Diego Costa swayed by China?

[CumbrianRam]

Not in the squad for Chelsea game v Leicester after reportely being offered £30 million a year.

The PL has done with this players from other leagues for the past decade and a half, so not having the faux outrage from pundits when China sway players.

[RiddingsRam]

Nearly £600 k a week!!! ?

[Tony Le Mesmer]

God not another one. Maybe it's best we don't get into the league above. There are some real t*ts in there.

[CWC1983]

46 minutes ago, CumbrianRam said:

Not in the squad for Chelsea game v Leicester after reportely being offered £30 million a year.

The PL has done with this players from other leagues for the past decade and a half, so not having the faux outrage from pundits when China sway players.

Exactly, the irony from some pundits and journos slagging the China gravy train this evening is unreal. Money talks. 

[Tony Le Mesmer]

Obviously the money is there but why really would you go to China? It's a footballing backwater and you basically vanish from the face of the earth as a footballer once you've gone. No big games no nothing. Other than more money.   

[CWC1983]

2 minutes ago, Tony Le Mesmer said:

Obviously the money is there but why really would you go to China? It's a footballing backwater and you basically vanish from the face of the earth as a footballer once you've gone. No big games no nothing. Other than more money.   

Would some of them see themselves as trailblazers?

I doubt many of them will see the real China, instead they will be looked after like royalty. 

I'd imagine there's a world cup not too far away for China to host. Qatar did the same and they got "rewarded". 

 

[lrm14]

1 hour ago, CumbrianRam said:

Not in the squad for Chelsea game v Leicester after reportely being offered £30 million a year.

The PL has done with this players from other leagues for the past decade and a half, so not having the faux outrage from pundits when China sway players.

The difference being the premier league has always been a top level competition and the Chinese league is about league 2 standard dotted with a few heavyweight stars. 

It annoys me that genuine talent is leaving for such an atrocious standard of football but I don't blame them in the slightest for it. 500k a week being reported for Costa and I know I'd take that up without even thinking. As disappointing as it is, it makes sense.

[Rev]

1 minute ago, lrm14 said:

The difference being the premier league has always been a top level competition and the Chinese league is about league 2 standard dotted with a few heavyweight stars. 

It annoys me that genuine talent is leaving for such an atrocious standard of football but I don't blame them in the slightest for it. 500k a week being reported for Costa and I know I'd take that up without even thinking. As disappointing as it is, it makes sense.

Enough quality goes there, the standard rises, more and more quality is attracted, and before we know it Europe is no longer the de facto choice for the up and coming superstar.

 

[CWC1983]

1 minute ago, reveldevil said:

Enough quality goes there, the standard rises, more and more quality is attracted, and before we know it Europe is no longer the de facto choice for the up and coming superstar.

 

Yip, swings and roundabouts. The English league was on its knees prior to Sky money, and Serie A was the league of choice. Remember when the big stars in the Carlingship was Guilit, Vialli, Zola, Klinsmann, all towards the end of their careers. 

China has done that with Anelka / Drogba etc, they are now moving on to younger "stars". Interestingly, they all seem to be represented by Mendes and kia joorabchian. 

[lrm14]

20 minutes ago, reveldevil said:

Enough quality goes there, the standard rises, more and more quality is attracted, and before we know it Europe is no longer the de facto choice for the up and coming superstar.

 

That alone won't be enough because it's not sustainable to keep throwing 550k a week at stars that play over here. It needs to be made sustainable through a youth infrastructure and until that happens, the league will remain completely irrelevant.

I also think the next couple of years are extremely important in how the players that go over there fair internationally. If for example Costa goes over there and is completely shut out of the Spain national team, which would be completely warranted due to the leagues poor standard, he might start to want a return to Europe. Not only do China have to hold on to the quality they've attracted with money but they also have to keep them there, which might be difficult after a couple of years of international isolation and having made all the money you could ever need in that time.

[Rev]

4 minutes ago, lrm14 said:

That alone won't be enough because it's not sustainable to keep throwing 550k a week at stars that play over here. It needs to be made sustainable through a youth infrastructure and until that happens, the league will remain completely irrelevant.

I also think the next couple of years are extremely important in how the players that go over there fair internationally. If for example Costa goes over there and is completely shut out of the Spain national team, which would be completely warranted due to the leagues poor standard, he might start to want a return to Europe. Not only do China have to hold on to the quality they've attracted with money but they also have to keep them there, which might be difficult after a couple of years of international isolation and having made all the money you could ever need in that time.

Seeing as Costa was willing to trade the country of his birth for an international cap, I'd wager he won't lose much sleep over missing Spain matches, especially as he can lay his head on a pillow made of $100 bills.

[CWC1983]

3 minutes ago, lrm14 said:

That alone won't be enough because it's not sustainable to keep throwing 550k a week at stars that play over here. It needs to be made sustainable through a youth infrastructure and until that happens, the league will remain completely irrelevant.

I also think the next couple of years are extremely important in how the players that go over there fair internationally. If for example Costa goes over there and is completely shut out of the Spain national team, which would be completely warranted due to the leagues poor standard, he might start to want a return to Europe. Not only do China have to hold on to the quality they've attracted with money but they also have to keep them there, which might be difficult after a couple of years of international isolation and having made all the money you could ever need in that time.

Some of the players heading off there probably couldn't be bothered by international football. Costa got a lukewarm reception from Spaniards due to his Brazilian birth, and the Brazilian Fa won't care if thier players are in Europe or Asia. 

Unfortunately, the watering down of international football means players will follow the cash rather than caps. 

[lrm14]

1 minute ago, reveldevil said:

Seeing as Costa was willing to trade the country of his birth for an international cap, I'd wager he won't lose much sleep over missing Spain matches, especially as he can lay his head on a pillow made of $100 bills.

Look at it another way, he traded his country of birth for a better international team which had much more of a chance at winning international tournaments. He probably could already lay his head on a pillow made of $100 bills and now he can probably do it with $200 bills. I wonder how long that will be satisfying for him though when he watches Morata score the winner for Spain at the World Cup meanwhile he has to deal with service from Feng Gang and Wang Jingbin.

Pure speculation though.  

[lrm14]

6 minutes ago, CWC1983 said:

Some of the players heading off there probably couldn't be bothered by international football. Costa got a lukewarm reception from Spaniards due to his Brazilian birth, and the Brazilian Fa won't care if thier players are in Europe or Asia. 

Unfortunately, the watering down of international football means players will follow the cash rather than caps. 

In which case, are those the type of players you can rely on for the long term success of your league? The type of players that will make your league the best I feel are the ones who want to be the best. I have Costa down as an extremely passionate player still and the money in this instances is just too absurd for him to turn down. I'm questioning whether it will keep him there in three years when he's made what, over £80 million? (ignoring tax)

[McRamFan]

Sell him.

[Sparkle]

Interesting trend

[Day]

I would be swayed by 600k per week, unbelieveable offer, can't blame him for wanting it. 

[Day]

Start of the end already?

 

[McRamFan]

1 hour ago, David said:

Start of the end already?

 

Had to happen.

[Rample]

On Saturday, January 14, 2017 at 00:52, lrm14 said:

In which case, are those the type of players you can rely on for the long term success of your league? The type of players that will make your league the best I feel are the ones who want to be the best. I have Costa down as an extremely passionate player still and the money in this instances is just too absurd for him to turn down. I'm questioning whether it will keep him there in three years when he's made what, over £80 million? (ignoring tax)

Its after tax!