And no more PoznanI can see it on here in ten seasons time after another win against Barcelona:
'do you remember the good old days when we used to get the likes of Shakhtar and Villarreal. Bloody hell the magic nights at the Etihad....'
None at all would be my guess.So after tonights news im very curious about how much @tolmie's hairdoo knew about it, considering some of his clues have been us going up against UEFA
Does the (TM) stand for tight mouth?"If you suck the cock of the Devil, eventually you're gonna have to swallow"
Didsbury Dave (TM)
We and Chelsea were given late option, we swallowed, even if they don't particularly like the taste.
Disclaimer: I'm not ITK, I don't have any insider info. I also don't take any pleasure in being contrarian. The likes of Ahsan and TH are on the nub of this transfer every single day and know a thousand things about transfers that I don't do.
Alright now that we have put the disclaimer aside, here's my personal opinion. I think if people that believe finances are going to prevent Barca or Madrid from signing a player, then they are being naive. In the history of the game, finances have never mattered to these two clubs. Make no mistake, they do have a vague idea of what they should or should not spend. But if they decide they want to splash big money, it will happen.
It doesn't matter how. Maybe Laporta spreads his arsecheeks with a little picture of Haaland on the lucky spot, sells the image for 400 billion, or the Spanish goverment decide to sell the country to Raiola to fund the transfer, or maybe UEFA creates FFP v2.0 with a 400 mil gift to Barca because of Section 12.5.6 titled "we can do whatever the fuck we want". Point being if they really, really want to do a transfer, they will find the money. The fact that most times this doesn't happen is because the player is not worth the desperate move. If Barca now decide that Haaland is a once in 20 years player and he's worth the hassle, then please don't live under the illusion that pesky little finances is gonna stop the move.
Again, I don't mean to sound the alarm bells. Most likely, Alfie is just taking a look of the land. Who knows, might help in better negotiations with City. But please, please don't place your hopes on Haaland joining City because Madrid/Barca can't afford him. If Haaland joins City, it will be because he sees us as the best possible destination for reasons that only he and Alfie would know.
I'd imagine there will be some kind of pact to refuse to sell players to any ESL clubs.
You know I'm pretty sure that was the point Tolkien was trying to make. I know he claimed not to be a fan of allegories but I never bought that.Power is like the One Ring in Lord of the Rings, it has a mind of its own - it leads people to do things they will never do otherwise.
AgreedHow can we sign players when we don't even know what competitions we are going to be in...
Agreed
Also dont care about this anymore
I suspect most will just see the pound/Euro signs and will follow accordingly.That very much means us and the other 14.How can we sign players when we don't even know what competitions we are going to be in...
Indeed!City may have been on the fence with this and then saw who got appointed to a high up position at UEFA and thought 'feck this.'
I can't see the kids being able to compete in the present competitions, there's also the womens team to consider as the ESL have only said they will eventually have their own competition.I wonder when all this European league crap settles down, will we still be able to loan players to the likes of Girona etc. I'm guessing that it may be difficult.
Also if our main team is turfed out of the premier league will our academy be turfed out to.
It’ll be the opposite - players will want to go to the ESL clubs. Threatening the players with bans from the National team will be self defeating... the Cricket players who signed up to Kerry Packer in the 70s knew they’d get an international ban but they all chose money over the ability to play test matches. Players will have their own views but I’d be surprised if they don’t follow the money - it’s what most people do.
It's certainly taken the edge of this thread...