2 hours ago, Remodez said:

Easy to say when it's not happening to you. It's not like he's even a starter at Villa and all it takes is one bad injury and it could be over. 

If I was in his shoes I would do the same thing. That amount of money is insane and he is still young enough to rejoin the top leagues after like 2 years in Saudi. 

Put me in the same position and I am still not moving to Saudi. I wouldn't even do it now, and I'm not a multi millionaire like Duran.

Moving for money is something I can understand, but throwing your career away for it when you're already set for life is weird. Saying Duran can play in Saudi for 2 years and rejoin the top leagues is a reach too, it rarely happens. These players lose focus and are never heard of again. Just look at Oscar and Ramires when they moved to China.

13 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Put me in the same position and I am still not moving to Saudi. I wouldn't even do it now, and I'm not a multi millionaire like Duran.

Moving for money is something I can understand, but throwing your career away for it when you're already set for life is weird. Saying Duran can play in Saudi for 2 years and rejoin the top leagues is a reach too, it rarely happens. These players lose focus and are never heard of again. Just look at Oscar and Ramires when they moved to China.

We've already seen players like Carrasco, Witsel, Paulinho, etc leave for money and come back to top leagues not missing a step. 2 years in Saudi is not the end of the world for his career in top leagues, especially when there's no guarantee he actually reaches his potential.  

Losing focus is largely down to the player, not the league. It's understandable though as most leave after their peaks when they have already accomplished pretty much everything.  

Moving to Saudi is not a surprise to me at all. He probably 10-folds his bank account. The marketing of that league is good and players like Ronaldo make that league more accessible. 

I don't see Delap or Ferguson making that move but for him this is pretty understandable. Don't know the guy one bit but I feel he is a person that is driven by his agent and he wants to be seen as a bigger player that his position at Villa makes him look out to be. Didn't care one bit they qualified to Champions league playoffs either. 

If we'd bought him last summer there was a good chance we'd made the same sale of him right now. 

BREAKING NEWS - FROM DAILY MAIL

Revealed: Jhon Duran 'could leave Al-Nassr due to personal issues' less than FIVE months after moving to Saudi Arabia in £65million transfer

Al-Nassr could look to loan out the 21-year-old because of personal problems which have impacted his 'mental state and technical ability,' according to a report in Saudi Arabia.

After scoring 12 in the first half of the season for Villa, he has added another dozen in his 18-game stint with Al-Nassr as they raced to third in the Saudi Pro League.

But a report by Arriyadiyah claims 'doubts are swirling' over his future with the club due to the issues in his personal life. Multiple suitors are said to be interested. 

I HOPE WE ARE AT THE FRONT OF THE QUEUE

I hope we're not. For precisely the reasons why, if true, he's leaving where he is. He had disciplinary and attitude issues at Villa.

Edited June 12, 20251 yr by dermott

Stay away from problem players.

That said we'll probably sign Garnacho and this loose cannon too.

Anyone who is willing to go to Saudi Arabia at his age isn't a serious footballer we can rely on.

54 minutes ago, BordeauxBlue said:

Stay away from problem players.

That said we'll probably sign Garnacho and this loose cannon too.

Absolutely.

But they won't see the problem ahead of the low (for a reason) price and hence the "opportunity" for sell-on profit.

Probably because there's no blackjack and hookers over there

would take him on loan.... with an option to buy

7 hours ago, Zeta said:

Anyone who is willing to go to Saudi Arabia at his age isn't a serious footballer we can rely on.

I don't know what to say about this. Some players come from very poor backgrounds, south american suburbs can be nasty places when you are a kid. Some make it from there and on top of that they take care of all their family members once they hit the jackpot. Can't really blame them for wanting to have a lot of money knowing all their 40-50 family members from brothers to nephews to 3rd grade uncles and aunts still living in the suburbs depend on them.

1 hour ago, petre ispirescu said:

I don't know what to say about this. Some players come from very poor backgrounds, south american suburbs can be nasty places when you are a kid. Some make it from there and on top of that they take care of all their family members once they hit the jackpot. Can't really blame them for wanting to have a lot of money knowing all their 40-50 family members from brothers to nephews to 3rd grade uncles and aunts still living in the suburbs depend on them.

Oscar basically said all that was the reason he went to China, it wasn't just life changing money for him but for his kids, he's grandkids and even great grandkids. For a kid from a Brazilian favala it was impossible to turn down.

I didn't realise he was only 21; I always had it in my head that he is slightly older.

I think he's good and I think he brings us something we don't already have in the squad (a more chaotic forward). We play with a single striker, and assuming Maresca is around for the long-term we are never going to deviate from that (maybe Jackson gets shifted to left-wing when we are chasing a game). This raises two questions:

1) With Jackson and Delap we only have a single striker spot in the squad left. While I rate both, personally I don't see either as an indisputable starter. Is Durán the guy who gives us the best return on that third spot? Can we do better?

2) With a single striker the minutes we can offer a centre-forward are limited, even with Champions' League games. Would Durán, particularly if he's on loan, be satisfied with being effectively third-choice?

He isn’t going anywhere. Think he is suffering from an initial culture shock- too much money, and very little excess to indulge in. Most players that move out there want to leave once the European window opens again, but they look at their bank account and give their heads a wobble.

Is a loan move even feasible for any club? He is on £300k/w tax free, that is Halaand type wages. A move back to Europe on loan effectively bumps his wages to around £500k/w.

