Latest news with #Bosman
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Celtic ace who bagged 30 goals for youth side agrees to join historic Premier League club as compensation fee confirmed
IN THE MONEY Celtic ace who bagged 30 goals for youth side agrees to join historic Premier League club as compensation fee confirmed Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) CELTIC starlet Daniel Cummings is all set to leave Parkhead and join West Ham, according to reports. And the final compensation fee has been revealed. Sign up for the Celtic newsletter Sign up 1 GDaniel Cummings scores against Slovan Bratislava in the Uefa Youth League Credit: Getty Daniel Cummings scored 30 goals for the Hoops youth side this past season. And he began to attract interest from the Premier League during the last year. A number clubs from down south were interested in the young Scot but West Ham and Brighton emerged as the favourites. But it soon became clear that he had his heart set on a move to London - despite Celtic being keen to keep him. The Parkhead side were ready to offer him a new deal but Cummings was intent on moving to Englnd. And a transfer was all but agreed back in February - but the crucial compensation figure was still up in the air. Cross-border rules on development mean that West Ham will have to stump up £300,000 for the player, even though he is technically leaving on a Bosman. Cummings, who made his Champions League debut at Villa Park when Brendan Rodgers' men travelled there to face Aston Villa, is all set to join the Hammers on July 1. That's according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. It's also reported that Cummings has completed his medical, with all the fine details between the two clubs agreed. Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has STRONGER transfer case after final defeat Brentford, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Wolves and newly-promoted Burnley and Sunderland were at one point also keeping tabs on the Scotland youth international. Cummings, 19, rose through the Celts youth academy and made his B team debut in 2022. Since then he's played for Scotland at under-17 and under-19 level. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Arsenal look into signing Leroy Sane on free transfer
Arsenal have made inquiries over Leroy Sané as the Germany forward assesses his options this summer. Sané, 29, is out of contract at Bayern Munich next month and has several options as a Bosman free transfer for next season, with Arsenal now emerging as one of the clubs who have asked about the conditions of a deal. Mikel Arteta worked with Sané at Manchester City when he was on Pep Guardiola's coaching staff before moving to the Emirates Stadium. Sane won two Premier League titles during his time at City. Andrea Berta, sporting director at Arsenal, has been working on several deals as the club search for a centre-forward. Loanee Raheem Sterling will return to Chelsea, which could open a place for a wide forward. RB Leipzig have put an asking price of £92.5 million on Benjamin Sesko as Premier League clubs line up to make bids for the Slovenia striker. Arsenal have shortlisted the 21-year-old, who has broken the 20-goal barrier this season in Germany, while other clubs in England have been long-term admirers since he emerged at Red Bull Salzburg. But negotiations for Sesko are unlikely to be straightforward, such is the price Leipzig have put on their striker. That market value would be comparable with strikers of a similar profile, such as Alexander Isak, who Newcastle United are hopeful of keeping this summer but is rated beyond £100 million. Sesko was on Manchester United's radar around the time he moved within the Red Bull stable of clubs, switching from Salzburg in Austria to the Bundesliga. In two years at Red Bull Arena, he has scored 39 goals in all competitions. He also has a long-term contract, signed a year ago, committing him to the German club until 2029, which means he can command full-market value if a club were to move for him this summer. Premier League clubs have been looking at the strikers on the market in what is expected to be a busy summer of transfer activity. In the case of Matheus Cunha, he had a buyout clause, which Manchester United have met. England Under-21 striker Liam Delap also has a set price for a club to buy him from Ipswich Town. Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres, the 26-year-old Sweden international, is also on Arsenal's shortlist and the former Coventry City player could go for between £60 million and £70 million. Arsenal are also set to bolster their midfield with Martín Zubimendi from Real Sociedad, who has a £51 million release clause and is scheduled for a medical before completing his move from La Liga to the Premier League. The Premier League transfer window will open early between June 1 and June 10 due to the Club World Cup, then reopen on June 16 until September 1.
