Kylian Mbappe to Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo to City – Welcome to the summer football totally lost the plot – The Warm-Up – Eurosport UK

FRIDAYS BIG HEADLINES#HeadsGone in the transfer market

In the realm of technology, the singularity is the predicted moment when machine intelligence surpasses that of humans and technological advances become out of control, unpredictable and irreversible. In football, the transfer singularity is the inflection point where moves off the pitch become more significant and engrossing than those on it and the game spirals into a nonsensical and uncontrollable cycle of ridiculous transfers. The Warm-Up regrets to inform you that that moment was breached this summer. Specifically yesterday.

Ligue 1

Messi in squad for PSG match against Reims

3 HOURS AGO

The crucial difference between the two is that the technological singularity is a theory of rapidly increasing intelligence; the transfer singularity is a reality of rapidly decreasing logic. Yes, this is officially the summer when football totally lost the plot. And theres no going back.

And then not one but two utterly bewildering developments yesterday which look likely to ensure that, with apologies to Erling Haaland, the three most significant players in the whole of football will all move clubs this summer in deals that you would kindly describe as illogical.

Messi to PSG, now possibly Cristiano Ronado to Manchester City today as well (more on which below). And as La Ligas two former superstars begin what will presumably be their final postings at major clubs, the league is reinvigorated by the arrival of the most electric young player in football at a club which *checks notes* said it was so skint it had to lead the formation of a Super League, and is now paying almost twice its club record to sign a player who will be free next summer.

Amid the height of the Super League debacle, lets revisit what Real Madrid president Florentino Perez told El Chiringuito...

Many important clubs in Spain, Italy and UK want to find a solution to a very bad financial situation. Here at Real Madrid we've lost a lot of money, we are all going through a very bad situation. When there is no profit, the only way is to play more competitive games during the week. The Super League will save the clubs financially. Football is losing interest, TV rights are decreasing. We wanted to do the Super League, the pandemic has given us urgency: now we are all ruined in football."

And now 'ruined' Real Madrid are in a scenario where they could genuinely save more than 1m *per day* in the time between signing Mbappe for 180m and securing him on a free, but are still ploughing ahead. This is an interesting definition of broke.

But then money is all pretend anyway. If Real Madrid need more theyll just sell off a training ground or try and destroy the very fabric of football again. What is real are goals, wins, trophies, fame, success, glamour, prestige and power. And Mbappe guarantees you all of that. Ultimately, if you can get a free run at Mbappe, and p*** off PSG in the process, its unlikely that Perez will pass up the chance.

Its worth recalling that PSG and Nasser Al Khelaifi didnt sign up to Perezs Super League - werent invited according to the Madrid supremo - and as footballs nouveau riche paraded the prized jewel of Messi to sounds of people saying La Liga was finished as a major force, somewhere in Madrid, Florentino was probably fuming.

And so this is what football at the elite level has become. Mega transfers arent about players, they are political power plays, essentially massive w****-waving contests. And thats only the first of the two which could remarkably be wrapped up today.

Juventus player Cristiano Ronaldo during the Serie A match between Udinese Calcio v Juventus at Dacia Arena on August 22, 2021 in Udine, Italy.

Image credit: Getty Images

Another amazing transfer, which is suffering from a huge logic void.

With the outrageous service he will be supplied with at City, you can see a possible outcome where Ronaldo simultaneously ends up scoring about 50 goals this season but is also bad for the team. Which would be rather apt after the season where football stopped making sense.

And thats without even getting into the debate of whether this transfer is coherent on an emotional level following the great success he enjoyed at Manchester United. Seeing Ronaldo take to the field in City sky blue after getting tactical instructions from Pep Guardiola will truly be one of the most surreal sights ever envisaged in football.

But again logic isnt really the point. As with signing Mbappe. As indeed with signing Messi, which led to PSG losing their best player. This firmly has the feel of United appointing Mourinho as a response to City getting Guardiola, except this time its Citys UAE owners getting jittery at their Qatari rivals nabbing Messi, and who are signing up the big name without not enough thought on how it might actually work.

And if all this wasnt enough, PSG and Juventus have chosen to replace two of the greatest footballers striding across the globe with two-thirds of the Everton attack which lost 2-0 to Sheffield United on September 21, 2019.

Juventus are trying to replace Ronaldo with Moise Kean:

Again, this is the summer when football totally lost its mind.

Much as The Warm-Up isnt a big fan of the tasteless pantomime that football has become off the pitch, the perils of failing to fully join up to it were apparent last night when, as Europes biggest names and biggest clubs were adding extra zeroes to everything, good old Harry Kane had to settle for scoring goals in the Europa Conference League.

But the moral of the story is: dont sign a six-year contract with no release clause at a club run by Daniel Levy if you ever want to be part of footballs transfer feeding frenzy. With a more competent agent, and different contractual conditions, it would be Kane signing for City today.

Another group contains Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Benfica and Dynamo Kiev; another still has Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, Porto and AC Milan. With so much quality concentrated in a few groups, inevitably one was going to look like it could have wandered in from the Europa League by mistake. Step forward Group G, and Lille, Sevilla, FC Salzburg and Wolfsburg.

We end with a palate-cleanser from Matt Le Tissier, a man who consistently shunned moves to any big clubs throughout his career. Heres his 10 best goals for Southampton.

Weve got two games for you live on site tonight as Borussia Dortmund take on Hoffeinheim and Inter Milan travel to fair Verona.

Barring a big-money move to Marca or L'Equipe, Andi Thomas will be back for Monday's Warm-Up.

Transfers

How Jorge Mendes masterminded Ronaldo's sensational exit - Inside Football

YESTERDAY AT 08:28

Transfers

Kane demands 100,000-a-week pay rise after committing to Spurs - Paper Round

YESTERDAY AT 22:08

See the rest here:

Kylian Mbappe to Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo to City - Welcome to the summer football totally lost the plot - The Warm-Up - Eurosport UK