Signing with the big clubs these days is almost more like signing to a management firm than a club where you actually expect to play. They just manage your career and have the ability to grab you if you ever do happen pan out as a high level player. It's all speculation and working the market. Seems a shame to me because it simply allows the big money clubs to corner the market for prospects. But yeah, not really the same as signing for a club where they actually have a real present use for you. If you expect a guy signed by Chelsea to actually be wanted by Chelsea in the near future, you're very often going to be extremely disappointed. But, in general players eventually end up playing where their abilities dictate once the dust clears, once they get some experience to see just where that level is.
The players get paid either way. Its better than than the "third-party ownership" that was happening 15-20 years ago. Particularly in South America. Brazil and Argentina. Then became more common in Spain and Portugal. That was when the player's economic rights were owned by a third party like a hedge fund or sports-management agency. So when a club wanted to buy a player, the money actually went to this third party owner and not the club he was previously playing at. These organizations were basically investing, selling, and trading the rights of these players as if they were stocks. Now, essentially the same thing is happening but its clubs like Chelsea doing it. People say, "OH, Chelsea screwed up Salah, DeBruyne, and company." Well Chelsea bought DeBruyne for 7 million pounds. Loaned him out and sold him for 18 million pounds a couple of years later. So was it a failure? If that was a stock, they did quite well indeed. People seem to be under the mistaken impression that the primary goal of these clubs is to win soccer games!!! You can't be serious...........................
Augsburg and Pepi is a cautionary tale for smaller clubs. That kind of signing is a big gamble for those clubs. They can't diversify like the bigger clubs.
You're right, when you're stinking rich like Chelsea or Man City or Bayern Munich or whomever (and FFP punishments aren't applied to you for some reason).......................you're able to take more risks. When you buy stocks, there's a chance you can get skinned!!! You win some; you lose some. Chelsea made a profits on selling DeBruyne and Salah. Will they make that on Slonina and Wiley??? To be determined.
I actually think it's pretty much a wash for the players, I just don't like that it concentrates so many prospects under control of a small number of clubs. It makes it much easier for big clubs to cherry pick whichever prospects pan out and other clubs have to fight for scraps. Gives a massive competitive advantage to clubs that need it the least.
The way clubs are getting around the pushback against loan armies..........................is simply to buy multiple clubs. They're all doing it now. They're all trying to follow in the footsteps of Red Bull, City Group, etc. The other ones we don't even notice or talk about as much. So yes, Boehly and Chelsea are talking about expanding their group of clubs even more. They've even suggested they want to buy a significant stake in Sporting Lisbon.
They are but mostly it’s applying to clubs who may play in the same competition. And a club like Strausburg doesn’t seem close to Europe.
The thing about Chelsea and the rest is that a big part of the loan army is that it’s now a mechanism to help comply with PSR and other FFP rules. They’re buying up a bunch of young players for low prices and in many cases unloading them a couple of years later to increase their transfer budget to bring in new players for the first team.
Strasbourg would be a great place to live. Beautiful city. I'm jealous of Caleb Wiley. Meanwhile Haji Wright gets to live in beautiful Coventry.
Colmar just to the south is a gem. As are many of the small villages of Alsace. My favorite part of France.
Xanti Oyharçabal 🇺🇸🇫🇷🇨🇴 has officially moved from Real Sociedad 🇪🇸 to Athletic Club Bilbao 🇪🇸#USMNThttps://t.co/HH560LLYe2— USMNT burner (@burnerusmnt) July 9, 2024
Not to mention Germany as Strasbourg was once German as well. Plus a great Christmas market. Calw is close and a fantastic little village.
Josh Pynadath, who it seems like we've been talking about on the youth and yanks abroad forums FOREVER, has a new home. Played in a preseason friendly for them yesterday off the bench. Dordrecht is in the 2nd tier in Holland. 🇺🇸 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑱𝒐𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒂!Joshua Pynadath is een Schapekop! De Amerikaanse vleugelspeler tekent een contract voor twee jaar aan de Krommedijk met optie tot nog een jaar. Hij komt transfervrij over van AZ, waar hij voornamelijk in de jeugdselectie speelde.#FCDordrecht pic.twitter.com/ol72d6zmuc— FC Dordrecht (@fcdordrechtnl) July 8, 2024
But the people are hunnar persen Fraynch even though the local dialect sounds German. If you try speaking to them in German they'll ignore you.
Not sure how reliable the source is, but this account is saying that Turkish Süper Lig club Gaziantep FK have reached an agreement with Konrad de la Fuente and Marseille over a transfer. Gaziantep finished 11th last season. https://t.co/3jB5ErDZog— American Ultras Talk (@ameriultrastalk) July 10, 2024