The transfer period is once again wrapped up, and some interesting moves have been made, especially in the Premier League. The Mancunians have contacted former Spurs-striker Berbatov for about 38m and sold Saha, Silvestre and a series of others. Liverpool sold Crouchieboy to Portsmouth (never thought he'd leave Liverpool though) but reinforced their attacking strength with Ireland's superstriker Robbie Keane. I think West Ham did great by purchasing Valon Behrami from Lazio for only 6m and so did Arsenal, who cantacted Marseille's creative midfielder Samir Nasri for about 13.5m.

 

In Spain it's Barcelona that did the most interesting purchase: right-winger Dani Alves from Sevilla for 31m, the highest transfer fee Barça ave ever paid, but, according to Joan Laporta, that's the right price for the best winger in the world. Along with Alves, they also bought defender Martin Caceres for 15m, which seems a little high to me, but then again, I don't know him that well. Contacted for an unknown price, attacking midfielder Alexandr Hleb from Arsenal filled the gap that Ronaldinho's leave (A.C. Milan, £21m, either a mediocre sale for Barça, or a great purchase for A.C., I hope it's the latter) has left the Barça squad with. Everton on its turn, bought one of Belgium's greatest talents, Marouane Fellaini, for about 18m, the highest price for a Belgian player so far.

 

 

 

But what surprised me most of all, is the ridiculous amounts of money Manchester City all of a sudden has, because of its new owners, who clearly do not understand football. Buying all players that did well and stomping them in one team is not how a great team is formed. I can't believe that there still are morons who think football -or any team sport for that matter- works like that. Real did it in the late '90s, Chelsea did it after them, none of them were succesful, and now Man City is going to make the same mistake?

 

They bought Robinho for 42m, Jo from CSKA for 23.5m, Wright-Phillips for 11m and Vincent Komany for 8.5m. Then there's the transfers of Zabaleta and Ben Haim for undisclosed transfer fees. Now I constantly read rumours that this new owner, an Arab called Sulaiman Al-Fahim, wants to make Man City the 'greatest club of all time' by spending as many millions as needed. Firstly, I consider A.C. Milan, Juve, Real, Barça, Liverpool and Man U the greatest clubs of all time, simply because they have a great history. I think most football fans agree that a club isn't the greatest if all time simply because they have all the most expensive players of one time. But anyway, what he wants to do, is go as far as offering over 200 million for Cristiano Ronaldo, and ridiculous prices like that for anyone who he really wants. On one hand, I find this evolution in football disgusting; the most expensive player ever (Zidane, Juve to Real, 75m) would not even be half of what this Arab thinks Cristiano is worth? Somehow I feel that 100m for Cristiano is plenty.

 

 

 

So am I the only one that thinks transfer fees are grossly out of proportion nowadays? The results of those unworldly transfer fees will most likely be higher ticket prices and no added value for the fans.

 

For all the football fans here, what do you think about the transfers and the transfer policy some clubs have?

Regular season hasn't even started. What the hell are you talking about?

Regular season hasn't even started. What the hell are you talking about?

 

This isn't American football he's talking about.

 

 

 

Notice how he lives in Belgium?

 

 

 

EDIT; [cabbage] i have no idea when the season starts for European football. I just assumed Mlb was talking about American football, based on previous posts. lawl.

Try reading more than just the title Mlbfan13.

forza Juve, I like how they focus on young players such as 18yo Yago from Barca. Can't wait for Champions League to start, Juve, Real, Zenit and Bate all in one group 8-)

Lmao Man City were a poor club when I went to bed on Sunday night and by the time I woke up they were the world's richest club, it was hilarious. I can't believe that they got Robinho although I think that Man City getting him was more to do with Real Madrid making a point of not letting him go to Chelsea than anything else. The new owners also have a sense of humour which I like, Al-Fahim was on tv saying that if Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to play for the world's biggest club then he should go to city which was funny, supposedly they also plan to bid for Fabregas, Torres and Messi which will be interesting. That being said, I don't think they'll be able to challenge for maybe 2 seasons as it'll take a while to build up the squad.

 

 

 

Also, does anyone else predict a massive rise in Man City 'fans' trying to glory hunt because of their new found wealth?

