Anatomy of a Watershed Window: Maresca’s £350M Gamble, Bezos & FIFA Fissures

And Gab, he's Jules, we back, baby! Blue skies over West London, four weeks off. Yeah, so he cares about our holidays. So let's get straight into it, because there's a lot to get you caught up on. Uh, there's a lot of Johnny and Fantino FIFA stuff. We're going to get to that in a bit. Roderie, how about that? Stolen from under-round Madrid's noses? Possibly. Macha Medzala has a new home, uh, Vinicius, this new home is his old home. Yeah. Lots going on, but let's start with a community shield, because Arsenal Manchester City, Arsenal, obviously, the defending champions, city new manager, and so might ask a, some people like myself, all right, given that it feels like everybody in the Premier League has changed their managers in the last, you know, eight months. City might be the best of the bunch to challenge Arsenal. They get absolutely destroyed three, no, and I know it's preseason friendly blah, blah, blah. But this is ugly. Yeah. Uh, I think when you consider good after 24 seconds, like they did, you obviously changes a lot of things in your game plan in the way you would approach the game and the way you play and also the way the other, the other team plays and for Arsenal to score so early than made it much easier in the way they could defend and let the board to city, which they did, because I think city at close to 60% of the board in this game, but Arsenal used it much better. They defended really well. There was never really a way for City to break them down. And even when they had a couple of decent chances, like the one for Haaland, the show from Fauden, the one from Cherokee, it was just well saved by Raya and not well executed from the city point of view. I still think that there's much more to come from Arrestka and City. I don't think anybody should be worried about that performance, but it's a three-nil defeat and it's a, it's not a great start for him for sure. So let's get into that because obviously the windows open and obviously we all have to put in our predictions. There's going to win the title and whatever and I'm like, this is kind of silly because especially with some teams, they're so far behind where they're going to be both in terms of preparation but in terms of personal. Let's get into, I think for Arsenal, I think that should be briefer. They've been linked with another defender, there's talk of concert, there's talk of concert. Other than that, I don't know, and obviously there will be outcowings, I assume, just used from Martinelli, maybe we can talk about that in a bit, but we don't expect anybody coming in who's going to crack the starting line up, do we? Well, maybe on that left hand side, I think the idea was to go and get another left-winger, especially if Martinelli leaves. I think Tolis was a good replacement for Trosar, but I think they were also looking like we saw with the Vinny in the Vinny, Vinny's juice links for a player, certainly more established less than a player as young as Tolis, who did really well in the game against City, but I think they're looking for somewhere there on the left-hand side and yeah, a centre-back who can also play right back, they're like, I think we're talking about finishing touches, there's alternatives as well, I'm not the wake guy, I've kind of become one, I thought Tolis, what, two assists yesterday, yeah, yeah, yeah. With City, it's a different story, they've been linked all summer long through with Enzo Fernandez, it has a good relationship with Maraska, this seems to me, for me the main basis of the link, I look at this midfield and Tijani Rinders is gone now, when I say they could definitely use another body, and obviously Rodri, if bodies, the guy they've been linked with, if they get Rodri money in, I'm assuming they can get bloody, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's only 18 years old, so people forget this, and I really want to emphasise this, because I know we have the whole, if you're good enough, you're young enough from blah, blah, blah, or young enough, good enough, whatever, and Lumina Miles done it at a very young age, but it is a big ask, especially if you're a midfield, and we saw it in the world, in World Cup 2, where you did really well and then kind of fizzled against friends. Yeah, yeah, fizzled after that opening 45 minutes or an hour against Brazil, after that it was more difficult because he's an incredible talent, but still very young, and I think to think that he could just come in and replace Rodri and have those kind of input, I think he's putting a lot of pressure on him, and I don't think he's ready, I just don't think he's ready for that. So you can sign Boatty, and he might be ready in a year or two, you can go and sign somebody in between Boatty and Rodri, nobody's as good as Rodri anyway, but I don't know, let's say a stiller, if you like that kind of player from Strygaard, somebody like that who has already more experience than Boatty, who can do a really good job in a team like sitting in a Mariska team, because what we saw yesterday in that game against Arsenal, we can talk about it a little bit later, because I'm not sure I really understand the use of him, or why not using him more better, but there was, you know, Kovacic coming, there was this back three, Gvagio, Ruben Diaz, and Kusanov kind of building, then you had Kovacic, and then you had three of O'Reilly for then, and I understand, so there's something interesting he's building, but you need the right players to fit in that. I will see if Enzo fits into it, because I don't know, Chelsea put this deadline of Friday at five, but deadline, Shmed lines, we know that's not, there's only one deadline that matters, and that is the transfer window. All right, Joe, let's just try to order kind of what we said, maybe, maybe we'll go by departments, we'll come back, well, let's start with the midfields, since you brought up the midfield, you brought up Anderson's role, I'm a huge Anderson guy, I would imagine he can maybe, we talk, if Boatty's not ready, I mean, you talked about something like Angela Stiller, who's one of those guys who like scouts and numbers Geeks love, Julien Knucklesman, perhaps like some a little bit less, other people seem to rate him a little less. I don't know that city are in a position to go and blow a lot of money here on him, if they also want to get Enzo and Boatty at this window. What are the reasons, and I know you would lose a little bit, but I'm wondering if Elliot Anderson can't grow into that role, especially if it is more of a midfield three, rather than the two and the four. Yeah, no, I think he can, I think he can, I think the, maybe the, rather, rather than seeing him the way we saw him today, where it felt like it was coverage, it was more central than Elliot, which seems to be floating around. Yeah, yeah, yeah, in the three, one, three, and then obviously the three forwards, it was definitely coverage is more important, but I think Anderson would play the defensive sign, for example. Right. I think having a Riley for then an Enzo as your three makes a lot of sense, you know, wherever where you want to have them, then, then I think Elliot Anderson can play just in front of the three who will start the, the build the face, and if you sign Boatty, then that gives you more options. They need, that was always, the midfield was always going to be the, the part of the squad where they need the most rebuilding or there would be the more changes because of another silver left, because word is about to leave, because