2023 Summer transfer window - hopes, needs, expectations and rumours.

[mike]

Is he a Muslim? If so then he may consider playing in a Muslim country as a good thing and may prefer their culture to ours.

It's not really about that though. It's an experiment really, the Saudi league. One that could all fall apart in a year or two. A player looking to pad his pension isn't taking any risks, but a player of Diaby's age could be stalling, or killing, his career.

I know the point of this Saudi thing, or the MLS, is to change things, but as it stands the best footballers in the world play in Europe, and all the money in the world isn't going to change that any time soon.

And of course Birmingham isn’t exactly Muslim unfriendly is it

Yes it is according to Muslims I have worked with.

[Beard82]

It’s very simple in my view

If Diaby comes to B6 it’s a massive statement of intent and the blokes obviously gona be a world beater

If he goes to Saudi good riddance, he was never good enough for us and we’re glad we dodged that bullet

100%

[Dave]

If Diaby really has signalled he's prepared to think about playing in Saudi, we should back out and move on.

Aye.

Any player who makes a move like that in his prime doesn't rate himself.

Is he a Muslim? If so then he may consider playing in a Muslim country as a good thing and may prefer their culture to ours. Having worked with Muslim communities, I think a devout Muslim would find the hedonistic lifestyle of Premier League players hard to reconcile with his faith. Much as I’m not a big fan of the Saudi interpretation of Islam I know many Muslims would find the alcohol and sexual excesses of European football to be as anathema as we consider their moral code regarding women and same sex relationships.

Without trying to knock your point, if he chooses the Saudi league over us, its because they’ve offered him loads more money. I’d say that has far more to do with it that religious affiliation.

Obviously. He's not playing for room and board in the Egyptian third division when he has every opportunity to do so. But (a) choosing the job that will pay you the most money is a perfectly sound reason for someone to choose an employer, and (b) that doesn't mean mike's point isn't perfectly sound. And there are millions of people who would probably feel more, not less comfortable working in an Islamic theocracy.

[villadelph]

I honestly don't believe anything about Diaby going to Saudi. The outlets reporting it are fifth-rate junk and Romano, who is rarely ever wrong, was pretty blunt. "They (Leverkusen) want way more than that (35M), but they're also aware of the desire of the player to make his move to the Premier League and join Unai Emery." Xabi Alonso has to know someone in our front office.

[OCD]

It’s very simple in my view

If Diaby comes to B6 it’s a massive statement of intent and the blokes obviously gona be a world beater

If he goes to Saudi good riddance, he was never good enough for us and we’re glad we dodged that bullet

It's not about his ability, it's about his mentality. If at 24, his head's been turned by crazy money in a fledgling league then we've dodged a bullet because his priorities are in the wrong place. He would be starting down the path of being a wasted talent.

[Dave]

But I have no idea whether he’s a Muslim let alone devout.

Raised as a Sunni Muslim, and a devout believer if the internet (and his Instagram) is to be believed.

[paul_e]

If Diaby does choose to go to them I'm not sure I'm that upset. He looks very good but he's very small and the one niggling concern I have is that he'd be another that was easily bullied in the premier league.

Doku as the alternative is also pretty small but much stockier and able to out-muscle a defender as much as burning them for pace or beating them with a trick.

Apparently, Doku has Jack Wilshere's hamstrings.

Ok, so that one would be a big risk as well then. I guess we'll see but I would like some more physicality up there (both height and strength ideally), in defence and DM we're ok (assuming Donk or Chambers are cover for Bouba) right now but in the attacking areas we're very small/weak, Watkins and JJ can hold their own but that's about it, Duran making the step up would help though because he's a tank.

I would say that Dendoncker is cover, but it sounds like he's available if someone wants to take him.

Iroegbunam is probably the next alternative before Chambers, who might also be available.

I just picked a couple of big units who've played there for us and are currently in the squad. I wouldn't be surprised if both do go but if so I'd want someone to replace them with similar height, strength and aerial ability because otherwise we're very reliant on Kamara against teams with a couple of big units in there.

[RamboandBruno]

If Diaby really has signalled he's prepared to think about playing in Saudi, we should back out and move on.

Aye.

Any player who makes a move like that in his prime doesn't rate himself.

Is he a Muslim? If so then he may consider playing in a Muslim country as a good thing and may prefer their culture to ours. Having worked with Muslim communities, I think a devout Muslim would find the hedonistic lifestyle of Premier League players hard to reconcile with his faith. Much as I’m not a big fan of the Saudi interpretation of Islam I know many Muslims would find the alcohol and sexual excesses of European football to be as anathema as we consider their moral code regarding women and same sex relationships.

Without trying to knock your point, if he chooses the Saudi league over us, its because they’ve offered him loads more money. I’d say that has far more to do with it that religious affiliation.

Obviously. He's not playing for room and board in the Egyptian third division when he has every opportunity to do so. But (a) choosing the job that will pay you the most money is a perfectly sound reason for someone to choose an employer, and (b) that doesn't mean mike's point isn't perfectly sound. And there are millions of people who would probably feel more, not less comfortable working in an Islamic theocracy.

Mike makes an interesting point that may or may not have some validity to it, but i would say again that the defining factor would be money.
I didn’t actually say there was anything wrong with that either in my post. Although as it happens unlike a lot of walks of life we are already talking about incredibly wealthy people who are already set for life, so at Diaby’s age that does beg the question about ambition to be an elite in his sport if he does go to a still vastly inferior league.

