We're in this together mate. For the next 199 years until the stadium is paid off, we are in this together.
With all the money in the PL now, the prices for players have doubled - perhaps more than that between English clubs. £10M for Ayew is probably about right - but the going rate has increased significantly this season.
Cost of stadium = £534,000,000 Total rent paid over their lease: £247,500,000 That's a mere £286,500,000 that won't have been paid over that time.
Prices have been insane for years now Luke. £50m for Torres, £35m for Jaws, £50m for Sideshow Bob, £45m for Sterling. This hasn't happened overnight, and I hasten to add that clubs like United with the obscene amounts of money they're throwing at anyone who will make headlines are simply driving up prices across the board. I look at our signings over the past 5 years and although we've been skinned for many tens of millions for dud players, our best signings have been absolute bargains. I have every confidence that there are more Allis, Wimmers, Diers and Walkers out there, and that we are perfectly positioned to snap them up.
Yes, but there's a lot more money in the PL this season. Some of the so called smaller clubs are spending big too.
I found that they were spending bigger last year. The likes of Stoke, Palace, Watford, West Brom all throwing money around like there was no tomorrow. That hasn't quite been the case this season - most teams are following the 'sell to buy' model that Spurs have employed for the past decade in order to show minimal net spends at the end of the window. It is the arrival of 3 big name managers at the 3 wealthiest clubs that has pushed overall spending through the roof. Other clubs aren't doing anything atypical of the past 3 years I think.
So, Paulinho Pogba becomes the world's most expensive player at £89m. I personally can't say his name without thinking about a craze we had in primary school called 'pogs' which were pointless and expensive pieces of plastic that sometimes came free in a packet of crisps. So here's hoping the player will turn out the same In other news, FIFA have bizarrely published John Stones as a member of City's CL squad on their website. At first it was thought to have been a prank or an admin error, but then Everton mysteriously put in an £18m bid for Sunderland's Kone. Two plus two probably means that Stones - possibly the most overrated player since Francis Jeffers - is about to become the most expensive CB of all time. Rather them than us in all honesty.
When you thought you'd heard it all? Citeh have named John Stones in their CL squad. Problem? He's not their player. WTF? How can you name another club's player for a competition? What about us naming him on the bench for our game at Everton? If this is allowable what's next? Allowing Citeh to buy players, don't register them, leave them at their current clubs but when Citeh play them, they get to wear Citeh's colours and it's 12 v 10? Failing that Citeh could just buy points off Hull and other relegation candidates. Hull's owner would love the extra money and Citeh would make up for having Hart in goal and Yaya 'I want more cake' Toure in their squad instead of John Stones.
Can buy 18 Dele Alli's or 22 (and a half) Eric Dier's for the Pogba price. Don't get me wrong the guy is world class and probably the best CM on the planet but that fee is astonishing, especially for someone you only let go a few years back for nothing . To be fair Utd will back a lot back on merchandise sales, he's one of the biggest stars on the planet at the moment.
I'd assume that it's basically a done deal and will be made official very soon. City aren't that arrogant, I wouldn't have thought. Is this good news for us? I'm not sure. Stones will undoubtedly be replaced and it will probably be by someone decent, given his fee. Playing Everton before then is beneficial. On the other hand, Stones was pretty poor last season and shouldn't have made the England squad. Being a man down will hurt Everton, but I don't think that they'll actually miss him, unless they have others out.
I don't think UEFA can allow any club to register someone else's player. It's a nonsense. Sign him and if it's within the deadline, then you're okay. Delay the signing and you wait until the new year. Only Yaya gets to have his cake and eat it! I think it's a bit damaging for both clubs. Citeh are seriously overpaying for the lad. They should be getting Coleman and Stones for that money with Coleman making up most of the fee. Everton may have a big club's budget with their new investment but like The Spammers, are learning that money isn't everything. West Ham may outbid other suitors but the players aren't interested; Everton have money but Lukaku and Stones want out. That is going to be a big knock to their self-belief.
If Stones is now a City player and they paid the supposed £40m-£50m asking price then they're mugs of the highest order, no way is he worth that, not even potentially.
Like Pogba, Stones is worth whatever somebody wants to pay. In both cases, you're buying potential. They're both young and fine athletes. In Stones' case, I think he was distracted and unsettled last season by the transfer battle with Chelsea. He's also the kind of ball playing Centre back Guardiola likes.
I don't think that you can register someone else's player. Pretty sure that's in the rules. That suggests that the deal's already happened, but that it hasn't been announced. Why? Maybe to give Everton a chance to bring someone in to replace Stones, but without everyone knowing that they've got £50m to spend? That's gone, then!
One thing to note is that Bony isn't on City's squad list and he's been linked with the Stones move, as part-exchange. That would allow Everton to sell Lukaku back to Chelsea, bring in Williams and/or Kone from Sunderland and still have cash.
UEFA's deadline was yesterday. As of 10.00 this morning, Stones is an Everton player. They've registered someone else's player. That's cheating, no? UEFA are reporting that they've had "contact from other clubs to register their views." I'll bet they bloody have!