Asia Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- Asia Times
African pro soccer footballers have improved the sport in China
Relations between China and Africa are increasingly important in understanding the dynamics that shape our world. But until now, the role of sport was overlooked. A new book, Global China and the Global Game in Africa , explores the role of football in relations between China and Africa – culturally, politically and economically. Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu chatted with The Conversation about his chapter in the book. It's a study of African football migration, how players fare in the popular China Super League and what their experiences of the country are. A growing number of African male football players moved abroad to play professionally after the Bosman ruling in 1995. This European Court of Justice decision related to freedom of movement for workers. It triggered sports migration around the globe, and African players were major beneficiaries. Historically, aspiring African professional footballers mostly looked for opportunities in Europe. Leagues in France, England, Belgium, Germany, Spain and Portugal were popular because of their colonial ties to Africa. They offered established footballing structures and higher wages. The Middle East, the US and south-east Asia also became options. However, China's sustained economic growth over the last three decades has contributed to an intense and multifaceted global engagement that includes the game of football. The Chinese Super League (CSL) began to invest heavily in attracting international talent. It became a viable and often lucrative alternative for African players. This coincided with China's growing economic influence in Africa. African players are sought after for their athleticism and speed. And often they make lower transfer fee and wage demands than players from Europe or South America. Between 2006 and 2023, over 141 African players played in the Chinese Super League. They came from west Africa (59.57%), central Africa (19.5 %), southern Africa (10.64%), north Africa (8.51%) and east Africa (2.13%). Research shows that these players have generally performed well, often making significant contributions to their teams. Match statistics indicate that many African strikers and attacking midfielders have been key playmakers. Many have emerged as top scorers in the league. Their physical attributes often give African footballers an edge, and many have quickly adapted to the playing style in China. Chinese players, often lacking international exposure, and constrained athletically, tend to rely on technical finesse. Migrant players bring athleticism, cosmopolitan technical-tactical awareness and levels of intensity that make the league more exciting. African players are enriching the Chinese game significantly, just as they have done to the European game. They've increased the number of tactical choices and game plans for Chinese teams and, in the process, upped the quality of the league. Of course, performance can vary greatly depending on individual players, team tactics, and the overall level of competition in the league at different periods. Players' experiences in the CSL vary. Many report positive experiences when it comes to the financial rewards and the opportunity to play professional football at a high level. But cultural and linguistic barriers can present challenges. African players must adapt to Chinese food and social customs. Language and communication within the team can take time and effort. Some players have also reported issues of racism or feeling isolated because of these cultural differences and the transient nature of their contracts. Some feel lonely. Research on African football migration generally highlights that the social and cultural integration process is crucial for the overall well-being and success of African players abroad. Sport, particularly football with its global appeal and professional structures, is a significant avenue for transnational movement. FIFA, as the global governing body of football, facilitates this movement through regulations and transfer systems. It's the mission of FIFA to establish and grow the game of football into a truly global sport. This, however, continues to be undermined by the enduring global inequalities and disparities that shape the world. For many African men, professional football represents a pathway to economic advancement and social mobility. These opportunities are often limited in their home countries due to economic constraints or lack of well-developed professional leagues. So, migration to leagues like the Chinese Super League is driven by both push factors (limited opportunities at home) and pull factors (better financial rewards and professional experiences abroad). The presence and performance of African players in the Chinese Super League can contribute to China's soft power and image in Africa. Seeing African athletes succeed in China can foster a sense of connection and goodwill between the two regions. It showcases China as a global player in the world of football and can be interpreted as a sign of growing ties and mutual engagement beyond economic and political spheres. Apart from being players, African footballers act as cultural ambassadors for their respective countries and the African continent. At the level of people-to-people exchange, African players interact with their Chinese teammates, fans and communities. This enhances and sustains cultural exchange and understanding. However, it's my considered opinion that, unlike the western countries where many former players settle and raise families, many Africans in China seem not to see it as being a friendly place to settle down. Even so, the presence of African players in China is helping to develop a greater familiarity and affinity between the people of China and Africa, with the promise of lasting influence socially, economically and culturally. Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu is a professor and the chair of kinesiology and health science at Stephen F. Austin State University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
