Wummer
Saudi signing wave: What are the implications? Is it weakening the Premier League?
- Thread starter justsomebloke
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Wummer
He scored a lot of goals in the Championship but is an average striker whenever he is in the Premier League.
Well if they want to diversify away from oil they will have to create new companies with foreign talent
Right sure but is that what they want to do to the same extent as dubai. I get they want to open their borders but not at the same cultural cost.
What if the plan is to do a LIV but on the football side.
Take on lots and lots of talent and then try and structure a EuroAsia Super league incorporating their top 4 teams plus the big European teams. Definitely a possibility.
Take on lots and lots of talent and then try and structure a EuroAsia Super league incorporating their top 4 teams plus the big European teams. Definitely a possibility.
There seems to be a lack of understanding about Saudi Arabia's culture, aims and likely long-term intentions for this league.
This initial heavy spending will merely be part of a long-term plan to eventually have a league that is self-sustaining. Over time, the figures vs revenues will level out and that's when we'll really find out how much the Premier League has been affected, if at all. My guess is they'll continue to cause a little disruption to European football for 5-10 years, then find their league hits a revenue vs expenditure equilibrium somewhere between the Ligue 1/Serie A level quality levels.
This initial heavy spending will merely be part of a long-term plan to eventually have a league that is self-sustaining. Over time, the figures vs revenues will level out and that's when we'll really find out how much the Premier League has been affected, if at all. My guess is they'll continue to cause a little disruption to European football for 5-10 years, then find their league hits a revenue vs expenditure equilibrium somewhere between the Ligue 1/Serie A level quality levels.
Dubai and the UAE used to be like that, Saudi know that if they want to succeed some things will have to change, otherwise the exercise is pointless, you say that Saudi doesn't want to do that but their actions so far suggest that they do
Saudi don't have to do anything because their resources are just on another level. Dubai needed to find investment to plan ahead but Saudi are not as desparate to make consessions.
Its also down to the vision of the sheikh in question. The dubai sheikh has been very aggressive in aiming to make Dubai the best place to live over the years.
Not true, there’s a good chance he would have scored 20 goals last season if he played 38 games instead of 24, missed a few penalties too in there. Was one of the better strikers last year.
You are right in that Saudi don't have to do anything, but they are choosing to do so, maybe their leaders are fed up with being seen as pariahs, I've no idea, but they are changing things, that is undeniable and their stated aim is diversify the economy to a leisure, tourism and business based one
Right this is my point. Dubai were obligated moreso than Saudi to go down this avenue.
The appetite for Saudi is not as high to compromise on their culture. Saudi are not trying to turn into Dubai that's for sure.
I think from a financial standpoint what they are doing is not smart long term. Essentially it looks as if they are prematurely inflating the worth of players in the short term to give the club some viewership power. However, 4-5 years from now what you will see is a salary sheet all over the place and the clubs will not be able to hang on. I dont really have any proof of this other than saying that this is no different than expanding too quickly.
Either some type of regulation will need to be put in place or the clubs will begin to fold under the weight of player salaries.
just my 2 cents.
Either some type of regulation will need to be put in place or the clubs will begin to fold under the weight of player salaries.
just my 2 cents.
One year of his career though. Andy Johnson, James Beattie, Michu etc all scored a lot of goals in a PL season, but the fact he is 29 and has struggled to hit double figures in every PL season until now doesn't say much. He is a decent striker but not great.
At the end of the day the bloke's got a few screws loose, that's alI want to know!
More and more players and coaches who would play in UCL next season are flocking to Saudi Arabia. Will UCL soon become the new Copa Libertadores? It used to be the biggest thing for Latinos to play there, but they still kept opting for the higher salary in Europe. I think anyway that the "UCL argument" is greatly overrated. How many times have players moved from Bundesliga, Seria A, Ligue 1, La Liga or Liga Nos to midfield teams in the EPL (or even further down) when they could have played with their clubs in the UCL? The best staff always goes where the salaries are best. It was never different.
The UCL will become more of a shitshow than it is already. The new format is shite, the weakening of other leagues outside the EPL will make things a foregone conclusion.
Spot on mate, there's vision and ambition and then there's that!
At first they brought in slightly older players. Lately, it's players in their prime and in top form. Like Savic, Neves, Jota, Maximin, Malcom, Ibanez, Demiral, Kessie, Mitrovic, Fofana, Sakala, Diallo etc. These are all players between 24-28 years old. I wouldn't call players like Fabinho and Brozovic who are 29 or 30 old either. Also players like Mahrez, Bono, Mane, Firmino, Neymar (all 30-32) etc. could easily continue playing with a good UCL team. Porto's Otavio (28), who was Liga Nos Player of the Season, is also safe. Especially players like him, Malcom and Jota, in their prime, who shot their respective leagues short and small, switched to the top leagues earlier. And there are still a lot of good names being traded.
