Rumour - Rodrigo Riquelme

[royalp-we]

@ExclusivesFc on Twitter:

Rodrigo Riquelme (athletico Madrid ) will be on the flight back with the rest of the team on Wednesday for a trial with an option to buy

I have my suspicions this account is in fact the lad Eddie who is getting all the inside info...they seem to break news within minutes of each other

[Stranded]

Well he is definitely in Portugal, in Faro which is either where or near where the players are, so possible.

Fairly highly rated by all accounts, wanted by both the Old Firm clubs in recent times. Is a right winger.

[royalp-we]

Agent is apparently our friend Kia. Reading through some articles online, he seems a hot prospect.

Keeps the trend of signing famous Surnames in to the squad too.

[NewCorkSeth]

Seems to be a very highly rated prospect. Why are we getting him??

[Hound]

Seems to be a very highly rated prospect. Why are we getting him??

Kia

[Stranded]

Seems to be a very highly rated prospect. Why are we getting him??

As Hound said, Kia. We appear to be going down a similar line to Wolves and having an agent help us attract talent that we would normally have no chance of getting in, they either help us get promoted on increase in value pretty quickly so that we can sell them on at a tasty mark-up. Kia is the reason we are linked to Felsa as well.

With Kia having a close relationship with Arsenal as well, we may well see some players moving to us from there as well.

[Old Man Andrews]

Seems to be a very highly rated prospect. Why are we getting him??

Kia

That is the standard answer to any incoming transfer. Sad that we rely on a crook to bring our players in rather than scouting networks.

[NewCorkSeth]

Well I for one am totally against agent control in the club regardless of how well it turns out for us. It is not the ethos I expect from us.

I get the "enjoy the ride" crowd but this agent is doing it for himself not his clients or us.

[WoodleyRoyal]

but we dont have a scouting network, this is modern football whether we like it or not. We either jump aboard or get left behind.

[Old Man Andrews]

but we dont have a scouting network, this is modern football whether we like it or not. We either jump aboard or get left behind.

We should have a scouting network, that is the point. Our scouting over the years is up there with the best of them. We have a great history of picking up players from lesser leagues that then make the step up to the first team and are sold on for huge money. That is how we should operate but we are instead held in bondage to a crook who throws us players only to line his own pocket.

[WoodleyRoyal]

but we dont have a scouting network, this is modern football whether we like it or not. We either jump aboard or get left behind.

We should have a scouting network, that is the point. Our scouting over the years is up there with the best of them. We have a great history of picking up players from lesser leagues that then make the step up to the first team and are sold on for huge money. That is how we should operate but we are instead held in bondage to a crook who throws us players only to line his own pocket.

don't disagree with any of that, its a shame we have decided to take this route. Lets see what this 'crook' can get us this season with the shackles off. It might turn out to be good in the long run. Hasnt done wolves any harm.

[royalp-we]

Well I for one am totally against agent control in the club regardless of how well it turns out for us. It is not the ethos I expect from us.

I get the "enjoy the ride" crowd but this agent is doing it for himself not his clients or us.

Whilst I don’t totally disagree - Kia obviously wants his players to be a success to raise their stock. Surely it’s of mutual benefit?

[Old Man Andrews]

but we dont have a scouting network, this is modern football whether we like it or not. We either jump aboard or get left behind.

We should have a scouting network, that is the point. Our scouting over the years is up there with the best of them. We have a great history of picking up players from lesser leagues that then make the step up to the first team and are sold on for huge money. That is how we should operate but we are instead held in bondage to a crook who throws us players only to line his own pocket.

don't disagree with any of that, its a shame we have decided to take this route. Lets see what this 'crook' can get us this season with the shackles off. It might turn out to be good in the long run. Hasnt done wolves any harm.

Big difference between Jorge Mendes and Kia though. Kia is the Aldi Jorge Mendes.

