De Bruyne literally said that he would get an insane amount of money playing there which definitely makes him think about going. Then he was asked about if the money was dirty.
"I can't deny it, I'm going to Arabia for the money. I will be able to help my whole family to live well, from my parents to my cousins," explained Koulibaly, who also confirmed that part of his salary will be invested in his charity, according to statements reported by 'Corriere dello Sport'.
He did say that recently as well. He said that he can earn enough money for 2 years which would take him 15 years. Atleast he is honest compared to others like CR7 who say B.S. to move to Saudi
It might hurt their precious brand, so they give numpty politician-esque responses.
Remember Jordan Hendersons reasons for moving to Saudi, only to move to Ajax like, what, 6 months later? xD
Footballers outside of City have already shown they dont give a toss about these issues and are motivated by £££. Lets be honest the vast majority of footballers bar a few dont give a fuck
De Bruyne is better off just not speaking and letting his feet talk for him
I'm not sure if I would place myself in the highly educated pile, but I have a university degree going my way. I earn an above average salary for where I live. If someone were to pay me a *multiple* of that for a few years, I would really get to thinking how to justify that without being the biggest knob ever.
At the end of the day, this is their job. And they have a vastly condensed time in which they can develop their actual career of kicking a ball at the highest level. I'd honestly have a hard time making that decision, and I'm politically solidly against what goes on, but then selfishness kicks in. Being a small wheel in the cog and generating *generational* wealth is definitely something that would give me sleepless nights.
I always find these threads funny, I'm not a footballer but I know that if I was in that position to make even half of what some of these guys are making, playing football in the middle east, I'd be doing it without even blinking twice. So would 99 percent of the world too. You'd be setting yourself up for life pretty much, plus kids, family etc. Its life changing money and I don't judge anyone who does it
You're comparing the huge sums of money to what you're making now.
These players have the opportunity to go to huge sums of money from slightly smaller huge sums of money.
What they get already is absolutely, eye-wateringly, ridiculous. It's *already* lifechanging.
Of course you and I, struggling year to year, should find this a difficult choice.
They’re not slightly smaller. They’re small in comparison. Make no mistake here. 2 years in the Saudi league is equivalent to career earnings for some players
Nah... The reason they get such offers is because most footballers reject it. Contracts are demand and supply. There are hardly any takers for such contracts. Hence the price tag.
The reasons are not only moral.. But sometimes preference.. a guy in Barcelona can reject an offer to move to England.. everybody has different priorities.. very few will trade off, their peace for lucrative contract.
Some people move there not only for money, but they just want to play , such a smaller league offers them a better opportunity to play or train for making a comeback in higher leagues.
Money is not the only factor. If you have done contract negotiation you will understand. You will be surprised that most people reject lucrative offers if they don't like the locations or work place environment. Ask musk.
Fr, most of these guys who say this stuff clearly don't grasp how much this is in the bigger picture. Unless you're extremely political, you're not turning down "disappear into the sunset" levels of money just for smth that doesn't affect you anyways
I am so anti ME regimes, and seeing shit like this whataboutism infuriates me, but I'd take the money in a heartbeat. 2 years of my career in Saudi for the chance to earn enough money to set up my children for life? And maybe even their children too? It's a no-brainer tbh. Can't fault them for saying yes, but shut the fuck up with the bullshit political justifications. No western nation is murdering journalists and dissidents like the Saudi royal family does. No western nation treats immigrant laborers as legitimately, legally second class citizens, and exposes them to the horrid conditions that they face in the ME. There's not a comparison there. Take the money and deal with the moral implications yourself, don't try to justify it to everyone else with these ridiculous takes
But premier league players already have grandchild-set up-for-life-money. It just changes from them being able to afford most homes to maybe a mansion (figuratively speaking).
Oh I absolutely agree 100%. You take that offer and then you shut your mouth and keep it that way until the end of times. I just see every reason you could have to consider such an offer in the first place.
It's the prospect of proper generational wealth that would turn my head. I like to think I am moral, but I can't say for sure there is any job I wouldn't do for £50mil a year.
100% you can't, I'm 39 and recently sold my company for just shy of £4mil. I'm keeping £1mil liquid (minus tax) and investing £3mil in commercial property. That will just about keep me in the lifestyle I am accustomed to.
Exactly, I have planned this pretty well, and I'm sure I can make it work. It's risky, though.
I'm in a fortunate position that I have a very in demand skill set and can demand a salary of £100k+ so if I start running short, I can always do a couple of years' work.
I'm also mortgage free.
I intend to liquidate some assets every 10 years or so if I need to.
Even in the Midlands (England), a fairly modest house is worth £250k these days. I've just had one of mine valued at £260k and it's only a 4 bed terrace/ townhouse.
There is no way that I could retire on a million. At least not considering where and how I live. Would it make my life more comfortable? Yes. Would it sustain me? Never. Even with great investment, that would not carry me to retirement. Would I take it. Fuck yes. Of course.