Nicol Gonzalez is not really good enough certainly for starting position. So you end up spending 116 million on Elliot Anderson, you will spend another 100 million on Boatty and you will spend another 120 million on Enzo. I really think Boatty and Enzo will end up a city this summer. And just in that midfield three, you would have spent 350 million, which is a lot of money, there's been incredible players that if you use them well, I think can, can, can, can take you to the next level, there's no doubt, because the rest is in place, but maybe not straight away with Boatty, it's, no, it's actually what, it's essentially what we're saying, but you need, you need, you need, you need another body anyway. So if you have Anderson and Enzo already with Foden, you're saying that can, yeah, and then, and even, even Nicol Gonzalez has a backup and Covatchich, that's great. You had Boatty, you have a pretty special midfield, all those five for kind of three positions if you have. Well, you don't have in that setup is Ryan Shurkey starting, he's for the North Shurkey anyway, but it was the case last season. Yeah, and it was better with Shurkey, tenfold, and I'm saying is this is a big year for Ford and obviously he said the whole summer, I'm not going to judge him on, on the community shield, but I think it's pretty evident that the club have, have gambled on him in terms of extending his contract. Yeah. They're showing a lot of belief, he didn't necessarily, I don't even know if Enzo worked with him before when he was in the youth team because he, Foden was already training with the seniors at a very young age. Yeah, yeah, no, you didn't have him, but he had his, he would have had him as an assistant to, there's a relationship there. I'm not, I don't see Foden and Shurkey necessarily as alternatives to each other and I kind of feel that if the believing in Foden means Shurkey is not getting minutes on the pitch, that is going to have to be a big call that he has to make. And the other big call is, if, I mean, Foden or Shurkey on the side of a three, even with the one, even with one behind, you know, we were describing it with a, with a three, three, one, three, or three, one, three, yeah, three, three sets of, yeah. I don't know that that Shurkey, I don't know that Shurkey is necessarily found his best position yet. He's still talking about a young player. Yeah, yeah. But man, the temptation is just saying like two wingers, Holland in front, put Shurkey further forward, give him freedom and have two guys covering him behind who can pass. It seems like such a straightforward thing, and I know Maneska likes to do more physical sophisticated things, but maybe I love Shurkey too much. I don't, I don't really think it's a matchup between Foden and Shurkey for that kind of central role really behind the two wingers and Holland. The wingers are very important for Moreska and, which is my next point, as we move it as a front three. As we saw yesterday, and if Seminu and Doku are not in a great deal, like they were not in a community shield, Arsenal defended really well, very often two V1, so it was hard for Doku and Seminu to really do something special. You can pull for them wide or even Shaky or wide, but you lose a lot of what obviously made them special. We talked about that a lot last season already. So it's one or the other. You need almost both because you need options and rotations and things like that. But personally, I'm a Shaky guy, I know a Foden guy, but that's just me. You need another center forward too, if my moosh, because my moosh has been linked. People have been trying to move them all summer. Yeah. He doesn't seem to be a, a Madeska type, let's say, he's a wonderful person. And you may need to move him just to get some money back if you're going to spend all that money if, if Enzo and Boide arrive. But then you have a problem then, because then you say, well, Seminu is the alternative to Holland. Yeah, I mean, Mubar has did really well, I thought in preseason, they still call young striker, Mahmouj did okay in preseason two, and Bayfi goes, then I think, yeah, you look at a replacement for him. Unless you bring another young player from the reserve team up to the first team, like Divine is done. It's possible. I think Mahmouj will stay. I think they need somebody like his profile. I don't know if he wants to pay more. He will ask to leave. But he can also get time on the wing too. Like, if we are going to be short with wingers, right, if you think that, you know, dock and Seminu, if you need a backup there, and not Savinu obviously came to the move as well, there's no reason Mahmouj can't play as a wide player, right? Yeah, he's going to do it differently, he's going to have different, different characteristics. But the other thing with, with City, for me, I was very skeptical about, at the back, about carrying this many central defenders as they do. Since there's this many top, really top notch, because Guardiola is a top not center defender. He's obviously put his chips in the Rubin DS basket by making him captain. Yeah. It doesn't mean he can't be benched occasionally, but, you know, fundamentally, you've got Marquet and you've got Guardiola, right? I know you need for central defenders, but the question is always resource allocation, right? If you play Kusinov on the right or Guardiola on the left, you can do your three plus one, and then you have Nunez on one side, or maybe Aitnorin, who, if not, I would assume, was probably going to go if they find a taker. And obviously you've got Nico on the left. Is that how it's going to shake out? Of those four A-list center backs, will three kind of always play. Yeah, I think so. And one might be on the right and one on the left. Yeah. I mean, that's what we saw in precision. That's what we saw in the community. Shield. I don't see why he would change. So in any position, our position is a bit, you know, it's a bit different. Would you trust O'Reilly, a left-back or more Guardiola left-back? I think there's a lot you could do with Guardiola if you want to start with Kusinov Diaz and Ghehi, and then have O'Reilly on the bench and Guardiola as your kind of left-back. But we can also go in midfield and do a bit what Karafiri did in that game on Sunday in the community shield. And for Arsenal, I think there's a lot you can do. I think O'Reilly is probably the best for that if that's what you want, but I think Guardiola can give you something else too. So I think they have, and I can see what they're looking for right back in case for some games they need a more traditional back-four, for example, and they might build up differently because they will be super dominant. But I think they've got, I'm ready to give him a pass. I thought people were really quick to judge Mariska on the game yesterday. You could judge someone in that. Criticize him and everything. I think you could see the structure, you could see the permutation. I think there's a lot of interesting things that he's going to do. And these squads, compared to now, as you rightly say, Gabi earlier, would be very, very good and very different. So only much, much stronger in two weeks' time when the season properly started in the start of September, after the end of the transfer window. And I think then he would have so many different options. So in the same position, have different profiles, he can do, he would be able to do a lot of things. He would be high because he would have to deliver. But for now, it was unfortunate that they considered so early. I think there was still some interesting