Summer Transfer Superthread

ben.schlomo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117725818#Comment_117725818

Great value for Newcastle alright, had a great impact there last season.

doc_17

Rory Smith making some interesting points today about Man City and their difficulty in offloading players. It’s not a huge issue though for them as they don’t have to live within any means but selling the likes of Silva is difficult if you want to save face. Who could afford his wages? They’d have to take a very low offer so the club could pay his wages. I’d like to see him stay in the PL.

StringerBell

It's the same difficulty United have by and large, when you pay the big bucks and then decide you want to move on from a player or he wants out or whatever way it happens there are going to be a limited number of teams who can actually afford those kind of wages.

doc_17

I suppose it’s most prevalent at City as they have stockpiled players more than any club.

Fitz*

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117725818#Comment_117725818

All eyes will be on Newcastle's first game as he will be trying to break Vardy's record streak of scoring in the most PL games in a row (11). Willock scored in his previous 7 PL games.

Royale with Cheese

That's not a problem limited to City or the very top paid players in football. Arsenal have had awful trouble getting rid of dross over the past 10 years that they've been overpaying.

thebaz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117726127#Comment_117726127

I said the best - there is a player called Ronaldo too

Gbear

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117726924#Comment_117726924

The difference being that there's plenty of clubs who'd be happy to buy Laporte, Bernardo Silva and Jesus, but the money's not there at the moment.

They'd improve most clubs in Europe, whereas the same can't be said of Xhaka or what have you.

This is a separate problem from before and is more down to Covid finances than anything else.

POKERKING

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117726823#Comment_117726823

Do they though? They had one of the smallest first team squads in the league(albeit the 20 players they use are big players). They stockpile young players between all the clubs in the group not established players. Plenty of clubs in prem worse, not once have city had to leave an established player(that i can recall) out of their 25 man prem squad cos they didnt have room(certainly recently anyway). United did with jones, spurs with danny rose,chelsea stockpile established players much worse than city. So many clubs in prem with established players not making the prem 25 man squad. In fact, id say city are one of the better teams in this regard esp since the initial early splurges that they did.

Its not new though, its been happening years Crystal palace when they come up ten years ago had a load of established players not in their 25 man squad in favor of a load of lads they had brought in.

heres an 11 from last year alone, no city players in it.

https://www.football365.com/news/discarded-xi-best-players-left-out-of-premier-league-squads

yourdeadwright

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117727940#Comment_117727940

I think the poster was saying its harder for City to get rid of player they won't because of the wages,

If the likes of Laporte & B Silva are not needed and up for sales its extremely difficult to find anywhere that will match there City wage making it hard for them to leave , Lets be honest City win the race to sign a lot of players simply due to the wages they can pay & then if it doesn't work out its hard to move them on ,

I'm sure the likes of Mendy would have went a season ago if they could finds someone willing to pay his wages,

marklazarcovic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117726951#Comment_117726951

in my opinion, ronaldo is the greatest goalscorer ever,and messi the greatest player ever.. messi can get you on your feet in expectation from anywhere on the pitch, ronaldo can go unnoticed until he taps one or 3 in.

El Gato De Negocios

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117728721#Comment_117728721

Agree with that and I'm a United fan that loves Ronaldo, Messi is a level above imo (albeit fine margins) and is for my money the GOAT, certainly in my lifetime. His longevity and productivity put him ahead of the likes of Maradona, Brazilian Ronaldo etc.

Brendan Flowers

Yes, 100% Messi the the most naturally talented footballer I've ever seen. It's Ronaldo's drive, motivation and dedication that's the reason he's considered alongside Messi in discussions about the best footballer in the world. I would've loved to have seen Ronaldo come back to Utd and Messi move to City just to give ourselves a small reminder of those fantastic years of Ronaldo/Madrid vs. Messi/Barca. As it stands and assuming this transfer goes ahead, I think PSG will be the last big club Messi plays for (in Europe). And as for Ronaldo, I reckon the window has also passed on returning to Utd.

Talisman

Lukaku has completed his medical.

https://twitter.com/AbsoluteChelsea/status/1424710618062409731

ben.schlomo

Adam Armstrong to Southampton is all but done, £20m plus add ons. Did well last season but I've a feeling Southampton may struggle this season.

Fitz*

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117729169#Comment_117729169

Especially if Vestergaard leaves for Leicester.

