The Transfer Thread 2023/24 - Everything Not Wolves

[Deutsch Wolf]

Forest might be walking away from signing Henderson.
Looking at Turner from Arsenal.

Arsenal looking at Raya to replace him but seems odd they would spend £40m on a back up keeper.

I'd take Raya over Twatsdale, easily.

 

[Kenny]

I'd take Raya over Twatsdale, easily.

100% the same but it would be a surprise if they dropped him back to 2nd choice.

 

[WsWolf]

It would be within their gift to say that if a player wants to play international football then he must be playing for a club that passes basic P&L tests. What Saudi are doing isn't building a competitive league, it's building a rogue league and tbh it can't be allowed to continue. It's writing cheques that can and will literally ruin football

How is it any different to what the PL have done to other European leagues? Our money just came from TV deals but I see no real difference. I can't understand why people are so up in arms about it, obviously I get the sports washing and humanitarian concerns but people saying it will ruin football are idiots. Football wasn't ruined by mid table English sides buying the stars of Serie A winning sides.

 

[Alan]

I'd love for us to go in for Turner but I'm just not sure how well he'll control the penalty area at this level. Also his kicking is mid.

 

[Johnny75]

I'd love for us to go in for Turner but I'm just not sure how well he'll control the penalty area at this level. Also his kicking is mid.

Can you explain what that means?

I like Turner too btw.

 

[Johnny75]

How is it any different to what the PL have done to other European leagues? Our money just came from TV deals but I see no real difference. I can't understand why people are so up in arms about it, obviously I get the sports washing and humanitarian concerns but people saying it will ruin football are idiots. Football wasn't ruined by mid table English sides buying the stars of Serie A winning sides.

There you go.

That and the lack of history. Some things just can't be bought.

 

[Deano]

Arsenal in for Raya, presumably to replace Ramsdale rather than be backup to him.

 

[WsWolf]

There you go.

That and the lack of history. Some things just can't be bought.

But that's not ruining football is it. That's a completely different unrelated issue is my point.

 

[BillyDee]

The PL was able to do it because it earned the most money because it was the most popular league to watch.
This money is coming from outside of football, it isn't the best players going to the best league.
As has been said, they're mostly after flashy forwards, not defenders or midfield snotters, what sort of games is that going to produce?

 

[Del Woppio]

How is it any different to what the PL have done to other European leagues? Our money just came from TV deals but I see no real difference. I can't understand why people are so up in arms about it, obviously I get the sports washing and humanitarian concerns but people saying it will ruin football are idiots. Football wasn't ruined by mid table English sides buying the stars of Serie A winning sides.

It's different. I won't say massively because there are similarities but you have to go through some fair mental gymnastics to think of them as the same.

A - One of the best leagues in the world improving by using football money to attract footballers, offering higher and occasionally obscene wages

B - A shit league with zero audience and prestige uses dirty money to attract enough footballers that the world forgets about its human rights atrocities, paying obscene money as a minimum wage, and disgusting levels of generational wealth at the top end. £13m per week? Fuck off

Don't ever forget that this isn't actually about the football or the sport, it's about the distraction and the attention

 

[Keef]

Alright Leslie*




*one for Keef

he was Phil Lynotts father in law you know, and Lynott famous Irishman that he was, was born in West Bromwich hospital, exactly a year after Robert Plant in the same hospital.
Some facts there to whip your friends into a coma with.

Dunno why I was mentioned though

 

[AndyWolves]

Can you explain what that means?

I like Turner too btw.

Mediocre

 

[Wilf Wolf]

As has been said, they're mostly after flashy forwards, not defenders or midfield snotters, what sort of games is that going to produce?

Kevin Keegan will love it.

 

[Alan]

Don't ever forget that this isn't actually about the football or the sport, it's about the distraction and the attention

On this point, I don't think it's fair to say that all the money that ended up being pumped into England was "about the football or the sport".

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

On this point, I don't think it's fair to say that all the money that ended up being pumped into England was "about the football or the sport".

We never really had overseas owners pre-2003 and Abramovich, mind. By which point the PL was already easily in the top three leagues in the world and standards had improved immeasurably over the last decade.

 

[Alan]

We never really had overseas owners pre-2003 and Abramovich, mind. By which point the PL was already easily in the top three leagues in the world and standards had improved immeasurably over the last decade.

For sure, less about the comparison to Saudi or the "foreign influence" boogeyman.

All the money that's helped separate England from the rest of the "Big 5" was put in to generate more money; the "good of the sport" was just about the last thing on anyone's mind.

It's not even a judgement, tbh. Any entity operating at this sort of scale is going to be propped up by avarice to some extent.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

The rationale behind the PL was ostensibly to improve the national team (you could argue it worked, eventually, as England were largely shite in the 70s and 80s, though you wouldn't believe it with how old folk go on about those players ).

Of course it wasn't actually about that as we all know.

 

[Tredman]

We never really had overseas owners pre-2003 and Abramovich, mind. By which point the PL was already easily in the top three leagues in the world and standards had improved immeasurably over the last decade.

PL was mostly funded by Murdoch though, very difficult to find a modern equivalent who has been such a malign influence on the world.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Won't ever find me defending that FOC.

Although I am quite grateful that we don't go to deathtrap grounds any more and we don't have the likes of Robert Rosario and Carl Leaburn leading the line for top flight teams.

Don't think there's a single genuinely ethical model out there that works. Parts of Germany's system are good but they also have one completely dominant force as a result and it wrecks the league.

 

[Del Woppio]

Yeah obviously I'm not holding up the formation and subsequent behaviour of the premier league as some sort of bastion of sporting integrity. Murdoch is a cunt. Many, most or probably all PL or broadcast or advertising execs are cunts. Most of them don't care about the football other than the fact the 'quality of the product' is good for their pockets, so it kind of wins by default.

But making comparisons between that and what the PIF are doing is disingenuous at least. It's awful for the game, it's awful for established, prestigious clubs and competitions.

I don't want to pull the ladder up or stop investment, or just keep the stars in Europe. But surely the growth of different leagues and regions has got to be sustainable or partly organic if it's to truly benefit the game and the regions themselves? The Saudi league won't go the way of China, I'm sure of that. It's a long term strategic investment. But fucking hell, it's ruinous, the money they're throwing about. It's not real actual money at that top end either. I remember the fuss when the first £10k a week contract was dished out, and rightly so. £1m a week is not the same.

It won't ever be any more than 4th/5th 'best' league, no matter what they pay or who they get tbh. It'll just be a mixture of comical sideshow and retirement home that doesn't become a watchable spectacle, obeys no formal financial or sensible business rules, and just dilutes the rest of the game with it's financial firepower