Continued:
- The Saudi Pro League is not expected to spend this summer like they did last year.
- They will not make mega deals for players that don’t move the league forward as a brand.
- This summer the league is going to focus on more younger talents that aren’t going to treat the league like a retirement home and superstars.
- Partey’s agents were approached by a Saudi offer last year but quickly responded with a “thanks but no thanks”.
- Arsenal were open to selling Pepe to the Saudi Pro League but the player wasn’t interested.
- To an extent, work was needed to smooth some edges with the Saudi League over the Aubameyang deal
- Al Nassr were very unhappy as they never got a response from Arsenal for their loan move offer.
- They felt that Arsenal never even came to the table at a time they were trying to get Aubameyang out of the club.
Why do other clubs get 40 million pound offers from Saudi for their fading players, while we get Al Nassr acting like they finished 11th in Serie A? Who goes to Saudi on loan??
Because the Saudi offer for Aubameyang came January 2022 and that was before the PIF took over a lot of the Saudi clubs and started investing/spending heavily
Even then, they still offered to cover his full wages which no one in Europe offered. We paid towards his wages while he was at Barcelona.
Yeah that certainly rings a bell. It's kinda odd that they felt some type of way about it given that it was before PIF took over. It did feel strange that everyone seemed to be selling to Saudi except us.
Not sure. Italian TV did a prank programme a few days ago pretending to be Saudi intermediaries and asking Seria A/Italian players about their intents. Only 10% or less said no, the rest (including Jorginho!) are open. I think for Partey last summer the interests were prob. not strong enough from the Saudi side, and he would only take something like 50% to 100% pay increase cos he’s already very well paid by us. The players that did go definely were offered much more than that. Gabriel clearly wanted a move when approached. That’s why he got benched early in the season—tho Mikel would never admit that.
Wasn't the Barcelona deal pretty much out of Arsenal's hands? In the documentary, I remember Edu and Co being surprised that Aubameyang had travelled to Barcelona. That then triggered Arsenal to make a deal with Barcelona - guessing they were just done with him by that point.
Point being the player perhaps wanted Barcelona over moving to Saudi Arabia?
He’s walking on a free, no clubs will pay for him after his extensive injury this season. We struggled to convince him to leave last summer, no chance he will now. He’ll get a nice signing on bonus at his new club as a free agent next summer.
Why do we need to build feelings with the Saudi league? It's a nothing league that only thinks it can entice the best players in the world, when in reality all it does is offer decent retirement packages for players in the twilight of their careers. At the time Auba would have been performing for us. There's nothing they can offer us in terms of buying players.
We need to build a relationship because it’s a new and growing potential market. The Saudi league isn’t going anywhere, and underneath all the big money signings it’s also been investing a lot in its grassroots. In time, it will start developing good players - and we don’t want to be behind all the other clubs in being able to sign them.
It’s basic business, you want good relationships with clubs from foreign leagues. It doesn’t matter what the quality is like at the moment, there’s nothing to gain from ignoring them.
Eh, the grassroots thing is a 50/50 imo, personally I'm not very sure about just how good or advanced Saudi footballing academies are atm but for the sake of comparison, I think a player from League 1 is more likely to join a mid-table Premier League club than some Saudi
To be honest, I'm not that concerned. Yes, we could have moved some players there but this was always going to happen. It was just like the Chinese league 5-6 back. Started out with ridiculous spending but gradually struggle to maintain that kind of spending. Mind you, I know they have way more money in the Saudi Pro League but paying over the odds for past their prime players is never a good long term strategy.
It's an extremely poor strategy that has not shown itself to be successful, despite multiple attempts now. The MLS has had slow, steady growth and it has proven that patience is required to build not only the fan base but the sport at the grassroot level as well.
Much like China, a lot of money will dumped into the Saudi league, and they will see some growth, but nothing compared to what is required to create a sustainable league.
The only think the Saudis can offer in this industry is money. If they are not willing to pay, there’s literally 0 reasons to care about relationships with them.
Or what? They won't let us have first dibs on the next big thing to come out of that famous hotbed of footballing talent, Saudi Arabia? They've already said they won't be paying silly money anymore and that was the only way they've ever mattered to a team in a real league.
