but if you are playing in a lesser prestige situation would you rather make $7MM or whatever the "huge" offer is?
Look, I get that we all want to think Toronto is the greatest place on earth (I don't know if it is....but, to me, it is a pretty special place) and that players are not driven by money.....but the reality is he is a professional athlete who has a finite window in which to maximize the earnings that will support he and his family for the rest of his life. If, say, he could double his earnings over the next 5 years....that will be his prime consideration. I am growing more and more convinced that there is something to this offer. If it was (as we all hope) a situation where he just does not want to go he could just tell the Chinese to go away he is not interested.......not sure why there is this need to take it to Toronto management to discuss what to do.
[Is it the same as other players? Is London a terrible place?] Yes. No. And maybe I'm wrong and having $10 million instead of $7 million would lure even someone who already has tens of millions in the bank. From published reports, however, Giovinco seems to genuinely like Toronto beyond the sort of "happy to be here" platitudes many pro athletes will make. So I do wonder whether, for him, lifestyle will come into play. Put another way, I'm far from the million dollar range and I wouldn't be interested in uprooting my family for a 50% pay raise. This even though 50% would be more meaningful to my standard of living than it would be for a guy who is presumably already set for life.
The other difference is that Giovinco (or whichever superstar) made more this year than I will in my entire career. At some point the difference between a ten year career at $7 million per year and a ten year career at $10 million per year becomes a bit academic.
The Economist, a British publication, ranks Toronto year after year in the top 5 most livable cities in the world, so that has to say something. Of course, the top 5 is usually dominated by Canadian and Australian cities so we can't say it's without bias. That said, the standards for "livable" probably mean less once you have a lot of money, other factors come into play.
My last two comments on this until it either becomes a deal or not. 1. Could the very same not have been said when he was making ~$3MM a year at Juventus? He came here for a pay raise from a salary that most of us could not imagine/comperhend 2. If he was not considering it why not treat it exactly the same way he treated the approach from Barca? He says in the same article he dismissed the Barca approach out of hand....but the Chinese one he needs to talk to Toronto management? His agent is quoted as saying it will be difficult to convince Toronto to let him go.......it seems clear to me that, to some extent, his head has been turned by this approach.
From what I understand though there is no offer on the table just yet. And I can't imagine an athlete flat out saying not interested without an actual offer. There has to be some price at which he'd be willing to go.
ok...sucked into this again....there has been no offer tabled to TFC....there has, according to Seba and his agent, been an offer of salary which they describe as "huge". Similar to the Barca approach....the agent and player new what it was but they dismissed it out of hand. They are treating this differently (by their own words).
So are TFC still looking for an AM? How's that been going? Last I heard they were looking at a Bosnian player from the Polish league.
I'm with TO Fan on this. Doesn't matter how much you make...a 50 per cent increase in your salary is hard to resist. Tevez certainly didn't need the money to go to China. Gio is now 30--he's got4 maybe 5 years left...he's got to be considering it. Hopefully he isn't a mercenary and stays. He will be hard to replace. But we'll find out by tomorrow I guess, since the Chinese window closes Feb. 1. Saw a pic of Giovinco in L.A. today on Instagram, and he certainly doesn't look like he's stressing over a life change decision.
The Chinese transfer window is open until Feb. 26th. The MLS window isn't even open yet. This was probably all just talk from Giovinco's agent. Perhaps he just wants to show off his client to open the door for his other clients to China.
Chinese window closes Feb 28 I believe....read this in an article about Rooney and his options to go to China
Apparently we've signed Chris Mavinga, LB/CB. Considering our current squad I'm assuming we play him at the latter position
Although, John Molinario describes him as primarily a LB http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/chris-mavinga-tfc-toronto-fc-mls-major-league-soccer/
If anyone was doubting how much Chinese clubs pay....I just saw this today.....this is a guy that has scored one goal for Watford all season in the Premier League! http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/38796667 So, if Oscar is worth £52MM and this guy is worth £20MM in transfer fees....if there is an offer coming in for Giovinco..where in that range does he sit?
In one pic we see the newest #tfclive signing and this year's @TorontoFC_SSH scarf? https://t.co/DoCQK70CY2— Toarea Fan 🇨🇦 (@TOareaFan) January 31, 2017
I remember when he was youth player with Liverpool years ago when he was a teenager. I would have to think settles the options for the back line maybe other than backup RB though seen Morrow play there in the past
New signing Chris Mavinga has had off-field issues with his former clubs and most recently his NT, mainly due to playing time and team direction. If he's going to be the starting LB playing time shouldn't be an issue.