The Jude Bellingham Summer 2023 Transfer Thread

[randomlegend]

Is Kane to United actually a thing? :uhoh:

We're definitely going to try for him but Ornstein said yesterday they want way over £100m and the most likely thing is he stays and leaves on a free next year.

[Manc]

See Liverpool newspaper linked to Milinkovic-Savic. He looked an absolute don a few seasons ago, although I've seen little to nothing of Lazio/him since. Why did he never leave them and is he still any good?

IIRC the fee Lazio wanted was always mental, especially considering he regularly stunk it up for Serbia. Popped up with two at the weekend and has been been top tier on the handful of occasions I've watched Lazio this season. Not a Klopp player by any means though.

[niko_cee]

Just seen Sadio's on £325k a week at Bayern. Fucking hell. Guess they'll be enjoying paying that for the next few years.

[Gray Fox]

No wonder they want him out already. Can't blame him though, he tends to send a lot of his wage back home to improve where he grew up.

[niko_cee]

Potter to Palace should add a new generation of spice to the 'M23 derby'.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I thought Adolf had been confirmed for that one. Poor Adolf.

[wullie]

In unfortunate timing considering it was happening regardless, two days after he missed the deciding penalty in the playoff final we've released Fanky Dabo.

With Todd Kane going as well this left us woefully short of ex-Chelsea youth fullbacks but luckily it was then announced that we're signing Jay Dasilva, that was a nervy 20 minutes.

[Gray Fox]

The talk I'm hearing is the Mac Allister deal will be ~£60m in total, he'll be on 100k a week and signed for 5 years.

Sounds like they're just waiting until the season is over before announcing.

I'm expecting anything else Liverpool do to happen quite quickly after. Klopp wants all of the signings done before pre season begins to get everyone on the PEDs properly.

New director in Jorg Schmadtke is in, though it sounds like it's only a summer window thing, with an option to extend after. A bit weird.

Ward got the Alexis deal done before leaving, so he's coming in for £60.5m. As soon as this new guy joined the talk is we've gone in for Manu Kone of Mochengladbach and Khephren Thuram from Nice.

Both of those would be the exact opposite kind of player to the one we've been trying to get in midfield, but one I think is now needed. Both also seem to be in the £40-50m range too. I can't say I've seen Kone play, but Thuram should do well.

[Don]

Germans seem to be trying to make up for being a little late to the BLM party.

I've ran the numbers and at 185cm, Kone isn't ideal but Thuram is 192cm and we're looking at mad inches in the showers which should hopefully keep the favela cunts like Diaz and Nunez in check.

[Baz]

Is Nunez gets number 9, I’m done

[niko_cee]

Did Milner wear 7? Few big shirts on offer this summer if so. My Brighton Intel told me 'Alexis' wants 10, who took that off Mane last year?

[Ben]

Don't think anyone did.

[Gray Fox]

7(Milner), 8(Keita), 9(Bobby) and 10(Mané) are all up for grabs now.

I don't think any current squad members will change up now as they would usually announce that before the new kit starts selling.

[niko_cee]

Don't forget whatever number 'Arthur Melo' [if such a character exists beyond FFP chicanery] had. What a signing.

[Don]

Arthur, McKennie and Zakaria. Juve gonna be formidable next year.

[Gray Fox]

Don't forget whatever number 'Arthur Melo' [if such a character exists beyond FFP chicanery] had. What a signing.

The fabled 29 shirt will have to be left alone for some time you feel. Out of respect.

[Baz]

1663493591040405504

[Lofty]

Don't forget whatever number 'Arthur Melo' [if such a character exists beyond FFP chicanery] had. What a signing.

Made Aquilani look like Gerrard.

[John Arne]

7(Milner), 8(Keita), 9(Bobby) and 10(Mané) are all up for grabs now.

I don't think any current squad members will change up now as they would usually announce that before the new kit starts selling.

TAA to 7 just for The Sun meltdown.

[Waffdon]

Chelsea offering Ugarte £40k a week :D

[niko_cee]

Yeah, but 40k a week for 60 years.

[Waffdon]

Poch is a lucky man getting to choose from a midfield of Cancelo/Ugarte/Fernandez. The latter finally not having to sit as the deepest in a midfield :drool:. Night and day to Jovacic.

[randomlegend]

Do you mean Caicedo?

[Jimmy Floyd]

He means Gallagher.

[Don]

That Benzema Saudi deal sounds pretty tasty. Muslim lives will soon matter and it sets us up nicely to get rid of the carcass of Mo in a season or two.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm hearing Frank Lampard to Al-Raed, they feel he has good brand synergy with their sponsors Shawarma King.

[Gray Fox]

TAA to 7 just for The Sun meltdown.

I'm very surprised Lucho didn't upgrade himself to number 7. Assuming Alexis takes the 10, there's still plenty for new signings to take.

[Waffdon]

Kovacic to Man City sounds like it could be a possibility. He’s been horrendous this year but then who hasn’t. Should be class under ‘Pep’ though.

[Baz]

Germans seem to be trying to make up for being a little late to the BLM party.

I've ran the numbers and at 185cm, Kone isn't ideal but Thuram is 192cm and we're looking at mad inches in the showers which should hopefully keep the favela cunts like Diaz and Nunez in check.
Seen Lukaku is smashing Megan Thee Stallion? :chief:

[randomlegend]

Chelsea's Mason Mount agrees personal terms with Manchester United

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/05/31/manchester-city-hold-talks-over-chelsea-mateo-kovacic/

https://media.tenor.com/kyk4ZXEgo-AAAAAC/get-out-of-here-throw.gif

[Gray Fox]

Fucking Mount :D

:console:

[randomlegend]

I am not consoled.

[Waffdon]

Imagine paying between £60-70m for Mason Mount. Never mind a Mason Mount after a horrendous season and with 12 months left on his contract.

£100m for him and Kovacic who both were leaving for free in a year sorts any FFP issues. Lolz.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Corporate partners will love him. You always have to remember that is what Manchester United is about first and foremost.

[Shindig]

"Stakeholders suggest the squad needs another Mason."

[Ian]

Gosh, Mount, how exciting.

[niko_cee]

You might also get his lunatic stalker bringing excitement to supermarkets all over the region.

[Ian]

She seems to have a line of generic white blokes she's got the horn for.

[Don]

Kovavic is some signing for whoever picks him up so for it to be City is taking the absolute piss.

[Ben]

Todd Boehly is a genius.

