Anybody bothered about the Saudis hoovering up Prem players?

[48k]

okgo said:

Football has history, heritage and club prestige. Probably about 5-8 clubs in the world are worth playing for if you want to be remembered as someone who did it on the best stage among the greats.

None of those are outside Europe, let alone SA and won’t be for some time for anyone other than has-beens.

History, heritage and prestige don't set you, your kids and your kids kids up for life.

We've already seen in the Premier League, with Chelsea and Manchester City, what happens when small relatively unsuccessful clubs with mediocre squads have massive injections of cash exponentially greater than their competitors. Saudi (and Qatari and Abu Dabi) have enough money to completely change the parameters of the football universe. I doubt the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, LaLiga and the European club competitions will still exist in their current forms in ten years time. The equivalent of Liv Golf will have happened to football.

Edited by 48k on Sunday 16th July 06:21

[okgo]

Ronaldo didn’t need more money.

Neither does anyone playing top flight football. The clue is in the foreigners having to buy the clubs here vs get people to go to them.

[Evanivitch]

Boozy said:

Evanivitch said:

Bluntly, I don't see Saudi creating a global brand

Watch and learn.

Watched much MLS recently?

[Mr Penguin]

Nethybridge said:

You really do think modern footballers crave cup winners medals and
national caps more than swimming pools of cash ?

Bit of both. Most of the players going there are coming to the end of their careers and have a choice between dropping down the leagues to somewhere where they will play but not win, playing on the bench at a big club, or taking the big money in Arabia. May as well cash in and make sure their family is set up for generations while playing and still having the chance to win something (especially if you've already done it multiple times in Europe). I read that they are offering 50% pay rises with no income tax for players in their mid 30s, who's bargaining power should really be decreasing.

Most top players in their prime are not interested.

[okgo]

Exactly. Hinterlands.

MLS been going with famous players since at least when Beckham joined in 2007. It’s still ste and nobody cares. Only reason anyone goes there is because they’re past it and it’s nicer living in LA/Miami than Riyadh.

[48k]

okgo said:

Ronaldo didn’t need more money.

Why didn't he go to MLS for less money then, like Messi has just done? Once enough players heads are turned they will have a momentum the European clubs won't be able to compete with.

okgo said:

Neither does anyone playing top flight football. The clue is in the foreigners having to buy the clubs here vs get people to go to them.

Buying clubs here is the quick fix solution.
The clue to the long term strategy is to look at what they are doing in other sports and to look at the caliber of players they are attracting now verses 3 years ago. They're about to sign a 28 year old first choice liverpool player as well as another one who is a full England International. They are sniffing around Mitrovic. 3 years ago they were signing 20-somethings from relegated Premier League sides. Project that forward 3 years and they will be competing alongside established clubs to sign prime players. Once there is enough momentum they can tell uefa to do one, or "merge or die" like they have in golf.
I think people are burying their heads in the sand saying "it will never happen... because history" and not clocking that its already happening.

[SWoll]

48k said:

Buying clubs here is the quick fix solution.
The clue to the long term strategy is to look at what they are doing in other sports and to look at the caliber of players they are attracting now verses 3 years ago. They're about to sign a 28 year old first choice liverpool player as well as another one who is a full England International. They are sniffing around Mitrovic. 3 years ago they were signing 20-somethings from relegated Premier League sides. Project that forward 3 years and they will be competing alongside established clubs to sign prime players. Once there is enough momentum they can tell uefa to do one, or "merge or die" like they have in golf.
I think people are burying their heads in the sand saying "it will never happen... because history" and not clocking that its already happening.

Liverpool had bought 2 new midfielders and plans were for at least another to join before the Fabinho move was even hinted at, and he's 30 this year not 28 BTW. He was awful last season after a huge drop off in form and has obviously been told to expect limited game time from now on by the club, as has Henderson.

The only player that has shocked me is Ruben Neves. Definitely would have been someone many big European clubs would have happily paid big money for and actually in his prime at 26. I still think his deal is essentially an FFP avoidance tactic for Newcastle though and he'll end up there on loan this season.