things they did tactically, but he needs a full squad ready to go for September. I will say this from a recruitment perspective. And there's obviously, recruitment is difficult, and there's always a lot of stuff that we don't know. It's not a good situation to be in, to be left with two weeks to go. It's delayed, that's true. And you have to sign two hundred million potential players to have a complete squad. And we know there's reasons why, Roger, the World Cup, or I'm going to do it by whatever. But that's definitely so optimal. Looking at Arsenal, on the other hand, the Venetius story, how real was it in your view? Because from my view, with the greatest respect to Arsenal, I would assume staying around Madrid would have always been his preference. I don't know all the things that we've criticized Vini for at Ramadrid in terms of his work off the ball and tracking back and whatever. I never seemed to me that Arteta was going to be like, oh, look, now you're at this club where we work. Everybody works. Look, even Bukayosaka is working. So you have to work too. I didn't take, why would Arteta want that kind of headache? Yeah. Do you think it was kind of like, well, if there's the right opportunity, sure, but we're not going to make this a centerpiece? No, no, no, they really believed that it could happen. They worked on it, quite hard to be ready in case he didn't extend at Ramadrid. That was always the case. But as long as he didn't extend, they had a shot. And they were really keen, Arteta included. I think he would have been a game changer. I think he was always a bit of a, no, a long shot. But I think they also knew that staying at Ramadrid was the number one option. And if that didn't happen, and he could have well not happened, then then he would have come to us. The fact that in the end, I think Ramadrid also couldn't afford to let him go. And then they made the extra effort, they paid the extra money to keep him at the club. For us, what's interesting now is you missed out on Rogers because you didn't want to match the offer, I think, well, the valuation of the player that Chelsea did, fair enough. Then you tried for Vinny, and you tried for Vinny believing that it was a possibility. And I think there really was a possibility, but it didn't happen. And so what do you do next? Because Rogers would have come, and I think Tolis would still have come, Vinny would have come, and Tolis was already there. So you're a player down. What you're saying? If Martinelli goes. If Martinelli goes, then what is the, what is the next possibility? Do you go for Barclay? And I kind of almost break the bank because he would be expensive. Do you look at another option of maybe a younger player? Mikagot was a possibility before he went to PSG. Do you go like that? Or you say to Martinelli, listen, we're going to keep you at least until January, and you have that left hand side with Martinelli and Tolis, who work really hard, who are really good players. And I do it too. Like, it's not, it's not like my record goes away, presumably hopefully Sakka will play a lot. Yeah. Exactly. Is it can play on the left hand side? So it probably covers. I, for me, it's very simple. For me, I say, look, until Daumann's ready, because Daumann's the horizon, right, it's very simple. You go to Martinelli, like, you've been on the market for six months, nobody's matching our evaluation. Obviously, somebody comes and says, hey, I'll give you 60 million for Martinelli fine, right? But I would say, like, are you up for a one-year extension? And it's going to be like last season. In other words, Tolis is Trostard, but he's a younger Trostard who's new to the club. So presumably, we won't get the trust that they had in Trostard. So there will be opportunities for you. We need your different profile from Tolis, your, your, your fast, your direct, in a way that Tolis isn't. And you're going to compete on that left hand side with Tolis and Madouekin, like you did last season. And we won the title and we were just champions, they think, and even at the risk of him leaving on a free is really not the end. I don't think it's the end of the world if that happens. I would try to give him a one-year extension and maybe a little bit more money. That for me makes a lot more sense than going and blowing another 60, 80 million. Arsenal have spent so much money, and the reality is, and we, and this takes us to the other argument, those miles with Skelly stories, and that were those words, pure profit, right? I don't know, that's, it's, it's kind of almost like ugly words to use when we're talking about human beings, but, because, you know, when somebody's been at the club at a long time, like if they were to sell Saliba, he would basically be pure profit, because he's been there long enough that he's, you know, his residual modernization is very long. I don't know how that even came up, or how seriously to treat the Lewis Skelly thing, but certainly with him starting, there are a lot of bodies for that midfield. Hopefully, it means rice plays a little bit less because, and you can preserve the best version of rice, but, they're going to have to, I mean, we, we can rule it out, right? Yeah, I was told there was, okay, there's nothing in it at all. I don't know where it came from. So then there's a one-year issue potentially? Yeah, yeah. Which, which we know he wants to play, and I think when you're, you don't sell when you're, you, you know, no, no, yeah, you have to do that. I think Gabriel Jesus, you're linked with Napoli. I, you're not going to get any money back. You shouldn't get any money back for him. You wish him well, and, and that's it. The additional defenders all based up, it's all, it's all Ben White contingent. Do we think, no, it's the Saliba injury, because obviously we're not sure exactly why it's a long-term one, and it might be back in December, it might be back in January. We don't know. And team Bay is also injured. So right now, if something happens, Timber's much closer, no? Well, yeah, but still not ready yet, not training with a team or anything like that. So if, if something happens to White and mascara, then suddenly you're looking at it in a very different way. So that's what I think they're looking at that position, especially. And I think that's probably a position where there's something interesting to do, even for Konsa or Kundea, people like that. This is where you go back to my favorite thing, which we're going to talk about later, which is veteran player on loan to thank you Liverpool for finally doing that. We'll get to that with, with one of the raffle later. I think that's a great deal for Barcelona, but, hey, you got a bot, you got a, yeah, yeah, you got a, I might have chosen a different live body, but, you know, you got a body. But in terms of, in terms of starting in 11, what we saw from the Arsenal, we saw, I mean, for me, I saw Urugard back. When I was critical of our title last season, it's because I was like, Urugard and Saka are your best attacking players, Enca Havards. And when I look at this and I see that Saka's on the bench, you're coming in, he's not fully fit. Urugard is ghosting through games, even when he's playing. The ocarus is starting instead of Havards. I'm thinking, I want to see technical Arsenal. I want to see Arsenal outplay opponents rather than outset peace them. And, you know, we know you can do that, but because you need to have that other dimension when you have so much talent, if we at this Urugard all season long, Arsenal are really going places. Yeah, I think so. I mean, the momentum