[niko_cee]

Rinsing/abusing the FFP system is fine and dandy as long as you don't mind pouring money down the drain constantly. It might 'work' to not fall foul of the rules [fucking accountants], but spreading out your bigger losses over a longer period isn't actually offset by smaller sales booked over a shorter period [thereby inflated]. And again, unless your plan involves 'better' commercial deals once you have become the best team [usually requiring dodgy accounting through other entities you control] where is the gain?

[randomlegend]

United want two strikers - a young one and an experienced one - and are after Rasmus Hojlund as the former.

[Yevrah]

Rinsing/abusing the FFP system is fine and dandy as long as you don't mind pouring money down the drain constantly. It might 'work' to not fall foul of the rules [fucking accountants], but spreading out your bigger losses over a longer period isn't actually offset by smaller sales booked over a shorter period [thereby inflated]. And again, unless your plan involves 'better' commercial deals once you have become the best team [usually requiring dodgy accounting through other entities you control] where is the gain?

You've lost me. It sounds like Chelsea are spending big money on new players and depreciating them over a five year period (or whatever the maximum is now) and selling those players with low or non-existent net book values. Financially that's perfectly sound, but in and of itself it won't lead to an advantage because to maintain it you need to keep buying players cheap/producing them for nothing and then make the right big money signings. Even if you do, it doesn't necessarily guarantee anything on the pitch, particularly not if you appoint Frank Lampard.

[niko_cee]

My point was more the genius of the Boehly model only works if you are happy to wear a lot of losses/run it in a Man City/PSG style. You can keep your head above FFP water whilst still losing eye watering amounts of money in reality.

I guess the main business advantage of unlimited resources is you can pour loads of money into youth (ie buy as many prospects as humanly possible) without it nudging the FFP needle down, but can later be used to nudge it up significantly.

[Clunge]

Fingers crossed for Asensio to Villa, but looks like PSG are going to nick him.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm a long term supporter of Mount and believe he is and will again be a really good footballer at the highest level, but honestly at this point if someone wants to pay £60 million + for him and we have loads of homegrown around which we do, then we need to slim down the squad so why not punt.

A lot more shite to get rid of. Ziyech, Aubameyang, Pulisic obvious candidates for the chop. Cucurella maybe to go if Malaga need some depth for their Segunda B campaign. We are currently bloated to hell and it's far more important to shift players than it is to bring new ones in. I'd be fine with no new players, maybe a centre forward tops.

[Lewis]

I would be open to Mason Mount for a last year of his contract fee, but sixty million is a bit lol really. If Chelsea want to cash in whilst they still can, and he really wants United, how can he possibly cost that much?

[Waffdon]

Real Madrid interested in Kai Havertz apparently. More money for mid players. Unreal scenes.

[phonics]

It's why the Joao Felix transfer made no sense. It's the definition of 'We've got Joao Felix at home' and it's a picture of Havertz.

[Jimmy Floyd]

We would be foolish to sell Havertz, especially if it's in deference to the rat-faced fuck Felix.

[Waffdon]

Poch told Felix he doesn’t want to keep him so you’re sound. Nkunku is already a ready made replacement for Havertz anyway in that ‘idk your strongest position is blud’.

If I had to guess, Martinez will join Chelsea and Inter will get Lukaku in return

[randomlegend]

1664591957371371520

Zero goals, zero assists in the league and let go on a free. Only managed 17 appearances for a team that finished 16th.

Don

Dance for me.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That could be a rare case (a bit like Wilshere a while ago) where his demands are above what any club who would have him as a player are able to pay. Market failure, football-style.

[Manc]

England's 2018 WC squad aging like milk.

[Spikey M]

It must be hard being a flop from the United youth squad. All those years sat scratching his arse on the United Bench for £150k a week and now you're being offered half the amount and you might actually have to play. Gutting.

[Don]

I had to search back to see what the teddy is namedropping me for and turns out he's either done likewise or this particular donnage was a real sore one:

https://www.thethirdhalf.co.uk/showthread.php?3012-The-Summer-Transfer-Window-Thread-Here-We-Go!&p=553770&viewfull=1#post553770

Might need to wait for another year or 2 to find an instance when you had a respectable football take son.

On a Nottm Forest note though, the believers really called it. MGW at £30m was doubted but he'll go for 9 figures and as an England starter :drool:

[randomlegend]

I suppose I've only got myself to blame for trying to play chess against a pigeon.

[Kikó]

It must be hard being a flop from the United youth squad. All those years sat scratching his arse on the United Bench for £150k a week and now you're being offered half the amount and you might actually have to play. Gutting.

To be fair, he was a pretty key part of the squad for a few years and had a couple of very good seasons. Unfortunately his brain is 7 years old and instead of trying to make the most of his talent, he wants to boost his brand.

[Ian]

Yeah but imagine if we'd made the most of his twitter following mate.

[Gray Fox]

Lessons not learned from Tom 'TC23' Cleverley.

[Giggles]

Not a single player in the EPL, and not even a Liverpool one, that I'd like to see die a death more. Wonderful.

[Shindig]

Staying on at West Ham really should've been the best option.

[niko_cee]

Manchester United will offer England defender Harry Maguire, 30, to Chelsea as part of a deal for England midfielder Mason Mount, 24.

:happycry:

Hopefully that means they won't be needing to keep Colwill, who clearly wants to stay down south [and play games].

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They'll end up asking for more money to take Maguire.

[Waffdon]

:happycry:

Hopefully that means they won't be needing to keep Colwill, who clearly wants to stay down south [and play games].

Please don’t tell me you’re still reading BBC Gossip column.

Real Madrid, Man Utd and whoever buys Gallagher really doing Chelsea a solid one this window. FFP, who?

[niko_cee]

Hell yeah, fuck Romano, RL, Newsnow and all that clickbait cookie policy link shite.

On the FFP thing, I wonder if you could end up running it as some sort of cartel where all the BIG teams keep each other in the FFP sweetspot. Sounds like the kind of thing the Bayern/Juve hierarchy would be right into.

[John Arne]

Hell yeah, fuck Romano, RL, Newsnow and all that clickbait cookie policy link shite.

On the FFP thing, I wonder if you could end up running it as some sort of cartel where all the BIG teams keep each other in the FFP sweetspot. Sounds like the kind of thing the Bayern/Juve hierarchy would be right into.

Haven't Barca and Juve (and Valencia??) have already done something similar with previous transfers.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, that Pjanic/Arthur Melo deal must have been one of the dodgiest ever. Plus Valenze or whatever. Juve and Bayern also seem to have a revolving door of transfers between the two.

