Saudi League thread
- Thread starter shamans
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"Role models", "heroes", "legends". This deification of footballers is idiotic.
They're simply athletes, paid to kick a ball. As fans we should expect giving it all on the pitch and decent behavior off it, not some saintly and spiritual leaders. People who are "appalled" and "outraged" should find a better use of their time.
Then maybe Henderson shouldn't be posturing as LGBT ally on social media, just for him go to Saudi Arabia and receive a fat paycheck coming directly from wealthy homophobes.
Nobody said anything about Benzema or Kante going to SA, cause they were not posturing on social media about LGBT rights, it was Henderson.
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I think I'd start to support a grassroots / local team before watching the Saudi League if things continue as they seem to be trending.
Or, say they don't.
It's a bit different quadrupling your salary from an average wage in the UK of, say, £25K a year to £100K per year. That could be life changing and I don't think you'd be able to criticise anyone for that.
But to increase your salary from more money than you know what to do with already, to 4 times that, strikes most people as greedy.
What a meaningless respond.
You made up some fantasy in your head and now you're offended that someone has called you out on it.
Henderson has chosen to speak his mind about LGBT+ himself, and therefore it seems like a strange choise to go to Saudi. They may be athletes, but they are humans too, and must make a personal choice about whether they want to be employed by a club in a country that does not respect women's rights, gay rights and human rights. It's 100% a personal choice from player to player, but you can't just be employed by a workplace that doesn't care about the rights mentioned, if these rights are also of great importance to you.
That is how I see it anyway.
It's a scenario, I wanted peoples take on, as I'm not sure how I myself feel - I wagered that's what discussions was meant for. I am however sorry Sassy Colin - you called out my villanous plan.
They were never important in the first place, or less important than creating generational wealth.
Money talks, bullshit walks...
Is there a limit on foreign players per team?
"The worst part is the hypocrisy"...
Always love to see Norm in unexpected places. Except his deathbed, did not like that one.
Speaking of which, people expecting young adults to say no to big bags of cash, while all you hear when you grow up (and long thereafter) is to get a job that pays well, plus all those big corps' official environmental strategies being get more money however possible so you can use that money to buy a better world and pray to the gods they don't give a feck about that technology will jump heaps ahead in the near near future to save their arses.
Well he has got a middle eastern country in his name!
I believe it’s 8.
I take it Henderson will be kicking up a fuss with his new employers in Saudi Arabia about LGBT rights like the England team did in Qatar.....or does the money smooth over the cracks this time 
@FrankFoot: if you're not going to be "perfect", then don't do any advocacy/charity and shut the feck up
I take it Henderson will be kicking up a fuss with his new employers in Saudi Arabia about LGBT rights like the England team did in Qatar.....or does the money smooth over the cracks this time
We've all expressed our disappointment in him. Ps. To save me time going through all the polls for your name, which way did you vote in the Qatar takeover thread?
It's not transfers like Henderson or Mahrez that are going to impact European football in a significant manner, as these are players that are probably 2-3 years away from not having significant roles in Europe anyway, if not sooner. However all the bids for players like Diaz, Diaby, Milinkovic-Savic, Neves etc., or even Fofana signing, they are going to have an impact.
What has the Qatar takeover got to do with this? Its a completely different country
Darn; are Saudis not in for any united deadwood?
This initial burst of players moving is falling neatly into two categories so far: older players getting one last massive payday and good but not elite players in their mid twenties onwards who aren't going to play for a European giant/win the CL and will take the lucrative route. So far it is not dissimilar to China's football drive, I'd say Oscar moving there from Chelsea was more of a statement than any of the names you mentioned (so far). There is the added volume of players with Muslim backgrounds though whereas you don't really many footballers in Europe from China/or with significant cultural ties which is a significant part of this initial transfer group.
I do, however, think they will keep pushing and Ronaldo's comments about the league will come true in the next few years. European football is not in a good place financially, the PL has made the CL far less competitive and the player drain on countries like Portugal, the Netherlands (leagues he mentioned) but also some of the big leagues like Spain and Italy is visible. South Americans will be the next broad group to move there I believe, Fred, Danilo, Diaz, Moura maybe someone like Richarlisson who could be a statement signing as he's unhappy and actually younger.
