Exactly. That took you 5 minutes. Treble and Astro had that conversation over a year ago and Treble finished his list late last night
Lloris is on there, deservedly. Kane not quite there but will be soon enough I agree with Toby being on the list. Best defender in the PL for me.
You mentioned Veron and then Messi as the sum total of your argument. Was it worth me derailing the point for that? Not really. I'll stick to outfield players, I think GKs have remained consistently good tbf. I've highlighted the ones in each position that come close to those in the OP (ignored any duplicates). The rest are straw-clutching tbf. I get the point that you've confirmed there's not much choice out there How many clubs is that highlighted btw? Barca, Real, Arsenal, Bayern, Juve, Dortmund, Atletico?
The fact that you've eliminated a bunch of players that have won everything highlights the problem completely. How the hell would anyone that's not at a top club qualify for your list?
So Lahm makes one list and isn't allowed on the other? Edit: My bad. Treble must have edited his post about duplicates
I don't see why duplicates matter. They were good then, though most likely prospects on the whole, so what's the issue now?
Not at all, I've said I only highlighted the ones that come close to the list in the OP, that's all. The whole point of the thread is to see if they are comparable. We bought Schweinsteiger for £6m for example, hardly a marquee signing, for obvious reasons. The point is there's little choice out there if you're looking to spend large sums. And that anyone you do spend that amount on is a bigger risk.
Don't ask me, I'm not making the rules up here!! Trebles should answer that as this is his silly little game
That's simply not true, though. Leicester are top of the league despite spending sod all. If you're talking about signing top-notch players that are proven in the big leagues, then that was always extremely expensive. A number of the players on your list were either record signings or never left their original clubs. Others were risky signings who were either unproven or had failed in big leagues, like Bergkamp did in Italy. Veron is the perfect example of a supposedly low-risk signing who broke records and flopped horribly. Ferdinand was a record signing twice and is still the most expensive English defender of all time. There are plenty of players out there that would be marquee signings, but they'll cost large amounts, just as they always have.
The Leicester example is nothing to do with the debate though. Ofcourse there are gems out there waiting to be found, but that's not the question I've asked. The thread is from the perspective of any big club in Europe (including the English clubs) who are spending large sums to bring in marquee signings in key positions. Ofcourse they can go for Payet, Kane, Mahrez or Alderweireld. Gems like that have always been available and nobody's arguing with that. But the difference now is if you're looking to bring in a quality signings that have already established themselves as one of the best in their position, the choice is limited. Very few of the players you've mentioned compare to those I did imo, but if ppl want to compare Bonucci to Cannavaro then fair enough. I've also said such proven players were available from 3/4 clubs across each of the different major leagues and a couple of others. There was simply a greater choice at that level. From the list you gave I could only name 7 clubs which is also indicative of the lack of proven quality out there. You also seem to be going back to prospects. You're quoting Bergkamp from Italy, I'm quoting Bergkamp when he was already at Arsenal. You're quoting Ferdinand at Leeds, I'm quoting Ferdinand when he was already at United. i.e. when they'd already made a name for themselves by being pivotal in their club or country actually winning stuff. Not sure how else to explain it to you, but this is purely from the point of a big club having a wide choice of quality, proven players to choose from.
Hazard is overrated. How many good seasons has he had? Last year? He shouldn't be on any list of top players. Its mass hysteria.
...I'll beg to differ over Mahrez and Kante ... particularly as one trick dead ball Beckham is in that list ... could he dribble like Mahrez or tackle like Kante?
No need for the penis envy fella, Beckham achieved a lot more in his football career prior to his move for a sizeable sum to Real Madrid. Mahrez and Kante may very well go on to have glittering careers, but at the moment they've had one very good season
He should be on your list then, you're the most hysterical poster on here... and I also hear you're a fat mass