[WoodleyRoyal]

We should have a scouting network, that is the point. Our scouting over the years is up there with the best of them. We have a great history of picking up players from lesser leagues that then make the step up to the first team and are sold on for huge money. That is how we should operate but we are instead held in bondage to a crook who throws us players only to line his own pocket.

don't disagree with any of that, its a shame we have decided to take this route. Lets see what this 'crook' can get us this season with the shackles off. It might turn out to be good in the long run. Hasnt done wolves any harm.

Big difference between Jorge Mendes and Kia though. Kia is the Aldi Jorge Mendes.

nothing wrong with Aldi dude.

[Hendo]

don't disagree with any of that, its a shame we have decided to take this route. Lets see what this 'crook' can get us this season with the shackles off. It might turn out to be good in the long run. Hasnt done wolves any harm.

Big difference between Jorge Mendes and Kia though. Kia is the Aldi Jorge Mendes.

nothing wrong with Aldi dude.

Indeed, they have won a number of awards recently. https://www.aldi.co.uk/awards

When I lived in Basingstoke, I used to do most of my "every day stuff" shopping there or Lidl.

[Old Man Andrews]

Big difference between Jorge Mendes and Kia though. Kia is the Aldi Jorge Mendes.

nothing wrong with Aldi dude.

Indeed, they have won a number of awards recently. https://www.aldi.co.uk/awards

When I lived in Basingstoke, I used to do most of my "every day stuff" shopping there or Lidl.

You know what I mean, Aldi is a cheaper version of the standard supermarkets we have here. Jorge Mendes is the Waitrose of the agent world and Kia is the Aldi. Sure Aldi is perfectly good as a supermarket.

[yuomi]

nothing wrong with Aldi dude.

Indeed, they have won a number of awards recently. https://www.aldi.co.uk/awards

When I lived in Basingstoke, I used to do most of my "every day stuff" shopping there or Lidl.

You know what I mean, Aldi is a cheaper version of the standard supermarkets we have here. Jorge Mendes is the Waitrose of the agent world and Kia is the Aldi. Sure Aldi is perfectly good as a supermarket.

I think this underestimates Joorabchian's influence and the scale of his network.

For over a decade he has been far more than just a player agent. He brokered the Shinawatra/Piempongsant deal at Man City, and made the intros between them and Mansour when they sold it on. In turn, he brought Piempongsant and Jack Srisumrid (after Shinawatra was no longer welcome in the UK) to our door. The guy's ever-increasing influence behind the scenes seem to be about a lot more than just getting his players a club that can't say no.

[Nameless]

Indeed, they have won a number of awards recently. https://www.aldi.co.uk/awards

When I lived in Basingstoke, I used to do most of my "every day stuff" shopping there or Lidl.

You know what I mean, Aldi is a cheaper version of the standard supermarkets we have here. Jorge Mendes is the Waitrose of the agent world and Kia is the Aldi. Sure Aldi is perfectly good as a supermarket.

I think this underestimates Joorabchian's influence and the scale of his network.

For over a decade he has been far more than just a player agent. He brokered the Shinawatra/Piempongsant deal at Man City, and made the intros between them and Mansour when they sold it on. In turn, he brought Piempongsant and Jack Srisumrid (after Shinawatra was no longer welcome in the UK) to our door. The guy's ever-increasing influence behind the scenes seem to be about a lot more than just getting his players a club that can't say no.

I don’t think he is even an agent is he ?
He’s highly influential, somewhat controversial and a local lad.
Seems ideal !
Didn’t seem too many complaints when he helped us out with those 5 unbelievable loans although I thought at the time it was a classic tactic to get us hooked on his influence which we might pay for later.

[WestYorksRoyal]

The super-agent recruitment model can work, look at Wolves. And it has brought us some successes like Rafael.

The part we seem to be missing is the internal recruitment team to look at these signings and assess where they will fit in (I.e. have the knowledge and backbone to tell Kia "no" when appropriate.)

[Sutekh]

Kia is not actually an agent as I understand things, therefore I presume the agents of the players Reading are being linked with have a connection with Kia.

Also, according to Wiki, although born in Iran Kia is a dual British/Canadian national and was schooled at Shiplake College so there might be a chance he actually is a fan of Reading FC from back in the 80s.