 

 

 

 

 

Berbatov going was inevitable. I think i was terrible how Berbatov and Man Utd treated Tottenham during the whole saga, they basically had to sell Berbatov or they'd have been stuck with his sulking until January at least. I wonder who Fergie will drop to accommodate Berbatov? Surely he can't play Rooney, Tevez, Ronaldo and Berbatov is the same system.

Rooney, Tevez and Ronaldo on the same pitch never worked well anyway. We've got enough strikers, but we desperately need cover as well as a Plan B on the bench when Rooney and Tevez aren't working. It's that cutting edge that we need.

 

 

 

My only concern is Berbatov and Ronaldo being on the same pitch together. Two ego-maniacs on the same pitch.

 

 

 

Berbatov is the only player we needed though. The rest of the squad is strong enough. That and getting rid of Saha. I can't believe we actually got something for Saha.

Manchester City's behaviour on the last day is pretty embarrassing. So desperatly seeking expensive players, without giving it any thought. I hope Milan will do well this season, I'm not a fan of Ronaldinho (he really annoys me), but I hope he can be of some importance. What's champions league football without A.C. Milan.

Saying Real madrid and Chealsea havnt accomplished anything is going a bit far.

 

 

 

i think the buy of the season was deco tho. that guy was class and they paid pretty much nothing for him

I was surprised that City bagged Robinho, but they have a fairly strong squad already without him. If they can get themselves organised they could still do some damage to the top four before January.

How do you expect Man City to get Christiano Ronaldo by offering the "proportionet" amount of money? They wont obviously, they will have to pay huge, a players cost doesn't fully represent their quality. Juve's manager at the time thought 75 Million was sufficient for Zidane, if Alex Ferguson thinks 200 Million is sufficient for Christiano Ronaldo then that's what they'll have to pay, doesn't mean C Ronaldo is better than Zidane.

 

 

 

Should be a good season this year, I think it will extremely close between Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Man City could make a great surprise with their new signings.

Saying Real madrid and Chealsea havnt accomplished anything is going a bit far.

 

 

 

i think the buy of the season was deco tho. that guy was class and they paid pretty much nothing for him

 

Real and Chelsea never won anything after their immensely expensive purchases. I believe Real might have won the Copa, but what I was trying to say was that a team based on just excellent individuals is not always the best team, at all.

 

 

 

And are you serious about Deco? Sure, he did well in the season Barça won the Champions League, but that was mainly due to the great performances of Eto'o, Puyol and Messi IMHO. Deco is a very good central midfielder, but only if backed up with the right team. Last year he didn't make any difference at all, he was perhaps my biggest disappointment. Luckily enough, Iniesta was still there to cover for him. To me, the best buy is Behrami, a really good and versatile player, and only for 6.5m too. If the transfer fee didn't matter, I'd say Dani Alves is the best transfer. Barça needed a good right winger that fitted in their type of play, since Zambrotta left, and there's no better right winger than Alves atm.

How do you expect Man City to get Christiano Ronaldo by offering the "proportionet" amount of money? They wont obviously, they will have to pay huge, a players cost doesn't fully represent their quality. Juve's manager at the time thought 75 Million was sufficient for Zidane, if Alex Ferguson thinks 200 Million is sufficient for Christiano Ronaldo then that's what they'll have to pay, doesn't mean C Ronaldo is better than Zidane.

 

 

 

Should be a good season this year, I think it will extremely close between Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Man City could make a great surprise with their new signings.

 

 

 

Of course you have to offer more than the player's value, but there is no way that even the best player in the world is worth 200 million euros. 100mil, sure, that would be the equivalent of Zidane's value when you take inflation into account. But I don't believe any team in the world would be better off with 200 million-Cristiano than with a whole array of great players between 20 and 60 million totalling 200m.

I don't think Robinho is worth all that money.

 

Neither is any of those players.

 

Soccer market is going crazy and small clubs are getting the trouble.

Should be a good season this year, I think it will extremely close between Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Man City could make a great surprise with their new signings.

 

Liverpool are still behind United and Chelsea in terms of stamina. Their first three results weren't exactly impressive.

 

 

 

It would take both United and Chelsea to stuff up for Liverpool to have a chance. That isn't gonna happen. If United don't win, Chelsea will.

 

 

 

As for Arsenal... no. The new stadium's wrecked their finances.

How do you expect Man City to get Christiano Ronaldo by offering the "proportionet" amount of money? They wont obviously, they will have to pay huge, a players cost doesn't fully represent their quality. Juve's manager at the time thought 75 Million was sufficient for Zidane, if Alex Ferguson thinks 200 Million is sufficient for Christiano Ronaldo then that's what they'll have to pay, doesn't mean C Ronaldo is better than Zidane.