[OCD]

It's not like we would be paying him a pittance.

[Beard82]

If he picks playing in Saudi over playing for our great cliub at one of the most exciting times in our history, he can quite frankly, get to fuck

[AV84]

Mike makes an interesting point that may or may not have some validity to it, but i would say again that the defining factor would be money.
I didn’t actually say there was anything wrong with that either in my post. Although as it happens unlike a lot of walks of life we are already talking about incredibly wealthy people who are already set for life, so at Diaby’s age that does beg the question about ambition to be an elite in his sport if he does go to a still vastly inferior league.

This is exactly the point I was trying to make. There are multiple understandable reasons someone might chose to go to Saudi over the Prem at this point in his life/career, but the main reason to chose the Prem (or another European team if anyone was interested) is ambition. So if it's a case that its just us and this Saudi team in the running, and the player is genuinely considering both options, if ambition was his only motivation then he should be choosing us. And if ambition isn't his overriding motivation, then is there any point in chasing after him.

[j66acd]

Diaby has a Smith-Rowe and Ward-Prowse feel about it, loads of speculation and linked with big names (in hindsight, I’m glad we didn’t sign either). But is this one being hyped up more to raise our expectations?

[mike]

If Diaby really has signalled he's prepared to think about playing in Saudi, we should back out and move on.

Aye.

Any player who makes a move like that in his prime doesn't rate himself.

Is he a Muslim? If so then he may consider playing in a Muslim country as a good thing and may prefer their culture to ours. Having worked with Muslim communities, I think a devout Muslim would find the hedonistic lifestyle of Premier League players hard to reconcile with his faith. Much as I’m not a big fan of the Saudi interpretation of Islam I know many Muslims would find the alcohol and sexual excesses of European football to be as anathema as we consider their moral code regarding women and same sex relationships.

Without trying to knock your point, if he chooses the Saudi league over us, its because they’ve offered him loads more money. I’d say that has far more to do with it that religious affiliation.

Obviously. He's not playing for room and board in the Egyptian third division when he has every opportunity to do so. But (a) choosing the job that will pay you the most money is a perfectly sound reason for someone to choose an employer, and (b) that doesn't mean mike's point isn't perfectly sound. And there are millions of people who would probably feel more, not less comfortable working in an Islamic theocracy.

Mike makes an interesting point that may or may not have some validity to it, but i would say again that the defining factor would be money.
I didn’t actually say there was anything wrong with that either in my post. Although as it happens unlike a lot of walks of life we are already talking about incredibly wealthy people who are already set for life, so at Diaby’s age that does beg the question about ambition to be an elite in his sport if he does go to a still vastly inferior league.

If it’s just money, then I think it’s wrong to throw away the chance to achieve at the highest level given that you will still earn millions. But to reiterate, I have no idea whether religion is a factor. I just think it’s a dynamic that may be hard for Christian/atheist British heritage to understand. What would be very interesting to see would be what he, or any other hugely talented Muslim player, chose if offered an identical deal by a European and Saudi club.

[Astnor]

I honestly don't believe anything about Diaby going to Saudi. The outlets reporting it are fifth-rate junk and Romano, who is rarely ever wrong, was pretty blunt. "They (Leverkusen) want way more than that (35M), but they're also aware of the desire of the player to make his move to the Premier League and join Unai Emery." Xabi Alonso has to know someone in our front office.

Yes, the Saudi factor in the case is probably found up by not rated sources as both Leverkusen and/or us use time as strategic means in discussing the price.

[Dave]

If Diaby really has signalled he's prepared to think about playing in Saudi, we should back out and move on.

Aye.

Any player who makes a move like that in his prime doesn't rate himself.

Is he a Muslim? If so then he may consider playing in a Muslim country as a good thing and may prefer their culture to ours. Having worked with Muslim communities, I think a devout Muslim would find the hedonistic lifestyle of Premier League players hard to reconcile with his faith. Much as I’m not a big fan of the Saudi interpretation of Islam I know many Muslims would find the alcohol and sexual excesses of European football to be as anathema as we consider their moral code regarding women and same sex relationships.

Without trying to knock your point, if he chooses the Saudi league over us, its because they’ve offered him loads more money. I’d say that has far more to do with it that religious affiliation.

Obviously. He's not playing for room and board in the Egyptian third division when he has every opportunity to do so. But (a) choosing the job that will pay you the most money is a perfectly sound reason for someone to choose an employer, and (b) that doesn't mean mike's point isn't perfectly sound. And there are millions of people who would probably feel more, not less comfortable working in an Islamic theocracy.

Mike makes an interesting point that may or may not have some validity to it, but i would say again that the defining factor would be money.
I didn’t actually say there was anything wrong with that either in my post. Although as it happens unlike a lot of walks of life we are already talking about incredibly wealthy people who are already set for life, so at Diaby’s age that does beg the question about ambition to be an elite in his sport if he does go to a still vastly inferior league.

I think you overestimate how much "ambition to be an elite" is a motivation over "how much money can I earn for me and my family" for nearly every footballer on the planet.

These are people who have (on the whole) sacrificed their entire childhood and adolescence as well as nearly two decades of their families' evenings, weekends and livelihoods, and for whom success or complete ruination could turn on a dodgy hamstring or crisis of confidence at the wrong time.

Yes, we'd be paying him a lot of money. But like most people, in most professions, the majority are going to choose lower status and more money over higher status and less money. They're just people doing a job.

And while society would be better if it weren't, for people doing the job success is normally judged on how much money you're earning.