PaulMcGrath_5

3 minutes ago, villa89 said:

He's of Malian descent so presumably Muslim which fits some of the criteria that the Saudi teams are looking at. 

Errr... what?

Is Paddy known for inside info? Genuinely don’t know.

5 minutes ago, beachboys1 said:

• maybe saudis /newcastle are dragging this out to stop us doing any other buisness

Yeah…

No.

3 hours ago, avfc1982am said:

I'm absolutely devastated  

Nice to meet you.

Just now, avfc1982am said:

Watch us pay through the nose and he's shit in the PL. Give it a few months people will be crying for Bailey back in the team when Diaby get's squashed by.... probably Ben Mee. 

I have taken an instant dislike to you, for some reason. 

For £45-50mill, I honestly don't think there is a better and/or attainable option than Diaby.

Just now, Feidhlim said:

Played 48 last year, scored 14 and setup 11.

 

Better than 1 goal or assist every 2nd game.

Rubbish.

Just now, joshharris12 said:

He’s 36

You alright?

1 minute ago, rjw63 said:

Ask Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

No thank you.

1 minute ago, sne said:

Manure willing to sell Elanga for as little as £10m For that fee I'd be willing to bring him in as a squad option if we could sell Traore

I wouldn't.

3 minutes ago, est1874 said:

Modern football transfers are such a gas. 

I just imagine four grown men looming over a computer with someone's finger hovering over the Enter key for days on end.

"Should I send it?"

"Not... Yet..."

"Now?"

"I said not yet!"

Someone bursts into the room:

"Guys, @InfinityXstoned on Twitter says Al Nassr have submitted a new offer..."

"What are you waiting for, send the **** bid!"

Genuine question--what does that mean? I hear "gassed" etc a lot and don't know what it means.

Just now, villabromsgrove said:

The fact that PIF only took ownership of the four top Saudi Pro League clubs approximately six weeks ago should set warning bells ringing.

Have a look at the pay structures of each team in the SPL and note that apart from recent "big name" additions, the average player earns £20,000 or often much less per week, and average transfer fees have been very low with a few exceptions.

So we would be naive to believe that Al Nassr, suddenly decided in January that they would be able to pay £177 million salary per year to Christiano Ronaldo. It's very unlikely that it would have been their own independent decision given that they had no previous history of "big" transfers. At the beginning of June we heard that PIF had taken control of the big four SPL teams, and that confirmed that Ronaldo's signing was the first shot in a campaign to destabilise football while at the same time making the Saudi Pro League the focus of world football discussion. The publicity they are now getting is incredible for a league that is currently ranked the 58th biggest football league in the World. 

That brings me to the point of this thread .... Diaby. Al Nassr's sudden apparent interest in a young player who has just turned 24 and is not currently playing for the French international team is surprising, as he doesn't have a particularly high profile at the moment. The fact that Al Nassr are apparently prepared to offer a huge transfer fee plus huge wages to a player who I'm guessing wasn't on their radar until Villa put in a bid for him, is concerning. Is this an early demonstration of PIF's intended modus operandi? Group interference in the proposed dealings of any club who are deemed a direct competitor to a PFI owned or funded club? This might sound unnecessarily alarmist, but remember just a year or so ago the golf world was laughing at the Saudi LIV Golf group, and now in the blink of an eye they own the golf world!

Money rules. PIF know this and both UEFA and FIFA have an abysmal track record when it comes to being confronted by dizzying sums of money.

I still firmly believe that Diaby will sign for us, because he appears to be a talented and committed young man, who will want to get back into a very good French international team and prove that he can star on the world's greatest footballing stage which is the Premier League.

 

Just now, Zero7 said:

I bet half this Saudi nonsense about him is made up. 

Which half do you reckon?

If both clubs can agree a fee, he will join us. My worry is the Saudi club pushing the fee to a ridiculous amount that we are unwilling to match. 

Just now, The_Steve said:

The German press have already said he’s interested, so has Romano. Not sure what Collomosse is really adding here that we don’t already know or has been speculated upon. 

Adding as much as this post, one might argue. 

WE HATE JOURNALISTS FOREVER!!!!! 

Just now, nick76 said:

 

Keep up.

Just now, alreadyexists said:

Beaten to it!

Haha!!!

Just now, DJBOB said:

Lots of winger links but curious that not a lot of right back links right now considering we only have one natural right back!

Sounding like a broken record now... 

Seems the player is very keen on the Villa move, so let's wait and see.