"Sky Sports Understands...."

[Dr Markus]

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10951630/chelsea-interested-in-signing-sergio-aguero-from-manchester-city

City wouldn't be that stupid would they?

[Dr Markus]

Not gonna lie, more than 70 mil for Philippe is very tempting.

[Penk!]

Not gonna lie, more than 70 mil for Philippe is very tempting.

The 'tache alone is worth as much as Kyle Walker.

[Dr Markus]

Not gonna lie, more than 70 mil for Philippe is very tempting.

The 'tache alone is worth as much as Kyle Walker.

Ya think?, I think tache is only worth 35 mill, a full beard? now that's with 70 mil.

[Spock!]

Not gonna lie, more than 70 mil for Philippe is very tempting.

The 'tache alone is worth as much as Kyle Walker.

Call that a 'tache? Can barely stretch itself past the lips.

[Dr Markus]

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10948344/world-footballs-most-expensive-team-by-position

World football's most expensive team position by position

Further proof I think that the EPL overspends like a muthafucka.

7 of the 11 were to English clubs.

[trans-chigley express]

Substitutes

Forward - Romelu Lukaku (Everton to Man Utd - £75m)
Forward - Luis Suarez (Liverpool to Barcelona - £65m)

On what planet is Lukaku worth more than Suarez??

[WG Kaspar]

If that was to happen today I believe Suarez would command more than Lukaku. Everton paid 28m to Chelsea for Lukaku that same year I believe.

[Diamond Dog]

Exactly Theo. We're going to see the first £150 million player inside the next 18 months, maybe quicker if Neymar is tempted away. The money from Sky in the EPL is burning a hole in all of their pockets and with PSG joining the two Spanish giants - and the money from China- the game is going through a period of hyper inflation in the transfer market. It's just driving the real fan further and further away and somewhere in the next five/ten years it has to come crashing down. It's completely unsustainable.

[KeithPratt]

Everyone has been saying that the game would crash and burn for the last 30 years. It defies all the normal laws of business because people are irresistibly drawn to its narrative. If there was a sport that could seriously compete for football's money then perhaps it might happen, but there isn't.

[Diamond Dog]

Everyone has been saying that the game would crash and burn for the last 30 years. It defies all the normal laws of business because people are irresistibly drawn to its narrative. If there was a sport that could seriously compete for football's money then perhaps it might happen, but there isn't.

So it just grows forever, more and more fans will be willing/able to pay the huge TV costs, the fans keep paying the increasing ticket and merchandise pricing, the clubs keep churning money and paying ever increasingly ludicrous transfer fees and salaries, the agents keep demanding more and more for both their clients and themselves.... eternally?

I may not know much, but it's not sustainable forever. That much I do know. All it would need in this country is for Sky to see they actually have the upper hand and not pay the going rate next time.... BT Sport is completely unsustainable (last year some of its CL group games were watched by 150,000 people - how can they possibly tempt advertisers with that kind of figure) and could not take on the EPL in the way Sky have. If and when that happens... watch the arse fall out of the game rapidly. Let's see how much these players really 'love the English game'. Let's see how the fair weather fans feel when their previous group of internationals dwindles to two or three in a season. Let's see how advertsiers feel about a sub -standard (in their eyes) product.

I enjoy your enthusiasm, but it's miopic. The present model of football is unsustainable and will be shown to be so sometime soon.

[WG Kaspar]

It's the definition of bubble. It will eventually burst one way or another.

[Jimbly]

Everyone has been saying that the game would crash and burn for the last 30 years. It defies all the normal laws of business because people are irresistibly drawn to its narrative. If there was a sport that could seriously compete for football's money then perhaps it might happen, but there isn't.

So it just grows forever, more and more fans will be willing/able to pay the huge TV costs, the fans keep paying the increasing ticket and merchandise pricing, the clubs keep churning money and paying ever increasingly ludicrous transfer fees and salaries, the agents keep demanding more and more for both their clients and themselves.... eternally?

I may not know much, but it's not sustainable forever. That much I do know. All it would need in this country is for Sky to see they actually have the upper hand and not pay the going rate next time.... BT Sport is completely unsustainable (last year some of its CL group games were watched by 150,000 people - how can they possibly tempt advertisers with that kind of figure) and could not take on the EPL in the way Sky have. If and when that happens... watch the arse fall out of the game rapidly. Let's see how much these players really 'love the English game'. Let's see how the fair weather fans feel when their previous group of internationals dwindles to two or three in a season. Let's see how advertsiers feel about a sub -standard (in their eyes) product.

I enjoy your enthusiasm, but it's miopic. The present model of football is unsustainable and will be shown to be so sometime soon.

Scottish football should be a warning to the EPL. Sky poured a fortune into Scottish football as they had a schedule to fill. Clubs went daft spending money they didn't really have, then Sky reduced what was on offer. Clubs crashed and burned, administration followed for quite a few. Very few clubs in the SPL were unaffected and only the properly run were able to ride out the storm. How many clubs in the EPL are ran on a proper financial basis?

The fact that Sanchez wants £400,000 a week tells me that it is unsustainable.

[Goat Boy]

It NEEDS to burst that's the thing.

160 million for a teenager with one good season behind him? *old man* The world's gone mad *old man*

[Penk!]

Real also just spent £40m on a Brazilian 16-year-old who's played about 140 minutes of first-team football.

[Goat Boy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40722879

[Diamond Dog]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40722879

Well in terms of finance, I think Levy probably deserves more respect than most.

Interesting emphasis on the academy there - these hugely expensive academies run by the likes of Man City, Man U, Chelsea etc.... what are they actually producing?

[Goat Boy]

Feck all mostly although Man Utd have produced the likes of Lingard and Smalling.

These things are luxuries certain clubs can afford because they don't need to produce players ultimately. It gives the appearance of being a "proper club" and still having some kind of tenuous "local" connection (we want to produce good young English players!) but in reality......

Honestly, the game is such a joke these days

[Penk!]

Feck all mostly although Man Utd have produced the likes of Lingard and Smalling.

They bought Smalling from Fulham who'd got him from someone else in London.

They did produce Pogba, but he did one to Juventus because he couldn't get into the first team, and we all know what happened next.

Van Gaal started to bring through a number of youngsters but Mourinho put a stop to that nonsense as soon as he arrived.

[Goat Boy]

Ahhh my mistake.