 

 

 

Should be a good season this year, I think it will extremely close between Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Man City could make a great surprise with their new signings.

 

 

 

Of course you have to offer more than the player's value, but there is no way that even the best player in the world is worth 200 million euros. 100mil, sure, that would be the equivalent of Zidane's value when you take inflation into account. But I don't believe any team in the world would be better off with 200 million-Cristiano than with a whole array of great players between 20 and 60 million totalling 200m.

 

 

 

The new owner of Man City claimed he wants to make them the biggest club in the world, if that means signing what is right now footballs greatest young talent then I think he will pay the price for it. C Ronaldo does have the potential to be greater than Zidane ever was. It seems the new owner is going more for the glory group than clever decisions such as buying 3 top quality players in the 60 Million area. His demise tbh.

edit - Delete this post. I misinterpreted above post.

How do you expect Man City to get Christiano Ronaldo by offering the "proportionet" amount of money? They wont obviously, they will have to pay huge, a players cost doesn't fully represent their quality. Juve's manager at the time thought 75 Million was sufficient for Zidane, if Alex Ferguson thinks 200 Million is sufficient for Christiano Ronaldo then that's what they'll have to pay, doesn't mean C Ronaldo is better than Zidane.

 

 

 

Should be a good season this year, I think it will extremely close between Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool. Man City could make a great surprise with their new signings.

 

 

 

Of course you have to offer more than the player's value, but there is no way that even the best player in the world is worth 200 million euros. 100mil, sure, that would be the equivalent of Zidane's value when you take inflation into account. But I don't believe any team in the world would be better off with 200 million-Cristiano than with a whole array of great players between 20 and 60 million totalling 200m.

 

 

 

The new owner of Man City claimed he wants to make them the biggest club in the world, if that means signing what is right now footballs greatest young talent then I think he will pay the price for it. C Ronaldo does have the potential to be greater than Zidane ever was. It seems the new owner is going more for the glory group than clever decisions such as buying 3 top quality players in the 60 Million area. His demise tbh.

 

 

 

Yup, I agree with you there. Ronaldo has it all, the only thing that needs improvement seems to be his mentality in certain situations. And if Man City wants him per se, instead of using their money a little better, then by all means they should. I just think it's idiotic, and toying with millions of dollars destroys the chances of any club that isn't as fortunate.

Real did it in the late '90s, Chelsea did it after them, none of them were succesful

 

 

 

Cheeky sod -.-

 

 

 

OT: I reckon that Man City will challenge for the league a couple of times, will do absolutely nothing in any competition bar the league cup, and will just be a waste of money for that guy. But £135 million for ronaldo is just way too much. They seem to think "hey, we have 40x the money chelsea has, lets abuse it" but Mna City are gonna make absolutely no money whatsoever (not like they need it, mind). I think that this whole situation will go wrong because the owner will expect too much from the managers.

Real did it in the late '90s, Chelsea did it after them, none of them were succesful

 

 

 

Cheeky sod -.-

 

 

 

OT: I reckon that Man City will challenge for the league a couple of times, will do absolutely nothing in any competition bar the league cup, and will just be a waste of money for that guy. But £135 million for ronaldo is just way too much. They seem to think "hey, we have 40x the money chelsea has, lets abuse it" but Mna City are gonna make absolutely no money whatsoever (not like they need it, mind). I think that this whole situation will go wrong because the owner will expect too much from the managers.

 

 

 

The Abu Dhabi group isn't in it for the money, they're in it for the prestige and to flaunt their wealth. With a total worth of more than a trillion US dollars (Thats a 1, followed by 12 zeroes), they aren't going to miss a few billion pounds.

 

 

 

Unlike Roman Abromovich or the Glazer family, who bought Chelsea/United as business investments, they aren't really going to care about losses because it isn't a money-spinning venture to them, and even if they did, it wouldn't really dent their bank accounts.

Real did it in the late '90s, Chelsea did it after them, none of them were succesful

 

 

 

Cheeky sod -.-

 

 

 

Damn, when will people learn not to misinterpret things? I meant that they didn't win anything major in that period. Of course they were succesful, they're both fantastic teams, but they did not fulfill the high expectations back then, did they?