What the Saudi league has accomplished in half a transfer window, MLS, Japan and China have not accomplished in all these years combined. The SPL is a young league, younger than the Seria A for example. And already has more star players than Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga. And thats just the beginning. Let's see after 2-3 more transfer windows.
What the Saudi league has accomplished in half a transfer window, MLS, Japan and China have not accomplished in all these years combined. The SPL is a young league, younger than the Seria A for example. And already has more star players than Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga. And thats just the beginning. Let's see after 2-3 more transfer windows.
I don't think it will matter in the bigger picture. Even if they continue doing this in the neyt three years, the European leagues can afford losing that many players. But it will take a very long time until the Saudi League will be accepted as a competitive league. Players go there for the paycheck, not for ambition. Nobody can tell me Neymar cares if he wins the thing or not. It isn't interesting to watch as it all feels "scripted". Clubs don't have to be managed well or anything like that as the players are signed on state money anyway.
But there's one major implication for top clubs, IMO: It is far less risky to sign big names whose careers may go on a downwards trajectory soonly. Bayern actually made a profit with Mané. That's not good for the upwards fluidity in European leagues, IMO, which has been pretty bad for years anyway.
Yeah not world class or anything but still a very good striker who really improved from his mid-20s onwards. He is also prolific for Serbia too. He’s a lot better than those players you mentioned.
I don't see 10 years being anywhere near enough, if they have the aims of having competitive teams in the Champion's League.
Their aim is to quadruple the revenue of the league to $430m by 2030. This will be nowhere near enough to align with their spending as of today. The wages they are paying Ronaldo alone amount to $215m per year, so that accounts for half of their league's annual revenue in 2030. Even if he retires before then, I wouldn't be surprised if they continue to pay him a lot to be some sort of ambassador.
That league revenue would not be anywhere near enough to sustain their draw and any aims to compete. The Premier League generates about £5.5bn per year ($7bn). It will take decades for that league to be self-sustaining, whilst meeting their aims.
Im hoping any attempt to allow Saudi teams into the Uefa Cl dies outright. Considering how corrupt Uefa are im sure there will be enough bribes to make it happen. If players want to play in the middle east fair enough. Just don't allow them into a competition that's by and large a European competition.
World class players don't grow on trees. If you can afford it, why are Liverpool always whining? Why can't they find a replacement in midfield? They are so desperate and end up getting Endo.
Define "is accepted"!
No, to be precise, Bayern made a loss with Mane. You have to take into account his 1 year annual salary.
Okay, then try to get rid of Maguiere! I don't want to sound disrespectful, but I don't think the Saudis would even take Maguire for free.
For the time being, the focus is on rank and name. CR7, Benzema and Neymar were brought in for marketing reasons and to put a face to the league. For example, Neymar's move to Al-Hilal alone reached more people on Twitter than CR7 > Al-Nassr and Messi > Miami combined! Sure, the three also have their price.
Together they have an annual salary of EUR 500 million. But apparently it's worth it to the Saudis.
I think it's still cheaper than paying all media houses worldwide to report on the SPL day and night. The amount of attention they generate is amazing.
If you want to challenge the richest football continent in the world and convince its top players, you have to dig deep into your pockets. But that will not always be the case.
I do think that the SPL will finance itself by 2030. The Arab-Asian-African market is huge. Who knows what will happen by then.
Maybe 4 Saudis will play in UCL by then. Perhaps there is a superleague under the Saudi umbrella like in the Gulf. Maybe the SPL will join Uefa...
Who knows what the plan is. But what you can say for sure is that you will be dealing with an opponent on the transfer market who is using a Petro cheat - and that at least until 2030! Can be funny
What I do find interesting is the shift towards fans following a player rather than a team, this has been a factor of the social media age I think.World class players don't grow on trees. If you can afford it, why are Liverpool always whining? Why can't they find a replacement in midfield? They are so desperate and end up getting Endo.
Define "is accepted"!
No, to be precise, Bayern made a loss with Mane. You have to take into account his 1 year annual salary.
Okay, then try to get rid of Maguiere! I don't want to sound disrespectful, but I don't think the Saudis would even take Maguire for free.
For the time being, the focus is on rank and name. CR7, Benzema and Neymar were brought in for marketing reasons and to put a face to the league. For example, Neymar's move to Al-Hilal alone reached more people on Twitter than CR7 > Al-Nassr and Messi > Miami combined! Sure, the three also have their price.