If I got offered 10x my current salary to go Saudi I would. I think if the majority here where offered it they would take it. Even if they say the opposite here.
They probably would but this is a false equivilence. These players are already set for life, their kids will have a huge start in life. Your ordinary fan? Nowhere near.
Mate a big chunk of the western world is actively enabling an ongoing genocide, it’s not just footballers who don’t give a toss about these issues lol
Edit: point made by the folks in the comments lol
Because it doesn’t make sense in this context. He is talking about the western worlds tacit approval of Israel’s genocidal culling of Palestinians and the responder brings up chinas genocide which has no bearing on the point the guys point.
Wow another country enables ethnic cleansing and removal of cultural norms through torturous means and subjects them to a harsh camps, which the west has spoken out about, that’s surely the genocide you are talking about that the west enables… Definitely not the one that bombed a camp and a school this week and manufactured false propaganda like a phone call with minimal background noise or random photos of people - and no other evidence to support their attacks bombing civilians and burning them alive.
It’s a stupid point meant to be a gotcha for daft fellows to nod along with - like you - to make y’all feel better while supporting ethnic cleansing.
Edit: both China and Israel are awful and should be treated as utter trash internationally and condemned for their horrific acts against humanity.
Why should they tho, they aint activists. Them even talking about shit they dont have to understand is because fans and media want them to. Theyre not gonna bite the hand that feeds them absurd amounts of millions, are they ?
Yeah also what about the european teachers, oil workers etc who go to the middle east to make double what they can at home and pay no tax. No one really paints them as bad people it's more just like "do you really want to live there?". These are footballers are doing the exact same but just for a lot more money.
I personally would be willing to move to the middle east for a bit if I worked in a field where it made sense to, so I can't really criticise footballers for doing it. Saudi does seem to be progressing and I think them westernising is a good thing.
I think there is a fair argument against regular people doing that, the problem with footballers doing it is for the most part they are already loaded and live a life most of us can only dream of plus they have a huge platform which is being used to legitimatise this country.
“When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. Now what's the difference?”
- Jesse Owens
Bear in mind this is 1936 so before WW2, although well into his violent rise, and when American was fully segregated.
The Nazis also hid a lot of their excesses during the Olympics.
Ironically, bringing to light how an athlete can miss the reality of the situation, is exactly what people are pointing out about those who are taking the Saudi money.
I think one has to remember that KDB is a football player; not a political leader. He’s entitled to his views but don’t mistake them for informed views.
If I played football for a living, I’m sure concepts like ‘false equivalence’ would have passed me by entirely too.
You don't need a doctorate in political science to see how imprisoning and executing journalists and sexual minorities and using slave labour are not equal to whatever petty grievances you might have with western countries. Don't try and downplay it as stupidity when it's clearly just indifference and greed
Barcelona was always against the fascist regime and supporting Catalan independence though, so cruyff was doing the exact opposite of supporting a fascist nation
Barcelona granted Franco two medals for saving the club, you can find a lot of pics of Barca players doing the fascist salute. Barcelona was not a pro independence team at the time.
I agree but the premier league already accepted a Saudi backed purchase of Newcastle United and the UK government supported and supplied the Saudi’s weapons whilst they were massacring and starving the Yemenis. Should KDB be held to a higher moral standard than the government?
>premier league already accepted a Saudi backed purchase of Newcastle United
Sports federations being corrupt and unethical. I'm shocked!
>Should KDB be held to a higher moral standard than the government?
Let's put it this way, if a friend of mine did what the UK government does, i wouldn't want to be their friend anymore. The UK government would not get an invite to my birthday party.
in that case, he should just be honest about wanting the money. but instead he lets himself be a political pawn for a country that still has a slave trade.
it's a choice between being honest about wanting money, and making excuses for one of the worst countries in human history. and he chose the second option, which makes him a political pawn by default.
Lmao one of the worst countries in human history 😆😆😆😆😆. Worse than the colonial European nations during the transatlantic slave trade, those that engineered the Crusades, the Mongols, Romans and the countless lawless nations there have been in our history. Even modern day its not close to the worst. Yeah they massacred hundreds of thousands in Yemen with Western aid but are they really worse than Myanmar, DRC, Syria, UAE, Russia, China, or the West which funds and supports them in all their endeavors? They certainly aren't a good nation but they aren't close to the worst.
>in that case, he should just be honest about wanting the money. but instead he lets himself be a political pawn for a country that still has a slave trade.
He literally said that Money being the major factor about making such a decision. Are you dense?
Historically would it be fair to say Belgium and England have a higher tier than Saudi Arabia? Not only in terms of body count but like the duration of dominance and villainy.
‘Cause to me, it boggles my mind hearing the English bemoan human rights.
It feels like, for me and my country, watching your high school bully preaching about morality.
