Transfers, 2024-25 season

[sammynb 3365]

Just now, OTF said:

Remember when the Indian Premier League bought a bunched of washed up former stars? Neither do I.

 

And China, remember how good all those 19 goal Vagner Love scored were? Those highlight packages?

No? Because no one saw them or fucking cared.

[ewerk 30656]

3 hours ago, The Fish said:

Won't they get a good number of Neymar and Ronaldo uberfans from outside of the footballing powerhouse confederations? 

 

Aye, cunts tuning in from round the world to watch this scintillating football.

 

 

[wykikitoon 20216]

1 hour ago, RobinRobin said:

FFP

 

Fuck me, i need to stop reading this page whilst eating my lunch.  My screen and keyboard now has spag bol on  

[ewerk 30656]

1 minute ago, ewerk said:

 

Aye, cunts tuning in from round the world to watch this scintillating football.

 

 

 

Okay, it's actually from a charity match five years ago but my point still stands.

[The Fish 10872]

6 minutes ago, ewerk said:

 

Okay, it's actually from a charity match five years ago but my point still stands.

I was going to say like. 

 

I'm fairly certain that I said the Saudi league might find an audience in those weird people from outside of the usual footballing countries who fawn over players like Neymar and Christiano Ronaldo.  

[ewerk 30656]

8 minutes ago, The Fish said:

I was going to say like. 

 

 

 

[Kid Dynamite 7034]

1 hour ago, The Fish said:

I was going to say like. 

 

I'm fairly certain that I said the Saudi league might find an audience in those weird people from outside of the usual footballing countries who fawn over players like Neymar and Christiano Ronaldo.  

Aye, but a handful of sad sacks watching on Reddit soccer streams isn't going to change the fact that Gabi Veiga has just fucked his career

[The Fish 10872]

18 minutes ago, Kid Dynamite said:

Aye, but a handful of sad sacks watching on Reddit soccer streams isn't going to change the fact that Gabi Veiga has just fucked his career

No disagreements there. 

 

I mean, devils advocate, but could he play there for a couple of season, then get a move to a decent European side? And he'd still only be 26.

[Polarboy 2311]

 

Would it free up a bit of money in wages etc for that competition for Schar's position? Probably not enough, so I couldn't see Howe sanctioning this unless it meant we were replacing him. 

[Kid Dynamite 7034]

4 minutes ago, Polarboy said:

 

Would it free up a bit of money in wages etc for that competition for Schar's position? Probably not enough, so I couldn't see Howe sanctioning this unless it meant we were replacing him. 

Another loan with an obligation to buy could work. But we don't want to use up all of next years transfers budget this Summer.

[Diego21 2138]

 

[aimaad22 4156]

Good, some more of the deadwood out. I read he's contracted until 2025. So hopefully he does enough for them to pay a reasonable fee and sign him next year. 

[Monkeys Fist 42468]

7 minutes ago, Diego21 said:

 

He looks over the moon about it mind. 

[Diego21 2138]

About the Saudi Arabian League. They have the objective of, in 2-3 years, making the League one of the 10 best in the world.

I think the players will have no problem going there. I mean, they don't see that as a bad thing. They are rich with money, there they will have much more. In fact... They go on vacation to Saudi Arabia to the artificial luxurious cities built just for that. For them it is not going to the end of the world, but to paradise.

 

Then we have the issue of the level of the League. Well it's true... The players there aren't good and their level would be like League Two and below. But there are 4 teams that, to this day... They are managing to sign important players and make an XI that could compete with almost anyone. These 4 teams are the 4 that the state directly controls (PIF) and has 75% control of each one. In addition, there are 4 teams based in luxurious areas of the country.

 

What is the problem? That the other 16 are hardly signing anything because they are not as attractive, because they are not behind the government, because they do not have as much money and because some are not in cities that are paradises, but in the middle of the desert.

 

As long as the championship is 4 Super teams and 16 trash teams, nothing will happen.

Now, as the other 16 manage to make important signings (or let's say, there are 10-12 Super teams in total), things are going to change, because that is going to become the new Super League and the fans are going to want to buy that product.

 

In just six months they have gotten players like Ronaldo, Kante or Benzema. Yes, it is true, they are people who are of an age, who have little football in their boots, but they have also stolen a signing from Barcelona (Neves), they have taken away a starting player from European champion Manchester City (Mahrez), They have taken Liverpool players at a good age to continue performing in Europe (Fabinho and Firmino), they have taken the best pearl of Spanish football (Veiga, 21) and other players such as Kessie, Laporte, Demiral, Mitrovic, Malcom... . They are many. And there is still a lot of market (they close on September 20).

Their project is long-term because they seek to be important in 2030. And they will have no limits. As their level of growth is progressive like these six months... They are going to be very important in a very short time and I am sure that in 2-3 years we will see a couple of teams from the Arabian League playing the Uefa Champions League.

