Zatman Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 32 minutes ago, Xela said: £40m for him is insane. He's got the turning circle of an oil tanker. I hope the Saudi refs are better than Premier League and punish him for his 10 fouls a game 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 15 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: I'm still not sure this is the end game - I think there's a chance that a European competition will be hosted in Saudi within five years (so the whole of the Champions league for example) and I guess there's a chance we'll see a tournament that includes the Saudi teams and Man Utd and Real and Barca and co. I'm not sure "joining in" is how they think about things. Oh yes, I’m sure holding tournaments/finals is definitely on the cards as well. It will start with pre season tournaments and build from there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 They'll get a French and/or Italian super cup who already do that game around the world* The European Super Cup super weekender thing will be first there They almost definitley get a club world cup out of fifa Then they'll get a spot in the one after next nations league (Brazil and Argentina are in the next one) Then they'll try for one of the 3 European finals I still don't see merging the competitions though... The only way that happens is if FIFA make a play for something that kills the CL Probably worth watching out for a Saudi team taking part in one of these PL pre season tournaments in the states or oz * no way will the FA give up the Wembley cash cow, that really is the end of it all, if Saudi gives the FA so much money that they pick a Saudi stadium over Wembley that's it, pack it all up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlobalVillan Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 5 hours ago, Xela said: £40m for him is insane. He's got the turning circle of an oil tanker. He will fit right in then. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 I can’t quite figure out what they’re trying to do. The transfer policy is really scattergun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 9 minutes ago, Genie said: I can’t quite figure out what they’re trying to do. The transfer policy is really scattergun. You can buy stars but they need solid players to make it look competitive as well. Watching Ronaldo and Benzema team with local players isnt a good spectacle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted July 16, 2023 Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2023 15 minutes ago, Genie said: I can’t quite figure out what they’re trying to do. The transfer policy is really scattergun. They're fishing with dynamite - I'd imagine the offers are all over the place and we just see the odd one that accepts, rather than the Saudi's picking in a slightly random way. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 5 minutes ago, Zatman said: You can buy stars but they need solid players to make it look competitive as well. Watching Ronaldo and Benzema team with local players isnt a good spectacle I was thinking about Mitrovic for example, good striker who they are keen to sign, for all their money why aren’t they trying to sign Kane, Salah, Rashford, Haaland etc? Same for Henderson, why drop £35m a year in wages when there’s better options out there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 Mitrovic might be more that it's him and his agent pushing for a move than the Saudis having marked him as a key target. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted July 16, 2023 Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2023 4 minutes ago, Genie said: I was thinking about Mitrovic for example, good striker who they are keen to sign, for all their money why aren’t they trying to sign Kane, Salah, Rashford, Haaland etc? They most likely are (I seem to remember seeing a Salah link at some point over the summer) it'll be that those players aren't yet quite ready to give up their careers for money. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlobalVillan Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 13 minutes ago, Genie said: I was thinking about Mitrovic for example, good striker who they are keen to sign, for all their money why aren’t they trying to sign Kane, Salah, Rashford, Haaland etc? Same for Henderson, why drop £35m a year in wages when there’s better options out there? They are and will start to succeed in doing so very soon. Haaland is already owned by a middle Eastern state tho so no way of getting him just yet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sne Posted July 16, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted July 16, 2023 Henderson I think is partly down to the Gerrard connection but I also think they see it as a strategic win. Ex England captain who's supposed to be pro LGBT. Showing they can buy him and that the LGBT support is only a thin veneer that means nothing in the face of big money is worth a lot. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted July 16, 2023 Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2023 There's a tipping point somewhere - another 30 or 40 players and the league actually starts to look interesting to players as a footballing challenge as well as an opportunity to buy a plane - if they hit that point, it'll be interesting how that balance will start to affect who and how they recruit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 I honestly don't know why people are fussed about players going to Saudi. Currently it's a pension fund for elite players with absolutely no element of real competitiveness. If younger players go there, they'll firstly lose international places due to a lack of competitive football, and then lose ability for the very same reason.... before becoming the finished article. It would be like a young boxer taking a couple of years off fighting to just spar and stay in the gym. You'd lose your edge and will get eventually overtaken by hungrier and more in tune fighters who been more competitive for longer. A year or two down the line, nobody will care about these players or miss them. The route back into top level football will be difficult and they'll be replaced by the next crop of players in European leagues and the endless talent there is out there. I just don't see the big deal in this other than the Saudi's spunking a load of dough for a few years on pensioners and mercenaries and realise the product is still shit to a global audience and of no interest. The Saudi teams buying young players who've yet to reach the heights they should be hitting before giving in on elite football will only kill careers in the game, nothing more. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adman Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 I can't imagine I'll ever give a singular s**t about Saudi football regardless of who plays there. However, I'm an old school fan that supports a club as opposed to the youngsters who support "Ronaldo" or whatever so maybe over time someone might give a sh*t 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted July 16, 2023 Moderator Share Posted July 16, 2023 De Gea and Mitrovic next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 17 minutes ago, OutByEaster? said: De Gea and Mitrovic next. Fulham up for the drop it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 I'm not going to be interested enough to watch a single minute of actual Saudi football... But I'm not gonna lie I reckon I'll try a Saudi FM24 save just to see what the crack is, signing all the big name free transfers I can get, loads of money but not everyone interested in signing, taking on these big 4 who sign the superstars by buying a more balanced and we'll rounded team There's something different in it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlack Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 On 15/07/2023 at 11:48, mikeyp102 said: £40m for Fabinho, big amount for someone who hasn’t got the biggest following or media behind him. That’s why I thought Coutinho would be offered a transfer as his following is huge and would generate a lot of publicity. I see Garnacho from Utd has been photoed wearing a Saudi club top with Ronaldo in the back, just making it “cooler” for kids to want them as well. They’ll have a club in European competition within 5 yrs I don't see how they'll get into a European competition. They'll never comply with the Uefa FFP rules. The only way they get their salaries to be under 80% of their income is with dodgy self funded deals, which uefa won't recognise. Like others have said, they'll host finals first. I think they'll then eventually set up their own tournament. They'll have so many fifa / uefa officials in their pockets that the powers that be won't be able to close it down like they did with the super league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaJ100 Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 1 hour ago, villa4europe said: I'm not going to be interested enough to watch a single minute of actual Saudi football... But I'm not gonna lie I reckon I'll try a Saudi FM24 save just to see what the crack is, signing all the big name free transfers I can get, loads of money but not everyone interested in signing, taking on these big 4 who sign the superstars by buying a more balanced and we'll rounded team There's something different in it What will your transfer budget be though the whole value of the PIF? So about 800 billion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts