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

[Brazilian Villain]

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.

I was raised as a Catholic and if I were offered identical deals by Roma and a Saudi club, I'd head to Italy.

[brontebilly]

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?

Suspect so...this guy could be a worldbeater but I'd be a lot more confident in Barnes or Johnson doing the business for us.

[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.

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" is 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 lives, 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 it's imperfect, for people doing the job it's normally judged on how much money you're earning.

Which raises another interesting point. There are probably no posters on here whose lives wouldn’t be vastly changed by doubling our income, so we would be fairly easily persuaded to allow a little moral ambiguity into our choice of job. However, someone already earning multiples of a million per year given the opportunity to double their salary can and should be more morally robust.

[AV84]

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?

It is interesting that despite several other Premiership teams being linked, we're apparently the only ones who've actually made a move. That said, I think it was Newcastle and MANCHESTER UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB who were also linked. And Newcastle have finincial issues, and MANCHESTER UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB have priorities in other positions, so maybe we really are the only ones interested this window.

[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" is 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 lives, 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 it's imperfect, for people doing the job it's normally judged on how much money you're earning.

Which raises another interesting point. There are probably no posters on here whose lives wouldn’t be vastly changed by doubling our income, so we would be fairly easily persuaded to allow a little moral ambiguity into our choice of job. However, someone already earning multiples of a million per year given the opportunity to double their salary can and should be more morally robust.

Sure. But while we're all Villa supporters, to most players we are still just another shirt to wear. Signing for a promising Premier League also-ran (at time of writing) isn't a sign of moral fortitude.

I imagine the choice of £200k per week at Real Madrid or £300k per week at Al-Nassr might cause some sleepless nights.

But £150k per week at Villa or £300k at Al-Nassr is probably less of a difficult choice. Because he's not a bloke on a Villa forum.

[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.

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" is 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 lives, 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 it's imperfect, for people doing the job it's normally judged on how much money you're earning.

But Dave i don’t think the choice between vast wealth and ambition compared to vaster wealth within an inferior league has really been an issue for elite players in their prime until the last couple of weeks. Most top players in the top leagues are financially set for life now after a few years of playing, even if an injury were to end their career early, this Saudi choice and its vast sums of money seemingly tempting young top players is a completely new phenomenon. We’re not talking players say moving to Watford over Sheffield Wednesday even though Sheffield are a more prestigious club, as Watford might pay more. We’re talking top international players being tempted away from top competitive leagues to play in a for now at least much poorer standard. This doesn’t happen all the time in top level football.

[Pete3206]

Any news on a decent goalkeeper? I watched the pravda training video and was a tad concerned to see Sweden's 6 yard box hugger still very much involved

[Bad English]

1. The Premiership is rugby, is it not?
2. The pointed but measured use of ALL CAPS show that you have learnt something,.so there is hope yet.

Edit: was replying to totally new, no really, poster AV84.

[dave.woodhall]

The thing about earning a fortune, though, is that much wants more. If you have a million pound a year lifestyle you'll want to keep it for the rest of your life and if you only have ten years or so to earn enough to do that you'll want to earn as much as you can in that time. 

[AV84]

Edit: was replying to totally new, no really, poster AV84.

What does that mean?

[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.

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" is 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 lives, 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 it's imperfect, for people doing the job it's normally judged on how much money you're earning.

Which raises another interesting point. There are probably no posters on here whose lives wouldn’t be vastly changed by doubling our income, so we would be fairly easily persuaded to allow a little moral ambiguity into our choice of job. However, someone already earning multiples of a million per year given the opportunity to double their salary can and should be more morally robust.

Sure. But while we're all Villa supporters, to most players we are still just another shirt to wear. Signing for a promising Premier League also-ran (at time of writing) isn't a sign of moral fortitude.

I imagine the choice of £200k per week at Real Madrid or £300k per week at Al-Nassr might cause some sleepless nights.

But £150k per week at Villa or £300k at Al-Nassr is probably less of a difficult choice. Because he's not a bloke on a Villa forum.

I don’t disagree, but my point is that once he signs the Saudi deal the hopes of top footballing achievements with Aston Villa or whichever club he then moves onto in Europe are probably ruined.

[Steve67]

So, another day and bugger all to report, other than Nakamba looks gone.

[mike]

The thing about earning a fortune, though, is that much wants more. If you have a million pound a year lifestyle you'll want to keep it for the rest of your life and if you only have ten years or so to earn enough to do that you'll want to earn as much as you can in that time. 

I suppose that having grown up on a council estate in Birmingham and not having had three meals a day every day,  I feel blessed to live a life that I view as unboundedly affluent and struggle to understand why anyone cares about earning an amount of money I literally cannot comprehend.

[AV84]

So, another day and bugger all to report, other than Nakamba looks gone.

We learned John McGinn's favourite film is The Shawshank Redemption, and Coutinho is partial to Coach Carter.

[Bent Neilsens Screamer]

I don’t agree that once Diaby signs for a Saudi club his European football career and chance of being successful would be finished. He could spend 3 seasons over there and still be coming into his prime.

This is in reference to the big quote but didn’t want to quote as it was taking up masses of space.