At this rate, Saudi league will overtake France in terms of league strength come next summer as I can see them upping their pursuit of players in their prime.
Yeah right. This does nothing for their domestic players, if anything it'll take away their playing time. Just another bubble that will eventually burst, but right now it is an agent's paradise.
Oscar was a big one, but who else was in the top ten? I seem to remember Drogba but I don’t know if it was at the same time. This feels different, to me, more significant than China, and we’ve lots of time yet this summer too
They do not care about their domestic players they care about having a competitive league. This isn't China, this is a calculated attempt by Saudi Arabia to work their way into football. Didn't they do this already with golf?
Why not take Maguire, Mctominay and Bailly while they are at it. It would help us getting that Striker we need.
Hulk and Oscar were the big two I remember, then you had load of guys who are similar to those who are moving to Saudi (Dembele, Fellaini, Tevez, Rondon, Ighalo (haha), Mikel, Drogba, Gervinho, Anelka, Martins, Demba Ba, Cisse, Gudjonsen, Arnautovic, Witsel, Carrasco, Jelavic, that Pelle bloke who was actually good from Soton - you can just look at the wiki for all foreign players, way more than I remembered) in hindsight there were also randomly lots of Chelsea players.
I do agree though as my post says, I think this will be a big change for football in a couple of years.
Maguire would be an excellent addition to the Saudi league, well worth the watch of a YouTube video of him attempting to defend Ronaldo.
Clash of the titans?
They kind of bought golf, so yes.
This must have been covered earlier in the thread so apologies in advance,
but:
Where did C. Ronaldo and his family live for the past year? did they have any real contact with local Saudis?
Was he really obliged to conform to all the rules such a religious country enforces on its people?
Or do Ronaldo & all other non-Muslim footballers get to live in designated areas where rules are less strict?
I'm wondering about certain foods, booze, and how their girlfriends a/o little girls must look and act in public places...
but:
Where did C. Ronaldo and his family live for the past year? did they have any real contact with local Saudis?
Was he really obliged to conform to all the rules such a religious country enforces on its people?
Or do Ronaldo & all other non-Muslim footballers get to live in designated areas where rules are less strict?
I'm wondering about certain foods, booze, and how their girlfriends a/o little girls must look and act in public places...
I don’t know re Ronaldo but most people I know who have lived there are in compounds. When I say compounds it’s basically a luxury closed off community where you can do westerner things with less worries, boozing is still tricky (not a huge issue for footballers) but you can show affection to the opposite sex, not cover up as a woman etc. With all their religious holidays and breaks you can fly back to your home country a lot or, I imagine what will be the norm, have a second home in Dubai.
Thanks for the reply pal
The part about "not having to cover yourself as a woman" was the most interesting part for me...
It didn't make sense to me that footballers' families will agree to go there if females had to cover themselves up every time they went outside;
I can imagine it (or anything other that makes you undo such a basic thing that you're used to doing for your entire life without giving it a second thought) being such a daily hassle that there's hardly any amount of money that'll be worth it....
That being said- I never had to test myself as to what I will and won't do to earn millions of pounds.
Thanks for the reply pal
The part about "not having to cover yourself as a woman" was the most interesting part for me...
It didn't make sense to me that footballers' families will agree to go there if females had to cover themselves up every time they went outside;
I can imagine it (or anything other that makes you undo such a basic thing that you're used to doing for your entire life without giving it a second thought) being such a daily hassle that there's hardly any amount of money that'll be worth it....
That being said- I never had to test myself as to what I will and won't do to earn millions of pounds.
Sebastian Giovinco previously left Toronto FC to play for big money in Saudi Arabia. My understanding is that his family did not go with him, at least full-time. He was often spotted back in Toronto visiting during International breaks and during the offseason. I believe his family split their time between Toronto and Italy and he went abroad to work like a worker on an oil rig.