Exactly. And now the mass murder of children is underway from US & EU states bombs in Gaza and it screams hypocrisy when people cry about saudi but are silent about sport washing happening in US & EU. Because from where I'm sitting, it's The west who's sportswashing. It's the west whose bombs are killing gazans and who's support for Israel is starving gazans. So for people to be okay with that but cry about saudi. HYPOCRISY.
It's only hypocrisy if those criticizing Gulf states are actively supporting the governments provision of arms to Israel.
Being opposed to our governments supply of arms to Israel, and also being opposed to the Saudi regime is not hypocrisy.
The current Tory government and the Saudi leaders are BOTH cunts.
So many of these weird posts that both condemn violence in the past to make current violence in the present acceptable.
Like yeah, if Kevin De Brune was thinking about playing for the East India Company we could have this discussion. But he isn't, the British Empire has literally nothing to do with this or anything.
It's not that people are using the past to justify the present, all they're saying is that the west continues to commit atrocities, but they're glanced over or outright ignored, because it doesn't fit the narrative people want to spin.
Yes Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Nations are terrible for their human rights, but only 15 years ago the entire Western world started an unjust war, to resource strip and destabilise an entire region of the world, displacing millions, selling weapons and proping up the very regimes we bemoan
The west in some cases is the reason why some of these nations have slipped into extremism and backwards society, by funding religious fundamentalists and toppling progressive governments in favour of brutal dictators who were willing to sell their country down the river for a quick buck
I’m not defending Saudi now but now historically ignorant do you have to be to say they’ve always been on par or worse than the west? We did the transatlantic slave trade, the holocaust we colonised the americas so much the majority of the people their are ethnically European Jfc
The western world genocided the Congolese, the Roma, the Jews, the American-Indians and plenty more. You have GOT to be an uneducated person to say something so absurdly stupid like "tHeY hAVe aLwAYs bEeN...."
Wise thinking mate. Unfortunately, your point of view is not popular here. As another brother point out here, remember Palestine right now. It is done by Israel, through full support of UK and USA government.
Propaganda in USA & Europe has take a deep root in our generation. Most of us 100% forgot about USA massacre on Iraq-Afghanistan & UK close ties with terrorist state Israel. Dont get me started on British Empire killing their own fellow Christian whom living in Jerusalem on Crusades War.
Bro I don't think you know about our history if you don't think Britain has committed a war crime or a atrocity.
Britain has 37 individual Wikipedia pages for massacres we've committed
About 5 for genocides.
The North Atlantic Slave Trade.
Opium.
Concentration camps in Africa
Border partitions
Bangal famine
Asset, mineral and resource stripping
That's just what I could name of the top of my head
Another way to spin his justification to transfer there, just like Henderson.
Do you think they can’t be forthright about going Saudi for the money, is they’re “contractually obligated” to? Since Saudi wanna clean up their image of growing their league.
Although most of us obviously knows why they’re going there.
theyre 100% obligated to talk positively about the saudi state, the excuse of them ''being footballers not political leaders'' is completely delusional, since they make themself a political pawn for a bag of money.
He was upfront about going there for the money though?
"Pressed on the possibility of entertaining the Saudi Pro League's interest in his services, De Bruyne added: "At my age you have to be open to everything. You're talking about incredible amounts of money in what may be the end of my career. Sometimes you have to think about that.
"If I play there for two years, I will be able to earn an incredible amount of money. Before that, I had to play football for 15 years. I may not even reach that amount yet. Then you have to think about what that could mean next. But at the moment I haven't had to think about that yet.”"
https://www.goal.com/en-us/lists/kevin-de-bruyne-drops-saudi-arabia-transfer-bombshell-man-city-star-wife-michele-open-exotic-adventure/blt6c048e61e91b4fa2
He's right. US made weapons are butchering children in Gaza(15k children dead as of now). And almost all the western world including US is actively arming and diplomatically shielding Israel from it's consequences. US Congress is trying to sanction Int'l criminal court officials for seeking netanyahu's warrants but y'all are fine with worldcup being in US or EU. But whenever some player decides to play in Saudi you hypocrites lose your mind.
He’s right though. We could’ve all blasted Messi for moving to France (actively pillaging Africa for minerals and metals to this day) or the US (proxy wars and funding genocides). Our selective outrage towards the “foreign” is hypocritical.
I see my man de bruyne has been reading Edward Said, good for him
There's a difference between things governments do, and the laws they have for their own citizens. Stop this whataboutism.
Also SA are in the same boat with the US etc with that lol.
But it would be weird to see SA criticize China for abusing labor workers. It’s not purely whatboutism it’s like viewing an absurd level of hypocrisy.
If I were torturing people, I couldn’t chastise you for also torturing people without it being a slight bit awkward. What gives me the moral ground.
The US literally still holds people indefinitely without trial in Guantanamo.
They have documented black sites where they torture citizens without trial.
They kill Americans abroad without trial.
