Gabri Veiga to Saudi

GibbosEmpire

GibbosEmpire

Well-known member
He was about to sign for Napoli when a Saudi team came in for him at the last minute and paid the €32 mill release clause, one of the most exciting talents to come out of La Liga, only 21 years old he could of picked any club. I know money is a massive factor, but purely for a player wanting to have a long career and be the best they can be, in the best leagues in the world, why on earth would he go to Saudi at such a young age?
 
I think you answered your own question mate — his agent probably said something like, sign the contract and you can be out of here in a few years lol 😆. I think Saudi is not a young players domain especially when they’re looking to get into the international squad.
 
Footballers are 'hired hands' nowt more, nowt less

the players who move a lot and play little have the most money and the longest careers.

this lad from Italy will be getting £1M a week tax free - in 4 seasons time, he can chug his way around the premiership, eredivision and the bundesliga and pick up a medal or two - job done.
 
I'm vegan, that's the reason I live in Brighton, that especially the industry I work in is a massive factor. But me working in hospitality can't really be compared to a football player who wants to progress in his career, he basically won't be chosen for the national team, he won't be compared to Iniesta, Xavi etc if he doesn't challenge himself against the best.
 
GibbosEmpire said:
I'm vegan, that's the reason I live in Brighton, that especially the industry I work in is a massive factor. But me working in hospitality can't really be compared to a football player who wants to progress in his career, he basically won't be chosen for the national team, he won't be compared to Iniesta, Xavi etc if he doesn't challenge himself against the best.
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3 years and £150m in the Bank and a very happy partner and he will still be only 24 when he’s done. That for me is a decent career move. It’s all about opinions And what value you put on your life. Maximising your earning capacity over playing early international football is obviously his thought.
 
There are footballers out there who don't particularly like playing football so this kind of move makes sense for them.

Maybe it is purely a job for this lad and he and his agent think that perhaps the Saudi option won't be there in a few years time so they are cashing in now.

For anyone that has career aspirations as a footballer then obviously it's a stupid move but if it's all about the money then it makes sense.
 
The problem is people saying he does a few years in Saudi and then hop around the premier league, are ignoring the fact that no club would be willing to meet his wages. Do you really think a person who left for money is going to then play for less. No chance
 
Teesside87 said:
The problem is people saying he does a few years in Saudi and then hop around the premier league, are ignoring the fact that no club would be willing to meet his wages. Do you really think a person who left for money is going to then play for less. No chance
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With £150m in the bank I think his monetary ambitions might be considerably less. He won’t be spending much of it in Saudi.
 
GibbosEmpire said:
Benzema is leaving too, apparently Nuno Espirito Santo never wanted him in the first place.
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Think it is Nuno wanting out. He is an idiot if he thinks he's bigger than Benzema. They spent all that money to get Benzema there to attract others. Nobody cares about Nuno. More likely he knows that he can't just quit so he wants them to send him away with a bag of cash.
 
There’s a convenient smokescreen here IMO. Saudi Arabian clubs are being blamed for ‘distorting’ the transfer market but they’re only really buying the real top-end players, the majority of whom have already played their peak years. There will be a few, like Veiga, who haven’t yet peaked but by and large it’s older, more experienced players.

The bigger issue, for me, is that Nottingham Forest - 16th in the Premier League last season - can go to Sevilla - perpetual UEFA Cup winners and seasoned Champions League qualifiers- and sign Gonzalo Montiel, their first-choice right back, an Argentinian international, World Cup-winning footballer who’s 26 and very much in his prime years.

In January, Bournemouth signed a player AC Milan had been negotiating to sign for several weeks. Milan had to pull out because they couldn’t compete with Bournemouth. Do you think why player would choose Bournemouth over AC Milan for ‘sporting reasons’?

The Saudi Arabians may be chucking money about but the real issues are caused by the Premier League being so much wealthier than the rest of Europe.
 
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Mbappe didn’t go, which shows that some people are willing to take the financial hit in the name of sporting glory, by playing for a Qatari owned side in Europe. 🤣

Fair play to Harry Kane, and Chuba! I bet both could have gone to Saudi if they’d really wanted.
 
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Is football a ‘career’ any more?

If you play for say Man City you may look back on a display cabinet full of medals but it won’t be like the old days where key players in particular teams were making the difference to trophies or not. It’s all about the depth of squad now. The rich clubs are just winning machines and if you don’t play for one of them you have no chance.

So it’s really just down to lifetime earnings as part of the circus isn’t it?
 
viv_andersons_nana said:
There’s a convenient smokescreen here IMO. Saudi Arabian clubs are being blamed for ‘distorting’ the transfer market but they’re only really buying the real top-end players, the majority of whom have already played their peak years. There will be a few, like Veiga, who haven’t yet peaked but by and large it’s older, more experienced players.

The bigger issue, for me, is that Nottingham Forest - 16th in the Premier League last season - can go to Sevilla - perpetual UEFA Cup winners and seasoned Champions League qualifiers- and sign Gonzalo Montiel, their first-choice right back, an Argentinian international, World Cup-winning footballer who’s 26 and very much in his prime years.

In January, Bournemouth signed a player AC Milan had been negotiating to sign for several weeks. Milan had to pull out because they couldn’t compete with Bournemouth. Do you think why player would choose Bournemouth over AC Milan for ‘sporting reasons’?

The Saudi Arabians may be chucking money about but the real issues are caused by the Premier League being so much wealthier than the rest of Europe.
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I don’t disagree with this Viv, but in the early 90s 3 of England’s very best players went to play for mid-table sides in Italy, none of them won anything either iirc. At the time people didn’t say “the problem” is Italy being richer than the rest of Europe, there will probably always be a league which is a bit richer than the others in Europe and we all lapped up Gazetta on Channel 4.

The Saudi thing is a separate “problem”, and yes it’s pretty clear some people do see football as nothing more than a job and will work for the highest bidder. Not everyone thinks like that though, in football and in other industries.

That said, although I don’t want the Saudis buying out our clubs, I don’t really mind the PL’s financial strength being weakened a little. Probably isn’t a bad thing for clubs like Boro.
 
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