Agent Coulson

Aguero out injured for 3 months before he even gets registered to kick a ball for Barca.

PsychoPete

Aguero does seem to get injured every season

the whole year inn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117729565#Comment_117729565

That is an understatement.

thebaz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117728894#Comment_117728894

I guess it is relative or maybe I'm older - but Maradonna for me was the GOAT of my lifetime - won a WC with an average Argentian team , and pulled Napoli from nowhere to win Seria A - his later years soured it probably , but in his prime - the best

marklazarcovic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117729840#Comment_117729840

His prime only lasted a few years,the other two a decade plus..pulling insane stats in.

Maradonna opened our eyes to what a footballer is capable of,pure excitement.

Roger the cabin boy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117282931#Comment_117282931

Aguerro won't finish (or start) the season. He is done as a 1st team athlete. City timed his exit perfectly.

I think this will be his last season. He should be hanging his boots up.

PsychoPete

Messi to PSG is a done deal. It's a bit mad they managed to get Messi,Ramos,Donnarumma and Wijnaldum all on free transfers

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117732396#Comment_117732396

'Free', but yeah.

Absolute joke that a club that spent more on wages alone last season than they made, could sign all those players, while projecting a loss of hundreds of millions, and Uefa/L1 don't bat an eye-lid. FFP LOLERS.

Very soon the ONLY way a club is going to compete is if they are owned by a country or a multi-billionaire oil barron.

Like how could anyone look to compete with PSG when they can throw a completely endless amount of money at the game.

LuckyLloyd

Lads don’t blame UEFA on FFP. They did their best to impose it but lost in CAS. The wall of money has eliminated all obstacles, as it always would.

thebaz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117732420#Comment_117732420

people ranted that the Super league would ruin football , but with PSG basicaly buying the CL and City doing similar in Premiership , game is not in a good place.

PsychoPete

Well "free" as such but their wage bill much be immense, Messi on 35 million euro a year. I'm sure ligue 1 are loving the fact that they now have three of the biggest names in football Messi, Neymar and Mbappe playing in their league.

MisterAnarchy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117732396#Comment_117732396

All mercenaries, Messi included.

I've lost alot of respect for him taking PSG's dirty money.

LuckyLloyd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117732485#Comment_117732485

He just moved to a bigger club more competitive at the sharp end. Most players do this. Maradona was probably an exception in terms of the great players in that regard.

SlickRic

They still won't win the Champions League.

MisterAnarchy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117732478#Comment_117732478

35m per year is buttons for Messi.

He was responsible for 30% of Barcelonas revenue over the last few years, 200m per annum.

The extra revenue PSG will bring in will easily pay for Messi, its a no brainer.

I'm not sure why other clubs like Man Utd didnt offer him a deal.

Brendan Flowers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117732870#Comment_117732870

Why not?

Roger the cabin boy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117732434#Comment_117732434

Very much blame UEFA.

Their approach and management of FFP has been an absolute disgrace.

It is nothing more than wallpaper on a drawbridge.

The treatment of City by UEFA has also been disgraceful.

The upshot of which is that FFP, its premise and its future is now a sham, which now has the likes of the richer clubs warming up the money vaults.

As for money ruining football, its always been a sport of resources. Liverpool dominated when they had the money from Littlewoods, Utd dominated when they were the richest club by a country mile in a relatively poor league, Chelsea sirged when they were able to compete with utd for players and so on and so forth.

yourdeadwright

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117732420#Comment_117732420

Sure they didn't even win the French league last season

They won't win the Champions league , Iron sharpens Iron you need to be playing tough games week in week out to be at your best, or at least not playing farmers as they say ,

SlickRic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117732915#Comment_117732915

gut feeling, and not much else.

Messi, Neymar and Mbappe could be better than Messi, Neymar and Suarez, but they don't quite have that Barca team behind them. they still have to prove they can be a cohesive unit. the names on the teamsheet across the board are unreal, but that doesn't guarantee you anything.

also, Messi is probably the best ever, but he's not defending as part of the team.

*clutching at straws*

MisterAnarchy

The whole Messi transfer situation got me thinking.

La Liga want to cut the salary bill but they are basing the salary cap for the upcoming season on last years income figures, it wasnt a normal year due to Covid.

Clubs revenue will be alot higher this year.

Despite Messi being paid 100m a year under his old contract his value to the club was estimated at 200m per annum.