ETA - Surprise, surprise..

Edited by SWoll on Sunday 16th July 08:16

[48k]

okgo said:

Exactly. Hinterlands.

MLS been going with famous players since at least when Beckham joined in 2007. It’s still ste and nobody cares. Only reason anyone goes there is because they’re past it and it’s nicer living in LA/Miami than Riyadh.

Youre overlooking the big difference that America doesn't care about football. "Soccer" is a minority sport there.
The Saudis are football mad. It's their number one sport. The national team beat the world champions-to-be in the group stage of the World Cup making them heros and sending the place in to meltdown.
They have more money than God and are on their way to redefining the parameters of the football universe. They are not spending all this money just to be a rich man's MLS league.

[okgo]

We shall see.

I don’t think the worlds very best aspire for anything other than a big European club. But footballers are next level thick so maybe I’ll be wrong.

[monty999]

Footballers go where ever their greedy agents tell them to. Agents don’t give a toss about history, fans or trophies. It’s all about the money. Before premier league had it all, the Bundersleague was the place to be. Unfortunately it’s gathering momentum. Following Ronaldos much publicised massive money move last year, just a year on and dozens are going, agents older ‘stock’ to start with, won’t be long till they push the younger talent that way. All controlled by the agents and they’ll be in pockets of the Saudi’s no doubt.

[SWoll]

monty999 said:

Footballers go where ever their greedy agents tell them to. Agents don’t give a toss about history, fans or trophies. It’s all about the money. Before premier league had it all, the Bundersleague was the place to be. Unfortunately it’s gathering momentum. Following Ronaldos much publicised massive money move last year, just a year on and dozens are going, agents older ‘stock’ to start with, won’t be long till they push the younger talent that way. All controlled by the agents and they’ll be in pockets of the Saudi’s no doubt.

Any player who goes is essentially writing off their international football career, especially if they are young and not yet established. Hopefully that fact will ensure that we continue to see predominantly older players making the move for a quick cash in before a long retirement and prime top players staying in Europe for as long as possible.

[48k]

Wishful thinking I reckon.
Infact, the Saudis don't even have to buy all the best players - we already know there is appetite among the elite European clubs to form a super league - Eufa have managed to put a lid on it twice, they may end up with a huge fight on their hands to stop the 2028 Champions League final being Brentford vs FC CarrierBag whilst the rest of the world is watching Al Ettifaq vs Man Utd in the Liv Superleague.

[Evanivitch]

48k said:

Youre overlooking the big difference that America doesn't care about football. "Soccer" is a minority sport there.
The Saudis are football mad. It's their number one sport. The national team beat the world champions-to-be in the group stage of the World Cup making them heros and sending the place in to meltdown.
They have more money than God and are on their way to redefining the parameters of the football universe. They are not spending all this money just to be a rich man's MLS league.

It's well known that the Saudi stats on football being the most popular sport is completely skewed by their utter disregard for the Asian workers in the country that largely follow cricket.

The stadium attendances are pathetic for football!

[Antony Moxey]

The Russians tried it, the Americans tried it, the Chinese tried it and now the Saudis are trying it. As with the others, it’ll amount to nothing, global TV audiences are still only interested in the big European leagues - and the Premier League in particular - and the Champions League, and the TV companies know it.

They’re not shifting coverage to the Saudi leagues because there’s simply no audience for it. Same with the previous attempts elsewhere - sponsors may bung in millions to start with, but once they see that, despite trying to hoover up superstar players, global audiences couldn’t give a flying one then gradually they’ll pull out and go back to the European leagues where the real money and audiences are. The Saudis might have some very big cheques burning holes in their pockets, but they’ll still be expecting returns on their investments that just won’t come as they’d hope they would.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

monty999 said:

Footballers go where ever their greedy agents tell them to. Agents don’t give a toss about history, fans or trophies.

