My Milksheik brings all the boys to the yard

[Hansern]

Fulham and their owner didnt want to sell Mitrovic for anything less then 50 mill so then they went after the manager. Proper cunts.

 

[Hansern]

OK, so starting to see the potential end game here.
If we look at the Henderson transfer, it looks like he's agreed to take a slightly lower salary so his Saudi club can afford to pay a fee to us.
From transfers so far, they clearly don't like paying transfer fees. They are either going after players who are out of contract or the likes of Hendo where they think good relationships with his current club will persuade them to let him go for free because they "owe" him the chance of one last big pay-day. Same with Mitrovic. They're quickly seeing the error of that line of thinking.
So the next thing we'll likely see is players tapped up by the Saudi league and promised a big salary, IF they let their contracts run down so the transfer fee is low / nil. The ones who are really motivated by money will let their contracts run down and take a big salary on a free transfer - Ballack was probably the prototype for this. It's not currently common, because of the risk of being left with nothing if you get an injury in the last year of your contract, and the salary premium is probably not that significant. Plus only the very top players have the bargaining power. Emre Can threatens to run his deal down? See ya. Shame and all that but he wasn't irreplaceable. Mbappe? Different story.
So I suspect we'll see more issues like the deal with Mbappe/PSG this summer. He's only going to re-sign for PSG if they offer him Saudi-level money, off to Madrid on a free if they don't, he can refuse to move to another club if they find one. He's too good a player for them to let him rot in the reserves (and he could claim constructive dismissal if they did).
Except the players involved in future won't be Mbappe level, and the clubs they move to won't be Madrid level. They'll be decent players, moving to Saudi clubs, for no fee. And until the Saudi squads are packed full, a lot of players will fancy their chances at playing that game.
Unless the players are at Newcastle, in which case they'll sell for £100m.
Until the lads who've already moved don't get paid as @localny said.

Fees paid so far:


Player Age Season Nat. New club Fee
1
Rúben Neves
Defensive Midfield
26 23/24

€55.00m
2
Sergej Milinković-Savić
Central Midfield
28 23/24

€40.00m
3
Jota
Left Winger
24 23/24

€29.10m
4
Seko Fofana
Central Midfield
28 23/24

€25.00m
5
Kalidou Koulibaly
Centre-Back
32 23/24

€23.00m
6
Edouard Mendy
Goalkeeper
31 23/24

€18.50m
7
Marcelo Brozovic
Defensive Midfield
30 23/24

€18.00m

Fabinho 40 mill and Mahrez 35 mill will soon follow. They dont have any problems paying transfer fees for the right players it seems.

 

[Hansern]

This will be a test to see if a top talent at the age of 24 moves from the Bundesliga to the PL or goes to the Saudis.

 

[Beamrider]

At the risk of sounding like “too much”, the end game is much bigger possibly no? It’s not really sporting. I’m not even sure it’s the World Cup.

The Saudis are known to be obsessed about securing their own future no? And really keen on actually having nuclear technology. Is this the end goal beyond football - using football to become well liked for a bigger geo political aim?

It's entirely possible, I was just thinking about their football project in isolation, but given the involvement of the PIF it's hard not to see all of this, plus golf etc. as part of a grander scheme, whatever that scheme may be.

 

[Hansern]

Good thing Diaby turned down the more lucrative offer from the Saudis. Good for football.

 

[localny]

Maybe it's nothing to do with football, but game it out, I guess

Inside Saudi Arabia’s Global Push for Nuclear Power
Despite qualms in Washington, Saudi officials have pressed the United States to help them develop nuclear power. But they are also exploring other options, including China.

April 1, 2023
For years, Saudi Arabia has pressed the United States to help it develop a nuclear energy program, as Saudi leaders look beyond oil to power their country.
But talks about a nuclear partnership have dragged on, largely because the Saudi government refuses to agree to conditions that are intended to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons or helping other nations do so, according to officials with knowledge of the discussions.
Frustrated Saudi officials are now exploring options to work with other countries, including China, Russia or a U.S. ally.
At the same time, they are renewing a push with the United States — their preferred partner — by offering to try to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for U.S. cooperation on building nuclear reactors and other guarantees.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/01/us/politics/saudi-arabia-nuclear-biden-administration.html

 

[Hansern]

With a rumored 20 billion to spend it does seem that the transfer market is gonna get even more fucked in the future.
Sadio off as well.

 

[Woland]

Quiffer

 

[moron]

With a rumored 20 billion to spend it does seem that the transfer market is gonna get even more fucked in the future.
Sadio off as well.