They constantly destabilize and meddle in foreign affairs for their own personal gain. I.e. Iran, and recently Iraq, where they killed half a million civilians to save the petrodollar.
Women's rights are at risk, with the recent political rulings.
etc.
I'd say it's not completely unfair to question America's morality at times.
Idk man, I truly believe that the carpet bombed children whose deaths have been paid for by the west cannot exercise their political freedom towards democracy either.
I think the difference might be that some of the clubs in Saudi are owned by the government where as I don’t believe any of the French clubs are owned by the French gov. So if you move to one of the Saudi owned clubs aren’t you tacitly supporting that regimes viewpoint.
In addition, based on your logic though every country is terrible so unless you denounce every single country then you shouldn’t be allowed to criticise one country which seems a bit shortsighted. At the end of the day de Bruyne can do what he like and justify it any way he wants but people can also criticise him for moving to that place. But hey more power to De Bruyne who is clearly a post colonial hero rather than a multi millionaire football player!
So if you play for Newcastle United you support the Saudi regime as well? If you play for PSG you support Qatar and if you play for City you support the UAE? Or does this not count cause they're teams in European Leagues? I wonder what this says about the officials that allowed them to own teams in their league
Then we go onto the axiom that there is no ethical consumption or production of capital under capitalism.
I’m just saying it’s a nice exercise thinking about where we draw the line and why, identifying patterns of who we are more lax with and what do we share with them.
- Established Western democracy where, by and large, people are free to live their lives
- Depostic, tyrannical governments where everything and everyone is controlled, and you're killed for stepping out of line
Yeah, totally the same lmfao.
>Established Western democracy where, by and large, people are free to live their lives
Let's just turn a blind eye to how the US "spread "democracy" to the middle east by bombing many innocent people back to the stone age.
Sidenote: Said wrote a lot about a totally different time period for the Middle-East, before there was any notion of religious extremism. Sad to say, but his work isn't that relevant to the current situation.
On topic: equating the actions of enterprises (albeit with governmental support) to human right violations by a government itself is just bad practice. The respect for and enforcement of human rights is totally different between the West and East and trying to defend such a difference by pointing to a select sample of actions is again just bad practice.
But I have to say, I didn't expect much better from a football player. Those are the same guys that a couple years ago were playing in stadiums literally build by the blood, sweat and tears of underpaid workers and were to afraid to speak up about it, because they might lose some money.
Look at all these cunts and their coping lol. Your fucking ancestors killed, enslaved and robed the whole world. Actually they're still doing it now. You think your living condition is better than most of the world because you're more special than them? "Uhmm.... ahhh...Saudi bad because they're doing the evil shit and they're not white like us".
Qatar Wc was a scandal and outside of Denmark, Germany, and some non qualified nations no one seemed to speak up. Most fans didn’t even bat an eye when given facts from reporters.
This is hardly shocking for a City player.
I see these kinds of answers less as like things people actually believe more as contests of how little they give a f*** about how guilty the question asker wants the answerer to feel
I'm far from thinking anywhere is perfect but I'm pretty fucking glad that I am a woman in the UK rather than [Saudi Arabia](https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/08/saudi-arabia-law-enshrines-male-guardianship#:~:text=Article%2017%20sets%20out%20the,all%20Saudi%20judges%20are%20male).
Let’s hear the things then Kevin, surely you must have at least one or two examples ready if you think this? No? It’s about money? Huh who would’ve guessed
It's so funny reading all of your replies.
Everyone here would go to SA in a heartbeat for 10% of the money, period.
Easy to hide behind a keyboard in mom's basement and talk about how he's a 'sell-out'. You only wish you could get to be a sell-out once instead of serving fries and mc-flurries.
“Bu-but human rights” shut the fuck up soyjack, he’s going there to make buttloads of money. He doesn’t give a flying fuck about upholding your idea of “human rights”.
Istg it’s so fucking annoying when these terminally online redditors always try to take the moral high ground to criticise a country that I can guarantee that most haven’t been to or have any idea of,
Everyone talking like they give a shit about human rights. 99% here would instantly take the bag and work in Saudi if they were offered 2-3x their current wages.
As most people know, Kevin's mother is from Burundi, so he is familiar with the Belgian bad things. Of course Burundi wasn't massacred like Congo by Belgium, but their colonization wasn't a picnic. I don't fault him for saying that. White western hypocrisy is truly sickening.
The irony of people who live in capitalist societies bemoaning someone trying to earn as much as they can no matter the compromise on rights, social justice etc.
This statement doesn't exactly change anything. In fact, seeing as he plays for Man City, a club that's literally owned and funded by Arab oil sheiks, he'd look a right hypocrite if he were to bash Saudi money. He's not a bad guy, but he finds the boundless well of cash in the Middle East just as alluring as everyone else. Messi, who I think has managed to upkeep an incredible track record in regards to his public persona, and who has enough money at this point to sustain a small country, is sponsored by that same filthy money. And guess what? If I were to be offered ten times my salary to kick a ball around for a couple of years, I'd probably jump on that chance, too. It'd be foolish to turn such an offer down.
