Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Literally never heard that and I check Sky transfer news daily. Why would a player who hasn't hit his prime voluntarily go to a league that's two steps below even his, admittedly, not as lofty as once thought, level?
I check Sky daily and heard it there, and in a half a dozen other Spurs places. Players do what they want to do.
CR isn't on that list because he made himself so toxic that nobody in Europe wanted to touch him, not because he's not a top talent. I would consider players like Benzema, Milinkovic-Savic, Firmino, Brozovic, Mendy, Kante, Neves, Koulibaly and a few Scousers who are being discussed at the moment (Fabinho, Henderson, Ox) to be above-average talent. Certainly recognizable names, who, all of a sudden, transferred, in one summer, to a league whose greatest previous capture was...Vurnon Anita? Ever Banega? Anderson Talisca? Maybe Seb Giovinco. It's really hard to argue with the fact that, in the next season, more recognizable names will be playing in Saudi than in any prior year.There are morality issues I won't get into, but nobody is saying SA soccer shouldn't be improving.
So to you, being "discussed at the moment" means transfers. Of course players will go where they will be paid. If the market is changing, it is changing. What is the difference between money from middle eastern investors in European clubs, or middle eastern investors in Saudi clubs. Its all the same thing. Certainly recognizable names all of a sudden went to Paris-Saint Germain, Newcastle United and clearly Manchester City when middle eastern investors injected ownership money into those clubs. This is the same thing. Its nothing new at all. Its just going where money is, and that money is coming from arab investors.
As for you morality issues, I would only assume they apply to all of the middle eastern owned clubs around the world and you just won't go into them when Man City or PSG are winning trophies as well. All I am sayign is this is nothing new or different.
So to you, being "discussed at the moment" means transfers.
No, to me done deals mean transfers. All the players whose names I've listed have completed their moves except the minority I noted that haven't (yet).
Quote:
As for you morality issues, I would only assume they apply to all of the middle eastern owned clubs around the world and you just won't go into them when Man City or PSG are winning trophies as well.
Actually, I will. Fortunately, the club I've been a fan of for over thirty years now has not yet been tainted with ownership from a country with serious human rights issues, although I fear this, too, may change soon, because our actual owners are cretins.
"....ownership from a country with serious human rights issues..."
which will be, in my opinion, a major on-going situation for ALL sports,
even the Olympics. the Saudis have enough to buy everything and still
have plenty left over, and since oil is not the guarantee it used to be,
they are diversifying like any portfolio manager would advise.
Mount was a good start, but we need to move the driftwood (McGuire, Sancho, Martial) and bring in more than the rumored Onana and Hojlund. I keep hearing Felix mentioned on some kind of a creative deal to stay within FFP, but he didn't exactly cover himself in glory at Chelsea. Still, can't be worse than Weghorst, I guess. I'd really love to sign Kane on a free next summer, but that ship may have sailed to Bavaria.
Felix is a better player than Mount. Still at least Mount puts some effort in though, which is more than can be said of Havertz! Of all the Chrlsea midfielders sold Manchester City got the best one in Kovacic.
Signed
A Chelsea fan that had to suffer from an inadequate midfield last season :-D
I don't know that I would compare the two directly. Mount is a #8, so we basically got the second iteration of Mata from you guys (fwiw, Mata is, to this day, in the top-3 of my favorite United players of all time). Felix is... Actually, I don't know what Felix is. You guys played him as a #9 and a #11 interchangeably and he didn't cover himself in glory at either position. His best role might be the same one Rashford plays for us, so I'm not sure we need him. Still, on the cheap I wouldn't say no. But if we were to only get one, for me it's Mount all day long. Felix might have a higher ceiling, but he's yet to prove he can handle the Prem.
Quote:
Still at least Mount puts some effort in though, which is more than can be said of Havertz! Of all the Chrlsea midfielders sold Manchester City got the best one in Kovacic.
I still don't understand how Chelsea managed to extract the princely sum that it did out of Arsenal for Havertz, especially given Arsenal isn't particularly light in that position with both Trossard and Martinelli available. Unless they are planning on doubling Havertz up with Jesus like they did Auba and Lacazette, but I'm not sure Havertz has the skill set to be either.
I still don't understand how Chelsea managed to extract the princely sum that it did out of Arsenal for Havertz, especially given Arsenal isn't particularly light in that position with both Trossard and Martinelli available. Unless they are planning on doubling Havertz up with Jesus like they did Auba and Lacazette, but I'm not sure Havertz has the skill set to be either.
Its crazy what they paid. I am not sure there was even competition at that level.
Many good players going to Saudi Arabia, they are spending so much!
Lately:
Riyad Mahrez from Man City
Jordan Henderson from Liverpool
Karim Benzema from Real
N'Golo Kante from Chelsea
Ruben Neves from Wolves
Marcelo Brozović from Inter
Is this sustainable? Or just a flashy vanity project by the Saudi clubs and owners?
$170+ million salaries are insane, even by modern football standards. Is it just a retirement payday? They don't genuinely believe in growing the game in Saudi Arabia, right? China's spending a while back looks small now.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
