Soccer 2017-2018

faille

faille

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A new season is upon us and already it's shaping up as one of the craziest, at least in terms of spending. Already some huge transfers have been done and it looks like many more are on the way.

I've no idea if this works for other coutries and teams but I use Soccer news, video highlights, fixtures and more to keep up to date on when liverpool games are playing in local time. Hopefully it works for others too.

I've also setup our perennial fantasy league at Fantasy Premier League, Official Fantasy Football Game of the Premier League , use the code 334339-81808 to join.
 
Brando

Asshat Brando

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Thought we agreed to just keep the old thread?

Not a big deal. Not much to say other than prices have really, really gone mad. If Everton are really going to spend more than 40m for Sigurdsson then I have to figure Spuds are going to give them the same for Barkley, both of which is fucking ridiculous.

Bonucci leaving Juve for AC Milan probably the biggest surprise so far.
 
Jozu

Jozu

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This isnt just happening in England.

The United States has seen pro athlete salaries skyrocket over the last 10 years as well. The NFL is a little different because of their flexibility with contracts and such short shelf lives for players, but average, mid level players are signing 50 million dollar contracts left and right. Guys who were just serviceable 10 years ago are in the upper percentile of the highest paid players. Its crazy. Its funny how some organizations can still be savvy and find value via unknowns or rejuvenation projects.
 
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Brando

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Jozu said:
This isnt just happening in England.

The United States has scene pro athlete salaries skyrocket over the last 10 years as well. The NFL is a little different because of their flexibility with contracts and such short shelf lives for players, but average, mid level players are signing 50 million dollar contracts left and right. Guys who were just serviceable 10 years ago are in the upper percentile of the highest paid players. Its crazy. Its funny how some organizations can still be savvy and find value via unknowns or rejuvenation projects.
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In general this is correct because of the increasing value of live television rights for most sports. With that said the economic differences between any US sport and European soccer are so great that I don't think it's an apt comparison. £50m paid for Kyle Walker isn't even a contract for instance, it's the fee ManC is paying Spurs to release him from his current contract to then sign a new contract with ManC. I've read he's tripling his wages by doing this so figure on a 4 or 5 year contract that's another £30m and then you have image rights, agent fees, etc etc. There is no trading like that in US sports sans maybe NBA trades involving dead money contracts but even then it's at least on paper a net zero money trade. In this case Spurs are giving nothing back for the money and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
 
Jozu

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I understand how soccer transfer fees work lol.

I wasn't making a one for one comparison I was talking more about the current climate of sports contracts in general. People are tuning in more than ever so the increased interest creates more revenue.

So I understand why it's happening, it's just crazy how much mid level guys are now being offered in this current climate, wether it's English Football or American Basketball.
 
Springbok

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Is Neymar actually signing for PSG? Holy feck, what a price.

Kind of annoyed as I was hoping they'd be in for Alexis. I have zero doubt Arsenal will sell him this summer and they're running out of foreign suitors....
 
Jozu

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Watching George Best highlights is just sublime. The 30 for 30 on ESPN was pretty good but its always refreshing to re watch him play and realize how skillful he was. I know the footballs were heavier back then, but Ive never seen such command on the ball. Just incredible how he could melt defenders with such ease.
 
Neki

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£198M agreed for Neymar to PSG, £650K a week after tax wage.

£75M for Lukaku

£50M for Walker

No doubt with Barca swimming in cash now, they will go in with insane bids for Coutinho/Eriksen.

People saying Spurs players should leave because they are 'only' paying their top players £100K a week max.

Holy fucking shit, football is officially insane. I'm pretty disgusted to be honest. It's pay exorbitant fees/wages or GTFO.
 
Ossoi

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the worst part is if it's true PSG are cheating FFP by getting Qatar to pay 300m to Neymar to be their ambassador, he then pays his release clause himself without it coming out the PSG budget
 
Jozu

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PSG is a gigantic club now though due to their take-over by Al-Kelaifi and QSI. They featured Ibra and Cavani for a while, whilst bringing in big money names like David Luiz (a couple years ago) and Di Maria to constantly keep their quality at the highest levels in Europe. They have also managed to groom their home grown pieces like Matuidi and their keeper Areola (with a few others that have been sold over the years).

But they never had a STAR. You could argue that Ibra was a superstar at the peak of his powers there, and I would probably agree, but bringing in Neymar is a huge coupe. The numbers are just insane. Whether QSI gets subsidized to avoid fair play rules is another discussion, but at present it looks like Neymar is going to be the new prince of Paris. Think about it he is good enough to be the number one guy, which he will now be, and he is also good enough to make those around him better. Add in his star appeal and he has the potential to win the league every single year while also getting to play CL football, all while being the star of his team and the highest paid by far. (something he hasnt enjoyed at Barcelona)

I think its a great move for both PSG and Neymar. The Messi-Suarez-Neymar triumvirate was something to behold, and will probably go down as the greatest trio of attacking footballers ever assembled on the same side. But I think it was a good time for him to leave Messis shadow and find even more glory elsewhere. Doing it in Ligue 1 against a bunch of scrubs is even better. Win win all around. Barcelona fans must be kind of upset but the sum they will receive should put any of those sour feelings to rest when they replace him with 2 stellar players and click on all cylinders like nothing ever happened.
 