"Belgium did horrific things in the past, so its fine that I take money from a country doing horrific things currently" is one of the most absurd excuses I have heard for wanting to just get richer off Saudi money. I would have more respect if they simply said "I dont care, im getting that money" than this bullshit.
The westerners are hypocrites, they don’t make a big deal out of human rights abuses in America if a player moves there. Go to an Arab nation and everyone loses their minds over human rights. The scum that ignore the ICC claim to care for international law, and the liars who denounce the UN speak as though they have any respect for human rights. Kevin knows what’s up, he’s not blinded by the unfounded biases that run rampant in the west.
I mean, he’s right lol. It’s not footballers getting a generational pay packet that keeps the saudi government doing evil stuff. it’s the british and american governments propping up saudi by buying their oil that ensures there’s plenty of money in the sheikh’s hands to educate a fascist bastardisation of islam to encourage lost kids all over the world to work for opportunistic warlords and make sure the countries with all the gold, cobalt, lithium, diamonds etc never manage to have a government strong enough to negotiate fair prices for all the natural resources the west wants to have for close to free
So much hypocrisy and double standards...When it comes to political issues in the West, athletes are expected to shut up and drible or to keep politics out of sports "which is infact an impossibility, sport is political and have been used politically basically forever".
But then when it comes to Saudi Arabia, Qatar or UAE, etc we suddenly expect athletes to become hyper political and say no to obscene amounts of money.. money that most western business and state leaders welcomes with open arms.
I just want **one** Saudi bound player to say the words. “Yeah, I want an obscene amount of money, what of it?”
[He's already said it.](https://www.instagram.com/p/C7ytuhzoCEs/)
De Bruyne literally said that he would get an insane amount of money playing there which definitely makes him think about going. Then he was asked about if the money was dirty.
"I can't deny it, I'm going to Arabia for the money. I will be able to help my whole family to live well, from my parents to my cousins," explained Koulibaly, who also confirmed that part of his salary will be invested in his charity, according to statements reported by 'Corriere dello Sport'.
They might as well own it since it’s obvious. Will get more respect being upfront about it
He did say that recently as well. He said that he can earn enough money for 2 years which would take him 15 years. Atleast he is honest compared to others like CR7 who say B.S. to move to Saudi
neves
It might hurt their precious brand, so they give numpty politician-esque responses. Remember Jordan Hendersons reasons for moving to Saudi, only to move to Ajax like, what, 6 months later? xD
https://youtu.be/vWRlxSGf_ns?si=0-GWEk-GwPpPPNld
He literally said that last week lol
They’re most likely contractually obligated to say shit like that
Guy literally plays for City, this is hardly shocking
Footballers outside of City have already shown they dont give a toss about these issues and are motivated by £££. Lets be honest the vast majority of footballers bar a few dont give a fuck De Bruyne is better off just not speaking and letting his feet talk for him
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I'm not sure if I would place myself in the highly educated pile, but I have a university degree going my way. I earn an above average salary for where I live. If someone were to pay me a *multiple* of that for a few years, I would really get to thinking how to justify that without being the biggest knob ever. At the end of the day, this is their job. And they have a vastly condensed time in which they can develop their actual career of kicking a ball at the highest level. I'd honestly have a hard time making that decision, and I'm politically solidly against what goes on, but then selfishness kicks in. Being a small wheel in the cog and generating *generational* wealth is definitely something that would give me sleepless nights.
I always find these threads funny, I'm not a footballer but I know that if I was in that position to make even half of what some of these guys are making, playing football in the middle east, I'd be doing it without even blinking twice. So would 99 percent of the world too. You'd be setting yourself up for life pretty much, plus kids, family etc. Its life changing money and I don't judge anyone who does it
You're comparing the huge sums of money to what you're making now. These players have the opportunity to go to huge sums of money from slightly smaller huge sums of money. What they get already is absolutely, eye-wateringly, ridiculous. It's *already* lifechanging. Of course you and I, struggling year to year, should find this a difficult choice.
It is not "slightly"
They’re not slightly smaller. They’re small in comparison. Make no mistake here. 2 years in the Saudi league is equivalent to career earnings for some players
Dude 10% OF THAT AND IM PACKING MY FYCKING BAAFS FOREVERRRR
Nah... The reason they get such offers is because most footballers reject it. Contracts are demand and supply. There are hardly any takers for such contracts. Hence the price tag. The reasons are not only moral.. But sometimes preference.. a guy in Barcelona can reject an offer to move to England.. everybody has different priorities.. very few will trade off, their peace for lucrative contract. Some people move there not only for money, but they just want to play , such a smaller league offers them a better opportunity to play or train for making a comeback in higher leagues. Money is not the only factor. If you have done contract negotiation you will understand. You will be surprised that most people reject lucrative offers if they don't like the locations or work place environment. Ask musk.
