Mic09

People also complain about massive transfer fees but when Bayern takes on people 'for free' that's a problem. Bayern are just the top team in the league. We need to understand, the Premier League (and Italian league to an extent) are different to the rest of Europe. Most countries have a top dog team that conquers all and naturally, the best players from that league will join them. Can I remind you of what we, Aston Villa did when we were relegated? Bought the best players for money unheard of at the time at that level. You might not like Bayern, but we can't blame them for doing what everyone else is.

They probably can but they won't pay that much because they are a sensibly run football club. 500k a week 100mil transfers is Barcelona and PSG. Not Bayern. Maybe that's the reason Bayern are more likeable?

When I think about England's squad depth and the quality all over the pitch I just get angry thinking about Southgate. England needs to win the next one or 2 tournaments, it's as simple as.

I know it's a football forum, but some of you guys need to take a breather from a 25 year old kid who used to play for Aston Villa.

He reminds me of Musiala from Bayern.

If Leeds got a red yesterday then this tackle was a red as well

It looks like the above mentioned incident has been cleared and no sign of racism has been found. Glik showed his fingers in the gesture of "you talk a lot" and did not show any monkey gestures. I wonder, considering the damaging affect it has on Gliks family, the death threats etc should there be something done about accusing of racist behaviour with no foundation? It's a tricky one, but worth discussing.

Mendy has a great game, and that was the best 3-0 I have ever seen. I didn't expect anything so don't mind the score. Promising from Villa, especially in the midfield. #getina6ft5tanklolz

Because over the last 15 years of his professional career where he played for top clubs like Monaco he has never showed similar behaviour and has always been a model pro. He is also a big family person and clearly a nice guy. Everyone in Poland seems shocked, and everyone is backing him. So it's unlikely he would have done anything like that in a game like this. Let's see what FIFA come up with.

Everyone in Polish football is behind Glik. He is a 33 year old senior, top professional who spent most of his career in France and Italy. It's highly unlikely anything of racist nature came up, so allegations like these do worry me, especially considering how his family has been affected.

Just televise every single game, and allow fans to purchase subscriptions for specific games. Most will still go to games if possible. There is no way 3pm Villa vs Tottenham isn't a sell out even if the game is on TV.

I'm watching polish 2nd Division as we speak. There's about 4k people, singing, flags, families.

It would make sense for a group of people who own major football clubs to buy lesser, "feeder" teams

It's a competition they can win. And last 4 teams will be big brands. Not a major one, but it's a factor.

I think that while we are an interesting prospect, spurs are still a bigger (I'm sick in my mouth now) franchise. Better sponsorship deals, life in London etc. On paper, they are a better team to play in at the minute.

Does "n'est pas invedable' mean "waiting in bodymore heath lobby for his medical"?

Exactly. And I would much rather have ElGhazi from today than ElGhazi from 2019. Give me today's Nakamba over the young lad we signed from Brugge a couple of years ago. That is what premier league experience is.

Didn't we already have this guy?

It's not a discussion, it's point scoring and newspaper headlines. I am sickened by the state of our politics.

Because he is the England captain, and one thing the FA have done well recently is to create a powerful PR machine.

Also, I think the fact that there is no cultural shock and he is already an astablished PL midfielder is worth an extra 5-10m. No first season syndrome, not missing France/Italy/Nigeria etc, no language barrier, he already knows many of the guys, he is a captain, Southampton don't want to sell. He is probably a £35m player. But the smaller factors all add up to the quoted price tag.

Ben White was £50m. I see this as a similar level of a signing.

20/30 years back you could get a well trained group of 'lesser' players to achieve success. Football has changed and gone massive, more so than ever before. The top 5 teams like Man City, Real Madrid, Chelsea all have good academies, and they will likely have 1/2 academy players starting in most games in the first 11. The thing is, they have a pool of 50 players that could theoretically reach that potential. And if Aston Villa/Porto/Club Brugge/Shakhtar have a youngster that is better than 40 out of those 50, they will simply buy him. The elite teams are made out of elite players. So I'm not really hating Pep for doing it. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

odds on him doing a Lukaku and coming back to Chelsea for £80m in 3 years?

love it.