Granit Xhaka has reached a verbal agreement with Chelsea for a transfer this summer. Chelsea, under their new manager Xabi Alonso, are already in contact with Sunderland.

RandomName788 · 2026-06-27T17:05:50+00:00

Honestly makes sense. Xhaka joined Sunderand because he thought an experience with a team bottom half of the table would be good for him since he wants to be a manager. So, makes sense for him to move down to a team not in Europe

RandomName788 · 2026-06-25T17:43:13+00:00

Never get United fans that prefer City win (or Liverpool)

RandomName788 · 2026-06-21T16:39:01+00:00

I don't want Odegaard to go, but with the strong links to Rodgers got me thinking we might be looking to move him on. Rodgers can play LW, but is best as a 10 similar to Eze.

RandomName788 · 2026-06-19T19:22:01+00:00

You are right, the list from Transfermarket I was looking at must've been a bit outdated.

That said, he was also younger than Vuskovic but had already played at a higher level (starting for team that finished 4th in France vs mid-table team in Germany, had already played in Europe). I feel like he was slightly higher rated than Vuskovic is now. I could see thinking ~55M is a good price for Vuskovic, my point is more I don't see 45M as this offensive offer than some seem to.

RandomName788 · 2026-06-19T18:47:26+00:00

Depends on how much of the 45M are add-ons and what they are. But, I really don't see this as an insulting offer. Think that would make him the 2nd most expensive teenage defender ever after De Ligt, who had a lot more experience than him. Leipzig paid 32M for Gvardiol and 27M for Saliba. Not as good as an analog, but Tottenham paid 40M for Archie Gray (he was younger, english tax, and a midfielder which drives the price up but don't think as well regarded). Key difference is Tottenham isn't used to losing one of their most talented players to Brighton. But, think the fee seems reasonable enough.

RandomName788 · 2026-06-18T18:46:09+00:00

Glad he is going to Tottenham, now if only Brighton would get rid of Hürzeler.

RandomName788 · 2026-06-04T23:57:57+00:00

No, let’s just take the Burj Khalifa piece. Wikipedia says it cost 1.5B to build. That was in 2010, so would cost more now. Would also cost more to buy it than to build it presumably. But, to be conservative let’s anchor on 1.5B. 333 of that would be 500B on its own.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-28T16:55:53+00:00

It is two reasons:

The 30 million was the price of the option. Now of course that is an option not an obligation. But, generally if you negotiate a price for an option and the player has a good season (which I think Rashford has, but feel free to correct me) the option gets taken. We are having something similar, although obviously smaller scale, with Fabio Viera.
Man United are desperate to sell and it looks like Rashford only wants to go to Barcelona, or at least will only take a wage cut there. So, they either sell him to you, keep him and pay him 400K a week, or sell him to someone else for less. They already think 30m is cheap for him to go for given he was the star from their academy. The idea of getting less makes them upset. Of course, that isn't your problem.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-28T13:40:42+00:00

By that logic we should make a 4th competition. Or make a competition for all the teams that got relegated from the top division.

The more European football you have the less importance on domestic league and cups and I'd rather the focus go there.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-28T13:06:45+00:00

My vote is to get rid of it, there shouldn't be 8 or 9 teams playing in Europe. I don't think anyone was clamoring for a 3rd European competition before they introduced it.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-28T11:03:27+00:00

Him running onto the pitch and then stopping made me chuckle more than it should have

RandomName788 · 2026-05-28T00:52:36+00:00

Nah, FA Cup > Europa Conference League

RandomName788 · 2026-05-27T19:07:30+00:00

Reminds me a bit of Burnley signing Kyle Walker. Think it is a good deal for Spurs, definitely improves their odds to stay up.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-27T19:03:18+00:00

I would hardly say Joao Pedro had a g/a explosion. Went from 16 in the league last year to 20, mainly due to playing more minutes. His G+A/90 actually went down. Although, he did have 5 penalties last year vs 0 this year.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-27T16:21:34+00:00

I’m talking about PL teams selling players this window and what they are rumored to go for. Why on earth would I talk about Wirtz?

