Man Utd among those playing ‘bit of poker’ in a strangely flat transfer window

FFP, PSR and all that other transfer stuff has made this a flat summer so far, with Man Utd among those playing poker. But what’s the point anyway? Man City will walk it.

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Man Utd among those playing transfer poker

Is this the weirdest transfer window ever? Thanks to the FFP and related regulations, no one can spend beyond a little without selling first. So everyone is waiting for someone to go first!

Bayern have to sell a defender but are holding out for their price, so United will hold fire until they meet in the middle. Barca want to sell and maybe buy but one before the other.

United do have some theoretical amortization cash but also want to shift some more players before adding. PSG the same, but again want to get a price and we’ll wait till they agree. And similarly may want to buy someone’s forward but are playing the market a bit (likely the only reason Sancho has been reintegrated, all a bit of poker).

Basically it’s like selling your house in a chain, and we all know how famously lovely that is.

What a mess. At least it is a nice change in approach even though it makes me antsy (I’m not good at haggling). But for all the deals discussed, it seems remarkably flat. I’m not sure I like it.

At least getting two defenders back is like two new signings, plus Mount, and a hungry and rested Rashford with a point to prove.

Badwolf (5th place here we go!!!)

MORE ON TRANSFERS FROM F365:

👉 Five-year Premier League net spend table has Arsenal in second

👉 Every Premier League transfer from the summer of 2024

👉 The 20 biggest transfers from the summer of 2024

Branthwaite deal never going to happen valuations miles apart.

— United Talk (@CraigMUFC1) July 29, 2024

Not excited about the Premier League cake walk

I see that people are starting to chip in with their predictions for the coming season, but beyond City carrying on with their turning the Premier League into a French Farmer’s league, everything looks wide open. You’d think that Arsenal will be their closest challengers but another one of their slow starts and Arteta will find himself under pressure, but they are certainly the best of the chasing pack going into the new season.

As for the rest – Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea, Villa, Newcastle, United etc – there are cogent arguments for all of them to have both good and bad seasons. I think it’s wide open, and most predictions will be ones affected by tribal loyalties and pretty devoid of value (see Chelsea fan in Monday’s mailbox suggesting that they will be a surprise package this season for proof).

So, it’s a one-horse race in all likelihood, and I find myself going into the new season with a big dose of meh.

Maybe it’s me. Euro 24 bored the tits off me, and the notion of watching another cake walk by a team that might be cheats (and will get away with it whether they are or not) doesn’t feel worth my time or energy. Maybe I’ll get pulled back in but football just isn’t doing it for me any more. It’s a combination of the arbitrary deeply flawed FFP regulations, the nonsense that is VAR, the people that run the game, the obscene money, the brat footballers, the idiot pundits, the appalling trollery on internet forums.

I should be better than this, and probably, you should be too (excluding usual suspects, obviously).

Mat (just me?)

The Welsh case against Team GB

As a Welsh football fan I have to take issue with John Nic’s latest article assuming that a GB Olympic team is win-win for all.

2012 was less of a threat (but still a risk) to the autonomy of the Welsh FA because, as hosts, GB went straight in. If this was a permanent arrangement then the team would need to qualify and that’s where it gets tricky.

Does England generally qualifying for major tournaments count for the others so this superficial team can be formed? Would only England qualifying result in only English players getting picked? You can see where either option would lead to problems.

With the former, other FAs would take issue with the players form countries not qualifying getting a backdoor route in and would eventually want GB to be arrangement for all tournaments… and there goes our autonomy. The latter option of England only players means that support from the other nations would not be forthcoming and the rivalries between the nations laid bare and getting ugly at what is usually quite a positive sporting event.

Then you have the make-up of the teams. The Olympic tournament is mainly for under 23 players. In the past, players form larger nations may only just have been on the cusp of reaching the national team at the age of 22 or 23, so this might seem like a nice step up. For the nations in GB that are not England, players break into the national team much younger. That’s why players like Ampadu, Neco Williams and Harry Wilson will amass a high number of caps in a long career with the national team.

These players don’t need any more exposure to international football – they have enough of that. There’s always players in the Welsh squad who could do with a good pre-season or settling at a club and finding their level, in the Premier League or the Championship, and getting minutes there. Missing pre-season for the Olympics will not help their careers.

Then you look at other sports. Rugby 7s is now part of the Olympics and the autonomous nations join as team GB. However the Olympics is part of the HSBC Rugby 7s tournament, where each tournament contributes to the overall table. As a result, every 4 years the Welsh 7s team does not compete and players have to find something else to do for a bit, other than the small number good enough for team GB. Development and experience for these players just stops.

Is this what would benefit Welsh, Scottish or Nothern Irish football? Team GB was a sideshow in 2012, was argued to be harmless and was an opportunity for Welsh players who had never achieved qualification to taste a ‘senior’ tournament. But the argument resurfacing every 4 years is why these points need to be raised each and every time not just to protect the senior teams but the pathways to them.

Gareth

To be honest preventing a repeat of a situation where Stuart Pearce and Ryan Giggs can coach is one of few things the FAs and IOC have got right in the last 12 years

— Ed Quoththeraven (@EdQuoththeraven) July 29, 2024

How could you?

I can no longer trust the integrity of this website after putting the new Chelsea kit in first place of new kits, the true table of who Won The Summer.

How much did they pay you for that article?

Cowards.

Will (Lots of awful collars this year, why?!)