Springbok

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Neki said:
£198M agreed for Neymar to PSG, £650K a week after tax wage.

£75M for Lukaku

£50M for Walker

No doubt with Barca swimming in cash now, they will go in with insane bids for Coutinho/Eriksen.

People saying Spurs players should leave because they are 'only' paying their top players £100K a week max.

Holy fucking shit, football is officially insane. I'm pretty disgusted to be honest. It's pay exorbitant fees/wages or GTFO.
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Ya I get that and all, but if Walker was 50MM, Neymar for 200MM seems like an outright bargain in comparison as he's certainly more than 4 times the player. Also, FUCK Barcelona. About as scummy a club as there is in sport (hidden behind bullshit virtue & a terrific legacy), and PSG stealing away Neymar mere weeks after they were caught tapping up Veratti is fucking awesome and hysterical (after years of doing it with every player they want - Fuck Pique. Fuck Xavi. Fuck all of those Spanish pussies).

The prices have gone mad, the salaries are crazy and the sugar daddy clubs are now starting to piss off the super clubs like Barca - will be very interesting to see what the future holds because there is no way Uefalona allows the 2 Spanish clubs to get by lowly PSG or City/Chelsea.

I'm glad it's happening - for years Spain, Germany etc have sat back and watched/laughed as Chelski/City have bought and bought and spent there way to title after title overpaying for players from within England mostly - now they're prying away Spains prize pig and they can't fucking handle it. Welcome to my world, ya pricks
 
Neki

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Springbok said:
Ya I get that and all, but if Walker was 50MM, Neymar for 200MM seems like an outright bargain in comparison as he's certainly more than 4 times the player.
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Walker was never worth £50M. He was probably worth around £20M MAX. His defending was not the best and his crossing has always been pretty questionable. When you are talking about £50M bracket of defenders, I'm thinking of players like Lahm, Roberto Carlos, Maldini and Ashley Cole (say what you want about him, he was one of the world's best fullback at the time). Walker is nowhere near that class of players.

Neymar is probably worth about £80-90M if we are talking sensibly. £198M is just sickening.
 
Jozu

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Neymar is worth 130 million $ IMO. There is no better prospective haul, besides Messi and MAYBE Ronaldo (because of his age). Neymar is the next guy you could ever hope to sign.
 
Springbok

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Ya, and I wasn't denigrating Kyle Walker - I think he's a fine player but 50mm is a farce. As much or more than Neymars price. I just love the hypocrisy of the Spanish giants that NOW its a massive deal, because it's finally happening to them - them, being pseudo state run teams with private tv contracts. Fuck them. Obviously at some point, you'd think we would reach a saturation where this levels off but with endless, deep pockets clubs like City, PSG etc its hard to see without UEFA stepping in as they play by different rules.
 
Neki

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News reports coming out that La Liga has refused to sanction the sell of Neymar.

What a shit show.
 
Brando

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In some ways it's both a good and bad move. For Neymar, the good is obviously being the highest paid player in the world and not having to share the limelight with anyone. The bad is Ligue 1 is a competitive joke and therefore the only real thing that matters is CL wins. There's a lot of luck that comes into play with winning the CL. He could and probably will be the best player in the world in the coming years yet nobody will see him play outside of some Tues/Wed nights and youtube highlights and his measure of success will be based on the randomness of CL outcomes. In the end if all he cares about is money then great but from a competitive standpoint he'd be better off staying at Barca.

For PSG, you're getting the one of the 3 best players in the world for the entirety of his peak years. The amount they're spending is probably cheap in reality when you think what a pre-peak Messi or Ronaldo would go for in this market. Yeah this makes a mockery of FFP but UEFA and FIFA have been in bed with the Qataris for years so nothing will happen as they'll balance the books with another outlandish commercial deal that everybody knows is bullshit same as ManC. Keep in mind for accounting purposes the fee is amortized over the life of the contract so it's only 50m euro's a year even though it was all paid upfront so they don't need to bring in that much more on paper.

For Barca, I don't think it's a question of the big 2 in Spain finally eating shit. The TV deals have already been changed which while not as fair as in other leagues at least isn't 90% to Barca and RM which is how Atletico has been able to survive and not lose their best players to them in the last couple of years. Really this is just poor planning by Barca and has been a couple of years in the making. Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets all needed to be replaced and yet none of them have with Thiago going to Bayern instead. Once Neymar wouldn't sign his new deal with a salary that would make his release clause what Barca wanted (500m+) then they should have started planning then and there for his eventual departure. Instead they now have a shit ton of cash, everybody knows it and what they really need right now (Xavi/Iniesta replacements) are going to cost way more than they should. PSG isn't going to turn around and sell Veratti right after getting Neymar though I do suspect they will sell someone to try to balance the books a little. Either way the Barca board has been pretty negligent and I wouldn't be surprised to see them all replaced in the near future.

Walker's fee, I'm pretty sure ManC is way short on homegrown players for CL quota. They need more players that satisfy that requirement and Levy was never going to sell to a rival on the cheap. This is more that ManC has stupid money than anything else as everybody does agree Walker is not a world class player worthy of that type of fee.
 
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