of the World Cup was always going to be positive for him. And I think he, he's ready to go. I would have liked him to have a bit more rest, even. And because he felt, he feels like he had a bit of holiday, but came back pretty quickly and pretty strongly. So he might have a deep inform in November, December, which I think for a lot of the players who haven't found the World Cup, is to be expected, whoever you are and wherever you play. But the form that he showed yesterday and again, we've said him many, many times, but he's so important, not just for Arsenal with the ball, but also obviously in the press and the counterpress without the ball. So the need him is best. I don't know what that means for, for EZ, for example, and other in that position, there will be a lot of games to play for everyone. We didn't mention EZ as an alternative on the wing, but obviously, yeah, I said, there's a complaint there, but yeah, yeah, he's better as a team. So you have EZ, Madwiki, Trollis. So Madwiki is the replacement of Saka on the run. I think he's really better than that. But if Saka, yeah, we're hoping Saka's playing, Saka's fit, Saka's Arsenal's best player, Saka, please. Well, we have to think in terms. And then so, but then you have Madwiki, then part of that rotation. Yeah, but not high in that picking order, I think. Maybe not high, but you're still an option there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, sure. And then maybe, and then if you also keep Martinelli, yeah, yeah, and you have Downman, I mean, but he can play on the left, too. You don't think so, Downman with his physicality? I think there's an interesting point to be made of. Should they made Downman play on the left, like, like build him to play there. Rhino is not ready to play there. He's got all his life is played on the right hand side. He's still a young player. That even is learning to play on the right hand side as a left-footed winger. So to move him to the left now would be, I think, very difficult, but you could do some work with him so that he can get there at some point. But Rhino is not. I've had people tell me his future is probably not as a winger. And he probably has a skill, you know, three, four, five years down the line, to actually play as a kid, which I don't know if that position exists very much in football anymore. But yeah, so yeah. So basically, well done Arsenal, you know, there's not much argument here. They are the favorites right now to win the penalty. All right, enough community shield. How about some quick hits instead? Let's go, guys. It's a story that has dominated the headlines post-World Cup Jules, FIFA president Johnny Fentino's plan to spin off FIFA's commercial operation and sell 20% of it to a group of investors led by Josh Kushner and our old boss Bob Iger, too, did not go down well. Now with ConquerCalf, Asian Football Confederation, UEFA taking a strong stand against him. Jules, where do you stand? Did you like the Infantino plan? No, I didn't. I thought it was an absolute disgrace. I thought it looked well dodgy, too. The way it was done, the fighter in Fontino himself didn't really inform anybody around him. I was very much his own decision. I thought it's a shameful move that he made. And I think he's paying for it now because he's under a lot of pressure. A lot of people want him out. Where he was untouchable. So he thought he was going to be untouchable. That he was going to be reelected in March 2027 very easily. And now I think that's quite up in the air. I think he was still there because I think he can find a way through anything, which is probably a good teflon. Yeah, but I think what he did was really poor. Yeah, he was the classic kind of railroading it through. Like, oh, I have this great plan. And you have to vote on it by August, whatever it was. And he's like, no, like this is not how we run organizations after 10 years. Let's see, let's see how it goes. But it was also a very stupid plan for one very, even if you want to sell Steve, if you want to sell FIFA, let's find them not fine, but whatever you want to do it. But you put it out to tender. You negotiate, hey, who wants to buy FIFA? How much will you give me for this 20% these guys say 20 billion? Is it worth more? Is it worth less? That's how you do it in the business world. And Gabby, you have a piece on the website explaining the whole affair. It seems both sides are battling behind the scenes now. Yeah. So basically you mentioned this before. There's elections in March and by November 18th, you have to put forward other candidates. My understanding is that the people who want Infantino out are basically, they don't want to go to elections. Like the ideal situation would be something where he resigns, he gets thrown out. There is a process for a vote of no confidence, but the timing is that is such that it would go past November 18th. So that's not really viable. It doesn't feel viable right now. And so they're putting pressure in different ways. They've already said, like UEFA said, we're not going to participate in FIFA competitions. We'll see what happens. There's a women's world cup is the next one in Poland in September. The reason they don't want to put out a candidate now is then that candidate would come under attack. Right. So they're hoping to force them out. In other ways, there's talk of legal action. There's talk of getting cast involved. Both sides are going around trying to get statements of support. We saw one recently from Qatar. I think this battle is going to be played out with two important constituencies that we've not heard of yet. One is Saudi. They have not taken a side. They've been big backers of Johnny Infantino before. It helped them get the 2034 world cup. It helped them deliver such a lucrative world cup. But they've been completely silent, which is very interesting. I think the other one is the clubs. Because the next world cup will generate less revenue than this one. It's pretty much a given. It's Portugal, Spain, and Morocco. It's just a different economy. Until how are you going to increase revenue without selling FIFA? The club world cup, the men's club world cup is the biggest area of growth. To do that, you need to have the clubs, the big clubs in the world involved. So far, again, all the big clubs, except for Real Madrid, who put out that statement, they've all kind of been silent, too. So you wonder, could we see something maybe a little bit like we see with UEFA competitions, with the UC3, where the clubs take a minority share in the competition itself to help drive it? I think both sides are kind of courting the clubs and their support on this one. Meanwhile, Jules, it's super cup season for Petty Saint Germain. They won the European one against Aston Villa last Wednesday, or some version of Aston Villa anyway. But they lost the Lans, who had to play almost the entire second half, or in fact, the entire second half, and part of the first half. A man down, is reason to worry. No, I thought they actually were good against Villa and Món, and I think they were good against Lans. They didn't win this time. Lans got a bit of a lucky goal, and they're florentos, but they were so very solid. The game was played in Lans after the turn cause, to decide where the French supercups should be played, either in Paris or in Lans. So they had the support of their fans. I don't think there's anything to worry at all about for PhD, but they've got players coming back to fitness, some have played, some have not played, some play only half an hour. I think it's like a lot of big clubs