bank for Kepa who was 24 at the time and they expected him to play for 10+ years.


Premier League clubs did not start paying much attention to goalkeepers until the mid 2010s. Only Manchester United had the "my GK has to be world class" mentality due to Schmeichel's influence. And they failed to replace him adequately and those years between Barthez and van der Sar was torture for them.

Bayern and other German teams usually go for German GKs who are ranked along with Italians as the greatest 'school' of all time.
And Spanish teams typically use locals as well, but they started throwing money in the mid 2010s as well.


I also don't get why you still have the knack to judge a player being wanted by an executed transfer. Why would a player leave a top top team like Inter for a shitty place like Arsenal or Chelsea?

There's like only 2-3 teams, or literally just the 1, that an Inter player would aspire to play for in case he wants out of Inter. That's Real Madrid. You could mention Barcelona in the 2009-2013 period I suppose. And Bayern has destroyed their league and people weren't really lining up to play there unless they were already in the Bundesliga. Manchester United was never appealing to world class players and Liverpool wasn't either. They all wanted to play for Real, Barcelona, Inter, Milan and Juventus. The PL boys are new to this and they cannot compete in terms of prestige. They can only buy talented young players en masse and hope that one can become world class.

Only Manchester City has some pull now and that's due to Guardiola, not the club. Liverpool and Manchester United are followers in the PL nowadays, where they should be leaders.

Inter is a top club, but it wasn't a top team in 2013. This is in the midst of our banter era.
Good job at being "unbiased", bro.

Enough of this, you haven't proven how Handa was often sought and highly transfer bound in his prime while at Inter. Everything else you are saying is just a diversion that I'm not going into.

wera said:

Inter is a top club, but it wasn't a top team in 2013. This is in the midst of our banter era.
Good job at being "unbiased", bro.

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Once again, stop moving the goalposts. "Midst of our banter era" which hadn't even really started yet? We had two bad seasons by the time and we were expected to get a new owner that'd fix the ship. Instead, we got a shitty owner that only fixed the books by jeopardizing the sporting aspect. That couldn't have been predicted.
Shit got real in 2013-14 and 2014-15. That's when we ceased to be considered one of the biggest sides in football. But only briefly, because by 2020 we were back at it and we're today one of the top 6-7 clubs in Europe.


So according to your logic, Inter was a top club until 2011 (CL quarters, almost won Scudetto, still had several world class players), but in 2013 Inter was not a top club.
I guess there's a top club list that's affected by the last 1-2 seasons and you cease being a top club that's supported by tens of millions across the world.


Would you say that Chelsea is not a top club now? Is Arsenal a top club? Is Atletico Madrid a top club? Is Liverpool a top club? Isn't Manchester United still a top club?

wera said:

Enough of this, you haven't proven how Handa was often sought and highly transfer bound in his prime while at Inter. Everything else you are saying is just a diversion that I'm not going into.

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Prove what?



Manchester City 2017



Liverpool 2017



Real Madrid 2015



PSG 2016



PSG, Chelsea, Arsenal 2016




Barcelona 2013


That's just a simple google search for things I already know. I'm not going to tell you how or why I know some shit. But if you're going to tell me that I'm spouting nonsense, feel free to do so. But at least have the decency to use the internet yourself and find the "links" you so much value, yet at the time you don't even consider as credible. And you're going to say that the only credible source is if you find 5-10 journalists confirming something, as if anyone ever said that Handanovic was close to moving to another club and was open to contract talks or that Inter was open to negotiations. They called, we said no. They called Samir, he said no. That's where it ends.

He was also close to Lazio last season but decided to stay and fight for a starting spot. I don't think that was widely reported either. I guess Sarri does not rate him, even if he tried again last summer...

STOP QUOTING ME FFS

I asked you nicely. I. DO. NOT. CARE. ABOUT. THIS.

wera said:

STOP QUOTING ME FFS

I asked you nicely. I. DO. NOT. CARE. ABOUT. THIS.

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Stop moving the goalposts wear

wera said:

STOP QUOTING ME FFS

I asked you nicely. I. DO. NOT. CARE. ABOUT. THIS.

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You've opened Pandora's box. Now, it's too late.

.h. said:

Stop moving the goalposts wear

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Is it me? The conversation started with somebody saying that Handanović probably has interest from Saudis/Qatar, which I disagree, because he is too old and not that hyped

Now we are already at debating semantics about top clubs and top teams. Inter is a club. The team is something that changes with every transfer window. The team in 2013 isn't a top team. Isn't even good enough to reach CL spots ffs and brehme would call it a top team. GTFO

wera said:

Is it me? The conversation started with somebody saying that Handanović probably has interest from Saudis/Qatar, which I disagree, because he is too old and not that hyped

Now we are already at debating semantics about top clubs and top teams. Inter is a club. The team is something that changes with every transfer window. The team in 2013 isn't a top team. Isn't even good enough to reach CL spots ffs and brehme would call it a top team. GTFO

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oh i was just trying to quote you to piss you off, to be honest, for the luls. Im not reading all those wall of texts.