The official Premier League 22/23 thread

[Orchard thief]

...and it's all fuel for the Super League fire.

"Oh really, all these clubs are too strong for their leagues, let's put them in a league together, then."

It’s the only hope that the non-state oil company owned clubs have.

An elite league with strict rules on expenditure to keep the oil clubs in check and no relegation. A lose-lose situation.

By the time it ever gets off the ground the oil clubs will be even further ahead of the competition. The game is in serious trouble.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Spot on. They’re a juggernaut.

FFP is a joke to them. They’re brilliantly run. They’ve spent as much on training grounds and facilities as they have on the first team. Investment in infrastructure is not subject to FFP so they’ve created a structure that’ll keep them at the top for as long as the owners stay interested.

Close to zero net spend as well by flogging Jesus, Sterling and Zinchenko.

I remember talking to Liverpool supporting buddies of mine delighted that city were able to stop United dominating and warning them that city were creating a monster.

Pep is one of the all time great league managers as well. They’d no defensive midfielder yesterday and the two centre halves are solid but unspectacular.

United approached the game with a tactic that worked very well to get them victories v Arsenal and Liverpool and City simply tied with them. They’re incredible in possession and win it back extremely efficiently.

Fuck em anyway!!

Delaney writes that City have spent 2Billion(!!!) on infrastructure in the last ten years.

Its all state funded with a raft of bogus 'sponsors'.

No club has the money to compete with that and transfers. They're gaming the agents fees to pick up guys like Haaland for a relative pittance.


Its bad for football to have it gone so lopsided in their favour.

 

[Philby]

No club has the money to compete with that and transfers. They're gaming the agents fees to pick up guys like Haaland for a relative pittance.

Don't think this is accurate.

Haaland was so cheap because of a pre-existing buy-out clause. That was the ceiling fee that Dortmund were ever going to get for him.

But certainly, when you factor in monstruous agents fees, sign-on bonus & wages, it would be churlish to look at Haaland's transfer fee in isolation & compare it directly with other transfers.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Don't think this is accurate.

lol

Yeah, the reported 40-70 million in agents fees is totally normal.

Try to resist the urge to sideline an interesting discussion with your tiresome nitpicking.

 

[Orchard thief]

Don't think this is accurate.

Haaland was so cheap because of a pre-existing buy-out clause. That was the ceiling fee that Dortmund were ever going to get for him.

But certainly, when you factor in monstruous agents fees, sign-on bonus & wages, it would be churlish to look at Haaland's transfer fee in isolation & compare it directly with other transfers.

Liverpool and United spent £80m each on Nunez and Anthony.

Anyone who believes that those deals will cost more than Haaland over the duration of the contract is in cloud cuckoo land.

Haaland is a £200m player in the current climate. Alvarez is absolutely brilliant as well and they picked him up for around £20m.

 

[Orchard thief]

lol

Yeah, the reported 40-70 million in agents fees is totally normal.

Try to resist the urge to sideline an interesting discussion with your tiresome nitpicking.

With the release clause he had there’s a good 10 clubs in Europe that would have been in for him. Something had to sweeten the deal behind the scenes and it wasn’t the chance to wear the same shirt number as Shaun Goater that swung it.

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Liverpool and United spent £80m each on Nunez and Anthony.

Anyone who believes that those deals will cost more than Haaland over the duration of the contract is in cloud cuckoo land.

Haaland is a £200m player in the current climate. Alvarez is absolutely brilliant as well and they picked him up for around £20m.

Nail on the head.

If it was a football decision then he would have gone to Madrid.

They reportedly balked at the astronomical agents fees Haaland's father and representatives were looking for.

Mbappe is probably the second most exciting talent in Europe and he went for Qatari state cash and staying in Le farmers league.

It's just bad news for football all round.

 

[Philby]

lol

Yeah, the reported 40-70 million in agents fees is totally normal.

Try to resist the urge to sideline an interesting discussion with your tiresome nitpicking.

Just pointing out an inaccuracy m8

Don't lose the rag at 9am on a Monday.

With the release clause he had there’s a good 10 clubs in Europe that would have been in for him. Something had to sweeten the deal behind the scenes and it wasn’t the chance to wear the same shirt number as Shaun Goater that swung it.

No doubt his Dad and others profited massively - and that was probably in their thinking when they pushed for the low buy-out clause (which Man Utd, arguably rightly, baulked at). Whoever wanted Haaland would've had to "sweeten the deal" with chunky agents fees. That's been the case for most absolute top tier transfers in recent years.

As much as the City "project" can leave you feeling queasy they are clearly right near the top of queue when it comes to prime destinations from a footballing perspective. Top facilities, incredible squad, in clear need for a #9, outstanding manager, steady inflow of pandemic-insulated funds each season.

Unless a player had an objection to the club on moral grounds they are bound to be among the favourites.

 

[SoundsAboutRight]

I hold on to the hope that when Pep goes they will fall back to the pack some bit. No other coach will bring that level of commitment and attention to detail.

 

[Gregory_Mike]

With the release clause he had there’s a good 10 clubs in Europe that would have been in for him. Something had to sweeten the deal behind the scenes and it wasn’t the chance to wear the same shirt number as Shaun Goater that swung it.