So basically clubs are being forced into firesales to reduce costs but this is short term accounting, assets are being left go for a fraction of their actual worth.

Messi staying at the club would have resulted in a net profit for Barcelona of at least 100m which could be used to pay other players.

It doesnt seem to be a well thought out policy.

Cookiemunster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117733505#Comment_117733505

Barca are over €1bn in debt. Their issues are not short term and keeping Messi would not have helped resolve this issue. Even with him gone they still can't register their new signings. What La Liga are doing is what UEFA didn't have the balls to do. Proper FFP.

Agent Coulson

Ornstein reporting John Stones has signed a new 5 year deal on £250k a week making him the highest paid defender in the league.

MisterAnarchy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117733523#Comment_117733523

The fact that they are 1bn in debt has nothing to do with the salary cap.

That is calculated on annual income.

Obviously 1bn is a crazy amount but Messi leaving results in a net drop in income for the club of ~100m per annum so Messi staying would help resolve the issue.

Its the players who were bought for crazy money like Dembele, Coutinho, and Dembele that are the millstone around Barcelonas neck.

irelandrover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117733505#Comment_117733505

Where is this 200 million a year coming from. is that jersey sales, or match tickets or just sponsorship?

speedboatchase

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117733574#Comment_117733574

The non-existent TV deal, maybe?

Lads, Messi is a mercenary and became a parasite to Barcelona. This was inevitable. Happy for PSG's new wealth of global fans who began supporting them last weekend.

MisterAnarchy

https://www.sport.es/en/news/barca/the-brutal-figure-that-lionel-messi-generates-barcelona-11491695

A mixture of all 3.

Sponsorships, ticket sales and jersey sales.

80% of Barcelona jerseys sold carry the Messi name.

Agent Coulson

It's not the transfer fees that will burst the football it's the unsustainable wages being paid to players.

Fromvert

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117733505#Comment_117733505

If Messi had signed before his contract was up would they have been ok? As I've read it La Liga will allow you to compete if your salary is over 100% of revenue but you just can't register any more players.

If he signs before his old contract is up, 1.) Does it count as registering a player since he was never not registered? 2.) If he signed in April/May would Barca's salary be compared to the previous years revenue when it was higher so they had more room for salaries?

Did Messi play billy big bollocks one time too many, ran down his contract as he wanted assurances of who would be signed before he would sign but he can't actually sign.

Cookiemunster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117733610#Comment_117733610

Barca will still sell millions of shirts, even without Messi. But I'd thought the myth of football shirts sales covering individual players wages/transfer fees had long been put to bed.

Nike pay Barca €155m every season to produce their kit and will continue to do so until 2026. They may get a small percentage of each shirt sale on top, but Messi leaving is going to have very little effect on that part of their finances.

Roger the cabin boy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117733616#Comment_117733616

Football is not an amateur exercise and hasn't been for at least a century.

It was always big business and now it is a global business.

The money in it is massive.

That money isn't being shoveled in by owners looking for accolades, it is being invested by serious business for future provit.

That profit may be cash a-la Glazers, or the long term hedge of current assets a la City, etc.

All the moaning about transer fees and wages misses two points.

1) This is no longer local league football.

2) Where would you have that money go, if not to the employees?

The money is there. Yes, you've oddball clubs like Barca who are trying to be bigger than they are and thus drowning in debt but for well run clubs, money supply isn't the problem, spending it is the issue.

Objecting to money in football and i mean tier 1 football is missing the point entirely.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117733504#Comment_117733504

Could see Gini working out to be a huge signing in this regard.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117733600#Comment_117733600

Whatever else you want to call him, it's hard to consider a chap who's been at the same club for 21 years a mercenary...

Fromvert

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117733504#Comment_117733504

I don't think they'll win it this year. I'd fancy a few of the English teams and Bayern to do them over two legs if it came to it. They have one year of this front line to get it done before Mbappe leaves. Neymar and Messi are best buds but how will that relationship affect Mbappe this year? It'll be interesting to see how it plays out, it could be magic but I'm not convinced. How will Pochettino handle this dressing room, two very big characters to add to the others have just joined it and one of them used to try and kick the other of the pitch for the last 15 years (Messi and Ramos). Would love to see how they all interact with each other.

MisterAnarchy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117733559#Comment_117733559

250k a week for John Stones is just laughable.

Messi at twice that wage is a snip.