Saudi Sovereign fund

HumbledGooner said:
On the basis Neves signs for Newcaslte on loan. This is a pisstake to all other 19 clubs who try to comply with FFP.

What was the point of opposing the ESL only to allow the game to be manipulated by some dictator who deserves the Mussolini treatment?

Arsenal can sign anyone in the world, and we would record the signing at book value and it would become part of our FFP commitments. If Newcastle wanted to sign Neves, they should have done so directly from Wolves, not used a proxy in Saudi Arabia.

If Newcastle did this, the rest of the league should boycott matches against them. I cannot even fathom why such a gross act in bad faith should be normalised.

Anyways, its only speculation now, but if Neves does join Newcastle on loan, im expecting a backlash akin to the one that we got with the ESL.
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No one bothered when Sideshow Bob moved from Chelsea to PSG and back within a season. Coutiniho to Madrid is another one or when Bebe moved to the Rags for millions and was last seen driving an Uber round Gorton.
When football is transparent for all clubs not just those outside the history clubs then I will embrace a boycott. The rags bank in the Caymen Isles but no one seems to care. The rags and dips had the final say on the new puppet, sorry Premier League boss. IF the Saudis do dodgy deals, they are only copying the history boys.
 
We’ve been very considered in all our actions and signings. We’ve consistently mentioned how we’re restricted by FFP. I can’t see us suddenly deciding, what the hell, let’s stick 2 fingers up and loan Neves.

The shirt sponsorship deal we’ve signed with Sela was, it could be argued, slightly below what we could have got and been able to argue market price. We’re ahead of schedule, just can’t see us drawing more attention to ourselves then we’re going to get anywhere.
 
bluemoon32 said:
Money talks ffs, i'd play for fucking Utd for the sums that are being talked about.
I'd obviously score 10 own goals a fucking game once i signed the contract though
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Pigmol would struggle to get them in the top 4 but I'm sure they could still do it - lol!
 
I'm With Stupid said:
China are not the exception. How about Russia, who managed to fuck it up despite being in UEFA?

No-one is denying that the Saudis couldn't get a decent league going and buying these big stars is a surefire way to increase interest and grow their league. The disagreement is with the idea that they will be threatening the top European leagues any time soon, which seems to be the argument.

If the J-League is the measure of success, then absolutely, there's every chance they'll manage that. Al-Hilal already regularly win the Asian Champions League alongside Japanese teams. The J-League averages 14k crowds in a country of 125 million people. The Saudi league averages 10k, but with far more variation between the top and bottom ends. As an outsider, it seems like it's a league with quite a variable level of quality. One team getting 40k every week, with one only managing 3k. There's even a team with a 56k-seater stadium that averages less than 10k. And another that only has a 5,000-seater stadium that sells it out every game. And it seems like it's those at the top end that are benefiting from this investment. So if anything, it seems more like they're following the French model of creating a handful of super teams rather than the American one of spreading the superstars around (in France, it was just one super team, to be fair).

It'll be interesting to see if it works, because in the short term, it's much more entertaining to see a couple of teams with a decent number of superstars in them, rather than a league where every team has one or two superstars surrounded by League One standard players. But for the long-term sustainability of the league, I'm not sure. Maybe it's best to bring the money in first and then share that amongst the clubs to help longer-term development.

Is there actually a historical example of any league breaking into that absolute top-tier of football? There are certainly leagues that have dropped out of it, and certainly over time the talent and money has become more and more concentrated.

As for Gary Neville, again it just displays the arrogant attitude of rags that they can't accept anything that would threaten their absolute right to pool all of the best talent. If there are any clearly dodgy deals going on, then you can apply a fair value rule in FFP. But as far as I can tell, it's basically a lot of people who were looking forward to seeing Chelsea implode getting angry that they've been presented with a lucky get out clause (and I have to admit, it would have been funny watching them try to get rid of about 20 players in one summer), and are reaching for some ridiculous conspiracy that because the Saudi investment fund happens to have a handful of stocks in the firm that bought Chelsea, they've somehow engineered this whole situation to bail them out.
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I would concede to most of this you’ve said tbh. I don’t think Russia has had a bad quality of league over the past ten years though, or rather the 2012–2022 period.

No idea what it has been like post-war, or how that has affected things. Definitely a lot of players quit, especially foreign players.

Yeah, none of the above have broken into the top six leagues yet, I completely agree with that, but my point was more that they have steadily grown their quality from where they were to where they are now… and that I expect that trend to continue steadily until they do.
 
paska said:
I would concede to most of this you’ve said tbh. I don’t think Russia has had a bad quality of league over the past ten years though, or rather the 2012–2022 period.

No idea what it has been like post-war, or how that has affected things. Definitely a lot of players quit, especially foreign players.

Yeah, none of the above have broken into the top six leagues yet, I completely agree with that, but my point was more that they have steadily grown their quality from where they were to where they are now… and that I expect that trend to continue steadily until they do.
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I'm not getting it, honestly. Yes, they may have a league with a few teams made up of expensive (and I mean really expensive) foreigners, but what is the sporting ambition for the players? To win the ACL? Nobody cares. And if it's the top four teams in SA winning it every year, nobody will watch it either. I mean nobody in terms of bringing in substantial revenue.

Yes, it's good for their 2030 WC (which they WILL be awarded) but, unless they are allowed in UEFA, which they won't be, what is the end game here? The long-term objective? Develop a sustainable domestic league? I don't see how it's possible.

SA isn't Dubai or Abu Dhabi or even Qatar, and won't be for decades if you ask me, no matter how forward-looking they are at the moment, or not.

And by then, I will be dead anyway and SA will have been burned to a frazzle by global warming. So I don't care much for that timeline :)

Edit: and by sustainable domestic league I mean one that attracts the best talent, before the usual suspects tell me that there is already a sustainable league there.
 
The amount of xenophobia/casual racism/bigotry going around forums, social media and the media themselves is funny as fuck. Why all the panic?

What the Saudis is doing is unsustainable. Paying over the hill players a million a week or more lol. What are they going to do when they want someone in their prime? Pay them 4-5 million a week?

The premier league took a few years to really get to where it was. The money now is ridiculous but it wasn't always that way. It was a nice pace before it exploded. Saudis are just going gung ho.

Where is their plan? Who are they selling the rights to? Who's going to be interested in this league? Does anybody even follow Ronaldos career these days?

The MLS was a joke 20 years ago but they've come on leaps and bounds. That to me will be bigger than a lot more leagues in another 20 years
 
I've got ninety thousand pounds in my pajamas
I've got forty thousand French francs in my fridge
I've got lots of lovely lira
Now the deutschmark's getting dearer
And my dollar bills could buy the Brooklyn Bridge
There is...

...nothing quite as wonderful as money!
There is nothing quite as beautiful as cash!
Some people say it's folly, but I'd rather have the lolly
With money you can make a splash!

There is nothing quite as wonderful as money!
There is nothing like a newly minted pound!
Everyone must hanker for the butchness of a banker
It's accountancy that makes the world go round!

You can keep your Marxist ways, for it's only just a phase...
Money, money, money makes the world go round!
 
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