***Official English Football Season 2021/22***

[Himannv]

...and helped him escape to Saudi Arabia on a dodgy transfer deal just before the police had opened official inquiries.

(it is known he has excellent relations with one particular agent, but because said agent only has sub-League Four players in his portfolio it doesn't appear to have affected ManUtd yet)

Haven't heard about this (or anything about his time in Molde actually).

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Haven't heard about this (or anything about his time in Molde actually).

Funny, that.

Here's a BBC story about it anyway

Babacar Sarr: How did an international footballer become a wanted man - then disappear?

Babacar Sarr is on the run from rape accusations in Norway.

www.bbc.com

 

[Himannv]

Funny, that.

Here's a BBC story about it anyway

Babacar Sarr: How did an international footballer become a wanted man - then disappear?

Babacar Sarr is on the run from rape accusations in Norway.

www.bbc.com

Yeah, I get the impression that football clubs and, by association, managers tend to protect their players from these sort of things so they're able to get away with a lot more during their playing days. Giggs seems to be in a lot more hot water now than he was when he was still a player.

 

[Furball]

I think Celtic being out of the Champions League already should be mentioned in this thread with it being a Champions League story and not just a Scottish football story. So - Celtic are out of the Champions League already.

As predicted.

They're a total mess right now.

 

[andruid]

Them and Galatasaray (who I was surprised were facing PSV at this early stage) ain't what they used to be

 

[duffer]

So we spent 50m on Ben White. I hope he not crap.

 

[sledger]

Even if he is he'll still be an upgrade on most of our defenders for the last few years.

 

[Uppercut]

I think he’s pretty good in a subtle kind of way, but 50m does seem like a lot.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

About the same that John Stones cost like 4/5 years ago, and like 35m less than Maguire cost. Doesn't seem that much to me. It's just what you pay for English players.

(He says as his team is about to pay 90m+player for Jack Grealish)

 

[GIMH]

It's just what you pay for English players.

You say that but we paid nothing for Peter Clarke and I’m yet to hear any of the others say ‘wind yer ****ing neck in you little blurt’ on the way off the pitch

big fan of all the players you listed mind you. Especially Maguire.

 

[Uppercut]

About the same that John Stones cost like 4/5 years ago, and like 35m less than Maguire cost. Doesn't seem that much to me. It's just what you pay for English players.

(He says as his team is about to pay 90m+player for Jack Grealish)

The Stones and Maguire fees seemed like a lot too though.

A silly fee for Grealish kinda makes more sense to me. If Arsenal didn’t get White they could probably get someone else roughly as good, but I don’t think that’s the case with Grealish. Or at least they couldn’t get anyone good in quite the same way. I reckon they’ve decided he’s the only player out there who could possibly bring what Silva did to the team.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

The Stones and Maguire fees seemed like a lot too though.

Sure, but they also set precedent for clubs to ask for. I'd say Ben White is about as good as Stones was when City bought him, maybe a little better (imo, obviously). Seems fair enough to me to demand similar fee. If the pandemic didn't happen I'd not have been surprised with 60+ for White.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah I guess it is the market rate.

Maybe I wouldn't comment on it if it was United or City. If you're rich and have a squad gap, why not just overpay for that youngish English guy who everyone has noticed is pretty good, you know you're not doing a great deal but you're not doing a terrible one either. Arsenal are trying to compete for trophies with a much lower budget though. I can't remember them doing many deals like this before. It's been 25 years of paying £5m for someone from the French second division who turns out to be either brilliant or hopeless.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

I don't know about that mate. Arsenal have bought five players for more than €50m in the last 4 years (White, Partey, Pepe, Auba and Laca). They don't usually buy more than one per season, but they usually spend a fair wack.

 

[Uppercut]

Right yeah my last line is a bit of a throwaway comment, but none of them are English, or even from the PL. They’ve done some bad deals but they don’t usually pay the English premium.

 

[duffer]

Right yeah my last line is a bit of a throwaway comment, but none of them are English, or even from the PL. They’ve done some bad deals but they don’t usually pay the English premium.

This is the first window under full control of Edu and Arteta and there's a lot of emphasis on buying British.

One rumour that won't go away is Ramsdale for around 30m despite better keepers like Onana being available for much less. Homegrown quota seems to be a big consideration in our recruitment strategy this window.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

White is used to being in a team that have a lot of possession and fool people into thinking they're playing good football despite no end product, so he should fit in nicely.

 

[duffer]

If Brighton can use the money to buy a good striker, they'll be a fun team to watch next season.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of the top English clubs are looking to buy English.

 

[Niall]

This is the first window under full control of Edu and Arteta and there's a lot of emphasis on buying British.

One rumour that won't go away is Ramsdale for around 30m despite better keepers like Onana being available for much less. Homegrown quota seems to be a big consideration in our recruitment strategy this window.

Ramsdale is pretty bad. I'd be concerned if anyone was looking to spend anything like that on such a turnip.