Podolski £1.8 m

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

This eels such a small amount of money ! Comparatively of course .

Of course we do not offer what Galatasary do but really £1.8m :(

[kick it off 1,948]

Bigger reputation than his ability. Sure it''s cheap for the ''name;, but is he the same player he was 6 or 7 years ago? I don''t think he is.

Done absolutely nothing for 2 years. Played 24 games (17 of those in Serie A, a weaker league than the Prem) in 2 seasons, scored 1 goal. Played 13 for Germany in that time and scored 2, against Australia and Armenia. He''ll do OK in Turkey as outside of Fenerbahce (who are about to sign Van Persie!!!), the league is pretty weak, but I would be concerned about relying on him in the Prem.

Galatasaray have Champions League football and 15% income tax so they can put more money in player''s pockets even if they pay them significantly less per week than a Prem club offered. Plus, much as I love Norwich, Istanbul is an amazing city, and I can see why he would choose living there over Norfolk (not that I am suggesting we were ever in for him).

The bloke is a mercenary anyway. Born in Poland, to Polish parents, lived there for first 10 years of his life, speaks Polish as a first language... plays international football for Germany because they have a better chance of winning trophies. If he can sell out his blood, his ancestry and his nationality for a chance of picking up a trophy for someone else''s country, then how much loyalty would you reasonably expect him to give us? If he had a few good games in the first half of the season, he''d be off like a shot in January.

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

In the current market if we got a good half a season it would be well worth it .

[kick it off 1,948]

[quote user="Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd"]In the current market if we got a good half a season it would be well worth it .[/quote]

Fair shout, but 2 years of poor form and a scoring record equivalent to Wolfy''s Norwich career, but playing in a weaker league doesn''t inspire confidence for me that he''d have any impact whatsoever on our team.

[Paul101 93]

why do people see the fee and think that''s all

I bet money he is getting a huge signing on fee plus massive wages

with bonus payments /performance and I can also bet its the sort of deal qpr would offer who are now up shit creek in many ways

[AJ 1,218]

Exactly Paul, plus we can''t offer what other clubs can. He''s gone to a champions league qualified side!

Very cheap fee on the scheme of things though but not unheard of the 1.8 might just be the upfront fee...

[chicken 0]

Hang on, Serie A a weaker league than the premier league?

Not sure there is a great level of evidence for that. It is typically much tighter defensively for a start.

[Gainer the Gopher 0]

Criticizing him for playing for Germany is silly unless you want to say the same thing about all the others who commit similar sins. Like most of the Wales and Ireland teams, several of the US team, and plenty of other country''s teams that have a large pool of immigrants or emigrants to draw from. Owen Whatsit was born and raised in Canada but was easily England''s top player in the World Cup he played in (in Germany, I think).

[Paul101 93]

chicken long gone are the days of the seria A in its channel 4 pomp and glory

last season all the top teams proposed changes to make the league stronger as Italian football was top to bottom was on the sickbed

and for once the changes meen even distribution of all tv revenue and for to filter down to B the death of parma has scared a lot of the teams

[Paul101 93]

forgot to add

you cant moan at him for playing for Germany he is more german than Russel Martin and about 6 of the last Scotland squad are Scottish

[A Load of Squit 5,113]

[quote user="Paul101"]forgot to add

you cant moan at him for playing for Germany he is more german than Russel Martin and about 6 of the last Scotland squad are Scottish[/quote]To be fair to R Martin he said his father always made him aware of his Scottish heritage and he knew the anthem before he was picked.

[Yellowbeagle 0]

[quote user="Paul101"]why do people see the fee and think that''s all

I bet money he is getting a huge signing on fee plus massive wages

with bonus payments /performance and I can also bet its the sort of deal qpr would offer who are now up shit creek in many ways[/quote]

Totally agree. People need to forget transfer fees in the main, the thing that bankrupts clubs is wages.

[Buh 0]

Oh my god...

*slams head against wall*

[Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd 0]

Last time I looked Galatasary were in Turkey not Italy :)

Still the original point stands ,, £1.8 compared to current fees seems very very inexpensive !

[kick it off 1,948]

Fenerbahce are signing Van Persie for around 5mill and Nani for around 3.5mill.to Fenerbahce.

Both much bigger bargains than Podolski.

[kick it off 1,948]

[quote user="Barclay seats 4849 the 3rd"]Last time I looked Galatasary were in Turkey not Italy :)

Still the original point stands ,, £1.8 compared to current fees seems very very inexpensive ![/quote]

Yeah Turkish league is far weaker than Serie A where Podolski failed last season, although I do expect to see Fenerbahce and Galatasaray being bigger players in European competition, and the quality of the league improve now that the foreign quotas on squads have been relaxed (They were only allowed something like 5 foreign players in their squad until now, but it''s been changed this season to pretty much unlimited).

