+ Visit Cardiff FC for Latest News, Transfer Gossip, Fixtures and Match Results |
"I am set on Wales at the moment, we'll see what happens but I'm set on Wales."
Commitment to the cause there.
Agreed, but it's the mercenary nature of the kid that annoys me.
Swayed by the Man City offer... where may well be chewed up and spat out, see Emyr Huws unless his head is really screwed on.
As yet he's proven absolutely nothing yet gives the indication he'd consider England if wanted.
I really can't see anything wrong with this statement. He's a young kid for whom things are moving quickly at the moment and nothing is promised to anyone at that age. He could equally as well be playing to the audience of the MEN who will be mainly English and who's support he will need in his career in England.
Nothing to see here - he says he's set on Wales and that's good enough for me. It's also noticeable that Cardiff allowed him to leave it seems...
So he claims - hardly likely to say "well, we went to Man City for the money" is he? Prem teams can seemingly raid non Cat 1 academies at will with minimal compensation. Hell, Liverpool even tapped up Stoke academy players, hence their ban on signing players from academies for 2 years.
I was under that impression as well, but the article suggests that Cardiff had been able to say No to a number of Prem teams. Not passing judgement either way but I was surprised by what the MEN had to say about the move.
Anyway, he's with Man City now but let's hope he stays with Wales if he's as good as he appears to be. We can have him back at Cardiff once we get promoted and he can't get into the Man City team...
Here's a WalesOnline article explaining Matondo's move to Man City, '...allowed him to leave' seems a bit harsh.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/f...htest-11929955
I still wonder whether these kids would be better off staying put with their development clubs, as he'd probably be in the first team with us by now.
If his performances then dictated that big club offers came in, surely this route would benefit him (and us) more?
Its interesting especially when looking at the cases of say David Brooks against the Liverpool pair of Woodburn and Wilson.
You have Brooks getting some actual game time in the championship, learning and learning quickly in a challenging league. Where as you have Woodburn and Wilson doing really well in the U23s but getting no where near any level of competitive football. If you look at Woodburn his last 3 competitive matches has been for Wales.
There is a lot of talk about Brooks getting a Premier League move, but would that really be for his benefit at the moment, when we have clubs stocking young players for U23 action. If you listen to the Feast of Football podcast you will here Gabbidon talking quite harshly about the merits of U23 football, where it is nothing like the real thing, in terms of intensity.
I wouldn't go to Man City if you paid me. There's no chance you'll get in the side, especially a winger like Matondo. Risk it and play a kid, or play Sane? Also, as good as loan moves are, there's no incentive for the receiving club to develop that player as he isn't theirs. How many loanees have we had that we've left to rot on the bench for starters? If a loanee makes mistakes, he'll get dropped whereas if he's your player, you'll give him more chances.
People like Sancho, Oxford have gone abroad to Germany etc to play. The only top 6 side I'd consider going to is Spurs, as Pochettino will give you a chance, especially given they have a smallish squad.
Don't worry we've got Brooks, Woodburn, Wilson & Bale who can all play out wide and are technically very good. He seems to be a speed merchant, but would he even get in the Wales team?
I wonder if they'll ever introduce a rule stipulating that players under 18 can't move clubs? That might help with some players' development, especially if they're playing for a lower league team before being snapped up by a PL club and then rotting in the reserves.
There are many cases of players from League 1 or League 2 clubs signed by PL clubs and not making any first team appearances for 5 or 6 years. That can't be good for anyone.