Ian, you simply cannot penalise individuals who have done nothing wrong. Russian players can play tennis, they can compete at Olympics and rightly so but not as Russian nationals.
I also wonder if there is some kind of “catch” here. I am sure our bid is half of his transfermarkt value. Doesn’t usually mean 50% off even with one year left on the contract Not getting my hopes up that someone else won’t swoop in once it’s confirmed he is available to move (and happy to come to England)
One for the politics thread for sure... ...but for what it's worth I'm in the middle on this one. In principle I agree that Sport can be a powerful tool in highlighting genocide and war-mongering. Lots of examples of that both recently and further back and Russia and Israel being punished through sport is all good for me. But its not for individual clubs to make those decisions. That needs to come from a Governing body. Players (and especially players who want to leave) shouldn't be punished either. We just need to focus on getting the best players possible and let those who's job it is to do so argue about the conditions in which we do that.
Armenia have just signed a peace deal with Azerbaijan, so thanks to Donald Trump our midfield can now be strengthened! Like Romeu said, this is national and not individual. As many South Africans found themselves playing cricket and rugby during the apartheid ban for other nations.
On the commentary today they were saying that Dibling and Aribo were not selected because they are negotiating deals away. Has anyone (Everton) met our valuation for Dibling? Where is Aribo going? Apologies if it buried in the last 157 pages of politics and puns…..