But you can never overlook the fact that deals can sometime just be plain stupid [See the Ibrahimovic/Eto'o transfer for example].

[Gray Fox]

It's exactly why Juventus are in the shit now.

Essentially they've been amortising player transfers over the length of their contracts, which is standard fare recently, as then the full fee for say Vlahovic doesn't come out in one 70m hit in a season, rather 5-6 much smaller chunks at 1 each year.

Conversely they have applied sales in full to the same season in order to prop up FFP. Where they've come into dodgy ground is sales like Pjanic for Athur. In truth the actual transfer was 12m to Barcelona with the players swapping.
What the clubs actually reported on their books however is Pjanic sold for 60m and Arthur sold for 72m. That allows both clubs to whack each amount straight into their seasons FFP count, giving much needed breathing room and fiddling the books.

This is why there are so many player exchanges in Italy. The problem for Juventus is now the Italians have cottoned on to how bullshit their valuations are in order to try and keep them in the black. One of the board members was braindead and kept an actual black book of the real values. So the points deduction is only the start of their issues.

[niko_cee]

If there's any truth in the BBC story about Mount [that Chelsea would rather like any deals to be done by June 30th for FFP rules] why would United not wait until July to try to sign him? It's not like Chelsea are going to say no at that point, are they? Surely there will be some interesting bargains to be had if teams are willing to get a little brinksmanshippy with the Todd Boehly Express.

[randomlegend]

We should offer £40m until June 30th and if they don't take it walk away.

Well actually we should not try to sign Mount because he's shit, but given that seems not to be an option...

[randomlegend]

Hazard's contract terminated by mutual consent with Madrid.

Fuck knows why he's agreed to that.

[Waffdon]

Probably signing a contract with a Saudi team.

Or he’s coming home :wub:

[Waffdon]

Ugarte will be off to Chelsea with Mendes being the biggest factor. The latter is buddy buddy with Boehly.

ITK.

Done deal, rejecting PSG to sign for Chelsea on £58k a week. What a don.

[Manc]

Him & Enzo will make for some midfield.

[Baz]

Him & Enzo will make for some midfield.

Yep. Chelsea back challenging for top 4 will be good.

[Waffdon]

Him & Enzo will make for some midfield.

Onana; James, Fofana, Colwill, Chilwell/Hall; Ugarte, Caicedo, Fernandez; Madueke, Nkunku, Sterling

If I guessed, that would be the line up for the start of the season. Fernandez being able to get further forward should have the time of his life. If they sign a proper striker then Nkunku in the 10 and Ugarte on the bench. Massive upgrades on Jovacic and a disabled Kante regardless

[Don]

Madueke and Sterling :D

[niko_cee]

It is an interesting experiment in whether going full Champ Manager can actually work.

I have my doubts.

Ugarte and Caicedo are going to cost the thick end of £140m as well, aren't they?

That team doesn't really look like it will score many goals in the BPLSBB.

[Waffdon]

£30-40m for Kovacic, £50-60m for Mount and £60-70m for Havertz (no idea what Madrid are smoking but he’ll probably do well )covers that with ease. That’s not taking into account Pulisic/Ziyech/Aubameyang/Mendy all being sold. Some gimps will probably be offering stupid money for Gallagher as well.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The above team is fucking awful.

[randomlegend]

Spending the thick end of a billion quid to still end up with Sterling starting would be some effort.

[Waffdon]

I’d rather not see him anywhere near the team but I think ‘Poch’ definitely starts him. The midfield 3 also probably rarely happens as he usually likes 4231 so Nkunku will be in the ‘10’ and a new striker brought in.

Toney would have been great but Martinez will do.

[Gray Fox]

Do we reckon the sudden and urgent need for a central forward, will halt the Madrid purchase of Bellingham?

[Lewis]

They wouldn't have let him go if they couldn't replace him without a fuss, so let's assume they'll just spend a record amount this summer.

[randomlegend]

Do we reckon the sudden and urgent need for a central forward, will halt the Madrid purchase of Bellingham?

No, and even if it did, he wouldn't go to Liverpool.

[Gray Fox]

#SomehowAboutLiverpool

[niko_cee]

Kane to Madrid for a less eye-watering price than Levy would want from an English side, surely.

Sounds like they're going to low-ball Dortmund for Bellingham anyway.

[Waffdon]

Bellingham needs knee surgery so I’d be wary of him. Knee surgery at that age is wild.

Madrid are going for Havertz so I doubt they’re going for Kane. The latter will want to beat Shearer’s record as well

[Gray Fox]

Reports of Juventus preparing a fire sale.

Chiesa is good but the injuries. Vlahovic could be made something of, but do they have much else?

[Manc]

Multiple reports suggesting the fee for Mac Alli is closer to £45m.

[niko_cee]

Madrid are going for Havertz so I doubt they’re going for Kane.

Over the past 5 seasons Benzema has scored 161 goals for Madrid. In the same time period, which includes Havertz being in Germany where he actually scored goals, our Kai has 70, 38 of which were in those years in Germany. Not sure he's exactly what they're looking for.

[niko_cee]

Multiple reports suggesting the fee for Mac Alli is closer to £45m.

Yeah, he's been dogged by low fee rumours for years so there must be something in his contract to that effect. Probably turn out to be exercisable by Champions League teams.

[randomlegend]

Bellingham needs knee surgery so I’d be wary of him. Knee surgery at that age is wild.
l

Not particularly, entirely depends on the injury.

Madrid are definitely going for Kane. Unlike Chelsea they aren't stupid enough to stick Havertz up as a lone 9 and expect it to work.

[randomlegend]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/06/04/manchester-united-transfer-news-mason-mount-bid-harry-kane/

United going to offer £50m for Mount :sick:

Apparently we're going to make a massive bid for Kane and if they say no, we'll move onto other strikers.

Loads of rumours in Italy about Kim Min-Jae still.

[Gray Fox]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/06/04/manchester-united-transfer-news-mason-mount-bid-harry-kane/

United going to offer £50m for Mouth :sick:

The Mason Mouth?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

There are no plans, at present, to spend significant money on a goalkeeper and a new deal for David De Gea, whose current contract runs out at the end of this month, is expected to be announced shortly.

Ugh.

[randomlegend]

The Mason Mouth?

You were quick, I edited that about 10 seconds after I posted it.

[Lewis]

Why can't they just offer less than that on the assumption that he only wants to sign for United and Chelsea might as well not accept any other bids? Would they really just keep him for, say, thirty million?

[niko_cee]

I like the story about him being swayed by champions league football, lol.

