Transfer Thread 10.0 - 2017 January Window

[5DOM]

the 13 year old

realistically we'll buy a replacement if this were to happen, but Jamal Blackman's next in line at the moment.

[blkout]

Shaqiri close to Inter. Was hoping Juve would get him...

All of the British media are saying he's going to Liverpool now. One of my favourite players and I hate Liverpool. This is terrible news.

[Shemy]

Shaqiri close to Inter. Was hoping Juve would get him...

All of the British media are saying he's going to Liverpool now. One of my favourite players and I hate Liverpool. This is terrible news.

nobody reliable from the liverpool media side has said anything.....its been his agent whoring him around and name dropping us to get Juve/Inter to put in a permanent bid rather than the loan+option to buy that was being rumoured with juve/inter, not to mention to also put pressure on them to meet Shaqiris wage demands...I like him but unless they plan on selling a few players, and give up hope on the likes of Ibe I dont see any reason why LFC would go in for him

anyways LFC dont seem to be doing **** this winter, at best origi returning+GK

[Batu7]

As of yesterday, the limit on the number of foreigners has been extended from 8 to 14 in Süper Lig. We're coming to **** up the market by buying so many mediocre players.

[El Turco]

better than paying nationality tax mediocre turkish players and stunt their growth

[Batu7]

better than paying nationality tax mediocre turkish players and stunt their growth

I'm all for this. Let's hope that it'll open up the way for Turks with potential to go overseas.

[El Turco]

Agreed, earlier they leave the better

[MaliBrah]

City are paying 30M bony a squad player most likely. How the hell can we expect to come up against that lol

[Foye]

City are paying 30M bony a squad player most likely. How the hell can we expect to come up against that lol

30 mil. for freaking Wilfried Bony. The EPL has become such a sad place.

It is like the ultimate cock comparison league for rich Russians, Arabs and companies these days.

Ridiculous that you guys continue to follow this league.

[J-Mezzy]

EPL is still fun to watch and competitive eve with the (Please Use More Appropriate Word) price tags

[El Turco]

why would you not wanna watch some of the top players in the world? at least there is some competition for the top place unlike bundesliga

[Foye]

why would you not wanna watch some of the top players in the world? at least there is some competition for the top place unlike bundesliga

Look, I can entertain watching every major soccer league in Europe. I'm even watching Serie A right now. Just the EPL is completely unwatchable because of everything that is going on around there.

[El Turco]

I dont see how teams spending money makes that league unwatchable, not like it is coming out of your pocket. It would be one thing if it lead to one team dominating but epl has been much more competitive than the league you are following the most.

Dont think you thought this through very well.

[cgf]

better than paying nationality tax mediocre turkish players and stunt their growth

I'm all for this. Let's hope that it'll open up the way for Turks with potential to go overseas.

I'm also curious to see if it allows some smaller turkish teams to grow into talent factories if the bigger teams aren't syphoning all of the top talent. I've long argued against the DP-rule in the russian league and think this could be a nice case study.

[cgf]

why would you not wanna watch some of the top players in the world? at least there is some competition for the top place unlike bundesliga

It's not exactly that much more competition with the way Chelsea and Citeh have handed the title back and forth...and my biggest issues with the EPL are not being able to support the way clubs are run, as that part of the game is almost as interesting to me as the on pitch product, and I'm not the biggest fan of the on pitch product, games are often way too hectic, with the midfield being simply bypassed as neither team tries to control the match, content to charge up and down the pitch trading chances whenever they're not trying to bunker up and protect a result. The tactical chaos and managerial **** turn me off every time I've tried to start supporting an EPL team.

Kind of how I liked the NFL more when every team didn't have an auto-catchup feature that ensured most games being decided in the final quarter, usually on the final possession. It's more interesting for a casual fan as there's more high-excitement-moments and big-plays, but it's more frustrating as a diehard tactics fan. It's part of why I don't even bother with NFL tactics anymore...the other part being that nfl tactics have hemogenized as everyone uses aspects of everything in their specific tactics and the only differences are larger strategic ones...as the roster turn over, injuries and new rules mean that winning is decided by health, contracts, and being able to come through in the final moments.