New York Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
The rise of Eintracht Frankfurt: ‘We are showing that big things are possible'
Eintracht Frankfurt have broken through. Their revenues are soaring, their recruitment is the envy of Europe and, after victory over Freiburg on Saturday, they have qualified for the Champions League — the first time they have reached the competition through the Bundesliga. In 2016, the club had to win a relegation play-off. But in the six years that followed, they won the DFB-Pokal (2018) — the German Cup — and the Europa League (2022). A lot has happened in nine years and this new high point, secured with a come-from-behind 3-1 win at Europa Park, is just the latest high on their ascent. Advertisement But it has not always been that way. Frankfurt have been relegated three times in the 21st century. Before then, they spent the 1990s in financial turmoil, with their squad's value obliterated by the effects of the Bosman ruling. And while today their Waldstadion, known as Deutsche Bank Park, is consistently full to its 58,000 capacity, and its fans produce one of the fiercest and most vibrant atmospheres in the country, these are relatively modern developments. Axel Hellmann has lived the ups and downs. Today he is Frankfurt's CEO and, from the offices in the stadium's shadow, he describes a life that has been entwined with the club for as long as he can remember. 'I grew up in Eintracht Frankfurt,' he tells The Athletic. 'My parents were both members too, and I remember my father taking me to my first game against Kaiserslautern in 1978.' Hellmann has been a club member since he was three. He has been a spectator, an athlete and, at the end of the 1990s — a decade that saw Eintracht relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time in their history — he was part of a group of 20 supporters who founded what is now the Fanabteilung — the club's fan department — in response to rising discontent. That was his route to the executive board. Now, at 53, he has been in charge since 2021. A year later, in 2022, Frankfurt, then coached by Oliver Glasner, beat Rangers on penalties to win the Europa League and qualify for the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. In the minutes after Rafael Borre had scored with the final kick of that shootout, Hellman was left frozen in his seat, exhausted from the tension. 'Everyone was hugging me. Nancy Faeser, the federal minister of the interior and community, on one side. Bernd Neuendorf, the president of the DFB, was on the other. Aki Watzke (Borussia Dortmund's CEO) was there too. But I was just… nothing.' Advertisement It was an emotional tussle between what victory meant for the club and what the moment was worth to him personally. 'I wasn't on the pitch for about 45 minutes,' he recalls. 'All the other officials went down, but I was just left sitting in my seat because it was such a personal moment and so full of memories. In 1980 (when Frankfurt had won what was then the UEFA Cup) I had been in the stadium with my father.' The experience of being in the stadium and the notion of fandom itself has changed dramatically in the years since. 'In the 1970s, when I first went,' Hellmann remembers, 'our average attendance was 28,000. 'In the 1980s, it was even lower. In the 1990s, it went up but football was not as popular. And the football and club culture were completely different because fans had no voice and no representation. 'There was just the club on the one side, with distinguished personalities from the region. And on the other side, there were fans going in and watching the games.' Most clubs in Germany were originally multi-sport organisations run by their members. In 1998, in recognition of burgeoning commercialism elsewhere in Europe, a concession was made to allow domestic clubs to remain competitive. The 50+1 rule as it is known today, allows those clubs to run their football departments separately, as public limited companies, provided that 50 per cent of the voting rights — plus one share — remained with the original members. Eintracht are currently 68 per cent member-owned and the relationship between those members and the club is a perpetual compromise. Ambition versus fan agency. Growth versus regionality. It is both a familiar tension in German football and one of the most interesting aspects of Hellmann's role. In 2023, the Deutsche Fussball-Liga (DFL), which operates the Bundesliga, proposed a €1billion (£840m; $1.1bn) sale of marketing rights to a private equity firm drew weeks of protest, with tennis balls thrown from the stands to disrupt games across the country. Eventually, the DFL yielded and abandoned the initiative, but Eintracht fans were among those not to have disrupted games. Advertisement Hellmann sees that as emblematic of a healthy relationship. 'It can be very difficult to control the majority of fans, especially with the more emotional topics and because credibility has to be built over a long period of time,' he says. 'I'm from the fan scene, so I have more credit than most other executives in the Bundesliga. That is a big advantage — and the investor deal was an example of that. 'Before it became a public story, I told the fans what our position was (that the club would vote in favour of the investment deal). 