Reply With QuoteInteresting how little money was spent on strikers... Midfield and Defence seem to be the key area for most teams.
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Interesting how little money was spent on strikers... Midfield and Defence seem to be the key area for most teams.
In Spurs' case apparently it's the first time a PL team has not purchased any players in the summer transfer window.
Even more interesting is that the second most expensive striker signed by a Premier League team this season was then sold (initial loan) for more money to a Championship team.Originally Posted by Penarth Blues
Football, eh?
Apparently Afobe was not told that his transfer was purely about making money for Wolves. They bought him for £10M and then immediately sold him on for £12M in a pre-agreed deal without letting Afobe know. Nice...
Should be unlawful
Except that's not strictly true is it? Afobe is on loan at Stoke, and they have an option to sign him for £12m. Afobe could reject a move.
From the Stoke official website:
The 25-year-old striker has moved to the bet365 Stadium from Wolves on a six-month loan but with an obligation to purchase him for an undisclosed fee in January.
OK - so what is wrong with it, if that is the case? It's no different to Cardiff signing Steve McLean for nowt in June, and selling him for £500k in January.
Afobe could have rejected the move if he didn't like it. I suspect, though, he is getting paid the same and is a mercenary like a high percentage of footballers.
Tell that to Afobe:
“I want to put the record straight because people are thinking Wolves were under an obligation to sign me. They weren’t.
“The deal was simple. I was loaned from Bournemouth until the end of the season and Wolves had an option to sign me for £10m in the summer. If they didn’t want to, they could say, ‘No thanks’.
“I had done well, scored six goals in seven starts and Wolves went ahead with it. They made me believe I was part of their plans.
“I did the medical, signed the contract and thought, ‘Great, I’m happy’. Then, four days later, my agent told me, ‘The manager wants to bring in a few strikers and isn’t going to play you’.
“I asked, ‘What if I’m the best player in pre-season, every single training session, every single friendly I play?’ He replied, ‘You’ll still not be in his plans’. It was disrespectful. I’ve got a baby daughter and a heavily pregnant wife. The last thing we needed was to be messed about.
“It also caused embarrassment. Everywhere I went, football fans would ask about it and I’ve had to justify myself to not look stupid.”
Fair enough, I stand corrected.
I thought it was a bit of a dick move from Wolves, but actually reading how it affected Afobe makes me wonder if he should take action against them. That's no way to treat someone.
To be fair, it's usually the players that are being dicks (not that that excuses Wolves' actions here btw). Courtois, under contract and very well paid, went on strike this week, for example.
So, as well as Wolves facing action (can Afobe take it up with the PFA?), that needs to extend to players too otherwise contracts are not worth the paper they are written on. Bosman had a very good case in the 90s, and that changed football for the better (remember those tribunal set fees!?!) and on the face of what you have posted, Afobe can feel every bit aggrieved.
Agreed, which is why I thought I'd share what Afobe said about this situation in response to your "mercenary" comment.
Courtois and the like give footballers a bad name and there should be policies/procedures/even laws in place to stop them behaving in the manner that they do.
Basic contract and employment laws don't seem to affect footballers as it always ends up with a financial penalty that they can easily afford - but the clubs are left with a player who refuses to play and always end up forced to sell them.
I wonder if lengthy bans put in place for when they've signed for their new club would be a possible deterrent. Maybe Courtois wouldn't have gone on strike if he knew he couldn't play football for 12 months once he signed for Real... or maybe he would. Who knows what goes through the mind of a professional footballer.
In the old days, the manager could just freeze the player out - I would have liked to have seen Chelsea say "You know what, you still have three years to run on this contract. You didn't negotiate a fee release clause and until you start showing up for training, you're not getting paid". However, Courtois could retire today and live the good life for the rest of his life.
They are preparing to face an onslaught from our fabulous front three.
[QUOTE=Penarth Blues;4906319]Interesting how little money was spent on strikers... Midfield and Defence seem to be the key area for most teams.[/QUOTE
What’s up with Spurs,looks like they’re the same boat as Arsenal we’re when they spent money on their new stadium
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