2022/23 International Club Football Thread

[CroFlames]

Fox Sports giving Luka all sorts of love right now.

It would please me greatly to see him lift a trophy for country.

[Locke]

What is this nonsense?

Dont do it Neves! You're a young man!

Portugal international Ruben Neves is joining Al Hilal from Premier League side Wolves on a three-year deal, the Saudi Arabian club announced on Friday.

Wolves did not disclose specific financial details but said Neves, who signed his deal in Paris, was moving for a club record fee, reported to be worth €55 million ($60m).

https://global.espn.com/football/sto...lal-record-fee

And Koulibaly? We're going to need a 23/24 Saudi Arabian Football thread at this rate!

Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly has joined Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal from Premier League side Chelsea, the two clubs announced on Sunday.

"We'll continue to make history together," Al Hilal said on Twitter, alongside a short video featuring Koulibaly.

https://global.espn.com/football/sto...libaly-chelsea

[cheevers]

Originally Posted by Locke

What is this nonsense?

Dont do it Neves! You're a young man!

https://global.espn.com/football/sto...lal-record-fee

And Koulibaly? We're going to need a 23/24 Saudi Arabian Football thread at this rate!



https://global.espn.com/football/sto...libaly-chelsea

Both will just get loaned to the premier league.

[Locke]

Football players in Italy will be banned from wearing No. 88 as part of an initiative combating antisemitism, it was announced on Tuesday.

The No. 88 is a numerical code for "Heil Hitler"; H is the eighth letter of the alphabet.

In March, a fan wearing a Lazio shirt with the name "Hitlerson" and the No. 88 was banned for life from attending matches of the Roman club.

https://global.espn.com/football/sto...itism-campaign

I mean...thats a pretty strong statement.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Locke

https://global.espn.com/football/sto...itism-campaign

I mean...thats a pretty strong statement.

Does Eric Lindros have a dark past we don’t know about?

Just asking questions.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Does Eric Lindros have a dark past we don’t know about?

Just asking questions.

Someone check his garage for Tiki Torches!!

[devo22]

there's a story about Gianluigi Buffon, who wore 88 at Parma very early in his career. Apparently he originally wanted to wear 00 to symbolize two balls, because, you know, he wanted to show that he has balls. The club said no, so he chose 88 because, you know, that's actually four balls. He claims he was totally unaware of the Nazi meaning and quickly changed it again when he was publicly criticized for wearing it.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by devo22

there's a story about Gianluigi Buffon, who wore 88 at Parma very early in his career. Apparently he originally wanted to wear 00 to symbolize two balls, because, you know, he wanted to show that he has balls. The club said no, so he chose 88 because, you know, that's actually four balls. He claims he was totally unaware of the Nazi meaning and quickly changed it again when he was publicly criticized for wearing it.

I literally learned about the 'Nazi Meaning' of #88 yesterday, so I'll give Buffon the benefit of the doubt on that one. I believe him.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Locke

I literally learned about the 'Nazi Meaning' of #88 yesterday, so I'll give Buffon the benefit of the doubt on that one. I believe him.

you're not Italian though. This isn't super secret stuff in Italy, plus there was also this at around the same time as the 88 incident:

Buffon has previously worn a shirt bearing the slogan "Boia chi molla" - "Death to cowards" - which was used by fascists in Benito Mussolini's day. But he called a press conference yesterday to explain that people had the wrong impression.

"When I wore that shirt I was stupid because I did not know it was a phrase used by the fascist regime," said Buffon.

completely possible that he's speaking the truth and was simply a bit naive. But the optics weren't great at the time.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by devo22

you're not Italian though. This isn't super secret stuff in Italy, plus there was also this at around the same time as the 88 incident:

completely possible that he's speaking the truth and was simply a bit naive. But the optics weren't great at the time.

For this I am thankful every day.

I also dont really get caught up in this pseudo-cultist qish Nazism of certain numbers or words either.

Why cant humanity just leave the Nazi BS alone? They were defeated in 1945 on some pretty horrendous ideology, leave them in 1945 and let that be the end of it.

Anyone who glorifies or idolizes Nazis or Nazi ideology is an idiot and should be hit with a truck.

[White Out 403]

imagine cancelling a ####ing number.

Lindros is a nazi!!

[Locke]

Ugh...Bernardo Silva.

So it looks like Al Hilal are offering him £500k/week.

Thats tough money to turn down.

But apparently he has 2 more years on contract with City? So the Saudis and Abu Dhabi are going to have to figure something out, and we all know they're always the best of friends.

City are going to demand an outrageous transfer fee and the Saudis are going to.....shrug their shoulders and pay it? Paving the way for City to get out from under any FFP restrictions?

[d_phaneuf]

Slippy is managing there now too

Hope dazn or fubo add the league

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by d_phaneuf

Slippy is managing there now too

Hope dazn or fubo add the league

Considering his success, Fat frank can’t be far behind.

[Locke]

So it appears as though Mbappe is having a wee bit of a spat with his current overlords.

https://global.espn.com/football/sto...doff-continues

How is he having another contract argument? It feels like he signed that massive PSG contract just last year.

And I dont know how credible threats of bolting to Real Madrid are anymore.

[CroFlames]

The drama of these football stars and their contracts is tiring.

But I suppose whipping up the public into a frenzy is a negotiation tactic so here we are.

[devo22]

PSG have created this monster themselves. They signed a teenager for an absurd fee and gave him absurd money, then continued to cave at his every demand. They've pretty much done everything bar making him the mayor of Paris, just to keep him there. Now they are shocked he wants to take advantage of the contract option they gave him? Boo freaking hoo.

Mbappe is a clown, obviously. But at the same time, I have zero sympathy for PSG.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Surely playing an intra-squad scrimmage would have had more value?

[Locke]

Yes, this was certainly a worthwhile endeavor.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Club Brugge beat some random club 22-0 today

I think these are largely done as fundraisers for the small outfits.