General Premier League Thread 2023-24 Mod Note in op 27/6/23 And 21/05/24

I didn't realise non United fans weren't allowed to discuss United players. I do apologise, you can get back to discussing this weekends Premier league games now.

How could BD pay 3m if that includes wages? He's on 350k a week or thereabouts so 3m would only cover around 2.5 months, assume its 3m fee plus his full salary?

Dortmund won't be paying anyone those sort of wages because it'd blow there wage structure apart and creat an issue in the squad.

United will most likely be paying Sancho's wages and Dortmund will give them a loan fee.

The idea of United paying Sancho more than Dortmund will pay United is a bit far fetched I think.

Also his wages are clearly getting the standard United over inflation.

Not too far fetched if the "insider" information is true. Dortmund pay £100k and Man. Utd. pay £150k. I would take half that for not playing, for anybody.

Don't know if I would go as far as washed up just yet given his age but he's heading down the road of wasted talent very quickly.

He can still make a decent career out of it, but the level he should have got to and the level he will reach will not be the same. And the difference will be attitude, unfortunately.

I'll bet he goes back to Germany and looks decent again - hopefully, decent enough to get a sale in the summer.

Not really far fetched. There have been examples in the past of zero loan fee and new club not paying all the salary so old club still out of pocket even with the player not there.

All he has to do so is stay out of Nuerr's way, he'll be keeping that area swept clear.

He's gonna need to dust off those rainbow laces...

Verner could be a really good deal for Spurs, his speed and energy should suit their game. If the deal/numbers add up they should go for it, should be plenty of Football in him.

Firmino in the right team is a really brilliant player, a brilliant work ethic and seems to be an all around positive influence in the dressing room. He never relied on raw speed and has had a good injury record, so again, depending on the terms, he could be a good addition for maybe 18 months more.

Henderson burned a lot of bridges among Liverpool fans, but even taking his hypocrisy out of the equation his usefulness was waning fast at EPL level. He really relied on his energy and ability to cover ground, and losing some of that, along with injuries and wear and tear meaning his ability to play lots of games in a short space of time is a problem for him. He'd be of limited use to anyone really, especially if he expects a big wage, even at close the level of his last Liverpool contract,lwt alone to his Saudi contract.

Paul Joyce one of the most reliable around, if not the most reliable, and he is reporting it. He doesn't tend to do speculation or transfer nonsense.

Celtic or Rangers would be ideal for Henderson now.

I wonder has Southgate said something about his place in the Euros being under threat, seeing as he's playing in a makey up competition.

Southgate doesn't care if you're playing or not. If your name is Maguire, Pickford, Phillips or Henderson you can be in the squad even if you're not playing or playing really poorly.

Also Madison will be in the 10 spot when he's back but arguably Bellingham has been superb playing in that spot and it's probably Foden best position as well.

Sounds like they should make him a coach then, if what they really want is a big brother for the kiddies.

Leadership is a funny thing though, you need to have a talent for it but it also needs to be earned. And when earned it can then be lost.

For example, a Liverpool captain can be a strong leader that younger players will defer to. But a guy who ditched his values when tyrants waved a cheque in his face? That puts somewhat of a different flavour on his leadership. I wonder how much they will defer to him now?

International teams always bring those type of players to tournaments.

Whatever about his transfer, but the amount of work he has done behind the scenes over the last 5 years shows how much respect he earned and commands from his peers. Far more than any Saka or Foden or Shaw would have for example irrespective of him taking the Saudi coin. Plenty examples, including being the person to introduce them all into the international set up. He was their first point of contact, even while he wasn't captain. That's true leadership.He's the one that organized all the clubs and players to give a portion of their wages to the NHS during the pandemic etc. Had to get all the players to buy into that.

I doubt that those players throw all that away because he took a transfer when they would do the same thing when they are 33, or their friends & teammates would. Rashford is best friends with Lingard and Sancho and look how they have acted over the last couple years. Do you think he cares about what Henderson done to make money when 2 of his best friends have either tried to do the same thing, or caused havoc while earning big money? All the City & Newcastle players are happy to take the money from similar tyrants but are outraged at Henderson doing it (albeit somebit differently). Doubtful.

Exactly, Henderson has no business in that squad even if he is playing in Europe.

Again though, he was able to do all that work behind the scenes because he started from a position of respect and authority. He was a successful Liverpool captain so the players listened to him when he spoke, and followed his lead in the squad.

Not everybody can do that. Its like the old joke about a girl laughing at a joke from an attractive work colleague but reporting him to HR if the same joke came from an ugly colleague. Another senior player could try to do what Henderson did and the response from the young player could be "Who the hell are you to give me advice".

And maybe, just maybe Henderson can no longer influence the young players the same way he used to, because he is no longer a successful Liverpool captain, instead he is a washed up has-been who pissed over his own morals to go and play in a retirement league.

Interesting you mention Rashford and Sancho, who are exactly the type of players who would sneer if they thought the message was coming from somebody unworthy of their time and attention.

I think people here are vastly overestimating how much Hendersons team mates will care about his move to Saudi

They won't care what Jordan Henderson does.

Right up until he is picked ahead of them or tries to lecture to them about, well, anything.

I think people vastly underestimate the importance of group dynamics.

The people who think that players will care about Henderson are the same people who thought Qatar would be full of player protests and Pride armbands.

Players are shallow fickle creatures. They simply don't care.

But I didn't think that about Qatar at all. Not even a little bit. So you are wrong immediately.

Yes but Henderson was heavily invested in his "Good Guy" shtick. With how he spent years putting himself forward as caring about LGBT/NHS/basically anything that was a positive photo op.

Then he completely forgot that image he'd been carefully creating to get cash quick, only to now crawl back.

The Liverpool LGBT fan groups that publicly admonished him for turning his back would be unlikely to...