16 Nov 2022 08:18:42
Seems a lot of the 'news' outlets are suggesting we are looking to replace Ronaldo with Mbappe. Can there be truth in the reports we are going to jump from one circus straight into another circus?! Whilst nothing would surprise me anymore .

{Ed002's Note - Kylian Mbappe (S) Wants to move to Real Madrid but for them the financial outlay could be too much. PSG will not sell unless they can recoup something like €200M-€250M which will remove just about all clubs from any deal. Those who could potentially afford it are held back in Spain by the salary he would request and in England by the cost of the total outlay, although the Liverpool supporters remain absolutely convinced he will be joining them. Option for Real Madrid still if they can make space in the wage costs at the club but could not fund the transfer fee without significant sales. Similar is true for Barcelona who are continuing to regroup and will also continue to pick up players as Free Agents. Manchester City could potentially offer a wildcard option. Chelsea and Manchester United would likely both see the outlay as too high with wake demands of more than £750k per week before bonuses.}

1.) 16 Nov 2022
16 Nov 2022 08:41:43
Thanks Ed002. Please God we avoid this.

2.) 16 Nov 2022
16 Nov 2022 10:48:09
More chance of getting Pele.

3.) 16 Nov 2022
16 Nov 2022 10:55:40
Thanks but no thanks -in the very unlikely event he comes to us no doubt the rumours of him wanting out after 3 games will start- avoid at all costs.

4.) 16 Nov 2022
16 Nov 2022 14:14:39
I would rather have Victor Osimhen.

5.) 16 Nov 2022
16 Nov 2022 14:38:34
there needs to be a cap on wages, its absolute ridiculous if he's asking for 750k a week before bonuses.

6.) 16 Nov 2022
16 Nov 2022 15:38:28
Bolger, rather than a cap on an individuals wages there should be a cap on the playing staffs wages. Cap it at something like 50% annual turnover. That way you stop clubs being run unsustainably which risks them going bust.

7.) 16 Nov 2022
16 Nov 2022 17:41:14
All for a salary cap but it needs to be across all European leagues or we lose the top players. And they all go to the Qatar Prem!

8.) 16 Nov 2022
16 Nov 2022 17:42:23
Shappy isn’t that a part of the remit of FFP?

9.) 16 Nov 2022
16 Nov 2022 18:05:20
Why the "greedy" pro athletes narrative took root as opposed to the "greedy" actor or musician one is fascinating. Probably due to the prevalence of sports media and its need for continuous content and the average fan played some sport and feels capable of criticizing performance. Regardless, worth asking yourself why you support more money going to the owners rather than the performers of the entertainment you enjoy. The cost of viewing the entertainment isn't going down anytime soon, maybe let the people responsible for doing the entertaining earn more. Or just continue to enrich the uber-wealthy. What could go wrong? Not like they might try and squeeze every ounce of profit out of you, with say an uber-league or something.

10.) 17 Nov 2022
17 Nov 2022 10:45:36
Salary cap would'nt work, you'd probably find Mbappe would have a second job with Abu Dhabi airlines as cabin crew on £25 million per year.

11.) 17 Nov 2022
17 Nov 2022 11:24:37
Pepe, It's not about curbing "greed", but about maintaining sustainability.

Barcelona are 1.3bn euros in debt, and a big factor in that is them handing out huge contracts to players like Messi that just wasn't sustainable. Barcelona are a fan owned club which highlights the dangers of placing the long term health of a club in the hands of people who make emotional short term decisions.

So was that Messi's greed for a higher wage or Barcelona's greed to keep the best player in the world at their club?

The other issue with spiralling wages is how it filters down to younger and younger players.

You have 17 year olds in academies on over £1000 per week. Charlie McNeil for example is the highest paid player in United's academy and is on £3400 per week. That's £176,800 per year as a 19 year old.

That mean's before he was 18 and officially old enough to leave full education that he is on over six times the average annual salary of people in the UK.

Biologically your brain is still developing right up until around the age of 21. Socially as a person you are continuously developing (or at least should be) .

People talk about too much too young, imagine earning more a year at the age of 17 than both you parents combined have ever earned in a year.

Is it any wonder so many of these lads go off the rails and never make it.

Garnacho is the next one in line for a huge wage rise. Currently he is on £1500 per week, but after a couple of goals and assists in a handful of first team games talk of a new deal is afoot. What are his wages set to jump to? 30k, 40k, 50k per week?

He turned 18 on the pre-season tour. But how can you not give him a 50k per week deal when he's keeping the 350k per week Sancho out of the team. A player who is only 3 years his senior.

Hopefully he stay grounded and focused, but how many of us can seriously say that those sums of money if given to us at the age of 18 wouldn't have negatively impacted us?

Even the ones who have made it into the first team and who do well, they are often rewarded with huge new deals to ward off other clubs, or large deals to sign with another club.

Look at Jadon sancho for an example. Every bit as talented as Phil Foden, yet he isn't part of the England squad.

The only players in the EPL paid more than Sancho (350k) are: Ronaldo (500k), KDB (400k), Haaland (375k) and DDG (375k) .

There is no way a 22 year old who is the 5th highest paid player in the richest league in the world shouldn't be making an expanded 26 man squad for a world cup.

Yet here we are. Has Sancho had too much too soon? Is he working as hard as he can to prove himself and improve or does he think he's made it and is coasting?

At the highest level of the game the margins are minimal. You drop your effort and fight by even 10% and you drop off the radar.

Hard work beats talent when talent forgets to work hard.

You make the argument about the wages paid to top actors and musicians. Yet many of them have had to suffer hardship to get to where they are. Homelessness and sofa surfing is not uncommon for Hollywood actors in their late teens and early twenties before they made it. Character building stuff that is needed to ground you to be able to deal with the fame and fortune when it comes along, if it comes along.

12.) 17 Nov 2022
17 Nov 2022 19:44:21
A 1 legged donkey with a yeast C.V. could keep Sancho out of the team 80 million for him was unreal maybe he is putting in the work he's just not that good yet again an expensive disaster for UTD.

Lucky you've got owners like the much slated Glaziers the problem with UTD is they give the manager way to much power especially in transfers which when the much hyped but Mourinho aside complete failure of a manager is sacked your left with half a billion in deadwood nobody else will take even on a free then there's the nxt half billion rebuild rinse repeat.

13.) 17 Nov 2022
17 Nov 2022 20:39:51
No one forces clubs to pay players those amounts though Shappy.

Barca are in the situation they are due to shocking management at board level. United are stuck with average players on huge wages due to incompetence.

Its up to clubs to manage themselves better, no need for regulation or sacrifice from the players, they are some of the most highly skilled people at their profession in the world and should be rumunerated as such.

14.) 19 Nov 2022
19 Nov 2022 18:00:33
Pepe, I think there's snobbery in the media, too. They probably hate the fact that working class lads are earning that sort of money. Nothing said about actors earning 10 million a movie. If there's money swishing around, I'd rather it went to the talent.