Summer Transfer Window 2023

[Szumi]

5 minutes ago, Baddar said:

Meanwhile, Real Madrid are signing Joselu (of Newcastle fame) as their striker for this season, so they can go big on Mbappe next year, who won't cost them a transfer fee but a significant amount in wages/bonuses.

They were always signing Joselu. The plan was to bring him in in as a backup to Benzema, but now, well things have clearly changed. 

I would not be surprised if Bobby ends up at Real as a one year stopgap.

[Baddar]

Apparently Perez has said he'll be their final summer signing though which is the surprising part.

[Colly]

Any excuse. Bit NSFW but probably safe.

Spoiler

 

 

 

Fucking hell I hope we get Real in the Champions League.

[Hobo]

21 minutes ago, Colly said:

Any excuse. Bit NSFW but probably safe.

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Fucking hell I hope we get Real in the Champions League.

I watched this and then Joselu's goalscoring stats while at Newcastle.

The song really didn't match reality

[Colly]

In their defense there are plenty of "might"s in there. Rafa's decision to play him with Mitrovic on the books was baffling.

I hadn't realised Neves was only 26. What an utter waste if he goes to Saudi.

[Hobo]

2 minutes ago, Colly said:

Rafa's decision to play him with Mitrovic on the books was baffling.

I feel like everyone whose club was managed by Rafa for any period of time can relate to this feeling

[Lineker]

 

[FLiam]

The Saudi PIF owns a fairly large stake in Todd Boehly’s investment company that purchased Chelsea.

So now Chelsea are flogging some of their unwanted players for massive fees to Saudi Arabia. 

Sounds like Mendy, Kante, Koulibaly and Ziyech. Although Kante is a free agent.

[Baddar]

Lukaku is one who's refused and wants to stay in Europe.

Not Chelsea related but Ornstein is reporting that Bernardo Silva has a big offer on the table to go to Saudi too.

[Lineker]

1 hour ago, FLiam said:

The Saudi PIF owns a fairly large stake in Todd Boehly’s investment company that purchased Chelsea.

So now Chelsea are flogging some of their unwanted players for massive fees to Saudi Arabia. 

Sounds like Mendy, Kante, Koulibaly and Ziyech. Although Kante is a free agent.

So dodge.

[Naitch]

Very much so, but I'm sure it's no coincidence that Saudi teams seem to be trying to bring in as many major Muslim players as they can. There seem to be conflicting reports on Mendy's religion but all of the others from Chelsea, as well as Benzema, are most likely part of an attempt to increase the Islamic cultural relevance of the Saudi league.

[Lineker]

I mean, that's more of a coincidental byproduct that's convenient for them to cart out as a media spin.

[Colly]

I almost find it amusing that it's always Eddie Howe that gets asked the questions when Pep gets away with it, and now 18 months on when we've just been run as a generally well run football club (even the new sponsor deal isn't some absurd made up amount) Chelsea are the ones doing all the dodgy stuff we'd been told Newcastle would do. Time will tell of course, and none of it is good.

[Gazz]

Jeff Hendrick is signing for Al-Nassr. £300m fee and £500m a year salary.

[Baddar]

After 6 months at Atletico, Matt Doherty is the latest name linked with a big salary Saudi move.

[Hobo]

7 minutes ago, Gazz said:

Jeff Hendrick is signing for Al-Nassr. £300m fee and £500m a year salary.

 even in my football manager save where I've made every Irish club mega-rich nobody signed Jeff Hendrick.

[stokeriño]

I've been trying to imagine what road this might all take, and what - if anything - could interrupt the "lol guess all clubs are going to be directly funded by nation states" timeline we appear to be on.

Because I guess the crux of the matter is that having super-rich owners own multiple clubs just invites this shit to happen (I guess the PIF doesn't really 'own' all these Saudi clubs? But they're giving them whatever money they fancy so kind of moot). My current assumption is that the Saudi scheme isn't technically breaking any rules at the moment by doing this - whereas at least some of the other ruses that clubs have tried/are trying to skirt the FFP laws have been. City's bogus sponsorships or Italian football's exploitation of player exchange valuations being examples that have sort of been identified and punished (well, City's is pending).

So, say, this is a loophole that the footballing industry decides it wants to close. How does it close it? Banning companies from owning clubs if some investor in them owns other clubs? It feels woolly (or at least would easily be made woolly via shell companies and all that bollocks if rules were made to try and chase it down). But honestly I don't think it's likely that footballing governance is going to wade into the intricacies of these investments when even right now they're apparently incapable of doing a Fit and Proper Person Test with any fucking credibility.

I didn't think I'd get anywhere with this train of thought, but that's a vague description of where I'm stuck at the moment.

P.S. I would just like to say that the revelation that Chelsea's hedge fund-running owners are All In on the Saudi money somehow managed to surprise me. Even though I view anyone connected with hedge funds to have pretty much zero ethical qualms in any given context, it just didn't occur to me that it would crop up in this way. Have I mentioned recently that I miss Abramovich?

[DavidMarrio]

Can't wait for the Prem to end up being a contest of who's the most ethical of all of the owners...

FFP wouldn't really matter would it anyway? Doubt it's implemented in the Saudi league so it's just a case of Chelsea getting their buddies to bail them out after they signed 72 people last season. 

In terms of Newcastle, there should be the questions about the owners and there always should be, especially with things like the imminent execution of the 7 childen under 18.

Same with City, they should be questioned about their owners and the blatant financial doping they've done. BTs coverage of the Champions League final was utter dross, no mention at all of anything just a circle jerk over them. 

[Colly]

PIF bought 4 Saudi clubs last month, no idea if it's the ones buying the Chelsea boys.

[stokeriño]

1 minute ago, Colly said:

PIF bought 4 Saudi clubs last month

Figures.