[Kikó]

I'd prefer us to go balls deep into Ferguson than Kane but it's pretty obvious we've been lacking any kind of threat outside of rashford despite a few goals from midfield. Im hoping its not just mount for the midfield. Plus an upgrade at goalkeeper but doubt it'll happen.

[niko_cee]

Evan Ferguson?

He's nowhere near the level United need at the moment. The price Brighton would want would put too much pressure on him and he'd almost certainly be deemed a flop on the back of that alone. Anyway, isn't United's transfer strategy (if you can call it that) more focused on the here and now, no? (Varane, Casemiro, Eriksen)

[Kikó]

Tbf everyone who talks about him say he's got shades of shearer about him. Him and Kane would be acceptable.

[Manc]

Havertz to Madrid is imminent according to BILD.

[Giggles]

I'd hate to see Ferguson go there at this stage. 2 games without a goal and he'd never be heard of again - if he ever even got a game.

[Don]

This Gabri Veiga looks fucking ripe this summer. Never watched him but one look at his cute fucking face and solid build and you know he's gonna be something special.

[Shindig]

Ah, that's the lad we're allegedly after. Him and some Gambian wonderkid terrorising Denmark. The latter sounds like it's done, the former very much isn't.

[randomlegend]

ITK.

Done deal, rejecting PSG to sign for Chelsea on £58k a week. What a don.

Ugarte wants to join PSG but Sporting are trying to force him to go to Chelsea because their offer to Sporting is better.

[Waffdon]

Have you actually read the article? It’s amazing. PSG definitely paid Lequipe off to post a slander article. Claiming UEFA will be investigating it and Chelsea are buying stakes in Sporting and that’s why the latter want him to join Chelsea.

[Waffdon]

1665487590915538949

:henn0rz:

[Lofty]

Arsenal looking likely to sign Caicedo and Rice, if they ship out Xhaka and Partey that's quite an upgrade.

[randomlegend]

1665487590915538949

:henn0rz:

Don't worry mate, stick with me and you'll learn what to listen to.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm surprised we haven't all learned by now with these 'races' for the flavour of the month in Portuguese football. Those three clubs literally exist to orchestrate bidding wars.

[Don]

Mehdi Taremi is available for under £20m tbf. Whether some cunt actually manages to give him a chance to prove he's a top 5 striker in world football above some favela cunt with sleeve tattoos is the major question though.

[Gray Fox]

Did Gavi ever get his contract reinstated?

I imagine he wont want to leave Xavi and Barcelona, but surely all of Europes elite and also Spurs should be desperately trying to get him signed if he's available for "free."

[randomlegend]

Mac Allister has been Here We Goed I see.

[niko_cee]

Seems a decent deal if there's anything in the 'much less than expected' rumours [ie somewhere around £40m] and his wages are £100k [as also reported].

[Mazuuurk]

Arsenal looking likely to sign Caicedo and Rice, if they ship out Xhaka and Partey that's quite an upgrade.

It should be. But Xhaka and Partey have generally been immense all season.

[randomlegend]

Have you actually read the article? It’s amazing. PSG definitely paid Lequipe off to post a slander article. Claiming UEFA will be investigating it and Chelsea are buying stakes in Sporting and that’s why the latter want him to join Chelsea.

1665672618907688960

Amazing.

[Waffdon]

The article looks even more stupid tho. The article never mentioned PSG were getting him - they stated that Chelsea is the only bid accepted because Chelsea were going to be investing in Sporting and that UEFA are going to be looking into the length of the contract.

[SincereTheRebel]

It should be. But Xhaka and Partey have generally been immense all season.

Xhaka looked good in that role, given he seem to be thrown into it. They can probably get so much more out of that posisition though with a proper player in there. This Rice lad. Would he play the Partey role or the Xhaka role?

[randomlegend]

The article looks even more stupid tho. The article never mentioned PSG were getting him - they stated that Chelsea is the only bid accepted because Chelsea were going to be investing in Sporting and that UEFA are going to be looking into the length of the contract.

https://cdn5.vectorstock.com/i/1000x1000/82/29/digging-a-hole-shovel-and-dry-brown-earth-vector-38108229.jpg

[Giggles]

The Benjamin button of soccer fans.

[-james-]

I have never heard of "Ugarte" and will continue to have never heard of him once he moves to Ligue 1.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm trying to think of when I last watched a PSG game. Current estimate is the CL tie against Chelsea in 2016.

[Gray Fox]

Seems Tammy has done his ACL in the last 10 mins of Romas last game. I would have had him down as Spurs' Kane replacement.

[Giggles]

Spurs will buy and ruin Ferguson to try replace Kane. Black hole of a club and he hasn't the English benefit of the doubt.

[niko_cee]

I don't think he's going to be looking to force a move this summer and Brighton will have no desire or need to sell him. Move after a full season as a regular starter maybe, but going now, to be Harry Kane's replacement, would be utter madness.

[Spikey M]

I'm pretty sure Richarlison was the replacement bought in advance. Him being a donkey for the entirety of last season won't change Levy's mind on that.

[Lofty]

It should be. But Xhaka and Partey have generally been immense all season.

Partey went to rat shit when the 'unnamed premier league footballer' headlines reared their heads again, unable to pass a ball 5 yards under no pressure at times during the run in.

[Bam]

Xhaka looked good in that role, given he seem to be thrown into it. They can probably get so much more out of that posisition though with a proper player in there. This Rice lad. Would he play the Partey role or the Xhaka role?


I wouldn't worry about it to much, its looking very unlikely that he will go to Arsenal anyway.

[randomlegend]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/06/06/harry-maguire-tottenham-spurs-manchester-united-transfer/

:lol:

[Don]

Who tf advises these Saudi cunts? Rapist and Autist - sure, Benzema - definitely, Kante - almost astute but then you go and pursue Busquets and Auba? At least the former has some aura about him and may make some actual talent come, he probably fits the strategy of spamming the league with big names but how has Auba got himself in amongst it? Is he a giant in Africa or something?

Edit: That African FOTY award probably explains it, huh?

[Waffdon]

Brighton bidding £40m for Colwill - another £60m should do it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Not sure we can compete with the financial muscle of the top six.

[niko_cee]

I think he wants to go [to play] which will be an interesting headache for Chelsea if they keep him and [inevitably] don't play him.

Just stick a buy back in or whatever.

Didn't they have one of those with Livramento?

[Waffdon]

Why wouldn’t they start him? Badiashile is injured until September so he’s guaranteed that left sided spot at the start of the season.

[randomlegend]

Apparently Zaha is also off to Saudi.