We’re much better off keeping Partey for another season then recouping like 10-15m from a stingy club. He’s more valuable to us, seeing as he walked into our side after his injury and a little time on the bench.
The whole of Europe has tbh.
Africa, Aus are sold off to the highest bidders from China.
There’s predatory investment everywhere. It is what it is I guess.
Nothing is good, and you’re going to enjoy it - Welcome to 2024
UAE isn't the same as PIF mate, Emirates Airlines is based in Dubai. I don't like how the Saudis have made the Pro League their own personal playground, paying hand over fist for aging stars without any sort of financial restrictions. The Emirates paying a traditional shirt sponsorship for their airline is not even close to the same thing lol
PIF is the sovereign wealth investment arm of Saudi.
Emirates is a playtoy private company following the same principles as an investment arm of the UAE.
They only pretend to be private because of airline competition guidelines.
Don’t be obtuse for the sake of argument.
If you have an issue with one, fair. It’s your stance and you have a right to it, but don’t selectively choose to ignore the other because it’s beneficial.
I don't know what you think you're saying, my issue is with the Saudis and how they've hijacked the transfer market while ignoring the financial restrictions imposed on everyone else in world football, the UAE hasn't done that if you haven't noticed. I'm not selectively ignoring anything, Emirates hasn't done anything out of order with Arsenal lol
And how exactly does Sheikh Mansour's management of City incriminate our affiliation with the Emirates? They have stadium naming rights and a shirt sponsorship with Arsenal, the latter of which we share with Benfica, AC Milan, Lyon, Real Madrid, and others.
I don't understand why you're even arguing for such an absurd thing lol, are you so locked into this notion of not over-glamorizing the club that you actually think we benefit from the same backhanded financial dealings as City and the Saudi Pro League? Even though the affiliation we have with them is shared by some of the biggest, most reputable clubs in Europe? I don't get where you're going with this, it's not even close to the same thing lol
They’re both illegitimately using financial muscle to improve their global reputation.
What is so hard to understand?
Claiming one is morally better because other shitty business also employ them isn’t really a leg to stand on.
Would Emirates be the best airline in the world if it wasn’t built via a foundation of slave labour and literally funded by the government?
Saying Saudi is bad because they are ruining the sport whilst ignoring that we are funded by Emirates and Sobha and a lot many other unethical businesses is just selective hatred.
I mean, if you wish to do that, fair enough. You have a right to. But do expect to be called out for it.
How the hell is Real Madrid "another shitty business," for that matter how are WE a shitty business? I take pride in the fact that Arsenal seems to be a well-run club with its head screwed on right, that's why I'm not too interested in the prospect of pawning off Partey to the Saudis.
It's not selective or hatred, my issue (once AGAIN, I've said this like three times now but you aren't reading) is with the PIF and the way that they've taken advantage of the transfer market, because THAT'S how they're fucking with the game.
I'm not an activist, I don't care about arbitrarily trying to measure morality. I'm here to enjoy football, not labor under the delusion that my online opinion of various unethical organizations is going to make any fucking difference to anyone. Feel free to continue preaching to your audience of nobody, but I support this club to enjoy the game, not pointlessly squabble about the morality of organizations which have absolutely no bearing on my life.
This really doesn’t bother me one bit, especially if they’re not going to spend like before. Players don’t want to go there, it’s not a big deal.
Pepe you have to be joking lad... Could've pulled back some cash for him
Not gonna fault someone who doesn't want to support and live in Saudi Arabia
Continued: - The Saudi Pro League is not expected to spend this summer like they did last year. - They will not make mega deals for players that don’t move the league forward as a brand. - This summer the league is going to focus on more younger talents that aren’t going to treat the league like a retirement home and superstars. - Partey’s agents were approached by a Saudi offer last year but quickly responded with a “thanks but no thanks”. - Arsenal were open to selling Pepe to the Saudi Pro League but the player wasn’t interested. - To an extent, work was needed to smooth some edges with the Saudi League over the Aubameyang deal - Al Nassr were very unhappy as they never got a response from Arsenal for their loan move offer. - They felt that Arsenal never even came to the table at a time they were trying to get Aubameyang out of the club.