at this time of the year. Yeah, and there was a lot of, again, there was no damn ballet, but also there was the XG, I think, pretty much tell its own story, in terms of chances created. And also, that goal between the potential of side, I guess he wasn't offside. No, no, no, they're not offside. They might have been a foul on the buildup too, they might have been patchal switching off. A lot of things, you know, I wouldn't be concerned. And more PhDs get the Ferran Torres assigned, Mika Gots assigned as well, plus Magnessa Clieu, she'll be earlier. How excited do you think I should be? I think Barcelona should be more excited that they got 50 million for Ferran Torres, which was one year left. I'm assuming this is there because we said he can nose him and trust him and love him from the time you got the national team. Mika Gots, I think, is an interesting player, a slow burn. The guy who plays in that position right now was already pretty good. I think Torres fills the gap left by the guy who went to... I don't know what I'm going to say. Got that on him, so in other words, a situational player. Actually, Ush is the one that should be exciting you, Jules. Yeah, probably the Magnificent, for sure. Imagine United lose a glamour if you live in the mid-2000s. Friendly to Ruben Amareem's Milan, 4-2. Michael Carrick says they need to strengthen no doubt you, Jules. Yeah, absolutely. I'm in midfield, probably even at wide. We'll talk about Mika Swash for later, but there's probably still a lot of things to do. I've seen them play quite well in precision at times in some games. That game not so much, although they took the lead twice. But I was left a little bit disappointed, so there's a lot of games to come. They will be in the Champions League. I think the club have to realize that Michael Carrick needs more players and very quickly, because as we said earlier for City, and that also goes with United. There's only two weeks to go until the end of the transfer window, and they're not completed yet. I don't think clubs, people realize, especially the last couple of seasons with the extra games, how much playing in Europe takes out of you. Yeah, absolutely. And speaking of Milan, Gabi, looks like they need to shift a lot of players, not just Rafael Léau, but Tic Tebè, Fikaio Tomori, Yusuf Fafana, Christopher Ancuncu. There's a few of them. Yeah, I mean, the ideal thing would have been to move these guys quietly at the start of the window, rather than kind of come out with almost like an announcement. But a big change. Jerry Cardinali wants to make a splash with Amareem. I think he went about everything and asked backwards, but hey, that's how he rolls. I think there's some smart pickups at the right price. I think all these guys who go down to the wire, Yusuf Fafana, I think, could do a job for a lot of clubs. If we're talking short-term, he's a very, very good player, and he's not just a defensive midfielder. Back to United. One guy who is not moving on is apparently Marcus Ressert. I'm guessing it's because Newby D. once his wages. There's a bit of that guy back from the Lona Barcelona, where he did well, not great, but well. I think he's the fair word for it, based on a lot of money in wages. I want to see what Karik can do with him. I want to see he never wanted to go back to United and play there, because he was so toxic before he left that first loan move to Austin Villa. But maybe with Karik would be different. Yeah, maybe. I'm not holding my breath. And me wide, Fenway Sports Group are selling a big chunk of the Liverpool, sorry, to a group of investors you may have heard of. Yeah, that's right. It's almost like an all-star cast. Yeah. It's Amit Bhattia, who previously was involved with QPR, but whose father-in-law is Lakshmi Matal, who's one of the richest men in the world. Eduardo Saverin, who is the co-founder of Facebook, with your pal Zuck back in the day. He then later, he gave up his US citizenship, I think, for Terrence reasons and stuff. He is worth a lot of money. Yeah. And then the third guy is even richer. It's Jeff Bezos, the Amazon guy. They took about a third of the club. It values a club at 5.5 billion. I think that is a huge valuation. Well done, Fenway, for getting that much money. I agree. They're going to be silent partners. And like, I think our listeners are sophisticated enough to know that just because the guy owns you has a lot of money, does it mean that you're going to sign L'Aminia Mall tomorrow? But it's good for Fenway. The owners get some of the money out. If we news their commitment, it also brings in, I think, fresh ideas. I mean, Bhattia was very involved with QPR, and I think in a very positive way. He's a really bright guy. I'm biased here because I know the guy. So, yeah, so I think they're another really solid spot. A long-running saga ended this summer when Vinicius Jr. extended his deal with Saral Madrid, we touched upon this earlier. And with Yandia Manday, joining from Leipzig to Man the other flank, Joseph Morinio won't be able to complain about not having flying wingers, Jules. That's true. Now, let's see how Vinic, and Mbappe, and Bellingham, and Jomande can play together. And who is behind them? And who is going to do the defending? You're mainly involved there. Yeah, probably. But on paper, it's great. I think Ramadrid did really well in the transfer window this summer. For Morinio, the money they spend, the players they bought, I think they should have gone for Rodri, and we mentioned earlier. They tried. But they tried well. Did they really try? But that's what we see. The balance would be key, obviously. And we delight it to say, obviously, if you're listening to us from France, that you'll be able to see La Liga and Ramadrid and Morinio every single game on Disney+, in France, in French. So we've got that to look forward to as well. And we talked about Rodri from the city perspective earlier, and I just touched upon it as well. But is this a good deal for Parsa? Do you think? No. Expensive. He's 30 years old. He's hardly played the last two seasons. Spending that amount of money in a position where you already have Frankie the Young, you have Casado, who may go, and whatever. But if he's going to go, he's going to go to price. Now you're going to get less for him if you do shift him. You have better not presumably. You have Pedro there. He's been playing deeper. If you're going to keep playing that, that 4-2-3-1 variation, if Eric Garcia and Theories done it. So I don't see the logic to it. I think Rodri's is a very good player. I don't think he's a game-changer. In that role, for Barcelona, the way they play. If part of the issue is the high line, and people chasing back towards the goal, he's not going to help you with that. So no, this makes no sense to me. Jorge Valdano had a good line about it. He said, yeah, well, it came out to around 70 million, because it's 30 million for Rodri and 40 million to stop him going to Ramadred. Yeah, probably. Yeah, he said a lot of money, too much money for me. Chavi is a new Holland manager, Jules. I was not expecting this. No, me neither. To be fair, I don't think he was first chose. I think they obviously went to Honest Law and Peter Borschen, people like that. And more bald Dutch guys. Yeah, yeah. I think Chavi is here, right? He's got her beautiful hair, even. But even if you're not first chose, it doesn't matter so much. I like this a lot. I think Chavi will do well with the Netherlands. Finally, the right guy for the job before the guy, after the guys that we had before. It's the, you know, the cry if you