This is fantastic news - do we get some money if this Sale goes through in terms of add-ons etc. ?

 

[binomial]

This is fantastic news - do we get some money if this Sale goes through in terms of add-ons etc. ?

Except Ben Jacobs is the biggest chancer going, the guy posted "exclusively" that Hendo was NOT going to Saudi then deleted his tweet as soon as the Joyce's / Ornstein's of this world said the contrary.

Chancer of the highest order.

 

[StevieM]

Except Ben Jacobs is the biggest chancer going, the guy posted "exclusively" that Hendo was NOT going to Saudi then deleted his tweet as soon as the Joyce's / Ornstein's of this world said the contrary.

Chancer of the highest order.

Speaking of chancers…. A few hours later…

 

[binomial]

Speaking of chancers…. A few hours later…

I really doubt Fabrizio has the slightest clue who Ben Jacobs is, in fact probably no one in the footballing world did until about 12 months ago......he's been doing this sort of stuff far longer than he has and has already long built a huge following and released a documentary with an insight on how exactly one that works in the industry that he does goes about his day to day journey.....

So with all that said, I'd say there's far less of a necessity to chance about where Fabrizio's concerned.

 

[keniget]

Interesting that all the players we've let go are basically for the scrap heap. Goes to show to what extent our team has been running on fumes.

 

[Beamrider]

This is fantastic news - do we get some money if this Sale goes through in terms of add-ons etc. ?

Not sure if there was a sell-on clause in that deal but they're normally only payable on any PROFIT on an onward sale. Given Bayern want rid, I'd expect they'll be taking a bit of a loss so there wouldn't be add-ons even if they'd been agreed in the sale contract.
In actual fact, we'll probably lose money because the add-ons in the original sale deal were based on appearance / achievement targets with Bayern which will probably fall away now.
NB - there's no set formula for sell-on fees, they can be based on gross sale price, but that's unusual.

 

[peekay]

Interesting that all the players we've let go are basically for the scrap heap. Goes to show to what extent our team has been running on fumes.

Looks like the Saudis turned down the chance to offer Ox a contract. Shows how poor our squad management has been. We were relying on players no other PL club would touch. Even Arthur got a new club.

 

[binomial]

Jesus christ doesn't get more embarrassing than that, Ox lad, this is when you know it's time to hang them up.

 

[rurikbird]

I’m sure Ox would get a decent PL move a year ago, might have even gotten a nominal fee for him. Why we kept him around for one extra season I have no idea.

 

[Hansern]

I’m sure Ox would get a decent PL move a year ago, might have even gotten a nominal fee for him. Why we kept him around for one extra season I have no idea.

We paid him nearly 500k per game he was involved in last season.
Insanely poor squad management.

 

[StevieM]

We paid him nearly 500k per game he was involved in last season.
Insanely poor squad management.

Thank god we paid him fuck all for the games he wasn’t involved in then!!!

 

[Hansern]

 

[binomial]

 

[Raz]

Haha OK then!

 

[Modo]

Talk about a waste of money.

 

[rurikbird]

Wow. Hard to see how he can turn this down – literally solves all of his problems. Except that he has to spend a year of his life playing in Saudi Arabia.

 

[rubans]

So what’s in the small detaills?
Do RM then pay 200m to take him from
Al Hilal? Is the 400m wages just for one year? Then RM negotiate their own salary? Whole thing sounds pointless

 

[Hansern]

 

[Markeh]

To be fair to them i read a fee of about £26m, that sounds alright to me? It’s not like they’re buying him for £150m or something daft.

 

[binomial]

To be fair to them i read a fee of about £26m, that sounds alright to me? It’s not like they’re buying him for £150m or something daft.

I read 35m euros which is a little more but notwithstanding I fully agree with you here.

If someone like Forest or Sheffield signed him for 30m, nothing would be said.......it's no doubt clubs like Chelsea Arsenal Spurs and Utd probs Villa who are threatened by the link between Newcastle and Ah Ahli.

Havertz and Rice for 170m. No concern, zero.

Off goes ASM for 30m AND SHIT, PUT THE WORLD ON LOCKDOWN. STOP TIME!!!

 

[Fabio]

Isn't the issue the fact they're moving an asset from one of their companies, to another, meaning that really they're just moving their own money around, rather than actually receiving investment?

 

[Fabio]

Like, the valuation is right, but how is it different from Etihad sponsoring city or buying their training ground? They're just using players to be a dodgy front for violations