'They were very sceptical and wanted some red lines drawn. They didn't want the investors to have too much influence, nor for us to hold matches outside Germany. I took that back to the DFL level. 'So, because I was open before it appeared on the public agenda, it gave me credibility. They thought: 'OK, if Axel says that there will be no backdoor influence from the investors, then we can believe that.' And the fans in Frankfurt did not throw tennis balls. They were forced not to. Had they done so they would have lost credibility with me. 'You can only have a workable long-term relationship if everybody knows what to expect from the other side. As an official or manager, you don't interfere with fan culture. That is not our business. 'But it's not their business to discuss with me the strategic approach of the Bundesliga. We have a sensitive mutual understanding of the respective roles we play at the club.' Hellmann's broader role is to help his club answer German football's most difficult questions. How do they compete with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, who both enjoy significant financial advantages, and in European football, which is dominated by clubs that benefit from external investment, from sovereign wealth funds, private equity firms, and billionaires? Advertisement Being a smart recruiter helps. Markus Krosche, Frankfurt's sporting director, is as highly regarded as anyone in Europe. Fredi Bobic, his predecessor, was just as well thought of. Combined, their work has helped define Eintracht as one of the best accelerators of talent in the world. Last summer, defender Willian Pacho left the club for €40million having arrived for €13m. Two years ago, they paid Brondby €7m for Jesper Lindstrom before selling him to Napoli for €35m. That is a typical pattern, but there have been outrageous successes. Randal Kolo Muani arrived on a free transfer in 2022 and was sold to Paris Saint-Germain for €95million 18 months later. In January 2025, Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush was sold to Manchester City for €85m, having also joined on a free from Wolfsburg the season before. The future is just as bright. French forward Hugo Ekitike cost €16.5million in 2024 and is worth many times more today. Midfielder Hugo Larsson is similarly valuable, having cost just €9m. It's no surprise then that, since 2020, Eintracht have recorded the highest overall transfer profit in the Bundesliga (€124m). Hellmann is keen to stress the role of the environment in that achievement. 'We have one of the best coaching teams in the Bundesliga,' he says. 'That's really important, because we sign young players and the process of educating them, which is what is making us famous at the moment, involves a lot. 'When Omar Marmoush arrived, he wasn't really a goalscorer, but our coaches worked with him mentally, physically, strategically, and tactically and technically on the pitch. Our team worked on all his abilities and we created a whole new player. It's good education and good coaching.' It's also good business, because Eintracht's ability to produce players has become a defining characteristic. This is what they do. Advertisement 'We are open with our strategy when we talk to the players and to other clubs,' says Hellmann. 'That's the reason why we are well connected to other clubs, because they know we take that work seriously. 'We are an international club. We have the airport just around the corner. Frankfurt is an international city with 147 different nationalities. It doesn't matter if you come from South America or Africa, you have your community here. 'But it's also a good commercial story to tell. Frankfurt as an open city. Eintracht Frankfurt as a club, where there is performance and discipline. That's important to tell Adidas when they become our new supplier next season.' The agreement with Adidas will be worth roughly €5million per season for the next five years, making it the richest manufacturing deal in the club's history, helping already impressive financial performance. In 2016, Eintracht recorded turnover of €109.30m. By 2024, that had risen to €390.5m. The growth can be attributed to the relative strength of the Bundesliga's broadcasting contract, to continued participation in European competition and, of course, the success of the transfer policy. But there have been other drivers. Like many clubs in Europe, Eintracht compete — domestically and continentally — with rivals boasting true stars of the game, who are more attractive to new fans and commercial partners around the world. What, then, is the practical approach to long-term growth? 'If you want to play permanently in European competitions, it is not a question of capital injections but of growing revenues,' Hellmann says. 'So, the No 1 for us as a club is how to open new revenue sources permanently. And since the revenue sources are quite limited in football, where does the additional money come from? The only thing you can is go totally digital. Advertisement 'So that is what we did. We invested in our digital systems. In e-commerce, sales and marketing, as well as ticketing systems by Eintracht Tech, an entity that we founded six years ago to optimise our digital business models.' Eintracht Tech is a wholly owned club subsidiary and, essentially, the club's own software company. By 2017, commercial inventory had been virtually exhausted. But even just in their domestic market, Eintracht were still competing against clubs who held advantages over them — Bayern and Dortmund, of course, but also RB Leipzig and their supporting network, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen, who (at the time) enjoyed exemptions from 50+1 and benefited from external investment and wealthy patronage. Eintracht needed to create their own advantages. So, with many clubs outsourcing their e-ticketing and e-commerce to third parties, they decided to bring everything in-house, to create a virtuous cycle of information. Timm Jaeger is Eintracht Tech's CEO. He has worked for the Boston Consulting Group and BMW. He is also a lifelong Eintracht Frankfurt fan and needed little persuasion to lead the project or tackle its challenges. 