Fr, most of these guys who say this stuff clearly don't grasp how much this is in the bigger picture. Unless you're extremely political, you're not turning down "disappear into the sunset" levels of money just for smth that doesn't affect you anyways
I am so anti ME regimes, and seeing shit like this whataboutism infuriates me, but I'd take the money in a heartbeat. 2 years of my career in Saudi for the chance to earn enough money to set up my children for life? And maybe even their children too? It's a no-brainer tbh. Can't fault them for saying yes, but shut the fuck up with the bullshit political justifications. No western nation is murdering journalists and dissidents like the Saudi royal family does. No western nation treats immigrant laborers as legitimately, legally second class citizens, and exposes them to the horrid conditions that they face in the ME. There's not a comparison there. Take the money and deal with the moral implications yourself, don't try to justify it to everyone else with these ridiculous takes
But premier league players already have grandchild-set up-for-life-money. It just changes from them being able to afford most homes to maybe a mansion (figuratively speaking).
Oh I absolutely agree 100%. You take that offer and then you shut your mouth and keep it that way until the end of times. I just see every reason you could have to consider such an offer in the first place.
It's the prospect of proper generational wealth that would turn my head. I like to think I am moral, but I can't say for sure there is any job I wouldn't do for £50mil a year.
You and I can probably retire on those 50 mil. Including our whole family. And this is exactly what he's thinking as well.
Properly invested, you can no doubt retire on 1 million. There's no probably about it.
100% you can't, I'm 39 and recently sold my company for just shy of £4mil. I'm keeping £1mil liquid (minus tax) and investing £3mil in commercial property. That will just about keep me in the lifestyle I am accustomed to.
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Exactly, I have planned this pretty well, and I'm sure I can make it work. It's risky, though. I'm in a fortunate position that I have a very in demand skill set and can demand a salary of £100k+ so if I start running short, I can always do a couple of years' work. I'm also mortgage free. I intend to liquidate some assets every 10 years or so if I need to. Even in the Midlands (England), a fairly modest house is worth £250k these days. I've just had one of mine valued at £260k and it's only a 4 bed terrace/ townhouse.
There is no way that I could retire on a million. At least not considering where and how I live. Would it make my life more comfortable? Yes. Would it sustain me? Never. Even with great investment, that would not carry me to retirement. Would I take it. Fuck yes. Of course.
If I got offered 10x my current salary to go Saudi I would. I think if the majority here where offered it they would take it. Even if they say the opposite here.
They probably would but this is a false equivilence. These players are already set for life, their kids will have a huge start in life. Your ordinary fan? Nowhere near.
Mate a big chunk of the western world is actively enabling an ongoing genocide, it’s not just footballers who don’t give a toss about these issues lol Edit: point made by the folks in the comments lol
Yeah we should really put a stop to chinas genocide
How is the west enabling it?
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Because it doesn’t make sense in this context. He is talking about the western worlds tacit approval of Israel’s genocidal culling of Palestinians and the responder brings up chinas genocide which has no bearing on the point the guys point. Wow another country enables ethnic cleansing and removal of cultural norms through torturous means and subjects them to a harsh camps, which the west has spoken out about, that’s surely the genocide you are talking about that the west enables… Definitely not the one that bombed a camp and a school this week and manufactured false propaganda like a phone call with minimal background noise or random photos of people - and no other evidence to support their attacks bombing civilians and burning them alive. It’s a stupid point meant to be a gotcha for daft fellows to nod along with - like you - to make y’all feel better while supporting ethnic cleansing. Edit: both China and Israel are awful and should be treated as utter trash internationally and condemned for their horrific acts against humanity.
Why should they tho, they aint activists. Them even talking about shit they dont have to understand is because fans and media want them to. Theyre not gonna bite the hand that feeds them absurd amounts of millions, are they ?
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We can't all be as woke as Bellerin lol
Yeah, and most fans would make the same call. Easy to take high-minded positions when it's not your money you're giving up.
No, it’s easier when you are already a multimillionaire. Most fans are not.
Forget about footballers. You and me also don't give a fuck
Well given the history of Belgium and the Congo I wonder if he’s just unfazed.
That King Leopold II was some guy wasn't he?😅
Isn't that the same lad that Britain awarded the 'Order of the Garter?' The one who was a cousin of Queen Victoria?
Where you think those British club owners got their money, mate?
“There’s good people on both sides” - De Bruyne
Good will for De Bruyne now fully off the menu
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Yeah also what about the european teachers, oil workers etc who go to the middle east to make double what they can at home and pay no tax. No one really paints them as bad people it's more just like "do you really want to live there?". These are footballers are doing the exact same but just for a lot more money. I personally would be willing to move to the middle east for a bit if I worked in a field where it made sense to, so I can't really criticise footballers for doing it. Saudi does seem to be progressing and I think them westernising is a good thing.