[Don]

Utd also paying off some favela whore to make up domestic abuse accusations to be forced into Greenwood-ing Antony is a move to be respected. You wouldn't think he was the type looking at him.

[randomlegend]

1666161549080240132

[Shindig]

Chris Wood also got a permanent deal. Good on him.

[Don]

About 2 hours after I rave about him, we get linked with Gabri Veiga and now Chelsea are in for him. City have been mentioned too. Meanwhile Utd after Mount and Arsenal look to secure Maddison. There's levels to this game, lads.

[Don]

£35m for the Argie leprechaun. Assuming he must have insisted on a £35m release clause if the biggest club in the game came in for him when he signed that new contract a few months back.

[Jimmy Floyd]

It will be more fun to see who Brighton replace him with.

[niko_cee]

Dahoud is already on the way, and Billy G is all set to step up (and a slew of other South Americans)

By the time 'Alexis' signs the price will be about £3.50 if the current fee trajectory continues.

[Waffdon]

Brighton to go down next season.

[randomlegend]

I think we'll see more and more players demanding reasonable release clauses to sign for Premier League teams outside of the top few.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1666428733811486721

[niko_cee]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65832658

Not a particularly interesting (:henn0rz:) story other than this little gem:


He already owns a house in Miami, which he currently rents out

Leo, mate, I'm sure you have enough money to stay out of the letting market.

[Gray Fox]

They need to accommodate it too. If they start asking too much from other clubs or stomping their foot and saying no, the next young talent will choose somewhere else. Better to get a few years out of them and make a tidy profit shipping off a happy player.

[Gray Fox]

£35m for the Argie leprechaun. Assuming he must have insisted on a £35m release clause if the biggest club in the game came in for him when he signed that new contract a few months back.

1666327376949657603

[Jimmy Floyd]

Every time I click on a thread here at the moment another part of my life has been bought by the Saudis for £200 million.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I didn't realise that the PIF has (as of yesterday) actually bought out Nassr, Hilal, Ahli and Ittihad. This is a proper game changer. Within a year top players in their prime will be going there.

[randomlegend]

1666327376949657603

:D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

103m Euros for Jude, rising to 133.9m.

[randomlegend]

400k a week wages is a bit mental.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, Brighton are definitely going to a Dortmund-on-Sea model. It'll be interesting to see how much they dig their heels in over Caicedo - my guess would be quite a lot, but he will go. Mac Allister had a stronger hand when he signed his new deal as his existing one didn't have long to run, whereas Caicedo's was for longer and on a crappy wage, so I guess that's why he has this weird not a release clause release clause.

[niko_cee]

400k a week wages is a bit mental.

Probably won't have to pay a penny of tax either.


I didn't realise that the PIF has (as of yesterday) actually bought out Nassr, Hilal, Ahli and Ittihad. This is a proper game changer. Within a year top players in their prime will be going there.

It'll probably end up more like the China situation where it becomes a front for FFP laundering business. Either that or there turns out to be truth in the rumours of wild plans to loan loads of players back to Newcastle, which would be hilarious.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Not sure the PIF operates that way.

[Gray Fox]

It would seem Liverpool could be getting 4 players for a bit more than the price of Bellingham.

Mac Allister seems to be £35m now. I've seen Thuram and Kone could be got for around £70m combined and the noises on this Gabi Veiga are getting louder too. He has a set £34.5m asking price as well.

Tough to miss out on Jude, but when the worlds biggest club offers you 400k a week, I don't see many turning that down.

[randomlegend]

Messi off to Inter Miami.

[niko_cee]

Mac Allister seems to be £35m now..

If it's £35m fee and £100k/week in wages, which is what seems to be doing the rounds, that's 3 years of Bellingham's salary. :happycry:

[Boydy]

If it's £35m fee and £100k/week in wages, which is what seems to be doing the rounds, that's 3 years of Bellingham's salary. :happycry:

What?

[niko_cee]

What?

If Jude's on £400k a week, that's 60-odd million over 3 years, which is what you get if you add £35m [fee] and £26m [wages over 5 years] for Mac Allister. It's why those transfers [like the Haaland one] are out of reach for all but the most financially backed of clubs.

[Boydy]

Ah, I didn't realise the Mac Allister contract was five years so that's why my maths wasn't adding up.

[Waffdon]

Just realised Phil Neville is Inter Miami’s head coach. Lol.

[randomlegend]

Just realised Phil Neville is Inter Miami’s head coach. Lol.

No he isn't.

[Ben]

No he’s not. Sacked (“fired”) a few days ago.

[niko_cee]

That's a shame, was looking forward to the arm around the shoulder on the sidelines pics.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Saudis in the mud, or the sand I suppose.

[Giggles]

They'll just buy the MLS.

[Yevrah]

I didn't realise that the PIF has (as of yesterday) actually bought out Nassr, Hilal, Ahli and Ittihad. This is a proper game changer. Within a year top players in their prime will be going there.

Yep. It’s going to utterly fuck football and there’s nothing FIFA or UEFA can do about it.

Just needs one big young ish name to sign for an obscene fee and the floodgates will open.

:drool:

[niko_cee]

Can't see it myself. Who would have any interest in a Harlem Globetrotters in the sand of football type competition? The only type of 'fans' who would have any interest in it [namely 'new market' fans] don't need to be sportswashed anyway as they largely live in oppressive regimes and/or agree with most of what the Saudis get up to.

Maybe Oscar can make the move, again. Or Thiago. Do they want to buy Thiago?

[Ben]

The Saudi league is complete fodder so outside of the three PIF teams there's not a lot of pull (they can only register eight foreigners). Yes there will be the odd mercenary not approaching retirement who will take the plunge but for most decent players, they might as well stay where they are and play European football and cream millions off their current club whilst maintaining an actual life off the pitch.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've watched what's happened in golf and I'm telling you, the PIF is an unstoppable force. Golf if anything is harder to buy as it has more pre-existing moral scruples and the blazers (small b) have/had more power. Football is defenceless.

I'd also be a bit worried or at least disappointed if I were a Newcastle fan, their plans are clearly a lot bigger than anything Abu Dhabi has done with City, it's a lot bigger than buying one club and trying to dominate. It's not even necessarily about getting people to their own league. It's about being in the room for every key decision, getting Aramco on every pitchside display, making Visit Saudi the number one corporate presence in the game, having the World Cup there, normalising Saudi Arabia in every way they can. It won't all happen at once but it's like the old boiling frogs thing, you'll look up and MBS will be at the helm of everything.

