Elephant Pyjamas
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It's not remotely comparable.If they can call up Ronaldo from the tin pot league then they'll call Ruben up.
It's not remotely comparable.If they can call up Ronaldo from the tin pot league then they'll call Ruben up.
nopeCould the whole FFP shoestring budget thing have been a semi-bluff?
I did wonder if it was a preemptive thing for the fan base to soften the blow of Neves going, not that it was needed.Could the whole FFP shoestring budget thing have been a semi-bluff? Surely this Saudi fee isn’t completely out of nowhere. If the Gedson bid is to be believed we’ve already gone and nearly doubled the top of Hobbs’ range on an initial offer. I don’t know, a little strange. I’m still not expecting or hoping for any big money signings.
We're not signing Gedson.Could the whole FFP shoestring budget thing have been a semi-bluff? Surely this Saudi fee isn’t completely out of nowhere. If the Gedson bid is to be believed we’ve already gone and nearly doubled the top of Hobbs’ range on an initial offer. I don’t know, a little strange. I’m still not expecting or hoping for any big money signings.
It’s just from my understanding we don’t seem to be in any danger of breaching FFP now which was supposedly the problem before. Im not expecting them to spend much. I was thinking more along the lines of tempering expectations of supporters but also clubs we are trying to buy from.nope
Even with this we are not getting big money signings anyway. Even adjusting our brains to see a £10m signing as being in the budget range these days
I would hope notWe're not signing Gedson.
Nope, it’s just money.I just can't think that Neves and all of these other players are going to play in Saudi knowing it is probably a backward step for their careers, no matter how much money they are getting. It makes me think that there have been some indications that big things are expected in the future of that league, or at least the big clubs within it. Some of these players linked with going there aren't players at the end of their careers going for one last pay day before being put out to pasture. Some are, yes, but not all.
After the shit shows of Silva and Guedes there's no way Mendes gets to do that again any time soon.I would hope not
I hope you are right. But think about it, PIF already have inside leverage on the PL through their ownership of Newcastle. Imagine if they say to Man City or Barcelona or whoever you want, "We are going to put bids in for your star players and offer them more money to join us than you can match, unless you agree to join our World Super League. You'll never have to play Brentford or Luton or Sunderland again, you'll be playing Liverpool, River Plate, Boca Juniors, Juventus, Bayern Munich in our league." Which PL clubs are going to fight that?Nope, it’s just money.
The Saudis do have a longer term strategic angle but that isn’t going to play out over the course of a three year contract.
The success of leagues is about so much more than the sum of the star players. That’s why I don’t think the PL has a huge amount to fear from the Saudi league, unless (which probably is the Saudi intention), they try and rip up the very fabric of the game as it exists now.
Popping on my blinkered glasses for a second...the refusal to consider Ansu Fati was the final nail in the coffin for Jorge to ship any old shit over to us (led by Lopetagui/Hobbs rather than Jeff though).After the shit shows of Silva and Guedes there's no way Mendes gets to do that again any time soon.
The Neves deal is probably payback for those two.
Government and FIFA have already said this can't happen.I hope you are right. But think about it, PIF already have inside leverage on the PL through their ownership of Newcastle. Imagine if they say to Man City or Barcelona or whoever you want, "We are going to put bids in for your star players and offer them more money to join us than you can match, unless you agree to join our World Super League. You'll never have to play Brentford or Luton or Sunderland again, you'll be playing Liverpool, River Plate, Boca Juniors, Juventus, Bayern Munich in our league." Which PL clubs are going to fight that?
They are already starting to shift things by attracting big name players to their top clubs, it's becoming an easy path for them to take. And if there is kickback against like the there was against the European Super League do you think they'll care? Maybe this is all nonsense and there is no plan to dominate world club football, it's probably just extrapolating to a doomsday scenario. But does anyone really think it's completely far fetched? If it is why the sudden strategy of signing big name players to their league? Who cares about the Saudi League? No-one. Going there is going to the football graveyard. Except suddenly it's not. Why, unless there is some strategy in place to get those teams competing at the top table? That door was left very slightly open when PIF took over Newcastle and who would be surprised if the door was kicked wide open?
That's great, and I hope that's a policy they stick to. One thing, though, it's easy to say that when it's the European Super League and all you're dealing with are a bunch of people rich enough to own some football teams but with little political clout. When you're dealing with a country that could cripple your economy at the flick of a switch by cutting the supply of oil or making the cost of a barrel of oil 10x what it is now, you're strength of political will might be tested a little more.Government and FIFA have already said this can't happen.
Those two upstanding institutions that have never gone back on anything they've said or done anything corrupt?Government and FIFA have already said this can't happen.
Not all heroes wear capesI will keep you up to date with any snippets I receive.