Which clubs recently have impressed you regarding the way they do business? For me it would have to be Seville at the moment. Over the past few seasons they have sold Ramos, Reyes and Baptista for big fees and they have not been missed. They bring in younger players and they are currently 2nd in La Liga. With these players they are also playing some very attractive football. As they have sold players over the years, it means don't have to cash in on other top players, such as Alves for example. They can wait for a massive fee to come along and then sell / replace them accordingly. Premiership-wise I think Arsenal have to be included. To still compete with Chelsea, Man U and Liverpool, with having a much smaller budget and financing a stadium is impressive and full credit to their board and Wenger. Spurs a few years ago really expoited the Leeds United saga getting Robinson and Lennon for cheap fees. Dawson, Defoe, Huddlesson were also bought fairly cheaply. Investing in young, talented English players was a low-risk strategy, whcih will see more of the buys appreciate in value rather than depreciate. Another team I think I'll mention is AC Milan. Not necessarily for who they have bought, but remianing a top team in Europe without really spending. They spent on Kaka, but other than that their top players are still Cafu, Maldini etc. They must have a massive slush fund waiting to be used, as they haven't spent big for ages, despitie winning. They are the totally opposite to Inter, who have to be one of the worst.
AC Milan are becoming a grandaddy team with a defense totaling 100+ years between them. Newcastle strike me as good buyers in the market, bringing in Owen, Emre, Duff, Parker, Martins, Luque etc. for all pretty cheap. Inter Milian exploited the Juventus fiasco with Vieira, Ibrahimovic amongst many others, same with Barcelona and Madrid.
<div class="quote_poster">gibberingfool Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">AC Milan are becoming a grandaddy team with a defense totaling 100+ years between them. Newcastle strike me as good buyers in the market, bringing in Owen, Emre, Duff, Parker, Martins, Luque etc. for all pretty cheap. Inter Milian exploited the Juventus fiasco with Vieira, Ibrahimovic amongst many others, same with Barcelona and Madrid.</div> Yes it is time AC Milan spent their slush funds before they have a slump. I'm not sure whetehr I agree with Newcastle. Owen certainly wasn't cheap at 17 million and 110,000 wages. God knows what his games to wages ratio is. Luque can't be considered good business. Duff was a good buy, but he is on massive wages. I think Parker is the best out of that list, a good player and long-term investment. Newcastle in general have a shocking transfer policy. They buy big name players to gloss over their problems. This keeps the fans happy and off the chairman / managers back... in the short term. It always catches up with them, a dn it will with Roeder. Inter Milan have bought poorly for years. Biggest under-achievers in Europe.
In the premiership I'd have to say that Harry Redknapps wheeling and dealing have been some of the best, not nessisarily the best players in the world but he's brought together an amazing squad. Frank Arnesen did a great job at Spurs bringing in some great young talent, and I believe them to have one of the best squads in the league.
In order of best team: Chelsea, Liverpool, United, Newcastle, Arsenal, Spurs IMO. I would of thought Newcastle to be contenders with their current squad, must be all the injurys.
