21 Jun 2025 22:46:48
Dear mister Bond,
I’ll give you my view on the situation of players going on free transfers. I agree it is frustrating to loose players for free and what the club can do against that is actually very little, the club could start contract negotiations sooner, two years before the contract ends, if the player has no intention on signing or the valuation between club and player is too far off, the player could be made available for transfer but even then it’s up to player to decide if he wants to move or not. If the player decides to leave at the end of his contract for free there is nothing the club can do about that because the player is an employee and protected by laws.
As an aside, maybe if other employees were a bit better protected by law, they wouldn’t need the food banks and I for one would absolutely love that.
If the player decides to go on a free and the club can upgrade during this time, great, put player free on the bench and play the new better player instead. The things I hear here about letting players rot in the reserves, make them do punishment are barbaric and worse stupid, if you treat players like that no other players will want to sing for the club,
21 Jun 2025 23:10:44
Ferguson managed to do just that. He punished a lot of players. Rio, for instance and yet they were seen as one of the best teams in the game and had no problem attracting top talent, did they? Of course, labor laws are important, but these players earn more in a week than most people do in a year. As things stand, the power lies with the players, and unless clubs do something about it, that power will only grow, especially with the rise of Bosman moves.
21 Jun 2025 23:58:25
Im not going to argue with you about the absurdity of players wages. But about fergie, different time mate, I’m not inclined to bring back bullying in the workplace.
I’m sure clubs will figure it out, look at us, lost he who shall not be named on a free and we’ve arguably gotten stronger as a team, because we’re a well run financially healthy club.
22 Jun 2025 00:44:12
The problem is more that the fans don't have all the power.
Clubs know all about Bosmans. Who do you think is picking up players on free transfers and paying out big signing on fees?
And a club will gladly sell on a player to make a profit if it's in its best interests.