[Yevrah]

Can't see it myself. Who would have any interest in a Harlem Globetrotters in the sand of football type competition?

If you mean the fans, then they wouldn't initially, but if everyone good is playing there they would eventually - things like the World Club Cup would take on vastly increased significance and the whole thing would snowball.

If you mean the players? Kylian Mbappe has already committed what may well be the best playing years of his life to playing in a dogshit league for a side that seemingly suffer as a result and are absolute bobbins in the Champions League. If Al Desert chucked a billion quid a year at him he'd go in a heartbeat.

We need to forget about 'Sportswashing' it's a complete red herring and this is a proper threat.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Can't see it myself. Who would have any interest in a Harlem Globetrotters in the sand of football type competition? The only type of 'fans' who would have any interest in it [namely 'new market' fans] don't need to be sportswashed anyway as they largely live in oppressive regimes and/or agree with most of what the Saudis get up to.

Maybe Oscar can make the move, again. Or Thiago. Do they want to buy Thiago?

It won't need to be that. It'll be Champions League final played in Saudi, Super League played in Saudi, all the clubs and personalities you know and love will still be there but their mouths will be stuffed full of Saudi gold and maybe Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr get into the Champions League, becasue why not?

[Max Power]

This VAR check is brought to you by VisitSaudi.com. Tourism advert plays whilst offside lines are drawn for 6 minutes.

[Ben]

I'm not saying they won't be all over the game in the near future but they'll be far more successful buying more Newcastles, because a lot of Europeans especially will have the "who the fuck wants to go there" attitude when looking at Saudi. Any player with a sense of credibility will go for Newcastle (or whatever other top club they buy out) over Al-Hilal or whatever because whatever money is at their disposal, you're still confined to playing local binmen most weeks and living in a hell hole.

[Yevrah]

I've watched what's happened in golf and I'm telling you, the PIF is an unstoppable force. Golf if anything is harder to buy as it has more pre-existing moral scruples and the blazers (small b) have/had more power. Football is defenceless.

I'd also be a bit worried or at least disappointed if I were a Newcastle fan, their plans are clearly a lot bigger than anything Abu Dhabi has done with City, it's a lot bigger than buying one club and trying to dominate. It's not even necessarily about getting people to their own league. It's about being in the room for every key decision, getting Aramco on every pitchside display, making Visit Saudi the number one corporate presence in the game, having the World Cup there, normalising Saudi Arabia in every way they can. It won't all happen at once but it's like the old boiling frogs thing, you'll look up and MBS will be at the helm of everything.

This is all bang on for my money. Forget about human rights, relevance and a proper place on the World Stage is what Saudi Arabia want and they're using the vast resources they have (can anyone compete? I genuinely don't know) to get it.

I know fuck all about golf, but haven't the PGA just completely folded as they realised they stood to lose everything if they didn't? If so, it's worth bearing in mind they did nothing to encourage it, whereas football has been sucking the desert cash cock for years now - The Premier League, UEFA, FIFA, they've all opened the door willingly and said come in. It looks like "thank you very much, we will" is the response.

[Yevrah]

and maybe Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr get into the Champions League, becasue why not?

That sounds like the sort of capitulation the established authorities are potentially going to have to do. I'd be more bothered, but the game has been morally and ethically bankrupt for years now (somehow successfully selling the illusion of sporting merit still existing to get away with it), so bring it on. :drool:

[Yevrah]

I'm not saying they won't be all over the game in the near future but they'll be far more successful buying more Newcastles, because a lot of Europeans especially will have the "who the fuck wants to go there" attitude when looking at Saudi. Any player with a sense of credibility will go for Newcastle (or whatever other top club they buy out) over Al-Hilal or whatever because whatever money is at their disposal, you're still confined to playing local binmen most weeks and living in a hell hole.

You're living in cloud cuckoo land if you don't think the sums of money that will be on offer (which will dwarf what Ronaldo is getting if it's directed at an Mbappe or Haaland) won't seriously tempt people. Again, buying into this romantic notion of the game that hasn't existed for years. 95% of everything is about money, the Saudi's have it by the bucketload and it looks like they've reached the stage of the plan is to use it to get people there - fair play to them, like many people I didn't realise until now there was a plan, but it's clearly been a brilliant one.

[Ben]

I know fuck all about golf, but haven't the PGA just completely folded as they realised they stood to lose everything if they didn't?

They have completely folded, yes, hence the surprise and shock at the announcement. I don't think they stood to lose everything though. LIV started out as a joke, became more of a joke as Tiger et al told Greg Norman to go fuck himself, then it picked up a lot of steam with a raft of huge signings and ruffled a lot of feathers last summer. But then it seemed to die off in publicity with them getting no half-decent TV deal and therefore little exposure. The past six months they've only been mentioned when there's been a major so a few of their guys were participating, and there was even murmurs of Koepka and a couple of others getting their lawyers to try and find a way out.

So if this had happened the back end of last year, then it probably would have been less surprising. The whole deal happened in the last seven weeks so I don't know what's changed, as the briberies were clearly always readily available to all.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I know fuck all about golf, but haven't the PGA just completely folded as they realised they stood to lose everything if they didn't? If so, it's worth bearing in mind they did nothing to encourage it, whereas football has been sucking the desert cash cock for years now - The Premier League, UEFA, FIFA, they've all opened the door willingly and said come in. It looks like "thank you very much, we will" is the response.

I wouldn't say the PGA have folded necessarily (as they fought the 'breakaway league' very hard and it did ultimately fail in sporting terms), but they realised that Saudi money IS coming and is unstoppable, whether they like it or not, so it might as well be them that takes it rather than fight endless legal battles with a renegade league. Football I would have thought will skip the fighting stage and go straight to taking the cash.

As for whether anyone can compete, of course they can't, certainly not in democratic countries. This is the sovereign wealth fund of an oil-rich theocracy. It's worth £1 trillion or near enough.

[Waffdon]

If you mean the fans, then they wouldn't initially, but if everyone good is playing there they would eventually - things like the World Club Cup would take on vastly increased significance and the whole thing would snowball.

If you mean the players? Kylian Mbappe has already committed what may well be the best playing years of his life to playing in a dogshit league for a side that seemingly suffer as a result and are absolute bobbins in the Champions League. If Al Desert chucked a billion quid a year at him he'd go in a heartbeat.

We need to forget about 'Sportswashing' it's a complete red herring and this is a proper threat.