Together they have an annual salary of EUR 500 million. But apparently it's worth it to the Saudis.
I think it's still cheaper than paying all media houses worldwide to report on the SPL day and night. The amount of attention they generate is amazing.
If you want to challenge the richest football continent in the world and convince its top players, you have to dig deep into your pockets. But that will not always be the case.
I do think that the SPL will finance itself by 2030. The Arab-Asian-African market is huge. Who knows what will happen by then.
Maybe 4 Saudis will play in UCL by then. Perhaps there is a superleague under the Saudi umbrella like in the Gulf. Maybe the SPL will join Uefa...
Who knows what the plan is. But what you can say for sure is that you will be dealing with an opponent on the transfer market who is using a Petro cheat - and that at least until 2030! Can be funny
how could it self finance, the PL is the richest league in the world and it cannot come to close to salaries being offered in Saudi, you expect in 6 years that the Saudi League will overtake the PL as the richest league in the world and be able to financially sustain multiple 100+ million salaries per year, Asian market or no Asian Market I don't see that happening ever
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-66545787
Also what wonderful people they are
As already mentioned elsewhere, it will not always be the case with salaries. Once you have laid the foundation and established a more professional level, the salaries will also be adjusted. Signing up overpriced old stars will no longer be necessary for marketing purposes.
The talents will then be intercepted in South America before the Europeans. And especially the African and Muslim will prefer the Middle East to Europe.
A huge advantage that the Saudis will have over 99% of the Europeans are the net/gross salaries. While the Saudis can pay a player 10 million annual salaries, the Europeans have to put 16, 17 million on the table after taxes. How are you going to compete?
The SPL has already gained an unbelievable amount of level, quality and attractiveness. It will be easier and easier for other players and talents to switch to the SPL. What will it look like after 3-4 years? Ambitious players want to play with and against the best. And that will be there at this rate. And then it will no longer be necessary to outbid others by double the salary.
You bend it the way it fits. It is said that more and more football fans are interested in individual players instead of clubs. 5 minutes later you say "the SPL is stup*d". Even if everyone goes there, no one will track it. What now? In fact, over the past few years, I've gotten the impression from social media that there are a great many "player fans". It seems like the entire Global South ticks like this. They have no relation to Europe's cities. Those who have are very, very few in a global comparison.
Just signed a top under 21 talent from Spain.
It’s getting serious. They’ll pull out some more names at the end of the window as well.
It’s getting serious. They’ll pull out some more names at the end of the window as well.
wow, this is insane
Yeah, Veiga who was rumored to Napoli and Arsenal for a while. That's crazy
La Liga outside of Real Madrid are beyond phecked in trying to hold on to their players. They were already there for the picking for any PL club but now Saudi too, Wow.
Why would you want to go there (yes yea I know money) when you’re a developing player - you’re not going to get the best coaches / development. Madness
Those sort of transfers are a blow to other leagues for sure. Europe will be weakened. He was pretty much on his way to Napoli at one point
With the rumours that Saudi’s are trying to buy into the UEFA CL, maybe some players are being sold a dream of ‘oh you’ll be in the CL in a few years, don’t worry and all the top players will be here’. If Saudis get into the CL then they become like what PSG were in the market and almost all players will be up for going for the money.
He's going to get 15M€ per season in wages. He signed his first professional contract last season!
If the Saudi league is allowed in the UCL, the Super League will be inevitable. No chance the big clubs will play along.
Joining the league as a young player is career suicide, IMO. Not in terms of earnings obviously but you don't want to play in a subpar league in your formative years. Let them go there if they want, won't change that the highest standard of football will still be played in Europe.
Joining the league as a young player is career suicide, IMO. Not in terms of earnings obviously but you don't want to play in a subpar league in your formative years. Let them go there if they want, won't change that the highest standard of football will still be played in Europe.
Not if they also bring the best coaches and technical staff along. This is all a question of how long the Saudis are willing to pump money like crazy into this. If they keep it up for long enough, who knows what might happen.
Do you really think the players who go there give a feck if they win the league or not? I mean, come on. You can have the best players and the best coaches but if there's no intrinsic motivation that drives you, the quality will always be low.
Personally I would agree with you. But I'm also a man entering middle age and a football conservative. Young players just emerging from teenagehood might have different thoughts on the matter and think that they're going there to build something new and pump up the quality
Most players don't care about intrinsic motivation. They care about the money. As long as the money is green they'll push themselves to the level of competition on the field.
This is so creepy