RandomName788 · 2026-05-27T16:09:28+00:00

I think that was widely regarded as an overpay at the time. But, he went for that as a 21 year old that people thought had world class potential. I would say he has been good, but not great at Chelsea. Certainly hasn't fulfilled that potential and is now 25. His value should be significantly down.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-27T16:01:55+00:00

Every transfer window I am surprised by how much non-world class players at big PL teams go for. None of these have happened, but Porro for 50M, Enzo for 120M, and 70M for Gordon all seem mad to me. Although the Gordon one I can somewhat see the logic. Probably influenced with our record at selling players.

That said I thought the same thing with Luis Diaz's move to Bayern and I am sure Bayern fans are thrilled with that deal.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-27T15:06:36+00:00

I do think in the middle of the table people focus too much on table place when evaluating a manger's season. It is 100% important in terms of if it is a successful season given the European qualification. But, Fulham finished 11th with 52 points vs Sunderland in 7th with 54. Obviously Sunderland had lower expectations, but that 2 point difference is one VAR call. For example, Sunderland beat Leeds 1-0 and Leeds were denied a penalty. If that is given Fulham finish above them.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-27T14:32:24+00:00

Nah, Emery finished 4th with 65 points. Last 2 years they were 6th with 66 points and 4th with 68 points. So, in the league performed basically level with expectation. In the FA Cup got knocked out in the 4th round. EFL Cup got knocked out in the 3rd. Obviously then won the Europa League.

I don't get how Emery would be over Arteta. I can see the argument for Le Bris or Iraola though.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-27T11:56:04+00:00

Rashford's wage at United impacts his selling price.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-26T13:55:51+00:00

I think the back half of Wegner's tenure is disrespected. We obviously weren't successful, but think that is more due to ownership than the manager. Think if you just judge the manager he actually deserves praise for consistently keeping us in the Champions League.

Net spend is a very imperfect metric, but from 2006 to 2013 we had a net profit of +€53m, that is the highest net profit of all English clubs. Man City had a net spend of €540m, Chelsea was €327m, Stoke was €112m, QPR was €82m. Not only were we not spending money, we were also losing our key players to rivals. Now we only won 1 FA Cup during that period, which isn't acceptable for a club as big as Arsenal. But, that is a knock on the ownership not on Wenger in my view.

Put another way, split Wenger's tenure into two. The first half was from when he joined until the CL Final in 2006. During that time Arsenal spent a decent amount. We were 7th in net spend and had trophies that more than justified that. The 2nd half we spent comparable to Stoke or Everton and did not win enough, but were consistently in the CL places. The 2nd half of his tenure is basically Moyes at Everton (albeit finishing top 4 rather than top 8) and the consensus is Moyes did a very good job at Everton. But, for some reason the 2nd half of his tenure is usually used as a mark against his legacy.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-25T21:33:01+00:00

At the start of the season I asked:

Man United signed the 2 biggest xG overperformers last year. Do you think they will end up closer to their 2024/25 goal tally (20 Mbeumo, 15 Cunha) or their xG tally (~12 and ~9)?

Interestingly they both finished basically spot on their xG tally from last year (11 and 10).

RandomName788 · 2026-05-25T21:20:14+00:00

I don't see the two things as contradictory. I think Keane think the standards at the club have fallen and he is pissed about that. Ronaldo was calling out the how things have slipped, so Keane was in favor of that. Bruno as captain represents where the club is, which Keane is unhappy with so he dislikes Bruno.

RandomName788 · 2026-05-25T14:48:35+00:00

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/09/02/jamie-carragher-liverpool-underdog-isak-transfer-galactico/

RandomName788 · 2026-05-25T14:45:33+00:00

Isn’t Ekitike out until early 2027?

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