Other clubs' transfers

[TheBrownBottle]

1 minute ago, Deuce said:

Give me a proper Champions League. Winner of every top flight division around the world. Single elimination bracket tournament. The way God intended.

They’ve tried similar in the past.  No-one gives a shite about it. 

[TheBrownBottle]

55 minutes ago, healthyaddiction said:

I'd find it even funnier if he got loaned back to us.

Funny, but not happening.  NUFC is hardly their priority - this would be a national statement.  

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, TheHoob said:

Football has been fucked for years, it just looks like it's going to get fucked in a way that is less favourable to the established European teams. 

 

Personally think that Saudi can throw as much money as they like at it, people won't be that interested. The second most famous player in the world went there and as far as I can tell no one gave a fuck about the actual football. 

But he's old and passed his best.

 

1 minute ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Toodle-loo FFP.  There is no way the European clubs watch the best players leave due to self-imposed rules. 
 

Having said that, you can’t make the maths fit re Mbappe.  This isn’t about value, it’s about geopolitics.  

These clubs can't compete with SA anyway. The UAE just won the Champions League. Qatar has had the 3 best players in the world (at a point) playing for them.

[GeordieDazzler]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

 

I don't think it's a net positive for us. We become irrelevant if the SA league becomes relevant.

I don’t get this binary thinking. 
 

The Prem is not going to become irrelevant regardless of what the SA league does. It’s a massively profitable endeavour and has a rich history that will alway bring in eye balls and support.

 

They have backed the club massively within the restraints of FFP and are bringing in as much expertise as they can at each level. I don’t know what more they could be doing for us. 
 

They can want a successful premier league club and a better domestic league - they don’t have to chose one or another. 

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, The College Dropout said:

But he's old and passed his best.

 

These clubs can't compete with SA anyway. The UAE just won the Champions League. Qatar has had the 3 best players in the world (at a point) playing for them.

You’re right, of course.  Though UEFA and the various FAs were comfortable as long as those players remained in Europe.

 

The problem KSA will have is that it would always need propping up to make these signings, and therefore will always require govt funding.  Europeans aren’t going to start watching Al-Hilal.  It could see the game grow more naturally in Asia - not a bad thing.  

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, GeordieDazzler said:

I don’t get this binary thinking. 
 

The Prem is not going to become irrelevant regardless of what the SA league does. It’s a massively profitable endeavour and has a rich history that will alway bring in eye balls and support.

 

They have backed the club massively within the restraints of FFP and are bringing in as much expertise as they can at each level. I don’t know what more they could be doing for us. 
 

They can want a successful premier league club and a better domestic league - they don’t have to chose one or another. 

I agree. That's why I said "net positive", it's not binary. Higher competition for us - is simply not a good thing. Another powerful league taking players is not good for Premier League clubs.

 

I agree they are doing all they can with us. But their own league has the most potential to achieve their goals. They can rewrite the rules of football rather than follow what Europeans have decided and agreed, which fundamentally limits what SA can do.

[The College Dropout]

3 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

You’re right, of course.  Though UEFA and the various FAs were comfortable as long as those players remained in Europe.

 

The problem KSA will have is that it would always need propping up to make these signings, and therefore will always require govt funding.  Europeans aren’t going to start watching Al-Hilal.  It could see the game grow more naturally in Asia - not a bad thing.  

Yeh Europeans aren't the be-all and end-all of football. And I really do think they could create their own international club competition with European teams. That will attract European viewers to the SA league as those clubs will be relevant.

[Yorkie]

I'm not sure how to feel about that move if it happens, or Saudi's continued ruffling of European feathers. On the one hand, I'm all for a new belligerent scaring the shit out of the established elite and upsetting the status quo; on the other hand, that Saudi Arabia is the belligerent here is very depressing. It just provides more emphasis on how the sport is now defined by an ugly skirmish between governments and economic superheavyweights with very dubious backgrounds/intentions.