Mbappe plays for his hometown team and gets to make millions living where he grew up. I’m not really sure it’s comparable lol

[Yevrah]

Mbappe plays for his hometown team and gets to make millions living where he grew up. I’m not really sure it’s comparable lol

And what brought that situation about/extended it? The absolutely ludicrous cone-tract he's on.

[Don]

Mbappe plays for his hometown team and gets to make millions living where he grew up. I’m not really sure it’s comparable lol

Quite. I appreciate Ligue 1 isn't sponsored by Barclays or has brexitball big-name allure of David Moyes and Luton Town FC but fucking hell :D

Saudi league will always be a circus and no individual will be able to change that, it'll need decades of serious development for that to change.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Saudi league will be like LIV. The PIF says to the football establishment: look, we can easily buy out your over-the-hill big names, and the odd bit of prime talent, to this joke competition: now, do you want to have a hollowed out product with far less established star power than before, or will you accept us buying out your sport in the long term?

[Ben]

You're living in cloud cuckoo land if you don't think the sums of money that will be on offer (which will dwarf what Ronaldo is getting if it's directed at an Mbappe or Haaland) won't seriously tempt people.

I wasn't saying that. They're creating avenues for players to stay in decent countries and earn that money, rather than whoring themselves out to Al-Hilal for it. Seems obvious to me which option most players will prefer.

[niko_cee]

How do you even go about 'buying' football in the same way you would golf?

You can't buy FIFA/UEFA [any more than the extent to which those associations have already been bought], you can't buy the national associations, can you even buy The Premier League [how is it even owned]?

There seems to be night and day between the idea of normalising Saudi Arabia through sponsorship/money/events etc [which is clearly happening and all part of the plan] and them owning everything and therefore having carte blanche to relocate Man Red to the Red Sea coast or whatever.

[niko_cee]

Also, the boiling frogs thing is apocryphal.

[randomlegend]

This is the transfer thread you boring cunts.

David Sullivan has said Rice will be leaving.

[Jimmy Floyd]

How do you even go about 'buying' football in the same way you would golf?

You can't buy FIFA/UEFA [any more than the extent to which those associations have already been bought], you can't buy the national associations, can you even buy The Premier League [how is it even owned]?

There seems to be night and day between the idea of normalising Saudi Arabia through sponsorship/money/events etc [which is clearly happening and all part of the plan] and them owning everything and therefore having carte blanche to relocate Man Red to the Red Sea coast or whatever.

You can de facto control anything with money. Qatar show how you can 'buy football', but even they lack the resources of the PIF.

[Yevrah]

I wasn't saying that. They're creating avenues for players to stay in decent countries and earn that money, rather than whoring themselves out to Al-Hilal for it. Seems obvious to me which option most players will prefer.

The avenues created in decent countries was the first step, they appear now to be moving on from that and giving them even better money to go there (without the difficulty of managing FFP - lol). Ronaldo wouldn't be on what he's earning now if he'd stayed in Europe.

[niko_cee]

'Alexis' is BBC official (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65842033) with the [more sensible] fee of £55m being quoted. Although I guess £55m deal could mean anything really.

[niko_cee]

Take it back, story has changed to £35m fee [rising to £55m if he wins 5 golden balls or something equally unlikely].

[Lewis]

Weren't we saying all this about chinkyball a few years ago? Saudi Arabia might well get to slap its branding on everything but so what?

[Yevrah]

We might have been, but the Chinese are clearly amateurs compared.

[Gray Fox]

The Chinese were told to stop by Xi as the football no longer aligned with his/the counties interests.

I can't see the Saudis getting bored with it any time soon and if anything this is only the beginning.
Even if they only go over for a season or two, how many players would really turn down 5x or 10x what they could earn at a Manchester United or Real Madrid?

[Yevrah]

Do footballers even pay tax over there?

[Jimmy Floyd]

This is quite good if you prefer the 'Saudis aren't all that' side of the argument: https://chiefexecutive.net/the-rest-of-the-story-the-overlooked-saudi-sand-trap-behind-the-golf-treaty/

You can see what they're trying to do.

[randomlegend]

United trying to send Greenwood out on loan. Feels like we're testing the waters for eventually bringing him back. Yuck.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Just rip the cunt's contract up.

[Shindig]

They'll be desparate to make that loan permanent. Assuming he isn't chased out of it like Goodwillie was.

[niko_cee]

Surely a sale to Saudi beckons.

[Giggles]

What happens if everyone goes to Saudi but everyone just stops watching? Young people are fucking imbeciles but there's a certain point they may not care.

[niko_cee]

They just get 15000 Indians to pretend to be Liverpool fans on the New Kop at Dammamfield.

[Lofty]

Isn't the end game for Saudi owning all this so they can milk a new cow when the oil dries up? Otherwise they're just stuck in the desert with no resources.

Lol if instead of saving Newcastle this is just a gateway to siphoning talent through their books to their new league.

Edit: Phillipe Aucliar on Football Weekly pretty good, basically says they want to get the Club World Cup bigger than the CL and their league will have guaranteed spots via a top 4.

[Baz]

I’ve seen at least three kids wearing the kit of whatever team Ronaldo’s at. They’ll lap it up.

[Offshore Toon]

Isn't the end game for Saudi owning all this so they can milk a new cow when the oil dries up? Otherwise they're just stuck in the desert with no resources.

Lol if instead of saving Newcastle this is just a gateway to siphoning talent through their books to their new league.

Edit: Phillipe Aucliar on Football Weekly pretty good, basically says they want to get the Club World Cup bigger than the CL and their league will have guaranteed spots via a top 4.
5 years at Newcastle with an agreed retirement contract in Saudi. Stuff FFP.

[Yevrah]

Isn't the end game for Saudi owning all this so they can milk a new cow when the oil dries up? Otherwise they're just stuck in the desert with no resources.


That’s exactly what it is. They couldn’t give a fuck about ‘sportswashing’ their reputation clean. Much bigger fish to fry.

[Gray Fox]

It seems the Liverpool shortlist is Thuram, Kone, Veiga, Lavia and Gravenberch.

They're going to have to move quickly as every single one of them is involved in the u21 Euros which I think starts in two weeks.

To that end they've moved on Thuram and have agreed terms with the player. Just a case of getting the structure of the fee sorted out.

[Lewis]

I don't think owing every sport going could replace Saudi oil revenues, so it clearly isn't that.

[niko_cee]

$700m a day.

Maybe the plan is to break up all the teams for parts. At Sheikh Jassim prices that should get them through a few months at least.

[Yevrah]

I don't think owing every sport going could replace Saudi oil revenues, so it clearly isn't that.

