Odd Transfers, summer 08

there has no doubt been some very strange transfers in the summer of 08. barzagli and zaccardo moved to wolfsburg, robinho of course to man city. this should make playing fm09 very interesting as there will be a host of good players at lesser reputation clubs available at lower fees

the one that stands out for me is rafael sobis who has signed for al-jazira in the uae. this reminds me of mauro zarate on fm08 who has since signed for lazio on loan and made an impact. rafael sobis should naturally be interested in signing for any higher reputation club, maybe even in the english championship. i know it may not be as simple as that but the notion excites me.

any more weird transfers that may make for interesting fm09 gaming?

not sure about making the game more interesting, but i've certainly been surprised by the signings liverpool have made. ok, robbie keane i can maybe understand, but phillip degen and andrea dossena?!

not sure about making the game more interesting, but i've certainly been surprised by the signings liverpool have made. ok, robbie keane i can maybe understand, but phillip degen and andrea dossena?!

They do it every year! Benitez is useless at buying players, he just buys loads of crap then moans because they have not won the league, again.

It makes me laugh it does.

VA101 is offline VA101

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in the case of sobis, a championship club would never be able to afford his wages.

probably the same is true of anyone interested in robinho (bar chelsea).

They do it every year! Benitez is useless at buying players, he just buys loads of crap then moans because they have not won the league, again.

It makes me laugh it does.

Fernando Torres, Robbie Keane, Daniel Agger, Ryan Babel, Javier Mascherano, Pepe Reina, Martin Skrtel

All these and you say Benitez is useless at buying players!

All I can say is its gonna be interesting kicking out most of the expensive transfers made by the top clubs.

Fernando Torres, Robbie Keane, Daniel Agger, Ryan Babel, Javier Mascherano, Pepe Reina, Martin Skrtel

All these and you say Benitez is useless at buying players!

Jermaine Pennant, Alvaro Arbeloa, Emiliano Insua, Fabio Aurelio, Peter Coruch, Craig Bellamy,

Jan Kromkamp, Andriy Voronin..and a lot of bad youngster.. not all good?

yes but he has also got world class players in aswell so he isnt useless

Jermaine Pennant, Alvaro Arbeloa, Emiliano Insua, Fabio Aurelio, Peter Coruch, Craig Bellamy,

Jan Kromkamp, Andriy Voronin..and a lot of bad youngster.. not all good?

how can you say the youngsters are bad? thay have not had a chance to prove anything yet. just because FM doesnt rate them very highly means nothing.

admittedly, he's made some poor signings, but he's made some absolute beauties as well. and name me a manager that hasnt made mistakes in the transfer market??

Arbeloa is solid, Insua is what 20? Give him a chance. Fabio is good when not injured. Made a profit from Peter Crouch and Bellamy so can't complain, but Kromkamp and Voronin are/were just awful!

Getting back to the OP - yes it'll be a little bit more interesting on FM09.

Robinho will probably have a slight concern.

"Feels he made the wrong decision in joining the club"

"Has instructed his agent to find a more suitable club"

Something like that.

Jermaine Pennant, Alvaro Arbeloa, Emiliano Insua, Fabio Aurelio, Peter Coruch, Craig Bellamy,

Jan Kromkamp, Andriy Voronin..and a lot of bad youngster.. not all good?

Craig Bellamy counts for 10 bad players. If benitez thought he was the sort of player they needed to win the league then he clearly has terrible judgement.

You cant say that he's good at spotting players cos he signed Torres. Torres was an obvious talent who wanted to join liverpool. Any liverpool manager would have got him.

Craig Bellamy counts for 10 bad players. If benitez thought he was the sort of player they needed to win the league then he clearly has terrible judgement.

You cant say that he's good at spotting players cos he signed Torres. Torres was an obvious talent who wanted to join liverpool. Any liverpool manager would have got him.

Thats certainly not entirely true. Rafa Benitez's nationality, european stature, and reputation for bringing through Spanish players in the EPL was a HUGE part of Torres wanting to move to Liverpool. Had it not been for Benitez I have no doubt Fernando Torres would be a Manchester United player right now.

Craig Bellamy counts for 10 bad players.

im sure you would find many liverpool fans that agree, however, he realised the mistake and sold him at a profit.

still "terrible" judgement???

back on topic, i wouldnt mind having a bash at managin Spurs tbh, they brought in some real quality this year, and its quite baffling how theyre as bad as they are!

Jermaine Pennant, Alvaro Arbeloa, Emiliano Insua, Fabio Aurelio, Peter Coruch, Craig Bellamy,

Jan Kromkamp, Andriy Voronin..and a lot of bad youngster.. not all good?

Thats certainly not entirely true. Rafa Benitez's nationality, european stature, and reputation for bringing through Spanish players in the EPL was a HUGE part of Torres wanting to move to Liverpool. Had it not been for Benitez I have no doubt Fernando Torres would be a Manchester United player right now.