Why do other clubs get 40 million pound offers from Saudi for their fading players, while we get Al Nassr acting like they finished 11th in Serie A? Who goes to Saudi on loan??
Because the Saudi offer for Aubameyang came January 2022 and that was before the PIF took over a lot of the Saudi clubs and started investing/spending heavily Even then, they still offered to cover his full wages which no one in Europe offered. We paid towards his wages while he was at Barcelona.
Yeah that certainly rings a bell. It's kinda odd that they felt some type of way about it given that it was before PIF took over. It did feel strange that everyone seemed to be selling to Saudi except us.
It does sound like we’ve also been unlucky too with our players not wanting to go there
That's not unlucky. It says a lot about Saudi that players turn down the offers to play there.
Not sure. Italian TV did a prank programme a few days ago pretending to be Saudi intermediaries and asking Seria A/Italian players about their intents. Only 10% or less said no, the rest (including Jorginho!) are open. I think for Partey last summer the interests were prob. not strong enough from the Saudi side, and he would only take something like 50% to 100% pay increase cos he’s already very well paid by us. The players that did go definely were offered much more than that. Gabriel clearly wanted a move when approached. That’s why he got benched early in the season—tho Mikel would never admit that.
Wasn't the Barcelona deal pretty much out of Arsenal's hands? In the documentary, I remember Edu and Co being surprised that Aubameyang had travelled to Barcelona. That then triggered Arsenal to make a deal with Barcelona - guessing they were just done with him by that point. Point being the player perhaps wanted Barcelona over moving to Saudi Arabia?
Yes James Benge said quite clearly player wanted to stay in Europe, but it’s about the manner Arsenal treated Saudi I suppose.
If he doesn’t want to go to Saudi then he’s not leaving until next year unless some Italian club comes in for him.
He’s walking on a free, no clubs will pay for him after his extensive injury this season. We struggled to convince him to leave last summer, no chance he will now. He’ll get a nice signing on bonus at his new club as a free agent next summer.
So he’s not leaving until next year?
> The Saudi Pro League is not expected to spend this summer like they did last year. 😆 Lesson learned, I guess?
Pepe... mate....
Forgot about this guy holy moly. Memory holed all this stuff. Other dude bringing up Mustafi had me traumatized
Why do we need to build feelings with the Saudi league? It's a nothing league that only thinks it can entice the best players in the world, when in reality all it does is offer decent retirement packages for players in the twilight of their careers. At the time Auba would have been performing for us. There's nothing they can offer us in terms of buying players.
> At the time Auba would have been performing for us Their offer was made when he was frozen out of the team trying to get him a move
We need to build a relationship because it’s a new and growing potential market. The Saudi league isn’t going anywhere, and underneath all the big money signings it’s also been investing a lot in its grassroots. In time, it will start developing good players - and we don’t want to be behind all the other clubs in being able to sign them. It’s basic business, you want good relationships with clubs from foreign leagues. It doesn’t matter what the quality is like at the moment, there’s nothing to gain from ignoring them.
Eh, the grassroots thing is a 50/50 imo, personally I'm not very sure about just how good or advanced Saudi footballing academies are atm but for the sake of comparison, I think a player from League 1 is more likely to join a mid-table Premier League club than some Saudi
To be honest, I'm not that concerned. Yes, we could have moved some players there but this was always going to happen. It was just like the Chinese league 5-6 back. Started out with ridiculous spending but gradually struggle to maintain that kind of spending. Mind you, I know they have way more money in the Saudi Pro League but paying over the odds for past their prime players is never a good long term strategy.
It's an extremely poor strategy that has not shown itself to be successful, despite multiple attempts now. The MLS has had slow, steady growth and it has proven that patience is required to build not only the fan base but the sport at the grassroot level as well. Much like China, a lot of money will dumped into the Saudi league, and they will see some growth, but nothing compared to what is required to create a sustainable league.
Who gives a toss a out upsetting the Saudi league anyway, especially if they're not going to spaff stupid money on players clubs need rid of.
I cannot imagine Aubameyang and his family in Saudi Arabia.
