Kinda brings home what Wenger said that money for players is at a stage where it cannot be maintained. I prefer our model of finding gems and home grown and turning them into stars. Someone who understands playing for the shirt and what that means. Odegaard is a good fit just don’t want us taken to the cleaners.
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The money will be maintained though . Football hasn’t touched it’s potential yet. So much more money available to be made going forward.
CL format about too be changed and it won’t be the last.
Television contracts and alternative ways of broadcasting are going too change at sometime. Games being played around the world will happen as well.
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Yeah, Madrid and Barca will find a way to balance the books eventually. In fact, they’ll be working together to do that I think.
I give it till the end of this decade for a Eurooean Superleague to be put into motion.
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Barcelona are sponsored by Qatari airlines, it’s a short step too the nation itself.
It’s literally backing the world cup bid by this sponsorship, they’ll be able to create some creative loan before long.
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Those clubs will never be in jeopardy. One gets backing from the Spanish Royal family the other from the state of Catalan, it’s almost unfair when you think about it, but it is what it is. Those two clubs especially Madrid are the original Man Cities of the world. At one point Madrid had general Franco supporting them so as they could continue to dominate Spanish football!
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Pep’s chatting shit again.
They won’t pay the quoted fees for Lukaku, Haaland or Kane. City may spend, but they don’t spend significant sums on single talents it’s why they don’t have a £100m player in their lineup.
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I’m sure they’ll be back in for Messi anyway
True, however, they won’t until they have to.
The way football is going eventually they will have to, it’s inevitable.
Guess it’s just a sign of the times that a club who seem to repeatedly spend 50m plus on full backs are seen as a side who don’t spend significant sums on single players haha
What do we think counts as a significant fee though? Didn’t they spend upwards of 60 million on Rodri in 2019? £65 million on Ruben Dias last summer?
I know the game has changed, but for me these feel like significant sums… I suppose it isn’t 100m though, if that’s the benchmark here (it is lol)
Not arguing with you, more just thinking aloud on how mad the money has gone in this sport.
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Strikers/CAMs tend to cost more than defenders. And City haven’t needed to buy a striker in a long time. I expect they will be looking in the 100m range. They were willing to pay £70m for a 29 year old Alexis Sanchez 2-3 summers ago so I do think they’ll go big when they bring in a striker
The issue is they could be landing Messi this summer and that would make a striker possibly infeesable, even for them
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You two have actually sparked a good conversation about City’s spending.
I’ve heard many share the same opinion as @SRCJJ and I used to share it too but I have been re-evaluating that recently.
What if it is just a coincidence? Clubs that spend big on a single player are usually desperate. City with their constant spending and success over the years have set themselves in a position where they haven’t entered a window where they’re desperate to sign a player that will cost them something near the £100m mark.
With Aguero going now and a talent like Haaland out there it just might be the time to pull the trigger.
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De Bruyne and Sterling, at the time of purchase, were both big big money from memory. Both around 50-60m, and that was 6 years ago. I suspect they won’t be afraid to go big again if its required.
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Rodri, Ruben Dias, Mahrez, Cancelo, Laporte, Mendy. Those are €55-65 million signings. They go big every year. Or are €60 million signings normal now?
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Barca makes sense
Barcelona are masters of their own downfall. Aguero has proven himself incapable of staying fit and this season has been the worst for him. He’s on the verge of turning 33, he’s got a solitary league goal this season and all the signs point to his glorious career winding down.
Imagine they sign him and renew Messi we are going to be seeing a 33 and a 34 year old in their attack. Neither of them are going to press teams from the front and Barcelona will continue to do nothing in Europe.
If this club has any sense they’ll let Messi walk from his £100m contract, restructure some short term debt and use some of the cash flow to energise their midfield and attack.
Realistically they need a new left back, a new CB, a new CM, a new striker and a new wide player.
If they can sign Wijnaldum and Depay for free that’ll help them a lot in the short term and they can promote more of their exciting youth
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KDB signs a 2 year extension keeping him at city till 2025. Great news for them.
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