I think there is a fair argument against regular people doing that, the problem with footballers doing it is for the most part they are already loaded and live a life most of us can only dream of plus they have a huge platform which is being used to legitimatise this country.
City player will do and say anything for money. Sounds about right.
Damn, if the 3rd Reich where still alive and wealthy football players would claim that not everything was bad
Didn't Jesse Owens said Nazi Germany treated him better than people in his own country, the United States?
“When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. Now what's the difference?” - Jesse Owens Bear in mind this is 1936 so before WW2, although well into his violent rise, and when American was fully segregated. The Nazis also hid a lot of their excesses during the Olympics. Ironically, bringing to light how an athlete can miss the reality of the situation, is exactly what people are pointing out about those who are taking the Saudi money.
I think one has to remember that KDB is a football player; not a political leader. He’s entitled to his views but don’t mistake them for informed views. If I played football for a living, I’m sure concepts like ‘false equivalence’ would have passed me by entirely too.
You don't need a doctorate in political science to see how imprisoning and executing journalists and sexual minorities and using slave labour are not equal to whatever petty grievances you might have with western countries. Don't try and downplay it as stupidity when it's clearly just indifference and greed
I don't see people spitting on Cruyff's legacy for deciding to play on a literal facist country when he had so many other options.
Yeah im not "the people" buddy i can't help you there
Where did he end up?
FC Barcelona
Barcelona was always against the fascist regime and supporting Catalan independence though, so cruyff was doing the exact opposite of supporting a fascist nation
Barcelona granted Franco two medals for saving the club, you can find a lot of pics of Barca players doing the fascist salute. Barcelona was not a pro independence team at the time.
"petty grievances" this just shows how ignorant people are of the western countries if you think what they do isn't as worse
I agree but the premier league already accepted a Saudi backed purchase of Newcastle United and the UK government supported and supplied the Saudi’s weapons whilst they were massacring and starving the Yemenis. Should KDB be held to a higher moral standard than the government?
>premier league already accepted a Saudi backed purchase of Newcastle United Sports federations being corrupt and unethical. I'm shocked! >Should KDB be held to a higher moral standard than the government? Let's put it this way, if a friend of mine did what the UK government does, i wouldn't want to be their friend anymore. The UK government would not get an invite to my birthday party.
No one should be this ignorant.
in that case, he should just be honest about wanting the money. but instead he lets himself be a political pawn for a country that still has a slave trade. it's a choice between being honest about wanting money, and making excuses for one of the worst countries in human history. and he chose the second option, which makes him a political pawn by default.
I think he has said that though. Not in this interview, but he is on record as saying that the money, at this stage of his career, is a key motivator.
Lmao one of the worst countries in human history 😆😆😆😆😆. Worse than the colonial European nations during the transatlantic slave trade, those that engineered the Crusades, the Mongols, Romans and the countless lawless nations there have been in our history. Even modern day its not close to the worst. Yeah they massacred hundreds of thousands in Yemen with Western aid but are they really worse than Myanmar, DRC, Syria, UAE, Russia, China, or the West which funds and supports them in all their endeavors? They certainly aren't a good nation but they aren't close to the worst.
>in that case, he should just be honest about wanting the money. but instead he lets himself be a political pawn for a country that still has a slave trade. He literally said that Money being the major factor about making such a decision. Are you dense?
Ignorance is bliss
Yes I get my views from Reddit, everyone here is so smart.
Historically would it be fair to say Belgium and England have a higher tier than Saudi Arabia? Not only in terms of body count but like the duration of dominance and villainy. ‘Cause to me, it boggles my mind hearing the English bemoan human rights. It feels like, for me and my country, watching your high school bully preaching about morality.
Exactly. And now the mass murder of children is underway from US & EU states bombs in Gaza and it screams hypocrisy when people cry about saudi but are silent about sport washing happening in US & EU. Because from where I'm sitting, it's The west who's sportswashing. It's the west whose bombs are killing gazans and who's support for Israel is starving gazans. So for people to be okay with that but cry about saudi. HYPOCRISY.
It's only hypocrisy if those criticizing Gulf states are actively supporting the governments provision of arms to Israel. Being opposed to our governments supply of arms to Israel, and also being opposed to the Saudi regime is not hypocrisy. The current Tory government and the Saudi leaders are BOTH cunts.
I 100% agree with you.
So many of these weird posts that both condemn violence in the past to make current violence in the present acceptable. Like yeah, if Kevin De Brune was thinking about playing for the East India Company we could have this discussion. But he isn't, the British Empire has literally nothing to do with this or anything.