want a mentality. And I think, I think this is going to be very exciting. Are you going to call him a Dutch guy? No, I love Chavi. I love his choice. He'll never be the Dutch guy. You know, the, he can't do worse than what I was there before, I think. So, you know, let's talk keepers, Gaby. Zan Suzuki joins Austin Villa from Parma for around 30 million euros after he almost went to PhD. And we thought that meant that Ibu Martinez was going to Juventus, but now it's not so clear. No, the latest today is that Juventus has said, yeah, Emmy Martinez is a little too expensive. Let's get on the phone with Spurs again. Talk about Vicario. Um, I mean, my villain abind. They're in a bind now. Emmy Martinez. Okay, I, whatever you think of him, most people would say he's a top 10, if not top five keeper in the world, right? And now he's in a situation where he's a year away from free agency. I mean, Juventus, we're hoping to get him for six million. It's kind of crazy. Yeah. When there's, there's a lot of clubs, a lot of big clubs who have worse goalkeepers than Emmy Martinez. Yeah, definitely. Um, if they go, if they say it's just too expensive, the reason is there's agents and fees involved. Uh, we'll see. This is definitely one to monitor between now and the end of the window. I'm going to go back. I know Sena Lemons, they liked him, although then he cost Belgium their place at the World Cup with his mistake. Are you sure if you care if you wouldn't think about it? I would. I would. How would that? All right, okay. That's right. That's right. Yeah, enjoy your Sena Lemons. I think so. Hey, we certainly better than Martinez last season. And he degenerates back into an honor. Anyway, um, also happening, but we were away. Eddie, how out at Newcastle and Matthias Yislet coming in. Uh, Joseph, I'm a fan of Yislet. The ace exciting, although obviously he's been in Saudi for a few years now and we wait. Let's see why he does coming back to Europe after being very promising earlier. But I think this is a good appointment. And for the heart, I think he's just had enough of the club selling all the best assets all the time. I think it was a very difficult environment to work in and work around. So I can, I can completely understand his decision. Getting ready for the England job. Yeah, potentially as well. But that won't come very soon. We'll have to wait at least two years. So I don't know if that's. I don't know, man. Oh, maybe you know, you're right. But I was surprised to have hasn't been given a harder time. Let's see how things go. Yeah, me too. Kuti Romero has joined Atlético Madrid from Tottenham. I mean, it did worth around 40 million euros. Gab, a match made in heaven. Well, obviously that's a stereotype. Because, oh, look, it's, you know, it's going to be with Diego Shimino and the garra and maybe, maybe Diego Godin will make a guest appearance and training to scare people. I don't see the logic in this. I mean, they already had center backs. Loading in Pobil, in Le Normand and in Hanchico. The rumors that, well, no, he might play a back three and sure. But the thing, Grimaldo as well for the left. Yeah, so obviously we've remained on your range. Then you've got your in some wing backs. And then only play dead. The other day as well. Yeah, and then what do you do with your wingers? I mean, turn them into wing backs. I don't, I don't, I don't. I don't, the Leon Amese said he's the best center back in the world. I invite people to go and watch Tottenham over the last two years. The amount of goals they conceded when he was there. And when he wasn't there, it was often his fault because he wasn't rehabbing properly or because he was suspended. So yeah, I don't like this one at all. Mechametzala has a new home. Jewels, are you surprised? It traps on spore and a free transfer. After everyone was pushing in Saudi Arabia. Surprise. No, we thought Turkey was always a bit of an option as well. You know, halfway through, you stay in Europe. They're still in European competitions. So it's not Saudi or it's not MLS just yet. I think that will come a bit later. You go, he was welcome like a, like a god of football, like an absolute hero. They would be great atmosphere. It's a team that did well last season. So he should improve them. So I'm, you know, I'm curious. And I think the Turkish clubs, especially the top clubs, not, you know, not just the Istanbul clubs, but Transomes for us as well, are building something really interesting that's going to make that league interesting to watch for us too. They were, they were third last season. So it's him in the Europa League. I just love the idea. Like, oh look, he's Muslim. Surely he's going to want to go to Saudi Arabia. I mean, he's enough money. He can fly to Saudi Arabia whenever he wants. And in fact, there's plenty of flights between, on Turkish airlines, between Istanbul and, well, maybe not so much from Trabson, but still. Liverpool, I picked up Ronaldo Rojo on loan from Barcelona. Do you like this move? For who? For Barcelona? Okay, I, in the principle, I'm the guy who's been saying all along. Big clubs. This goes back to the Manchester United days when Ralph Ranglik wanted to sign somebody on loan for six months and then to fight to get Marcel Sabezer in. Oh no, we don't do that. No, this is, it's a smart thing if you need a body, right? If you think, look, Jacque is not, you know, he's, he's very, Jacque is very young. Leone is very young. Virgil will be coming back after the World Cup. He's going to be more tired, blah, blah, blah. Let's just get a body in. You don't even think about doing this on a permanent basis because he has a contract through 2031 and he's 27 years old, which I think is just crazy. From Barcelona's perspective, no, it makes no sense to, it makes sense to get him away because obviously doesn't fit the way you play. You're still totally shorthanded at the back and you're shorthanded up front, right? Who's Anthony Gordon going to be your center for with this season? I mean, they're looking for us on the forwards. Yeah, well, they haven't found a way. Publidis, yeah, they would sign them, they would sign one before in between now and, you know. Well, they have to, they have to. They've got nobody. I mean, and at the back, it is one another body that leaves. But from Liverpool's perspective, yeah, maybe you can relaunch his career a little bit with that alcohol. Maybe you can plug some gaps in the lead cup, but he's obviously not the future. No, I agree. Nor the present. Jules, none other than Sir Alex Ferguson appearing in a Netflix documentary, told us what many suspected, but what would have been reported even, but not confirmed. We've said it many times. But we weren't sure. But the way it's different when Sir Alex says it. He says that basically, after everything went south at Ralmadrid for Merinio, the Manchester United offered him the job that Merinio agreed to take it. And then, after a few hours, Rang up Sir Alex crying and said, no, I'm going to go back to Chelsea. Yeah, did you get scared of the challenge of following somebody like Sir Alex because after 27 years of winning everything, it's hard for anyone. Like he's hard to follow Van Gogh, like he's hard to follow Guadjola. But even probably more for Van Gogh and Fergie because of the time they spent at those clubs, or was it the pull of going back to Chelsea that was so... Merinio does not get scared. Merinio would be very angry if he heard you say that. Well, it might be. I think it was part of that. And I think a lot of managers would have looked at that job after Fergie and