Fener have been banned from European competition for two years for matchfixing, but are eligible to compete again now (2nd CL qualifying round) and they are overhauling the squad.

Nani for 3.5 is a better signing than Podolski for 1.8 imo. Van Persie for 5 million makes both Nani and Podolski look over priced! 

I''m sure Podolski will be a success over there, as the quality is so poor. Gala''s other signing this season so far is Jem Karacan off Reading (From Reading to a squad containing Wesley Sneijder, Muslera, Felipe Melo and now Podolski lol!), and Colin Kazim Richards was first choice for both Gala and Fener for a period, the standard outside of the big 3 is about akin to the Championship, athough Antalyaspor have just signed Samuel Eto''o.

As for us in the Prem, I don''t think Podolski would have been a good signing. He''s 2 years removed from having a half decent season in the Prem, hasn''t played much football, and hasn''t been very good when he has played.

[chicken 0]

[quote user="Paul101"]chicken long gone are the days of the seria A in its channel 4 pomp and glory

last season all the top teams proposed changes to make the league stronger as Italian football was top to bottom was on the sickbed

and for once the changes meen even distribution of all tv revenue and for to filter down to B the death of parma has scared a lot of the teams[/quote]

Sure. We''ll just forget about the Champions league then.

Only a fool writes off Serie A. It is still a very strong league which attracts and has some of the best players.

[kick it off 1,948]

[quote user="chicken"][quote user="Paul101"]chicken long gone are the days of the seria A in its channel 4 pomp and glory

last season all the top teams proposed changes to make the league stronger as Italian football was top to bottom was on the sickbed

and for once the changes meen even distribution of all tv revenue and for to filter down to B the death of parma has scared a lot of the teams[/quote]

Sure. We''ll just forget about the Champions league then.

Only a fool writes off Serie A. It is still a very strong league which attracts and has some of the best players.[/quote]

Yes, but the quality of the depth of the league as a whole is not brilliant. The 5 or 6 good teams are particularly good, but look at the squads of the rest of the teams and as a league, it''s not on the level of the Prem which was the original point. Juventus being in the CL final doesn''t make sense to base the quality of the league as a whole. It''s a bit like saying you won the lottery, because you live in the same town as the guy who had the winning ticket.

[Move Klose 303]

Serie A isn''t what it used to be. In the mid to late 90s when Crespo,Vieri, Baggio,Batistuta,Ronaldo,Del Piero,Inzaghi were awesome. Struggle to name strikers like that now in that league.

Tevez done well but he''s gone now, Higuain gets goals but always flatters to deceive on the international scene.

[Tetteys Jig 830]

Series a isn''t what it was in the 90''s but it''s still a great league. Probs 4th best in Europe after us, Germany and Spain. Milan are back challenging now as well with a new owner.

No good strikers?! Try again, higuain, bacca, dybala, mandzukic, icardi to name a few.

As for poldi. Add on £4m signing fee and agent fee then £10m wages over 2 years and its not such a bargain any more. There''s no resale value there either.

[Move Klose 303]

Oh don''t get me wrong they have decent strikers but they don''t have the world class finished articles of old like they used to.

Soon as those players become proven they will move to Spain Germany or over here.

Mandzukic was soon shipped out of munich and a.Madrid.and they were hardly queuing up to spend €30m on Higuain.

[Paul101 93]

the old Milan side used to be a whos who of football

when you cant put marco van basten on the bench because only 3 non Italians can play you know its strong

[Mr Angry 1,544]

[quote user="kick it off"]

The bloke is a mercenary anyway. Born in Poland, to Polish parents, lived there for first 10 years of his life, speaks Polish as a first language... plays international football for Germany because they have a better chance of winning trophies. If he can sell out his blood, his ancestry and his nationality for a chance of picking up a trophy for someone else''s country, then how much loyalty would you reasonably expect him to give us? If he had a few good games in the first half of the season, he''d be off like a shot in January.

[/quote]

He was born in a town that until 1945 was German and he moved to Germany when he was 2 years old.

[star_manic 0]

You have misread the details of the transfer. He has signed a four year contract with an optional fifth year, and Arsenal will be paid £1.8m EACH year he is there, which equates to £7.2m or £9m.

[kick it off 1,948]

[quote user="star_manic"]You have misread the details of the transfer. He has signed a four year contract with an optional fifth year, and Arsenal will be paid £1.8m EACH year he is there, which equates to £7.2m or £9m.[/quote]

That is a terrible deal for Galatasaray if he sees out his contract.

[wcorkcanary 4,329]

Great deal for Arsenal though