Do you really believe that? I might be wrong, but I’ve some difficulty to get along with that, as this super league project wasn’t credible from the off. The way how it unfolded is further proof for me that it wasn’t really serious or well thought-out enough.
But they might hopefully come back with something more serious in the future. That would put pressure on UEFA to finally put some order in the mess they’ve allowed to happen under their watch.
I don’t agree, the whole thing just re-inforces my view Pep isn’t as good as Klopp. Pep literally expects the 100% player, all he wants to do is drill them into his formation/tactics… Whereas Klopp takes a 80% player, gets them to 100% whilst drilling them into his formation and tactics. It’s such a throw away level of transfer business and only possible because they are funded by a human rights abusing country. Must be the easiest job in the world their scouting team, there is zero pressure to get it right.
This tweet is excellent…
https://twitter.com/KloppStyle/status/1537506601074151424?s=20&t=KwZDFGIprWUNdM0Cm4Lhrg
I don’t agree on that.
I think John Henry, on an even playing field, would back us to compete with anyone. Quite rightly. The Super League, in terms of our status within it, was hardly different to the Champions League it proposed replacing. It’s not like at the minute we don’t have to compete with outrageous spending.
Clearly clubs had different reasons for wanting to be part of a super league. That was the problem. Real And Barca were looking for a way out of their financial black hole. Arsenal and Spurs wanted a short cut back to the top. City and PSG wanted that ‘big club’ recognition.
But for Liverpool (and I suspect for Utd as well) they wanted sporting integrity. John Henry has been frustrated for years at The Premier League and UEFAs inability to deal with financial doping, and the restrictions they place on commercial activity (is selling TV rights). Super League was an answer to both those things.
Liverpool have absolutely nothing to fear from competing against other big clubs. We don’t know, and we certainly wouldn’t in a collective where mechanisms such as FFP and salary caps are properly implemented.
La Liga and Real Madrid are, obviously, separate entities, but their interests are the same. La Liga is bringing these complaints to protect the interests of its clubs, principally among them, Real Madrid.
Let’s not pretend that La Liga is not acting in the interest/defence of Real Madrid here, it absolutely is.
I don’t see how this can get off the ground though. UEFA already feel like it got the raw end of CAS justice when City were bang to rights. They’ve since revised their rules and then almost immediately relaxed them due to covid. I don’t see UEFA embarking on another attempt to sanction the likes of City so soon and PSG, of course, has the most powerful man in European football as President.
Even if the cause of La Liga’s complaints are well-founded, which they are, UEFA is once bitten twice shy here.
UEFA should grow a pair and tell the teams they don’t like they’re not invited into the party.
A bit much for your wedding day though? 
No way HMRC would not go after anyone that owes them money.
It may be done quietly for the big boys, but they still get chased down in the end. Also, hmrc did go after Starbucks, Google and Amazon a few years back, but ended up getting them to pay up.
All those companies operate within the UK though. We are talking about a club that likely have secret deals with individuals that implicitly state the money provided does not circulate into the UK system just to keep it untraceable. Does Alf-Inge live in the UK? If not, he’s certainly received his payment(s) into some sort of offshore accounts well away from the UK tax system that would be in all practicality untraceable by HMRC.
You might ask how so many people can be involved in payments that are deliberately avoiding tax (and therefore FFP scrutiny), but really, money talks. Or in this case, doesn’t talk. You don’t really hear too many stories of good honest people, that want to help their community, have come from a humble background, going to City, because such people probably don’t want to be paid in blood money. Those that do go are the type that are happy to go along with what City is offering in the name of money.
Yup.
HMRC are the big guns here in that they can go after tax avoidance scams such as off-shoring payments, umbrella companies, image rights. They can also target false filings (which City must have made).
The issue for me is that none of the sanctions at HMRC’s disposal are sporting. City will be fined, individuals at the club may be fined, disqualified from certain roles, perhaps even indicted, but unless City suffer sporting sanctions or players go to jail, they won’t be punished as they should be.
It’s down to the PL then to take whatever comes out of the HMRC investigations and use that to justify sporting sanctions.
Fingers crossed.
But Man City themselves operate in UK, so any employee based in UK wil be subject to UK tax laws, and I bet if they are making dodgy payments HMRC will know/find out and will kick their arses alot harder than what UEFA or P/L or F/A can do. Even if the parent company are based outside of UK, if they are paying anyone based in UK, then HMRC are entitled to their tax revenue and don’t take kindly to anyone that tries to swindle them
Kind of amusing to suggest that HMRC don’t have the necessary powers and resources to sanction entities that are seeking to evade paying tax properly due in the UK.
If they get hit with multiple tax bills, that will have a massive effect on City as it could lead to potential transfer bans if they end up in administration ala Bury, Bolton, Portsouth and if they get hit with enough tax bills could even end up facing a winding up order like Bury had 2 years ago.
Seeing them wound up bu the courts would be fucking enjoyable in my opnion
Won’t happen though. One thing City aren’t is insolvent.
Good point Kopstar. HMRC has oomph, but cannot levy sporting sanction. So if they catch Man City bang to rights, it will be up to the sporting body to levy a sporting sanction.
If all the Prem does is go with a fine, or some nonsense sanction that doesn’t cover the transgression, much less remedy the situation as we move forward, then I think it hastens the coming of a Super League, in an improved format.
Shell companies like Fordham Sports Management being used as a conduit from the Abu Dhabi group and the players they are buying, overpaying on consultancies in the Middle East to name but two instances where it would be difficult to prove where the tax liability sits.
I imagine most Man City transactions have at least some proportion of the fee not involving Man City the entity. Most involve at least some capital moving directly from the owners in Abu Dhabi to the players via a middle man. It might be difficult to prove UK tax is owed by a ME group making a transaction to a non-UK company when City are deliberately obscuring what the services are that they are paying for.
After 1 year he got rid of the 5 he inherited - Sanga, Zabaletta, Kolarov, Clichy and the sometimes FB Navas. So yes, significant, but reasonable turnover given the state of the players in that position he inherited. But what is actual basis of the joke/criticism? Yes he spent a lot of money for the time on Walker, and even the other two were not cheap for FBs, but since that time he’s added to the group just once, the following year. He’s only adding to it now because of the age of Walker and a pending criminal case. How does it fit into the argument that until now he has been happy to not buy more specialist FBs and make do with players like Stones, Ake and Zinchenko, players he could coach up to do what he wanted his FB to do?
@Draexnael
Henry could have sold us, and it still wouldn’t have been an even playing field. Unless they limited spend and what would the point in that be? They would walk and probably set up there own sports washing entity like in Golf which could pay millions more.
Pérez running a league is absolutely no difference, the only thing Liverpool would have got out of it is TV rights for that competition.
I don’t disagree football needs reshaping, Perez’s model was not it and he threw us on the fire by announcing it knowing that we were first to play after it.
Whole thing stank and the hatred of UEFA seems to cloud judgement that this tournament was any better, it really wasn’t.
Reading the post feels like this…
https://twitter.com/NoContextBrits/status/1536283292793819137
For people who watch youth football, what is the perspective on Cole Palmer? I know he’s an U21 international, but is good enough to make an impact. Increasing whispers that they are content to let Sterling and Jesus go because in Alvarez and Palmer they have enough to cope.