said, like, this isn't love with Chelsea. That's why he went back. And that's maybe it does as well. But then he agreed first and then changed his mind. I don't know, I find it. But I would have loved to see Merinio at United at that time because he was a very different story than when he joined what five years later or so. And they certainly spent a lot of money, too. So he would have had the backing. I actually think Merinio at Manchester United back then could have worked much better than Merinio later. I agree. Jet Spence and John Stones both join in to Milan, Gav. Do you like this Premier League shopping spree from the reigning semi-champions? I mean, John Stones is a free transfer. Jet Spence, it's amazing. The deal was around 30 million in the end. People are wondering, this guy's young enough. He's a freak athlete. He has two-holes trust in World Cup games. Why is he available for so little money? Why? I mean, Arsenal are messing around with Asri Conza. We're talking 40, 50 million. Conza's like five years older than Spence or maybe not five. But certainly, why? There's a reason. There's a reason people are turning towards Jet Spence. I'm just going to leave it at that. He's already, he was at Jenoa on loan in Sedia. I think he's a good fit if you want a fast guy running up and down the flank. I need to have a very good record with Aging Central Defenders over the years. So, Stones will bring some quality there. Yeah, I intend our so far ahead right now. We'll see what happens in the last couple of weeks of the transfer window. But to be honest, I mean, I feel like the titles are ready in the bag. It feels like the titles, Inter's to lose, put it that way. Sebastian Pogonyoli is a new Scotland manager, George. Come on, get the tournament army excited. It's still despite what happened at Monaco where it was a bit hot and cold. It's still a very promising young coach. I'm a bit surprised that he kind of leaves club football behind him, certainly for a few years now, to take charge of the Scotland team. But for Scotland, I think it's good. They will have an identity. I think it's a very exciting coach to play for, to work with. I think he will help this team and not just this team, but he's got always a great vision. Certainly he had a Monaco of a bigger picture with youth teams and things like that. So, I think this is really good for Scotland. If he's really in it and not just there, because he wants to wait for the next club job, I think he can do a really good job, not just for the A team, but also helping structuring and everything the youth team. I presume it has to be his brief, because I mean, Scotland will need to qualify for the next year or two days. They don't have to do that. Yeah, so I think that takes a lot of pressure on him. It might be, for sure. Chelsea's case of a transfer irregularities in the Abramovich era is not finally over yet. That's right. If you remember, they had three separate cases, and these are allegations that Chelsea paid essentially kickbacks, that they engage in false accounting. New Abramovich era, Chelsea's new owners. Todd Bully and Badade Bully self-reported this and said, oh, look what we found when we look in the book. Sold us dodgy stuff. But look, we're telling you that this happened. So there's a question of how do you punish them? In the end, when they sum this up, they got a 10 million euro fine from UEFA, because they were investigated by all three bodies. They got a 10 million pound fine from the Premier League. VFA also find them 10 million, because it's a nice round number, Jules. Why not? This is the scientific way we do things. They got a suspended transfer band. They got a transfer band for two windows, but the band is suspended. So yes, as long as you don't start paying bribes to people again, it's not really going to impact them. 30 million is a lot of money, but I'll tell you what, when they were smart, I've been critical of bullying Bully, but they accounted for this. They held back 100 million, if you remember, when they bought the club, precisely because they'd been warned about questions about what happened in the Abramovich era. Does it seem fair to you that there's no points penalty, no points of action is a fine, the only thing they could have done. I think just about. Sticking with Chelsea, Pedro Neto could be on his way to join El Chalau for 60 million years, Uncle George helping balance those box jaws. Beautiful Uncle George, making a lot of money for everyone, including himself, of course. From a Pedro Neto point of view, unless you've been told by Chabi Alonzo that either the system doesn't work for you or you don't really fit or it doesn't count on you, this makes no sense whatsoever. I know he's going to make more money financially, sure, but I don't think Pedro Neto Rana needs money. So, I would be a bit disappointed to be fair, and I would want to see what Chelsea do then if they replace Pedro Neto, who we don't say Pedro Neto is one of the best wingers in the world, but certainly last season, he was a good player for Chelsea. And he covers both flanks. Exactly. I guess the thinking is, Ken Dynastovar on one side. And Gettens and Morgan Rodgers on the other. I'm assuming that's the thinking. Yeah, and that's if there's wingers in the system. So that's what's thinking. If there's wingers and other stuff going on more to what we saw by a lever question from Chabi Alonzo, but yeah, it'd be interesting. And maybe Chelsea can't say no to that kind of money either for player like Pedro Neto. Yeah, I think it's more the latter. I mean, you look at the list of people, back to your shield, hopefully they can move them on loan, so many people they need to move on. Legendary Milan defender Franco Barrezi has passed away a few weeks ago. Put his career in perspective, please. Yeah, I mean, I mean, Franco Barrezi, the legend begins when he's 10 years old, when he and his brother go and have his brother Betbe. I think it was two years older. They go and they have a trial at Inter, and Inter decide, yeah, we'll take Betbe. The other one, Franco Rai is too little. And I'm going to have a kill and never make it. And then what does he do? He's in the first team at like 18 years old, when Milan won their last league title before getting relegated in like 1878, 79. I mean, incredible story. Somehow misses out on the 1990 World Cup, about the wisdom. And you know, kind of redefined the position and made, he was a sweeper, he was a sweeper type, or he was born as a sweeper back when sweepers existed. But then he made, he's such an intelligent footballer that he made the transition to to the back four. Under Rigo Sackiel, like a proper back four, pressing type system, very good on the ball could have easily played in midfield, undersized, but rarely beaten in the air. And kind of probably one of the greatest defenders of all time. I'm a politician, I think, put it best. He said, like, you watch him play and it looks like you're on the PlayStation. And God is moving him into position. I mean, that's one for real tactical nerds. Trust, people rave about Porto Youngster Rodrigo Mora, Roma are hoping to put together a package close to 50 million euros to get him on board. Yeah, it's expensive, although it's only 18 years old, because it's that promising. But again, it's a lot of promises from the Portugal's league. We've seen it so many times before. And that's why I think other clubs, I've been quite cautious around Rodrigo Mora. I want to wait a little bit more to see his development and the evolution of his play. Maybe if you're Roma, you're thinking