It's not about replacing the oil revenues with sport revenues, but being slap bang in the middle of the conversation for other opportunities. Sport's the loss leader if you will.

[Kikó]

United trying to send Greenwood out on loan. Feels like we're testing the waters for eventually bringing him back. Yuck.

I'm hoping he bags a few and we get a nice fee at the end of it.

[Baz]

This is the transfer thread you boring cunts.


1666924055411191808

[niko_cee]

Just seen [the orcale] Darren Bent's take on the Mac Allister transfer.


Bent told DR Sports: "Is he what you need though? Don't get me wrong, I like him. I think he's very good.

"He can't run. What's Liverpool's midfield problem? You've got no legs.

Now, I'm no Darren Bent level understander of the game, and I don't have any official stats on the matter, but that seems to me to be a bit of an odd take.

The stats I can find suggests Pascal Gross ranked top 10 for distance covered per 90 in the league last season, which is a bit :cab:.

I guess he can run [although not very fast].

Brighton don't seem to rate that highly on distance covered, which I guess is a feature of having the ball so much.

[Gray Fox]

I'd like to think Klopp and his analytics team, who have nailed almost every transfer in the past 5 years, know a little better than Darren Bent.

In other news Tielemans has joined Aston Villa, which is about the best he could have hoped for really.

[mikem]

It won't need to be that. It'll be Champions League final played in Saudi, Super League played in Saudi, all the clubs and personalities you know and love will still be there but their mouths will be stuffed full of Saudi gold and maybe Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr get into the Champions League, becasue why not?

Couldn’t agree more but you have to answer “Why not?”. Because it doesn’t matter. It is just background noise, branding, and palming the bouncer a grand so you can get in the room. It is the opposite of talent.

[phonics]

Steinberg saying Rice to Arsenal is done. Think it’s a good move even at the excessive price. Will be interesting to see whether it’s to take Xhakas position or Parteys.

[randomlegend]

PSG have told Mbappe he either renews (which he's categorically said he won't) or they'll sell him this summer.

[phonics]

Steinberg saying Rice to Arsenal is done. Think it’s a good move even at the excessive price. Will be interesting to see whether it’s to take Xhakas position or Parteys.

On this also I have no idea what is a good window. Feels like we need one of those Allison/Van Dijk windows where a couple of signings significantly improve the XI but outside of central midfield I can't see signings that don't sideline players that made us good this year or wouldn't be good enough to replace them. Saka played literally every game last year which is untenable but I can't see a player that would be as effective as Saka willing to sit on the bench for most of the season either.

[Gray Fox]

Steinberg saying Rice to Arsenal is done. Think it’s a good move even at the excessive price. Will be interesting to see whether it’s to take Xhakas position or Parteys.

The price is irrelevant in the modern game. Massive upgrade on braindead Xhaka, who had been playing well for him, but always does something stupid.

[randomlegend]

Saka played 1400 minutes (nearly 16 full games) less than Bruno Fernandes, the big pussy.

[Boydy]

PSG have told Mbappe he either renews (which he's categorically said he won't) or they'll sell him this summer.

Is he likely to go anywhere other than Madrid?

[phonics]

The price is irrelevant in the modern game. Massive upgrade on braindead Xhaka, who had been playing well for him, but always does something stupid.

Personally I think Xhaka's reputation is incredibly unfair, largely unearned and then due to said unfair reputation gets treated unfairly. Some of his red cards were truly bizarre. I remember one where he got a red card for preventing a goal scoring opportunity when the tackle was in the opposition half and Arsenal had multiple men behind the ball.

[randomlegend]

Is he likely to go anywhere other than Madrid?

United if the Qatar bid wins :drool:

Being serious, I can't see him going anywhere else, but Perez said the other day they won't sign him this summer so I don't know.

If he goes to City....

[phonics]

MBappe carries himself well and whenever I hear him speak on French TV comes across as seriously intelligent but this whole 1)choosing to go to PSG in the first place followed by the will he won't he thing is a serious black mark on what should be a great careeer.

[randomlegend]

I'm sure he'll find solace in his billion pounds.

[Lofty]

Basically Xhaka played in the position this season he should have done his entire time at Arsenal but was always being put further back where he was prone to getting caughr on the turn and chasing back. Pushed further up this was virtually eliminated from his game.

[niko_cee]

Mbappe to Saudi would be quite funny.

[Lewis]

Was his plan to join them next year on a free, but Benzema has ruined it? Who advised him to sign for Paris again the retard?

[Don]

Pretty sure their facts are wrong as Notts County didn't pay that much for McGoldrick but I enjoyed this nontheless:

1668222954939850752

[Giggles]

Who's the little black lad?

[Giggles]

I presume this explains it. Also made me lol/cry.


1667319962212392966

[niko_cee]

What's the Jude Bellingham angle? Was one of his grandparents in Thin Lizzy or something?

There must be quite a large portion of the British population that could qualify to play for Ireland in reality, and then there's the likes of Tony Cascarino and Matty Holland.

[Baz]

Seems like a funny period that, with the likes of Cascarino and Mark Lawrenson etc. My driving instructor used to seethe over it.

[Lewis]

I wonder if Mark Lawrenson ever regretted not waiting. He would surely have won loads of England caps in that crap eighties period.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I always thought he had played for Northern Ireland. Don't know why I thought that. Maybe his moustache and hangdog approach to life.

[randomlegend]

Mbappe apparently available for €200m.

Genuinely, I'm not sure what the point of him going to Madrid is. He has previously pissed and moaned that he doesn't want to play as the 9, he wants to be on the left wing. With Vinicius being their best player I'm not entirely sure how they make it all fit together.

Bring him United and give Rashford a go up front.

[Shindig]

Maybe they convince Vinicius to leave? Shouldn't be too hard. Just call him the hard R enough times and he'll be off.

[Baz]

He can deputise for Salah/Jota/Diaz/Gakpo.

[Gray Fox]

They've just given Vinicius the 7 shirt and made a big deal over it, so I'd guess he's not to be moved.

I can't see anyone paying the fee and wages PSG will originally want. Maybe as we get towards the end of the window someone will blink.

[Baz]

Chelsea might :eyemouth:

[Lewis]

Kylianm Bappe is the best player in the world and would be a bargain at anything up to a record transfer.

[Baz]

Facts.

[Manc]

Harry Kane well and truly in the mud.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Surely this is where the PIF open the cheque book and take Mbappe to Newcastle. I'm sure he'd enjoy the easy local women and bracing climate.

[Lofty]

Rumours Arsenal are in for Havertz.