[Fillipo Simone]

Who the hell is Conca?

[Jack Bauer]

Who the hell is Conca?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dar%C3%ADo_Conca

Some people in China are crazy to pay such sums to someone like that.

This post has been edited by Jack Bauer: Sep 5 2012, 04:59 PM

[acid911]

Yeah, I was about to post the same: who and what is this big bad Conca?! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) Thankfully Bauer chipped in!

[Danny]

If we signed Cristiano Ronaldo in January I think I'd actually pass out.

That would be the biggest signing in our history.

Onto more realistic notions though and Falcao, the world's best striker, wants to join Real. It was thought Chelsea had agreed a deal to sign him in January, and word is he has affection for them, but nothing has been set in stone and as soon as rumours of Madrid's interest surfaced, he abandoned Chelsea quick and started w*nking at the idea of joining the Bernabau.

The clause in his contract is reportedly 55M Euros, which is not that massive a profit for AM given they shelled out only 20M less for him in the first place - but in massive debt they may have no option.

[kurtsimonw]

The worrying thing is that Juve have been linked with Higuain an awful lot the past 12 months. If Madrid were to sign Falcao, that opens the door for Higuain to go to Juventus and the last thing we want is for them to have a genuine World class finisher.

[Zed.D]

It was thought Chelsea had agreed a deal to sign him in January, and word is he has affection for them, but nothing has been set in stone and as soon as rumours of Madrid's interest surfaced, he abandoned Chelsea quick and started w*nking at the idea of joining the Bernabau.

And where do these come from?

[Danny]

And where do these come from?

Can't remember. But the player tweeted denying them, sort of. Just said his dream was to win things with AM. Thought he already had twice.

[X-Offender]

So, Real lost again tonight. Barça already gone +8 points.

[kurtsimonw]

Ronaldo for £160m.

Obviously won't happen since UEFA will step in as no team can afford that due to FFP, right Jack? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Jack Sparrow]

They could. If a bank advanced them a 160 million loan for 10 years, meaning the club only pays around 20 million a year as interest rates.

Why're you deliberately being so thick about FFP? It's not the bolt on the door situation you think it is. A lot of thought went into it, and it is because the big teams won't be too threatened that they sanctioned it in the first place.

[kurtsimonw]

They could. If a bank advanced them a 160 million loan for 10 years, meaning the club only pays around 20 million a year as interest rates.

Me being thick about it? You do realise what you've just put is how the majority of trasnfers (especially big ones) are financed? That's where a large part of club debt comes from.

I do agree with your last part though - it's all about UEFA protecting their money clubs.

[Jack Sparrow]

Me being thick about it? You do realise what you've just put is how the majority of trasnfers (especially big ones) are financed? That's where a large part of club debt comes from.

I do agree with your last part though - it's all about UEFA protecting their money clubs.

Not quite. You can call Madrid a big money club but it is very well managed and it's one of the reasons that they have so much money. Consider Newcastle a few years back. We were actually paying for transfers who had long since flopped, sold at a loss and we still didn't have the money needed to cover the original transfer fee. Then to boot, we got in players at pretty massive wages to make a run for whatever position it was. It's one thing when you take a loan to build up your team's strength, another altogether when you're taking loans just to have enough money to pay your wages.

That sort of thing is just crazy.

As for your oft-quoted argument about how and why FFP is any good. Consider my pet club Newcastle again. We were in deep debt, but considering where we ended up last season, well we didn't do it the way (and I got the feeling you were declaring it to be the only way) by buying tons of players and spending loads of cash. The honest truth is, there are excellent players out there at very good bargains, and if your club can't be arsed to get a proper scouting system in place to make the killer deals (think Udinese or Atletico) then you shouldn't complain that you're being muscled out of deals for what are obvious talents.

It's not like good players don't exist. Can the top 20 European clubs truly purchase any and all outstanding talent that is ever produced in the world. Ridiculous!

With FFP in place, the club will work it's way up the ladder the good old fashioned way. Their scouting, their coaching, their youth system, their wins etc. will get them more money and talent. Their resulting success will besides getting increased revenues and sponsorship also attract more talent. They might soon progress to challenging and dethroning a top club and becoming a genuine challenger. At which point, they become an attractive investment option, and someone comes in and plonks down enough money. Perhaps to get their own bigger stadium?

The good news is that with FFP, the big clubs can't just swoop down and buy everything that looks talented on the market. How much of big money purchasing did Madrid or Barca do this season. Or Man Utd or even City? Compared to earlier? Nothing. One, is of course there simply is no further room in their squads for talent. But the finances is another equally important factor. PSG are an anomaly. I think they have a workaround that will suit them just fine. But it's just that no one knows what it is at the moment.

You only have to look at Newcastle. We have held on to our main stars from last season, and even made a few solid additions. I'm not saying this means we will not go down the rankings again, but hey that would be our fault.

FFP is not the be-all and end-all solution. That could only be a wage cap. But to set a wage-cap gives a kind of parity that would hit marketing globally. I do not think it makes sense for football, they way it does for NBA or NFL which has a much more restrictive audience but still a huge draw from TV revenues.

As in..NBA markets the sport, FIFA still markets the teams.

[kurtsimonw]

As for your oft-quoted argument about how and why FFP is any good. Consider my pet club Newcastle again. We were in deep debt, but considering where we ended up last season, well we didn't do it the way (and I got the feeling you were declaring it to be the only way) by buying tons of players and spending loads of cash. The honest truth is, there are excellent players out there at very good bargains, and if your club can't be arsed to get a proper scouting system in place to make the killer deals (think Udinese or Atletico) then you shouldn't complain that you're being muscled out of deals for what are obvious talents.

But they can not sustain it.

Name the top Newcastle/Udinese/Atletico players of the last 5 years. Where are they now? A few years and they're gone. FFP actually forces these clubs to sell the good players they get in a way of balancing the books, since clubs outside the CL will mostly struggle to even break even.

[kurtsimonw]

Atletico 4-0 up with 7 minutes to go.

2 mins left and it's 4-3. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[acid911]

And 4-3 it remains. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) What a (weird) game!