'Before, we had no idea who our fans really were or how they interacted with us,' he tells The Athletic. 'Our different departments were silos. The media team would decide the best content management solution, the merchandise team decided for the best e-commerce solution and then our ticketing department decided on the ticketing solution. 'If someone called our ticketing department to renew their season ticket, we would have no oversight — no idea that, perhaps, they had been a member for 10 years. If the same fan contacted merchandise to buy a shirt for the 10th year in a row, we had no idea either. It was a disaster.' The scale of Eintracht Tech's work goes far beyond replica shirts, tickets and content. Advertisement It has overall responsibility for the club's eSports activities. Deutsche Bank Park is also full of collaborations with other technology companies. Collectively referred to as the Arena of IoT (Arena of Internet of Things), it includes the testing of demand-based irrigation systems, queue management information throughout the stadium, and autonomous vehicles. And the company works beyond the boundaries of the club, too, with local government and businesses. 'We have to earn money to give our sports department, not take money away; we are a profit centre, not a cost centre,' Jaeger explains. And the most visible part of that is what has been created around the club's fans, with the previously disconnected departments now adjoined and optimised. Since more and more sport organisations understand the importance of data and the necessity of optimising their revenue streams, Eintracht Tech has decided to offer their developed software solutions to other teams inside and outside football as a white-label solution. 'You cannot be innovative and talk about new revenue streams if you have no idea who your fans are,' Jaeger says. 'So we developed all of our software by ourselves. We developed our own fan app. We developed our own ticketing system, we developed our own e-commerce store, we developed our own content management system and we developed our own analytical tools to really be able to understand what each fan is doing with Eintracht Frankfurt.' It means that instead of fan data being passed into the hands of third-party companies, as it is in other sports leagues — in the NFL, via its partnerships with Fanatics or Ticketmaster, for instance — it is used within the club's own ecosystem, to improve the experience for the club's fans, but also to leverage the value of the fanbase. Advertisement If the club knows what content the supporters engage with, what events they attend, and what kind of products they buy — and has a proper oversight of that activity — then the value is clear. In September 2023, the club announced a 12.3 per cent year-on-year rise in its marketing turnover and a 31.8 per cent annual rise in revenue from merchandising. Both were club records. And the sharing of data inside the club is, from a fan perspective, preferable to the third-party alternative. Eintracht Tech does not use the data collected externally, even with commercial partners. A Data Protection Council also meets twice a year, allowing fans proper oversight of how their information is being used and what commercial aims the company is pursuing. Again, stresses Jaeger, communication matters. 'We bring everyone together twice a year and tell them everything what we're doing with the data, because we want to be 100 per cent transparent in what we're doing,' he adds. 'This creates a lot of trust. Even though not all of our fans are in favour of football's commercialisation, they understand that we have to improve on the financial side to be competitive on the pitch. They obviously prefer this technical and data independence that Eintracht Frankfurt has.' Independence, efficiency; these themes come up regularly with Hellmann. Asked to reflect on his club's strengths, he talks of trust — allowing people to do the jobs for which they were hired. 'Those in high positions at our clubs are all the same in the sense that they have the freedom to make decisions on their own,' he says. 'They are all competent. I'm not the guy who should be making changes to a press release or to what a shirt looks like. 'What I focus on is how we optimise the running of the machine. I'm listening to the engine. 'Is it working properly? Is there anything that it needs? This is what's important. You shouldn't waste your energies on issues where you have good people.' Hellmann still has his season ticket. One day, he says, when his time in club politics is over, he will cross back over to the other side of the Waldstadion, reclaim his seat from the friend who has been keeping it warm, and go back to being a fan. It will be easier. There will be less to organise and fewer tomorrows to worry about. Advertisement But that future can wait, because the present is too exciting. 'We are showing that big things are possible,' he adds. 'If you see the pictures from three years ago, when we celebrated winning the Europa League, then just watch the people's eyes. You could see that they were fulfilling a dream. 'I think this city has the ambition for more than what the club has given to them over the last 30 years. But maybe now is the time they can say: 'Yes, we are back on the stage'.'