 

On the third hand, I think: it's only one player, one person. Obviously he's supremely talented but if he's going to Saudi to overtly earn hundreds of millions then you wonder just how bothered UEFA will really be about the integrity of their competition supposedly being lost. 

[The Butcher]

Mbappe would be mad to turn that down. 

[The College Dropout]

My thoughts are less-so about Mbappe.   There will come a critical mass moment but it will require Saudi keeping this up for a decade.  
 

 

I don’t think Mbappe joins them. But if Saudi keep chipping away at it. Fill the league with ASM and Neves quality of players.  Then suddenly Diaby takes the offer.  The Fulham manager takes the job.  The next Mbappe joins.  Then the world has to respect the teams.  Then they can start their own International Super League to run alongside European leagues. 
 

A super league is inevitable. But it doesn’t have to be European.  Or European only. 
 

Much like what they’re doing with us. This could be a decade(s) long project.  

[Hanshithispantz]

Seems entirely unnecessary to offer 300m like 

[The College Dropout]

And UEFA would have done it to themselves.  I think PIF would’ve been happy to do the Man City/PSG thing but they’ve been forced to pursue multiple strategies and simply go around UEFA. 

[The College Dropout]

If I’m Mbappe, I’m asking for 1.1bn for a year.  

[Manxst]

2 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

If I’m Mbappe, I’m asking for 1.1bn for a year.  

Because the .1 makes a difference? 

[LV]

1 hour ago, Hovagod said:

Not sure if it’s jokes, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that we are no way like a priority for our main owners 

Because they haven’t given us hundreds of millions to spend? FFP wants a word..

 

Realistically though, the Saudi League is their priority. Doing what they are doing is a major geopolitical goal for them and I’m not sure how Newcastle could ever come before the political goals of another nation. 

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Saudi Arabia has no personal income tax

 

Though foreign nationals apparently pay 20% flat rate. 

[madras]

1 minute ago, Shays Given Tim Flowers said:

Saudi Arabia has no personal income tax

 

Though foreign nationals apparently pay 20% flat rate. 

Don't know if true but someone told me that if a foreign national has a contract under 3yrs its 20% and over 3yrs is tax free.

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Just now, madras said:

Don't know if true but someone told me that if a foreign national has a contract under 3yrs its 20% and over 3yrs is tax free.

Competitive. Rich people are dickheads. 

[madras]

3 minutes ago, Shays Given Tim Flowers said:

Competitive. Rich people are dickheads. 

Very close to posting "I wanna be a dickhead" but thought I might crash the site as everyone piles on. 

[The College Dropout]

17 minutes ago, LV said:

Because they haven’t given us hundreds of millions to spend? FFP wants a word..

 

Realistically though, the Saudi League is their priority. Doing what they are doing is a major geopolitical goal for them and I’m not sure how Newcastle could ever come before the political goals of another nation. 

No… because like you said, they have another footballing priority.  Doesn’t mean that won’t try and do all they can. But NUFC has a limit. 

[Wolfcastle]

Provided he doesn't go to a usurping competitor the established elite in Europe will probably be fine with it. Its challenge to them they're concerned with not European football.

[Conjo]

Don't think it matters much in the grand scheme. The only time I really hear about Mbappe is in the summer transfer windows and only time I see anything of him is if there's a major international cup going on. If he goes to SA he'll become even more irrelevant. The model they are implementing isn't sustainable, and think they'll scrap their plans within 5 years leaving the only people happy being the handful of players who managed to milk them for as much money as possible during this period.

[The Prophet]

2 hours ago, Jack27 said:

Come on now, a Saudi Arabian club will never play in any major European competition

 

Why not? UEFA's thirst for cash is limitless.

[The Prophet]

2 hours ago, Hovagod said:

Not sure if it’s jokes, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that we are no way like a priority for our main owners 

 

We've always been an investment in a vast portfolio for them. We'll still be a priority.

[brummie]

6 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Why not? UEFA's thirst for cash is limitless.

 

They're not stupid though, it'd would be a very daft thing to do in the long term.

 

Not to mention politically dodgy as fuck.