[El Turco]

why would you not wanna watch some of the top players in the world? at least there is some competition for the top place unlike bundesliga

It's not exactly that much more competition with the way Chelsea and Citeh have handed the title back and forth...and my biggest issues with the EPL are not being able to support the way clubs are run, as that part of the game is almost as interesting to me as the on pitch product...plus I'm not the biggest fan of the on pitch product, games are often way to hectic, with the midfield being simply bypassed as neither team tries to control the match, content to charge up and down the pitch trading chances whenever they're not trying to bunker up and protect a result. The tactical chaos and managerial **** turn me off every time I've tried to start supporting an EPL team.

Kind of how I liked the NFL more when every team didn't have an auto-catchup feature that ensured most games being decided in the final quarter, usually on the final possession.

Chelsea hasnt won a title in 5 years, it has been a while since they handed the title back. They have contended in recent history, so have united, liverpool,arsenal. That's better than bundesliga where title is decided in first month or la liga where it has been a two horse race up until last year. Whether you like the playing style is a matter of preference but deeming league unwatchable because of teams' spending habits sound pretty dumb. I am no fan of city or psg but they surely put out more than adequate product on the field.

[cgf]

Liverpool have had one 1 year were the competed this decade and that was last season where Suarez was in god mode. And Arsenal are the EPL's answer to Schalke or Leverkusen re: actually competing. Since SAF retired Chelsea are the only team who have competed with Citeh in any real way. And until LvG rebuilds United that doesn't look too likely to change as Liverpool are a very young team, arsenal can't break through their glass ceiling, tottenham is tottenham and Southampton just don't have the financial backing to really contend..

Meanwhile Dortmund have won two of the past 4 salad bowls and have been close to knocking off the eventual champs in the CL finals and semifinals the last two years. So is it really all that different this decade? First it was citeh and united who dominated the league while arsenal arsenal'd and chelsea struggled post Mourinho; and since United's implosion it's been chelsea coming back into the mix and a miracle season from liverpool that has actually pushed Citeh for the league.

And not being able to care about the clubs makes it harder to care about the showing on the pitch. I don't just want to see great players having great chances, I want to see a group put together and build a cohesive team with a plan, and I want to watch how that plan comes together on the pitch. Thus my never giving two **** about watching Real, especially during the height of the galacticos.

[Foye]

I dont see how teams spending money makes that league unwatchable, not like it is coming out of your pocket. It would be one thing if it lead to one team dominating but epl has been much more competitive than the league you are following the most.

Dont think you thought this through very well.

More competitive or not the EPL is a giant money-wasting machine. What is happening in the EPL is just going against all moral standards.
Look at Wilfried Bony...what has this guy done to cost 35 mil.? That's a price tag you get a world class player for everywhere but in UK.

Chelsea hasnt won a title in 5 years, it has been a while since they handed the title back. They have contended in recent history, so have united, liverpool,arsenal. That's better than bundesliga where title is decided in first month or la liga where it has been a two horse race up until last year. Whether you like the playing style is a matter of preference but deeming league unwatchable because of teams' spending habits sound pretty dumb. I am no fan of city or psg but they surely put out more than adequate product on the field.

Arsenal have contended for a title in recent years? You might want to exchange with Massimo on this. If by contend you mean for the 4th place trophy you are correct.

[5DOM]

Not that I think 30M is a fair price for Bony, he did score the most PL goals out of anyone in 2014.

What's happening in the PL is clubs spending the money they have. They are making more money than ever before, so it's no surprise that they are also spending large sums. If the clubs were going bankrupt, that'd be a problem, but most are financially stable.

[cgf]

Teams are spending the money they have dumbly. And if that only crippled the development of youth talent in england we could all just laugh and hope that an english team is around to spend dumb money whenever teams we liked had to sell players. But it doesn't just cripple the development of english talent and screw up the english transfer market.

Citeh is particularly annoying, they spend in one winter move for a 1b striker more than my club have spent on the transfer market since the new millenium. And they've done it all with no plan to become a genuine top team which is why they fail constantly in europe and instead of adjusting to take that next step, they just throw stupid money at marginal upgrades/cycling through supporting pieces that don't solve their core inbalance to patch short term holes and ensure league success. It really sucks to see that much money get dropped with no thought put into becoming anything more or taking the step up to a true top team.

I mean, if Citeh are smart enough to go after Reus, they'll pay little more than they just paid for Bony, and while Bony's a good player who's been scoring a lot of EPL goals, there's no way he and Reus should draw similar money. But because of EPL distortion that's exactly what we'll see.