where we have to take him now, because if two years' time he continues his progression, then he'll be out of price for us. Maybe it's 25 million euros, right? Plus some saloon fee? Plus 50% of the saloon. I mean, this isn't confirmed yet, but this was talked about in the Portuguese press. And if you think about it, 50 million is what Portugal wanted. If you're going to get 50% of the saloon fee, you're going to come out pretty close to that amount. It's not more easy. And maybe you enjoy a lot more upside. He's really, really young, though. And very raw, I think, even though I mean, I think last season was his first full season. Well, maybe played a bit the year before. Yeah, the year before as well, yeah, no. But it's not like he pulled up trees last season. He just showed you glimpses. Yeah, yeah, exactly. No, Gustavo Renogatuzo, Alasio Gav, they were beaten by Manthoba, Tuniel and the Al of the Copa Italia already. Yes, nice one. But I called the Copa Italia by Ferragosto. Real smile move going with Reno. Look, I know it's not all about Renogatuzo, Alasio, but the reality is, this was your one chance to win something. They would do something this season because they ain't going to be competing in Serie A. So yeah, not good. Rough day at the office, for Lionel Messi as well. I love it. Commission Reno Gatuzon, Lionel Messi, what do they have in common? They both, both World Cup winners. Yes. How about that? He makes his first MLS start for Inter Miami after the World Cup. I mean, played before, but in the Leagues Cup. And they got beaten 4-1 in national. And he misses a penalty. Yeah, that penalty in a row. I miss it. If you remember the two, they missed in at the World Cup. That's mean to remember the ones missed at the World Cup. That's mean. You're being mean. I'm just saying it's three in a row now. Bad performance, bad game. It was top v-second in MLS for this conference, obviously. And yeah, that was a bad performance from Inter Miami and Leo Messi, obviously lost his dad a few days ago. And it's still probably suffering for that as well. So they're more games to come, obviously from Messi and Inter Miami. But this one was one to forget very quickly. And speaking of MLS, Gabby, a couple of new faces have been confirmed. Brilambolo from Ren to Atlanta United for 17 million euros. And Alexis Sanchez from Sevilla to Montreal on as a free agent. Yeah, two very different buckets that they can put these in. Brilambolo is 29 years old. I think he still has plenty to give, which is why there was a transfer fee paid. Atlanta United have shown, I think more than any MLS club willing to pay transfer fees. Anyway, you know, look at the amount of money that I think the second highest, the highest they paid was for Yap-Yakbo a couple of years ago. Alexis Sanchez, I love the idea of him. That he's 37 years old. 37 years old. How about that? They're for the little man. I'm proud of him. I don't think this moves the needle in terms of MLS glamor either one, but you know, it's a slow burn, MLS. That's the story of MLS. Jamie Varty's next stop could reportedly be so ball of Brazil. Jules, these are things I thought I would never say. I mean, we never thought we would say that he'd play for Clemoneze in Serie A one day. And he did, and he did okay, to be fair, even when, probably, yeah. Sao Paulo, who, you know, I've been, I've been, let's say Brazilian clubs lately, apart from trying to bring back home some like old legends and stars and things like that which they've done really well. Also, as we saw with Memphis Dubai, for example, trying to bring a bit more glamour and names that we don't expect. And Varty would be of that. I, if Varty has watched a bit of of the Brazilian hero and the Brazilian league, it's quite physical, it's quite tough to play there. I think more than in Europe, for example. I'm not sure this is a good move for him, but in terms of the life, he would have there for the family and everything. Yeah, it would be different. It would be exotic. Again, I would want to see a documentary on the Varty's music, for sure. But yeah, yeah, I mean, last season, at Clemoneze, when he contributed, what he did was he played for a defensive team. He hung on the shoulder to the last defender and he timed his run. And that's what it's going to do, yeah. I think he can do that for Sao Paulo too. I don't know enough about them to tell you about how they play and where he fits tactically within that. But yeah, I think Varty's going to have a lovely time in Sao Paulo. Romelu Lukaku is off to Fena Bache, a chance to restart his career again? Yeah, I think he needs it. I think he showed it the World Cup with that, you know, he can contribute in the right role in the right system. It was never going to be a napally after everything that happened. I really liked the guy. I've followed him since he was thin and 16 years old and scoring those overhead kicks for underlacked in the Belgian top flight. So, I wish him well. And Fena Bache play Leone tomorrow on Tuesday night in the first leg of the Champions League qualifiers. I'll be out, yeah. Oh, I'll be trying. Do I root for Romelu? I don't think he'd be in the Champions League. But I'll be thinking, yeah, yeah. Or do I root for the team that John Texter built? Yeah. And the greatness. And Buffon Sikka, you like Buffon Sikka? I do, I do. Cristiano Ronaldo has spoken out about his future and whether this season might be his last tools. Yeah, I think it was quite honest about it and I think we all agree with him. As great as his career was as we saw the World Cup. And as we saw last season, I think it's time very soon to put in an end. It's great, it's 41 years old. He's played for, what, 24 seasons or something crazy like that. So the season might be. Might be, but we know he will be. He'll have a new coach next post at Coglu, Al Nasser. And I don't know what will happen with Portugal in terms of will he continue or not with Roger Jesus? But certainly, I think it's just sounds about right to have another season be as successful as possible. Maybe get the 1000 golds, golds market in his career which will be incredible for an incredible player. And then after that, it's probably time to retire. And say not putting anything beyond that man. Nothing would surprise him. If he says he himself, I think he's right. And finally, I remember the Swansea ballboy who became famous after being kicked by Adonazard in 2013 in that game is about to become a multi-millionaire. I love these stories. We said it before. We said it before. I know, but now it's actually happening. Now it's actually happening. So he's not, wasn't really a ballboy even back then. He was 17 years old. He was about twice as big as Hazard. But Swansea were time wasting. I think it was a cup tie. Rafa Benitez was on the bench. I didn't hazard just losers as cool. And just kicked him. They became friends afterwards. But the cool thing is in the meantime, his name is Charlie Morgan. He and two of his mates, shortly thereafter, they started a company that made vodka. Welsh vodka, I'm guessing. It's called Oh, vodka. And it's according to Sky, it's about to be sold to Sazarak for half a billion pounds. And that's going to net him about 100 million. Wow, well done. Charlie, might I suggest you invest in Swansea? Wouldn't that be cool? That would be cool. From ballboy to owner. Yeah. Joe, this brings us to an end. But we're going to come back on Thursday. Do it all over again. Yes. Maybe do some previewing of the Premier League, which starts on Friday night. Until then, love the game. Love your neighbor. Love yourself.