re: Thibaut Courtois

As for Courtois, if that's true F him. Like someone said we don't need the money. Let him rot on the reserves bench for two years in the prime of his career then he can grovel over to Madrid.

I doubt it would actually ever happen that way but let's be real Roman needs $20 million dollars like I need $10. That ruthless bastard might just do it to prove a point.

quote:

---

The club wants to keep Shaw, Shaw says "frick you, not playing,"

---

Yeah, but how frequently does this truly happen? Players can attempt to force their way out (though, this is nothing more than a rumor at this point), but if forced to stay, it's in everyone's best interests for the player to actually play, especially the player's. Even Carlos Tevez's crazy arse backtracked at the suggestion that he actively refused to play.

It's something that Chelsea needs to know now, though not necessarily for it to leak (although it almost always does, whether the news is fabricated or not). They're not going have much additional leverage in the transfer market anyway:

"Yeah, we're just trying to sell a 21 y/o goalkeeper with two years left on his contract who has established himself as one of the best in the world because we feel that Petr Cech is immortal."

quote:

---

The club wants to keep Shaw, Shaw says "frick you, not playing,"

---

I imagine it will happen in Southampton's case.

I understand the damages Southampton will receive in return (probably £20m) will seem sufficient, but they aren't.

They are on the brink of losing a great core. Schneiderlin, Shaw and Lallana are a fantastic foundation. What happens when they lose them?

Best possible scenario: Southampton receive ~40-50m for the trio. The club invests some of it into the youth academy, and the rest into the first team. They hit their singings out of the park. They stay mid-table.

Worst possible scenario (or more likely scenario, if you will): Southampton receive ~40-50m for the trio. They invest some into the first team and the rest is kept by the owner (don't know much about their owner, but I know £45m would be 3x what he bought the club for). Their player investments are duds. They bounce around the first division and championship for a few years waiting on their next bunch of superstar academy players to come through.

Their squad is solid. They have the ability to really challenge for cups, keep their place in the top division, and build on their foundation to make an outside push for Europa.

BPG's point is fair imo. Contracts mean nothing in football. As he said, they mean "I will play for you until I don't feel like it anymore." Sure, the contracts ensure a club can receive payment in return for the player if they feel like it, but this really only benefits the bigger clubs who have the resources to turn that money into positive investments.

quote:

---

That's on the clubs IMO.

---

No it's not. These clubs have no power.

The reinvestment is definitely on the club.

quote:

---

That's on the clubs IMO. There should be enough foresight to realize that staying in the first division longer will be more lucrative than pocketing the initial return - especially with the PL's television contacts. If they aren't smart enough to invest in the things that will keep them first division relevant then they'll be replaced by a club that will.

---

But the clubs have no leverage to prioritize staying in the first division by keeping top players rather than selling. The players hold all of the cards.

The same way that Lewa goes to Bayern on a free at the end of the year and the Gotze saga before that. Players go where they want and the club just has to hope to get something of value even if not equivalent to the player's actual value.

In what way? Reinvestment into the first team is something they would likely do with at least a portion of the money. Still, that ensures nothing in comparison to what they have. This isn't Tottenham receiving 100m and having access to many of the tier-two prospects on the planet. This is Southampton. They will have to fish the depths of the Dutch, Spanish, German, and French leagues, hoping to find a Benteke or Michu, only to start the process over again.

You're the owner of Southampton. You bought the club for £15m. You have a player (two, really, in Southampton's case) that will net you more than you paid for the entire club.

quote:

---

The same way that Lewa goes to Bayern on a free at the end of the year

---

Not the same. Dortmund decided that Lewa was worth more to them by helping them qualify for Champions League than his €30 million price tag. They could have sold.

You said the owner can just sit on the money since it's 3 times what he paid for the club. My rebuttal is that it's a better financial decision to reinvest to try to stay in the premier league where you get money for just being there.


You're right, finding players is tough and it's not a 100% certainty at all but I think that's why you invest in things like your youth setup and infrastructure to ensure that you're not going to be relying on hitting the jackpot on foreign players and overpriced aging players.

It's not something that you will see the benefits of right away and you may have a hard year or two but that's the life of small clubs in European soccer now.


If the player is a bag full of count, you may be out of luck. Just got to know when the right time is I guess