I guess Al Nassr will just have to find other ways... to go fuck themselves. <3
The only think the Saudis can offer in this industry is money. If they are not willing to pay, there’s literally 0 reasons to care about relationships with them.
Or what? They won't let us have first dibs on the next big thing to come out of that famous hotbed of footballing talent, Saudi Arabia? They've already said they won't be paying silly money anymore and that was the only way they've ever mattered to a team in a real league.
We’re much better off keeping Partey for another season then recouping like 10-15m from a stingy club. He’s more valuable to us, seeing as he walked into our side after his injury and a little time on the bench.
Ah piss of oil merchants
Nobody should develop good relations with the Saudi league or any of its teams. The only thing Edu ought to do is tell them to go fuck themselves.
But happily take money from Emirates, Sobha, etc? Get off your high horse mate. If you’re not willing to dip your toes in, might as well go all in.
No, fuck them all too. The UK has sold itself to the worst people on earth.
The whole of Europe has tbh. Africa, Aus are sold off to the highest bidders from China. There’s predatory investment everywhere. It is what it is I guess. Nothing is good, and you’re going to enjoy it - Welcome to 2024
No, what goes on in the UK is very unique.
Err who gives a fuck?
Don't care honestly, I don't want to go anywhere near that oil money even if it gives us a leg up financially, the whole league rubs me the wrong way
Umm Emirates stadium... Fly Emirates...
UAE isn't the same as PIF mate, Emirates Airlines is based in Dubai. I don't like how the Saudis have made the Pro League their own personal playground, paying hand over fist for aging stars without any sort of financial restrictions. The Emirates paying a traditional shirt sponsorship for their airline is not even close to the same thing lol
PIF is the sovereign wealth investment arm of Saudi. Emirates is a playtoy private company following the same principles as an investment arm of the UAE. They only pretend to be private because of airline competition guidelines. Don’t be obtuse for the sake of argument. If you have an issue with one, fair. It’s your stance and you have a right to it, but don’t selectively choose to ignore the other because it’s beneficial.
I don't know what you think you're saying, my issue is with the Saudis and how they've hijacked the transfer market while ignoring the financial restrictions imposed on everyone else in world football, the UAE hasn't done that if you haven't noticed. I'm not selectively ignoring anything, Emirates hasn't done anything out of order with Arsenal lol
>the UAE hasn’t done that 115
And how exactly does Sheikh Mansour's management of City incriminate our affiliation with the Emirates? They have stadium naming rights and a shirt sponsorship with Arsenal, the latter of which we share with Benfica, AC Milan, Lyon, Real Madrid, and others. I don't understand why you're even arguing for such an absurd thing lol, are you so locked into this notion of not over-glamorizing the club that you actually think we benefit from the same backhanded financial dealings as City and the Saudi Pro League? Even though the affiliation we have with them is shared by some of the biggest, most reputable clubs in Europe? I don't get where you're going with this, it's not even close to the same thing lol
They’re both illegitimately using financial muscle to improve their global reputation. What is so hard to understand? Claiming one is morally better because other shitty business also employ them isn’t really a leg to stand on. Would Emirates be the best airline in the world if it wasn’t built via a foundation of slave labour and literally funded by the government? Saying Saudi is bad because they are ruining the sport whilst ignoring that we are funded by Emirates and Sobha and a lot many other unethical businesses is just selective hatred. I mean, if you wish to do that, fair enough. You have a right to. But do expect to be called out for it.
How the hell is Real Madrid "another shitty business," for that matter how are WE a shitty business? I take pride in the fact that Arsenal seems to be a well-run club with its head screwed on right, that's why I'm not too interested in the prospect of pawning off Partey to the Saudis. It's not selective or hatred, my issue (once AGAIN, I've said this like three times now but you aren't reading) is with the PIF and the way that they've taken advantage of the transfer market, because THAT'S how they're fucking with the game. I'm not an activist, I don't care about arbitrarily trying to measure morality. I'm here to enjoy football, not labor under the delusion that my online opinion of various unethical organizations is going to make any fucking difference to anyone. Feel free to continue preaching to your audience of nobody, but I support this club to enjoy the game, not pointlessly squabble about the morality of organizations which have absolutely no bearing on my life.