Saudi Sovereign fund

[robbieh]

Not sure Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Messi etc would have left South America if their clubs had as much money as Barca and Madrid.
The new reality is that Saudi Arabia can buy who they want.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Not sure Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Messi etc would have left South America if their clubs had as much money as Barca and Madrid.
The new reality is that Saudi Arabia can buy who they want.

I don’t think they can buy who they want, otherwise Messi would have gone to them. Or even Haaland. Or Mbappe.

I think they can buy who they can get, which just like with the MLS and the Chinese Super League, is still fairly limited due to the relative stature of the league compared to top European competitors, despite the wages and benefits on offer.

Whether it remains that way is the topic of debate.

And I believe it will likely remain that way, as I don’t think they will be able to develop their league—according to their stated goals—in the window of opportunity available to them.

I don’t doubt they will make their league more competitive and noteworthy.

But will they actually compete as equals or even superiors to the European top five leagues?

Very unlikely for the reasons I have outlined (and likely many others I can’t predict).

Sustainable development is very difficult to achieve in the best of times, much less with severe, myriad headwinds they will experience, all the while fighting deeply entrenched incumbency.

Football is not golf.

 

[Grassland Blue]

I don’t think they can buy who they want, otherwise Messi would have gone to them. Or even Haaland. Or Mbappe.

I think they can buy who they can get, which just like with the MLS and the Chinese Super League, is still fairly limited due to the relative stature of the league compared to top European competitors, despite the wages and benefits on offer.

Whether it remains that way is the topic of debate.

And I believe it will likely remain that way, as I don’t think they will be able to develop their league—according to their stated goals—in the window of opportunity available to them.

I don’t doubt they will make their league more competitive and noteworthy.

But will they actually compete as equals or even superiors to the European top five leagues?

Very unlikely for the reasons I have outlined (and likely many others I can’t predict).

Sustainable development is very difficult to achieve in the best of times, much less with severe, myriad headwinds they will experience, all the while fighting deeply entrenched incumbency.

Football is not golf.

Or F1.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Or F1.

F1 is not F1. ;-)

 

[Grassland Blue]

F1 is not F1. ;-)

There's always F.....1!
Lol.

 

[LesBleuMiserable]

Any truth in the rumour that Bernie is off to Saudi?

“[He] got tired of waiting for Barcelona” tm


As used by others!

 

[I'm With Stupid]

No one said they can’t earn again, but it’s a fact that nearly half of professional footballers declare bankruptcy after retirement. They have little to no education, no experience in anything other than football and there’s very few coaching/punditry jobs out there compared to the number of ex players.

I wonder if that's still true. I had a quick glance and it was citing examples like Paul Gascoigne and David James so I wonder how far back it went. In David James' case, it happened while he was just about still playing, so it's hard to blame the drop off in income after he finished his career. Given that bankruptcy in these cases are typically related to bad investments, tax bills, divorce payments, etc, is massively increasing the salary of players actually going to do anything to improve that situation? Are they less likely to go bankrupt if they have more money? Logic would say yes, but lottery winners in the states are way more likely to go bankrupt than non-lottery winners. I don't know if there's any link between the amount of money you start with and the likelihood of you going bankrupt once you get into the millions.

Also if you’re bringing work post-career into the equation that changes the discussion a lot doesn’t it?

If you’re a standard midtable professional in a big 5 league and the choice becomes retire at 35 and work for the rest of your life or spend 3 years in Saudi and be on holiday for the next 50 years then there’s a very easy winner.

I'm not sure it is. I think anyone in the Premier League has the second option. Anyone with 5-10 years in the Premier League is likely to be a multimillionaire with their house(s) paid off. Whether you want to continue working at that point (and most people do, because people, particularly those driven enough to become professional footballers, like to have a goal) is a choice whether you retire with 10 million in the bank or 200 million.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

I hope they prove you wrong. We'll see, eh?

Why? Why would you give a shit about a league in a country you don't live in being successful or not?

 

[I'm With Stupid]

Any truth in the rumour that Bernie is off to Saudi?

Yeah, his girlfriend doesn't like living in Manchester. She'd rather live someone a bit more laid back where she can walk their dog in the sunshine.

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

Saudi Arabia is slowly become a big payday league for lots off players wanting more money.

I get the money is good but why would you want to play in a league where its unbearably hot and humid, a country that doesn't respect women or human rights and not so competitive football with the players not even any better than the Scottish League.

I never have a issue with the Newcastle owners as they are respecting our laws and traditions.

You could have been talking about the MLS with Orlando or Inter Miami ;)