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
‘The arrogance is astounding': How Real Madrid became the envy of world football
When Trent Alexander-Arnold was first considering a move to Real Madrid, which was some time ago now, a particular message was relayed. It was the same as that which Jude Bellingham received when given a tour of the Bernabeu by head of recruitment Juni Calafat. You can go to any other club and be a legend, sure. Being a legend at Madrid, however, is like nothing else in football. Such comments are why the chief executive of a major rival once commented: 'The arrogance is astounding.' Arsenal vs Real Madrid LIVE: Champions League team news and updates Madrid don't care about such statements, though, since they don't really care what anyone else thinks. 'We are Madrid,' as the declarative statement from their senior executives and cigar-puffing wealthier fans goes. They feel above it all and radiate that. It is this attitude – this 'aura', as it's so often described – that Arsenal are going to have to overcome more than anything else in this Champions League quarter-final. Mikel Arteta's side might at least feel that less than others, since the two clubs have only met once, in the 2005-06 last-16. Arsenal are one of just seven clubs to have played Madrid in Europe and never been eliminated by them, and one of just three in the European Cup or Champions League. The other two are Monaco and Hamburg. Arteta's staff have duly focused more on Madrid's flaws and shortcomings, to try and give his team a roadmap to victory they can visualise. That is in part to make a club often cast as otherworldly seem human and mortal. They can be defeated in this competition. And yet Arsenal may still feel the great weight of Madrid, even before the game. There has long been talk about interest in William Saliba, and a media campaign has already started around Martin Zubimendi. Although Arsenal remain confident they have a deal in place for the Real Sociedad midfielder, Madrid have made it known they want him. They've also made it known that Xabi Alonso could be coming in the summer – in what could be yet another coup – since the Bayer Leverkusen manager is another Real Sociedad legend. The idea is for that to play on Zubimendi's mind. That is all happening as Alexander-Arnold will sign on a Bosman and Madrid mull over whether to leap ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea for Bournemouth's Dean Huijsen. It could well be a summer that shows considerable superiority over the Premier League, after yet another season when they have eliminated Manchester City. What is genuinely noteworthy about this is that it all comes just a few years after club president Florentino Perez feared that Madrid had fallen irrevocably behind the Premier League, and were being left for dust by 'the state clubs'. The Spanish billionaire had one of the most pronounced hangups in football about such ownerships, but only due to what it meant for his club. The desperation and panic at that point was what drove the Super League, as much as greed. Madrid were at one point around €1bn in debt and couldn't really see the route back to where they believed they belonged. They're now arguably beyond that. They're not just competing again. Madrid are back in an imperial phase. They have certainly gone beyond the more astute modern approach that started this route back. Much has been made about how Calafat introduced an intelligent recruitment strategy where Madrid signed five of their current starters as teenagers, in the hope they would grow. This, they felt, was the only way to try and match wealthier superclubs in the market. It made the club more agile, at the same time as the hierarchy surprisingly agreed to some private equity deals in order to ease financial concerns. A €380m (£325m) deal was done with Sixth Street for 30 per cent of new stadium operations. Other major clubs have meanwhile raged about Madrid receiving 'illegal state aid', through unfair benefits from Spain's tax laws due to their member ownership, as judged by the European Court of Justice. The same verdict was also delivered about Barcelona. It has previously been reported that Perez told one politician that 'Real Madrid is a Spanish brand standing above the government'. They now have the kind of squad that usually stands above the rest of the game, too. It is absolutely stacked, superior to the strongest of the Galactico eras. No compromises are necessary any more. Calafat's calculation has more than paid off. The teenagers like Vinicius Junior and Bellingham have quickly become the best players in the world. Even those less considered, like Federico Valverde, would be the envy of most clubs. Precocious talents like Endrick and Arda Guler may have to look elsewhere just for some football. The key now is that group have been complemented by signings of the status that Madrid are more historically associated with: stars at the top of their game and peak of their careers. There is one difference to the past, mind. Madrid now only spend big on youth. They otherwise refuse to pay huge transfer fees on those prime stars. They instead spend that part of the budget on wages and, crucially, signing-on fees. Alexander-Arnold will be the fourth major free transfer in four years, after David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger and, of course, Kylian Mbappe. Madrid have made a considerable virtue of maximising the Bosman ruling, in a way no other team has really done since its implementation. That has been achieved by leaning on their immense sway. In other words, that aura. Virtually no other club could convince so many players to run a contract down and hold their nerve in negotiations with previous employers. In Mbappe's case, it involved staring down the state of Qatar. That kind of persuasive power makes recruitment a lot easier. Clubs who lose their stars rail about this strategy, especially the complementary media campaigns, but most would simply love to do it to the level that Madrid can do. Perez often oversees this with the sense of satisfaction that this is simply the normal order. This is football as it should be. This is Madrid. So, Arteta has had to focus on how this is still just a football team, even in the Champions League. They still have to conform to the same laws of physics and tactics as everyone else, which will leave gaps. The Arsenal manager has pointed to how Madrid love giving the opposition the ball in the belief that they will make mistakes, through which they can transition. This very approach often makes it seem and feel like they are on the ropes in almost every match, only to still get through and win. It isn't anything metaphysical, though. It is logic. They just bank on having the players who can really capitalise on any error, no matter how infrequent they are. The key for Arsenal will be getting their own maths absolutely precise. That isn't easy, no matter how you rationalise it. This is Madrid, and they're back in that imperial phase.
