Men's Soccer (Football) Thread [ARCHIVED] Soccer • Page 2076

There is a vocal group of City fans that want Kvara, which I mean I would love but not a great track record of City-Napoli transfer negotiations.

 

Gvardiol is some player to watch. Glad he's not gone to Liverpool lol

 

was never going to!

 

I've seen him linked and that's enough to test me! Lol

 

His release clause is great value

 

I have no idea whether we've been fleeced there or not. I know he did decent enough numbers in a terrible team, but that's a fair chunk for a player in a relegated side...

 

Worth a read if you can.

“When I was feeling uncomfortable, Henderson’s words and actions were among the things to bring me comfort. Reading them helped me feel seen at a time when, as a gay woman, I felt so hidden.”

“Ultimately, when Henderson’s true values were tested and he was forced to choose between morals and money, he gave his answer. And many people will find that hard to forget.”

 

I get it, and the last thing I want to do it diminish the concerns of people like the author, but I can’t help but feel like there’s some level of double standard with regards to players going to Saudi Arabia.

These points are valid, but people are pretty silent about the most famous player in the world transferring to a country where people of color are murdered with impunity by agents of the state, people with treatable illnesses are allowed to die just because they can’t afford care, and LGBT people seem to be losing rights on a monthly basis thanks to high-level judicial decisions.

Again, I read that article yesterday and thought it was great, but it really made me think about how a similar view isn’t taken across the board as a result of, what I assume to be, western-bias.

 

No western bias at all, I second everything you just wrote. And at the same time the criticism towards players moving to Saudi Arabia is all valid. They all have so much money already. There is absolutely no need to move there. There is no excuse. Any player that moves there should be called out.

 

I agree that we should criticize players who go to SA. I’m just saying that we don’t make the same critiques elsewhere reflects a bias, subconscious or otherwise. Give me both.

I guess maybe a valid point of difference is that SA is using state sponsorship to make these signings whereas in the US it’s the ownership groups. Not like those captalists who own the teams hands are clean, but a distinction could be made I suppose.

 

Maybe you US folks don't do it, but I am actually criticising transfers to the US also. Not exactly on the same scale as the ones to the Saudis but still.

 

of course everyone stateside is excited about all of it, so definitely not seeing any of that. We are exceptionally poor at ancknowledging our shortcomings as a nation so we compensate for those insecurities with more guns.

 

I agree with all of this really.

As an outsider looking in, a lot of this seems crazy to me, but the crucial difference IMO is that the MLS isn’t a state-owned league designed for sports washing those problems, and neither is Inter Miami.

Maybe if Miami were owned by NAPO or something I would feel differently, but I still understand the point you are making.

And let’s be honest, the UK, Italy, France, Spain, and Germany all have their own issues currently.

 

I honestly think you are going to see the Saudi's go after one of the big sports leagues, probably in the US and try to implement a single state owned league to "compete" against it.

 

Basketball is probably the only one that would make sense for this of the US big four. At the end of the day, they're a majority desert country and it's one of the few entirely indoor sports that has a global market they could compete in. A freelance writing gig I had a few years back was with that huge economic city/structure thing they're attempting to build over there and some of the goals made me incredulous. I think seeing Dubai's successful transition from oil spot to business and tourism hub is really kicking off a race in the region to spend the money while they've got it.

 

That is exactly the sport I was thinking of and like you side aligns with some aspects plus I think basketball is seems to be on a good growth trajectory in many overseas areas.

 

Welp. This might be over.

 

Ya. First thing I thought when I saw this news is that a transfer request will be imminent.

 

City's Academy is just pumping out players and getting good fees out of them, good lord seems like a conveyor belt at this point.

 

Obviously the ASM side of the deal is suuupper dodgy, in that Newcastle's owners are basically moving money between accounts.

However, that is a quality bit of business by them, to upgrade ASM to Barnes for around £8-10m.

 

I mean sports teams aren't straight state-sponsored things but the companies these rich assholes own certainly have tons of influence on the politics of this country.

 

Yeah I bet if you looked at every majority owner in the MLS I bet they have given a good amount of money they have given to influence politics and to protect their interests.

 

I love this man with all my heart. Need the club to be sold as I need a Fernandes shirt this season.

 

I know the US is quite shitty in a lot of ways and I'll own up to it, but to compare us on a basic human rights level to Saudi Arabia is... objectively false. And not in a negligible enough way for it to even really be a conversation. Messi coming to Miami is nothing like a sportswashing inundation funded via oil money to a nationally subsidized league.