19 hours ago, dkw said:

Oscar basically said all that was the reason he went to China, it wasn't just life changing money for him but for his kids, he's grandkids and even great grandkids. For a kid from a Brazilian favala it was impossible to turn down.

You say that but 200k a week is pretty life changing for anyone. Did his kids have an addiction to FIFA player packs or Roblocks? Heard they can get pretty expensive.

On 14/06/2025 at 09:37, DarkMata said:

You say that but 200k a week is pretty life changing for anyone. Did his kids have an addiction to FIFA player packs or Roblocks? Heard they can get pretty expensive.

Hate this argument.

Listen to Mikel’s podcast on his support for Oscar going to China. Players from poverty and certain cultural backgrounds have entire communities to take care of. There was a point where Mikel couldn’t take care of all of them with his Chelsea salary alone.

37 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Hate this argument.

Listen to Mikel’s podcast on his support for Oscar going to China. Players from poverty and certain cultural backgrounds have entire communities to take care of. There was a point where Mikel couldn’t take care of all of them with his Chelsea salary alone.

There was another African player who went to China basically because he could create a charity from his wages to build libraries, schools, health centres and all kinds of things for the area he was from, cant remember who he was though. But surely no one can argue that kind of thing.

17 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Hate this argument.

Listen to Mikel’s podcast on his support for Oscar going to China. Players from poverty and certain cultural backgrounds have entire communities to take care of. There was a point where Mikel couldn’t take care of all of them with his Chelsea salary alone.

In Oscars situation it sounds like he's helping out his close family not whole communities which is fine and what I assume most footballers do. He clearly has enough to help many people with his salary, but he wants to help while getting filthy rich in the process and all the power to him. I've no problem with players going to China/Saudi for money, just don't give me oh my família while driving a Bugatti wearing a watch worth more than my life's worth.

18 minutes ago, DarkMata said:

In Oscars situation it sounds like he's helping out his close family not whole communities which is fine and what I assume most footballers do. He clearly has enough to help many people with his salary, but he wants to help while getting filthy rich in the process and all the power to him. I've no problem with players going to China/Saudi for money, just don't give me oh my família while driving a Bugatti wearing a watch worth more than my life's worth.

I think that's a disingenuous viewpoint. You have no idea what Oscar is doing with his money, and by all accounts those from the favela help their entire communities.

Ronaldinho is the 2nd greatest Brazilian of our lifetime and he's facing bankruptcy. This China/Saudi money mitigates so much.

39 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

I think that's a disingenuous viewpoint. You have no idea what Oscar is doing with his money, and by all accounts those from the favela help their entire communities.

Ronaldinho is the 2nd greatest Brazilian of our lifetime and he's facing bankruptcy. This China/Saudi money mitigates so much.

Ronaldinho not the best example the guy is notorious for lavish spending and partying. The guy blew all of it away of fast cars, failed businesses, a crypto scam and tax evasion.

Plenty of examples of players who can't handle the money and go bankrupt.

11 minutes ago, DarkMata said:

Ronaldinho not the best example the guy is notorious for lavish spending and partying. The guy blew all of it away of fast cars, failed businesses, a crypto scam and tax evasion.

Plenty of examples of players who can't handle the money and go bankrupt.

Ronaldinho is actually the perfect example. You'd think a player as big and iconic as he is he'd have enough money to mitigate past the philanthropy in Porto Alegre/UNICEF as well as the failed business ventures with his dodgy brother.

Now imagine a player who isn't nearly as big as Ronaldinho, like Asamoah Gyan. He has gone bankrupt and is finding it difficult to generate revenue streams after football.

22 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Ronaldinho is actually the perfect example. You'd think a player as big and iconic as he is he'd have enough money to mitigate past the philanthropy in Porto Alegre/UNICEF as well as the failed business ventures with his dodgy brother.

Now imagine a player who isn't nearly as big as Ronaldinho, like Asamoah Gyan. He has gone bankrupt and is finding it difficult to generate revenue streams after football.

A fool and his money are soon parted. Much richer men than Ronaldinho have lost it all.

It's pretty widespread throughout football though many examples of footballers in this country. Famously Gazza, Best, Merson, David James. An estimated 40% of professional footballers go bankrupt within five years of retirement, and many more struggle financially. My guess is going from 10k - 300k+ a week to nothing is hard work, especially if you spent all your money on hookers and blow.

19 minutes ago, DarkMata said:

Much richer men than Ronaldinho have lost it all.

So then why are you criticizing Oscar, who hasn't a tenth of Ronaldinho's monetization potential, to take up China when it protects his family and community for generations?

34 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

So then why are you criticizing Oscar, who hasn't a tenth of Ronaldinho's monetization potential, to take up China when it protects his family and community for generations?

I didn't

On 13/06/2025 at 12:25, dkw said:

Oscar basically said all that was the reason he went to China, it wasn't just life changing money for him but for his kids, he's grandkids and even great grandkids. For a kid from a Brazilian favala it was impossible to turn down.

Not taking anything away from your valid point, while Oscar came from a poor/struggling background, he did not come from a "favela." Apparently single mother took care and raised him the best she could by fixing and selling clothes.
While it is indeed a common occurrence for Brazilian footballers, there are also quite a few who came from middle-class, or even affluent backgrounds (like Alexandre Pato, Kaka, Rai, Leonardo to name a few).

Did not think Duran would still be an option after signing Delap. I much prefer the latter for the reasons mentioned on this thread, but also characteristics: Delap is more of a team player.

Edited June 16, 20251 yr by acaeus