"Torres has claimed to be a Liverpool fan for several years along with some of his close friends who presented him with a captain's armband inscribed with the saying "We'll Never Walk Alone" as testament to his devotion to the Liverpool cause despite still wearing the clolours of Atletico."

http://worldsoccer.about.com/b/2007/07/04/torres-signs-for-liverpool.htm

That was a quick google search away but I remember seeing lots of quotes that state that Torres has always had the ambition of playing for liverpool benitez or no benitez

The players the OP listed were basically moves motivated by money, perhaps there is an argument that this should be represented more in FM, but I think it would probably be difficult to replicate the current transfer climate.

As for Liverpool, HA is all I can say.

As for Spurs, holding midfielder?? Is all i can say.

how can you say the youngsters are bad? thay have not had a chance to prove anything yet. just because FM doesnt rate them very highly means nothing.

admittedly, he's made some poor signings, but he's made some absolute beauties as well. and name me a manager that hasnt made mistakes in the transfer market??

Personally, I don't think Crouch was a bad signing - he proved that if he plays regularly he will get the goals. His skill and touch is awesome. I would like to see him back at Liverpool and play regularly then you can criticise him. His form for Portsmouth has been pretty good so far - because he is playing regularly!

Insua - have you seen his stats on FM2008? they are very good for a 19 year old Left Back. Voronin and Degen were both free so not wasted money. I am sure Aurelio was free as well. I agree that Bellamy and Pennant are/were poor signings though.

Anyway - look at Chelsea, Mutu, Kezman, Veron, Crespo, Shevchenko - at least £100m wasted on them 5.

Personally, I don't think Crouch was a bad signing - he proved that if he plays regularly he will get the goals. His skill and touch is awesome. I would like to see him back at Liverpool and play regularly then you can criticise him. His form for Portsmouth has been pretty good so far - because he is playing regularly!

Insua - have you seen his stats on FM2008? they are very good for a 19 year old Left Back. Voronin and Degen were both free so not wasted money. I am sure Aurelio was free as well. I agree that Bellamy and Pennant are/were poor signings though.

Anyway - look at Chelsea, Mutu, Kezman, Veron, Crespo, Shevchenko - at least £100m wasted on them 5.

i wasnt slating Benitez, i was sticking up for him, actually!! i agree on Crouch, just had a quick look, and he scored 40 in 124 for us, average of a goal every 3 games. i'd hardly call that a failure!

anyways, im not gonna carry this on now, i think i've hijacked this thread for long enough.

apologies to the op..

it doesn't matter who ya sign, liverpool are never gonna win the league

Ok, ok, it was fun while it lasted, but as rinso said, we need to stop hijacking the thread and get back on topic.

here ya go then. Rivaldo to Bunyodkor. I know it was for the money but is that not originally why he went to play in Greece, like Gilberto has done this season to become the highest paid player over there

rafa doesnt sign players like arsenal or man u torres was a quality player he didnt pick him out of a small club and mould him into a world class player like anelka or ronaldo looking at those players they didnt cost a great deal you could argue ronaldo cost a bit but compared to his value now

Players moving solely for money hasn't really been in FM previously as far as I can see, or at least not when I offer far more in terms of wages to a player who then signs for someone else on half the wage.

Persuading a player to leave all the cash of the middle east will require a club who can match his presumably very large wages.

Re: Barzagli and Zaccardo, my guess is that they will not be as good in FM09 as in FM08 because they appear to be a tad over-rated in FM08. I can't say as I know anything about those two moving, but it seems interesting that a player would move to Germany for financial reasons. In FM08 German finances are not too good in my experience, since gate receipts are so low.

Benitez's record is pretty dire tbh. Gonzales, Pennant, Degen, Dossena, Kromkamp, Voronin, possibly Sissoko, Itandje, Morientes, Zenden, Bruna, Ajdarevic (yes, I know those two are young, but neither will ever be anywhere near the required standard, that was obvious before they even signed), and you could add the likes of Arbeloa and Aurelio who whilst they are good players, would never improve the side.

Ibrahima Sonko to Stoke still cracks me up. That will probably ensure they are relagated every single time in FM, unless managed by a human.

Who cares about Benitez? this isn't a Liverpool/Everton thread.

I'm sure in FM09 Citeh will be a top 4 side (with Man Utd inevitibly falling away, as they have in every FM), Whichever team seems to be on the up (if the mdeia keep saying so) will be modelled as such ingame. Also since the A.I managers are given shortlists and are pretty rigid in following them I can't see too many unexpected transfers (i.e: Robinho to Barca in the first season).

I'm looking forward to Sobis as well, forgot about his move. I loved him on my Betis team but never had him on any other team since he was rather on the expensive side.