[Dougle 3338]

56 minutes ago, Monkeys Fist said:

He looks over the moon about it mind. 

 

Meebees took a couple of fourpacks on the train on the way down there?

[Monkeys Fist 42468]

That’s a fucking horrible shirt like. 
 

Also, has he had a facelift? 

[Dougle 3338]

It's hotching.

 

Aye

Eight cans of Tennents

[Gemmill 44988]

He's lost some weight!

[Alex 35113]

26 minutes ago, Dougle said:

 

Meebees took a couple of fourpacks on the train on the way down there?

 

 

Tbf, that’s how I roll 

[Chaser 1217]

1 hour ago, Gemmill said:

He's lost some weight!

He's been chasing kids for months 

[wykikitoon 20216]

Dude that's Fraser, not Johnson. 

[Kitman 2207]

4 hours ago, Monkeys Fist said:

He looks over the moon about it mind. 

Yes interesting choice of photo  

[sammynb 3365]

5 hours ago, Diego21 said:

Their project is long-term because they seek to be important in 2030. And they will have no limits. As their level of growth is progressive like these six months... They are going to be very important in a very short time and I am sure that in 2-3 years we will see a couple of teams from the Arabian League playing the Uefa Champions League.

 

That cannot happen unless SA is able to move Federations and I cannot see them giving up almost guaranteed World Cup qualification through Asia every four years, to be in UEFA and never have a hope in hell's chance of qualifying again.

Isn't one of the biggest reasons to improve their league to in turn improve their local players? They've just watched Qatar host a WC and be the whipping boys of the tournament. SA also want to hold a World Cup in the near future but there is no way they want the team to perform as badly as Qatar did.

 

BTW what are the 10 best leagues in the world?

1. PL

2. La Liga

3. Bundesliga

4. Serie A

5. Ligue 1

6. Eredivise

7. Primeira Liga

8. Super Lig

9. ?

10. ?

 

9 and 10 could be anything. Brasil's Serie A or Argentina's Primera Nacional have some decent players but overall gets little coverage. J-League and K-League have more coverage but are limited by their local player rules.

Second/Third tier leagues like Austria's Bundesliga, the SPL, Belguim First Division A financially cannot compete with the MLS but it's football is lower championship/league one level most of the time.

You'd even have an argument that the Championship is stronger and better followed league than the leagues from 6 down.

Unless they can build it to compete with those top 6 leagues then they really haven't succeeded.

Edited August 25, 2023 by sammynb

[RobinRobin 11297]

12 hours ago, wykikitoon said:

 

Fuck me, i need to stop reading this page whilst eating my lunch.  My screen and keyboard now has spag bol on  

[Diego21 2138]

8 hours ago, sammynb said:

 

That cannot happen unless SA is able to move Federations and I cannot see them giving up almost guaranteed World Cup qualification through Asia every four years, to be in UEFA and never have a hope in hell's chance of qualifying again.

Isn't one of the biggest reasons to improve their league to in turn improve their local players? They've just watched Qatar host a WC and be the whipping boys of the tournament. SA also want to hold a World Cup in the near future but there is no way they want the team to perform as badly as Qatar did.

 

BTW what are the 10 best leagues in the world?

1. PL

2. La Liga

3. Bundesliga

4. Serie A

5. Ligue 1

6. Eredivise

7. Primeira Liga

8. Super Lig

9. ?

10. ?

 

9 and 10 could be anything. Brasil's Serie A or Argentina's Primera Nacional have some decent players but overall gets little coverage. J-League and K-League have more coverage but are limited by their local player rules.

Second/Third tier leagues like Austria's Bundesliga, the SPL, Belguim First Division A financially cannot compete with the MLS but it's football is lower championship/league one level most of the time.

You'd even have an argument that the Championship is stronger and better followed league than the leagues from 6 down.

Unless they can build it to compete with those top 6 leagues then they really haven't succeeded.

From what I have been able to find out, what the Arabian Super League is proposing is the proposal for a wild card invitation for the 2024-2025 season. I don't know if for one or more teams.

 

That would allow them to play in the Uefa Champions League without having to change the confederation or the country, or the clubs, or anything. It is something similar to what has happened some times in which teams like Qatar or Japan have participated in the Copa América. Even in 2015 they invited Spain, and we rejected it.

 

Regarding the level of the championships, what they are studying to enter one of the 10 best leagues in the world is simply the market value of the squads.

The study was done in January (done by a British sports intelligence agency called Sport Twenty Group) and the Saudi Arabian Super League was ranked 58th in the world.

I don't know which are the 10 most powerful Leagues, but I imagine that the Championship will possibly be in the 7th or 8th position.