This is absolute rubbish. It's rubbish to think that's how most agents operate, and it's rubbish to think footballers are directed what to do by agents. The opposite is true. Agents have been told by the player what his goals, are, who he'd like to play for, if he'd like to play in a particular league or live in a certain city, and are their to try and achieve that for the player on the best possible terms.

[towser44]

At the moment, no, I'm not especially worried. We are currently seeing players at the latter end of their careers and those who are not the elite of the elite (e.g. Rueben Neves) moving over there. When we see the likes of Haaland and MBappe at the peak of their careers moving there I would be worried.

[48k]

towser44 said:

At the moment, no, I'm not especially worried. We are currently seeing players at the latter end of their careers and those who are not the elite of the elite (e.g. Rueben Neves) moving over there. When we see the likes of Haaland and MBappe at the peak of their careers moving there I would be worried.

5 years ago it would be utterly fanciful to think that a Saudi team could sign a Rueben Neves or a Liverpool Captain. They were signing ex PL players after relegation. Fast forward 5 years and here we are. Now project that trajectory forwards 5 years.
If the major European leagues and uefa are not concerned about a shift in the football landscape they are massively underestimating what is going on.

[towser44]

48k said:

towser44 said:

At the moment, no, I'm not especially worried. We are currently seeing players at the latter end of their careers and those who are not the elite of the elite (e.g. Rueben Neves) moving over there. When we see the likes of Haaland and MBappe at the peak of their careers moving there I would be worried.

5 years ago it would be utterly fanciful to think that a Saudi team could sign a Rueben Neves or a Liverpool Captain. They were signing ex PL players after relegation. Fast forward 5 years and here we are. Now project that trajectory forwards 5 years.
If the major European leagues and uefa are not concerned about a shift in the football landscape they are massively underestimating what is going on.

With respect to them though, Rueben Neves is hardly elite, he was playing for Wolves and yes, Henderson is Liverpool captain, but he's a bit part player and is 33 years old. As I say, until the likes of Haaland, MBappe et al at their ages are rejecting moves to Europe's elite clubs in favour of Saudi clubs, then I'd worry.

[ChocolateFrog]

Not that bothered.

I think we forget sometimes how pleasant living in Europe is, even with all its problems.

It'll likely go the same way as Japan and China before them.

Players want to play in the CL, I can't see anything coming along to rival that in the next decade.

[48k]

towser44 said:

48k said:

towser44 said:

At the moment, no, I'm not especially worried. We are currently seeing players at the latter end of their careers and those who are not the elite of the elite (e.g. Rueben Neves) moving over there. When we see the likes of Haaland and MBappe at the peak of their careers moving there I would be worried.

5 years ago it would be utterly fanciful to think that a Saudi team could sign a Rueben Neves or a Liverpool Captain. They were signing ex PL players after relegation. Fast forward 5 years and here we are. Now project that trajectory forwards 5 years.
If the major European leagues and uefa are not concerned about a shift in the football landscape they are massively underestimating what is going on.

With respect to them though, Rueben Neves is hardly elite, he was playing for Wolves and yes, Henderson is Liverpool captain, but he's a bit part player and is 33 years old. As I say, until the likes of Haaland, MBappe et al at their ages are rejecting moves to Europe's elite clubs in favour of Saudi clubs, then I'd worry.

I didn't say they were elite but they are still significant Premier League players. As I say, 5 years ago it would have been utterly fanciful to think they would to sign a Neves or a Liverpool captain, and now here we are. So based on that trajectory, in 5 years time they could well be competing for a Haaland or an MBappe.

People are looking at a snapshot right now and saying "oh yeah they signed so and so but he's not first choice", "oh so and so only plays for Wolves". Don't look at one data point look at the trend.

And aside from the players, also consider that the elite european clubs are looking for the slightest excuse to form a super league. Look how the Saudis disrupted golf and effectively backed the PGA in to a "merge or die" corner. Liv Superleague could become a real thing in the not too distant future and Uefa will have a challenge on their hands.