Selling your best player when you've not won the league for 30 years is nothing less than submission imo. They know there's no value in the market, they can't get their top DM target to join them for £70m from RB Leipzig... it's suicide to release him unless they can guarantee that they could bring in somebody like Sanchez, Aubameyang, Muller... I don't think they've got the pull atm to do it.
Klipperty has boxed himself and the club into a bit of a corner with his implied 'what is it you don't understand about not for sale' comment. Either the owners go over his head and sell, or he'll have to stay. As has been said, unless Coutinho agitates for the move and Barca stump up €100 mill +, I can't see it happening.
The irony will be absolutely delicious if Barca now make a concerted effort to sign Coutinho and he chucks his teddy, refuses to play and trains on his own, after Liverpool say he's not for sale. I wonder if Mickey lard arse Quinn will be saying what he has done about the same scenario at Soton with VvD, "de need to let him go yanno, no point keeping an unhappy player like"
Hank Henry or whatever his name is will soil himself with excitement at the prospect of £70-£90million profit on one of his soccerball offensive midfielders.
The problem is that although the true ownership is very thinly disguised through state owned companies, the actual owners are an Arab oil state. £200 mill is pocket money to these guys. Unless FIFA do something to stop this kind of thing, they'll just buy the game. Nobody can stop them financially.
If La Liga refuse it then they can stop it, they have a vested interest in keeping Neymar where he is. The way round it will be players going the other way, we know Barca want Veratti who'll be £70m no problem, throw in another player and/or structure some incentives into the deal and you're looking at a very achievable transaction.
I understand that, it's possible to try and get around FFP rules. I meant in general. It just strikes me that PSG and City, especially, are just buying up football. Both are owned by Arab oil states. There is apparently no end to their financial resources. Firstly there's the question of state ownership with all it's cosy little 'sponsorship' deals. All coincidentally with other state owned companies. Then there's the question of unfair practices, brought about by the bottomless well of money these guys seem to have at their disposal.
We won't for 80mil knowing they just got 198mil+. They'll have to wait till next summer (which is when I always thought he'd go) or stump up 100mil+ Is he worth it? No. Is Neymar worth it? No. It's all bonkers but Coutinho won't go for 80mil this summer. #betzforbantz?
I'm glad Paul Pogba won't be the most expensive player in the world, He'll have less pressure on him this season.
City's owners appear to be buying up quite a few clubs now too, not sure how that'll work out for them in the long run but I have no doubt that they're all being assembled in order to facilitate City's ambitions in some way. The problem they have is that the club has no soul anymore, it's a corporate play toy with the biggest fraud in football at the reins and they can't buy a legacy or a more suitable identity. I'd hope that FFP would be cut and dry but as usual the corruption in Fifa and UEFA will see to it that there are loopholes to exploit in return for brown envelopes.
They say they can refuse to accept the paperwork if they have reason to believe it contravenes FFP rules set out by UEFA.
We're talking about quality players like Coutinho here mate. Why you bringing Poggers into it? He's an overpriced haircut. Talking of overpriced haircuts - Renato Sanches looked proper **** last night. No wonder Bayern are trying to sell him.
You're talking about a long shot merchant, Paul Pogba is world-class, I mentioned him, Because he's currently the most expensive player in the world.
