General Premier League Thread 2024-25

I'd imagine they'll have no issue filling extra seats for league games. It's not like City, they have a MASSIVE fanbase, biggest in the country.

Be great to see some downward pressure on ticket prices too

An extra 26K fans at each MUFC home game paying average £30 VAT each on their match ticket and ancillary purchases is about £800K per game to the treasury. Working on the basis of ~25 home games a year, that's £20M a year revenue.

So depending on what you consider acceptable percentage return on investment, a government investment on regeneration/infrastructure of anywhere from £200M to £400M seems a reasonably solid outlay. Is that the ball-park figure that's being talked about?

That's even before the moral case that it seems the sort of regeneration scheme that government should be getting involved.

Well the prospectus says it would bring in 7.8billon annually (to the UK - and that figure could be rubbish). I guess through tourism (flights, hotels, entertainment, food etc) which OT would also do some towards - plus the extra jobs that will be created in the new offices, restaurants, cafes, bars etc. Additionally you would have appartements and houses built within the regeneration.

As for what money the governemt is being asked to invest - I have zero idea to be honest. Never heard a figure mentioned for it. I would guess Unitedwill be putting pressure ont he government to make some decisions and put some plans in action now. I think we are still a decent way off the project really getting started - things like the freight line needs to be sorted (United need to buy the land, the freight opperator needs to agree a deal elsewhere (seemingly st. helens) but I think the Government needs to help with that and the public trainstation.

oh? I thought Radcliffe had been trying to secure government funding for this? Has this changed? Are Utd going to pay for it themselves now?

my position is closer to reality than yours.

You have moved from kdb/aguero as you have no counter to that to now Rodri. Rodri was linked to Real in the summer, whos the say he wont end up there? He had such a low profile before he joined city and he turned into the best in the world, maybe he likes it there? Maybe he has some loyalty for the club giving him the opportunity? Maybe he loves pep? Maybe he loves the premier league? Who knows.

You are saying the only reason these players play for city is because they are all only motivated by money and are being paid vast sums under the table and there cant be any other possible reason. I think thats nonsense. You have had an anti city agenda for years likely because they deprived your own club of lots of trophies, i get it. And you know what some of the points you have made over the years have been valid even if i dont like them, but this one isnt, in fact its pathetic and you repeat it again and again and worst of all some people believe because they read it from you so often.

So just Ronaldo then for Ferguson? One example from a time when La Liga was deemed the best league in the world and the premier league wasnt as strong as it was now? Would you stop. Pep couldnt get Leroy Sane to stay, there you go one example versus your one example. For Gerard Pique see Eric Garcia or Brahaim Diaz. Its a nonsense topic full of bitterness from the OP.

Tickets gone, thanks

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Anelka
Petite
Overmars
McManaman
Beckham
Owen
Thierry Henry
Van Nistelrooy
Ronaldo
Xavi Alonso
Mascherano
Luis Suarez
Coutinho
Cesc Fabergas
Bale
Modric
Hazard

All massive names who left the PL for Barca or Real over the last 20/25 years. A nice mix of clubs there in Man Utd, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs. All players those clubs would have liked to keep / wanted to keep / were big parts of their 1st teams.

Crucially, No City player leaving at their peak. No star name.

Only a 33 year old Aguero moved to Barca from City and that was at the end of his contract when City no longer wished to keep him.

It's a little strange, do you not think? City have had top level players for ~15/16 years now and they have never had a top level talent poached for Barca or Real when Barca and Real were clearly the best clubs on the planet during that period?

Real / Barca could poach from all the other top PL sides but for City they just decided they didn't fancy their players?

Maybe there is nothing in it. But this is the issue when a club has state funding and that state has shown previously that they will do things under the table.

People are right to be suspicious.

That's not how football agents work.
They would point to that as the going rate for a star player at a top 6 PL level club.

Aguero would have to have had the worst football agent in the world to accept 150k less per week when a goalkeeper across town was on 350k

Plenty of teams in world football would have paid Aguero more than 300k per week

Yeah, there was friction between the two alright.
But without Real / Barca as a destination and/or Real being able to turn Beck's head, he might have stayed on.
They may have had to work through their differences.

The point was that Real came in for the player, a high-profile star player and once that happened, Utd lost the player.
The pull of Real / Barca was there.

You are consistent in your defence of City, I'll give you that.

Nothing to see here, you are all paranoid etc.

A lot of head in the sand stuff there

What about Bernardo Silva being linked with moves to the contingent every other summer for years, and signing a new contract every time it happened?

He even publicly talked about leaving a few times . There was links to PSG and Barcelona and Saudi Arabia yet mysteriously signed a new contract extension that summer. Wasn't there talk of a Barca release clause too, but then they couldn't afford it so the move broke down?

I'd assume all those contract extensions have been on increased terms too. They might not have been increased terms on Man City books though. Maybe he coincidentally got a new advertising contract with some random Dubai shell company at the same time. Maybe his father got a handy remote working consultancy gig at the same time, by coincidence? Maybe he just loves rainy Manchester and so signed those new deals. Maybe he loves rainy Manchester so much that he is again rumoured to be leaving the club this summer.

UNBELIEVABLE value… literally

Who and what are you actually debating here?

Did Dortmund receive 60m for Haaland? Yes unquestionably.
Did Man City have to pay substantially more than this to his agent(s), as a signing on fee directly to Haaland and topped up in salary? Yes unquestionably.

Does this happen with every single transfer that is either free or the players release clause is less than his market value? Yes unquestionably.

Whats the problem? Who are these people saying otherwise?

Countless examples of this happening with lots of other players and it doesnt raise an eyebrow but this particular one seems to trigger people. For the record even if it had of been a world record transfer fee and record salaries it would still be considered a succesful transfer.

Well lloyd reckons City players dont get linked with transfers away and thats his smoking gun yet you have proved otherwise with the case of Bernardo Silva so thanks for backing up my point. Transfer Saga every year with him the last few years.

Your point is different but I will answer it anyway. No he hasnt signed a contract every time it happened. He signed for us in 2017 and then in 2019 extended his deal(before he was linked with moves away). Around the time of the pandemic he got a new gf(eventually his wife) who didnt like manchester and wanted to move away hence the links after this time. He was a crucial player for city so they put a big price tag on him which no one would pay and he didnt kick up enough of a fuss(probably because city were one of, if not the best team in the world during this period so why would he?). Start of last season(23/24) he signed a new contract with a low release clause(50m) that kicked in last summer(24) to give him his freedom of choice with his next club. I expected him to go last summer(24) to be honest but he didnt, probably because the two clubs he was linked with Barca(they didnt have the money and/or prioritised Olmo plus having seen what happened gundogan maybe he didnt fancy it? Who knows) and PSG(they changed strategy last summer on young hungry players so he wouldnt fit in). Its not really that much of a head scratcher. People are failing to realise that city in the last few years dont need to pay additional under the table, they already pay top wages that are declared and they are an extremely attractive team to play for esp with Pep in charge. Players want to play for them, its not just money that attracts them. It was at the start absolutely but they really dont need to do it anymore esp considering where most of their signings come from(usually tier 2 clubs and mostly all potential with exception of maybe Haaland).