The DFL has just published the Bundesliga financial figures. Financially, Augsburg is in a good position. The club made a loss of 500k in 2022, but that's nothing compared to Gladbach (-22m) or Dortmund (-35m). The money from Pepi's sale is important, but the club is financially healthy enough to play the long game.
Dortmund's figures are about to turn around nicely by about $150 million. The figure is meaningless for them.
Lots of Dutch sports re-posters have picked up on the Feynie story. Not many other clubs mentioned in the past 24 hrs for him. But it could easily be completely different tomorrow.
Yeah. They will be fine. There was an article a few months ago that broke down teams and real assets. BMB was almost at the bottom. Scally was one of the two sellable players (players that could bring a real return now). It had player/purchase price/current resale/future assets. It was very interesting. BMG was flat trending negative. When you finish where they have in the table the last couple of years, and play the way they do, you can see the trouble considering funds.
If Germany wants to have any chance at staying competitive they will need to open up investment in teams. It’s sad that it’s necessary because I love the 50 plus 1 model but it’s not sustainable unless they are comfortable with falling well behind the EPL.
Fans won‘t accept it. IMO, they just won‘t. Hell, the fan union is so powerful they would have to be involved in any attempt to change the model in some form, and I just don‘t see it happening any time soon.
I guess if they are all OK with consisting of 19 EPL feeder teams and Bayern Munich, its their choice.
10 years now with a couple of Klopp interruptions before, otherwise it is what it is. Folks here would accept that here. The hypocrisy you see in US sports (they care for their causes as long it benefits them and their majorities/ignore the stuff that doesn‘t, whether athlete or owner) isn‘t what you will see here. Germans will be OK with it. Great opportunity for Italy however.
At some point the hammer is going to fall on the EPL. It almost did a few years back, when the press went digging into the background of many of the owners and investors. Abramovich leaving was one of the consequences. At some point, people at the top will have to do something, because far too many people are complaining about the thing becoming a giant Funny Money Laundromat.
You would think but people love their sports. They want to win. Whether justifying an a** like Jose M, thugs and petrol states, billionaire’s making their clubs toys, hypocritically kissing Chinese a** while railing about other causes, you name it. List goes on and on.
Being 100% ethically consistent is impossible. And if you try too hard, everybody hates you. The best we can do is try, I guess.
Off course people/fans love to win, but within reasonable expectations. Clubs in Europe arenot billionairs make up clubs/toys. They are part of/spawn by the community in which they're embedded. The fans want their clubs to be part of that greater football community and see them battle the other clubs. The simple German fact that no external investor can upset the league by buying in and spend the club to the top is a safe guard against what we see in the epl with Newcastle United and PSG in France. The German league is, when not considering Bayern, the most competitive league in Europe with this season Bayern having to fight till the last 5 minuted to become champions.
According to 1908.nl Feyenoord's offer has been rejected by Augsburg. https://1908.nl/artikelen/feyenoord-bereidt-tweede-bod-voor-op-pepi Someone who seems very informed,judging by previous news brought, says Feyenoord "knows" what Augsburg really wants and it could be sealed soon, but given what Augsburg payed for him, I can't see that gap between what Feyenoord can and is willing to pay can be closed.
Sell on. Augsburg convinces themselves Feynie will sell Pepi for 72 mill and Augsburg gets 25% +. Boom! Instant profit.
Then again, that particular gap isn't the one that has to be closed: only the gap between what Augsburg will accept today and what someone else is willing to offer. That gap is bridgeable - Augsburg surely know a haircut on the up-front transfer fee is inevitable - but I'm not sure that Feyenoord are the party to bridge it. IMO the decisive factor will be what position Pepi and his people take and how hard they stick to it. If he insists on a club where he's either starter or rotator and where he will get service, Augsburg have a problem - a cash injection to reshape the squad - to which Feyenoord or PSV are the only solutions.
Unless any new teams enter the chat that are high on Pepi from Portugal or France. Unfortunately there hasnt been any smoke there so that is just hopecasting.
I expect there will be/has already been interest from at least a few teams from there (or their equivalent) but I doubt that Pepi will be more than depth for the higher-end sides there. He needs to have at least first-off-the-bench status to make it worth turning down Feyenoord or PSV and I don't see that he's quite at that level yet
I would have to agree, but depending on the team it may be preferable to Augsburg and they may be able to pay more than the dutch teams.
I checked Germany, Italy, Spain and Portugal internet, but the sites there only mention Feyenoord and PSV and one mentioned Cristal Palace.