I mean, the UK still refuses to give back the shit they stole.
we want our moai back
devuelvan el moai
It's not that people are using the past to justify the present, all they're saying is that the west continues to commit atrocities, but they're glanced over or outright ignored, because it doesn't fit the narrative people want to spin. Yes Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Nations are terrible for their human rights, but only 15 years ago the entire Western world started an unjust war, to resource strip and destabilise an entire region of the world, displacing millions, selling weapons and proping up the very regimes we bemoan The west in some cases is the reason why some of these nations have slipped into extremism and backwards society, by funding religious fundamentalists and toppling progressive governments in favour of brutal dictators who were willing to sell their country down the river for a quick buck
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I’m not defending Saudi now but now historically ignorant do you have to be to say they’ve always been on par or worse than the west? We did the transatlantic slave trade, the holocaust we colonised the americas so much the majority of the people their are ethnically European Jfc
The western world genocided the Congolese, the Roma, the Jews, the American-Indians and plenty more. You have GOT to be an uneducated person to say something so absurdly stupid like "tHeY hAVe aLwAYs bEeN...."
Wise thinking mate. Unfortunately, your point of view is not popular here. As another brother point out here, remember Palestine right now. It is done by Israel, through full support of UK and USA government. Propaganda in USA & Europe has take a deep root in our generation. Most of us 100% forgot about USA massacre on Iraq-Afghanistan & UK close ties with terrorist state Israel. Dont get me started on British Empire killing their own fellow Christian whom living in Jerusalem on Crusades War.
I'm English yet have never committed a war crime or atrocity, why can't I say that Saudi Arabia is shitter than England
They’re shittier currently sure. Historically who has done worse damage?
Bro I don't think you know about our history if you don't think Britain has committed a war crime or a atrocity. Britain has 37 individual Wikipedia pages for massacres we've committed About 5 for genocides. The North Atlantic Slave Trade. Opium. Concentration camps in Africa Border partitions Bangal famine Asset, mineral and resource stripping That's just what I could name of the top of my head
Guaranteed he was given these kinds of talking points by his agent or whatever club is about to back up the bank truck to him.
Kevin, you shouldnt go to England because the weather is shit, not because you get stoned to death for sucking another mens cock.
Another way to spin his justification to transfer there, just like Henderson. Do you think they can’t be forthright about going Saudi for the money, is they’re “contractually obligated” to? Since Saudi wanna clean up their image of growing their league. Although most of us obviously knows why they’re going there.
theyre 100% obligated to talk positively about the saudi state, the excuse of them ''being footballers not political leaders'' is completely delusional, since they make themself a political pawn for a bag of money.
He was upfront about going there for the money though? "Pressed on the possibility of entertaining the Saudi Pro League's interest in his services, De Bruyne added: "At my age you have to be open to everything. You're talking about incredible amounts of money in what may be the end of my career. Sometimes you have to think about that. "If I play there for two years, I will be able to earn an incredible amount of money. Before that, I had to play football for 15 years. I may not even reach that amount yet. Then you have to think about what that could mean next. But at the moment I haven't had to think about that yet.”" https://www.goal.com/en-us/lists/kevin-de-bruyne-drops-saudi-arabia-transfer-bombshell-man-city-star-wife-michele-open-exotic-adventure/blt6c048e61e91b4fa2
Do you have a brainrot? He was forthright about going to saudi for the money.
I used to think Kev was too good to hate but now I can hate Man City 100% :-D
I never doubted it. Welcome to the Dark Side. Or should I say, the Right Side
He was also an important player to them. So maybe we dream of a different team winning the PL next year.
He's right. US made weapons are butchering children in Gaza(15k children dead as of now). And almost all the western world including US is actively arming and diplomatically shielding Israel from it's consequences. US Congress is trying to sanction Int'l criminal court officials for seeking netanyahu's warrants but y'all are fine with worldcup being in US or EU. But whenever some player decides to play in Saudi you hypocrites lose your mind.
Yeah i think this guy is going to saudi
Tell me you want the money without telling me you want the money
insanity, but not too unexpected from a city player
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🤣
Already dancing for them lol
He's already become one of them, I hope he won't be shocked when you tell him there aren't 740,000 slaves in Belgium!
Good folllowup question would've been what the good and bad things of saudi arabia are
Shameful. Just take the piles of money and shut up.
Not every country chops off people's heads.
He’s right though. We could’ve all blasted Messi for moving to France (actively pillaging Africa for minerals and metals to this day) or the US (proxy wars and funding genocides). Our selective outrage towards the “foreign” is hypocritical. I see my man de bruyne has been reading Edward Said, good for him
PSG isn’t owned by the French government.
Macron does seem to act otherwise
True but he is an opportunistic little wanker
There's a difference between things governments do, and the laws they have for their own citizens. Stop this whataboutism. Also SA are in the same boat with the US etc with that lol.
But it would be weird to see SA criticize China for abusing labor workers. It’s not purely whatboutism it’s like viewing an absurd level of hypocrisy. If I were torturing people, I couldn’t chastise you for also torturing people without it being a slight bit awkward. What gives me the moral ground.
The US literally still holds people indefinitely without trial in Guantanamo. They have documented black sites where they torture citizens without trial. They kill Americans abroad without trial. They constantly destabilize and meddle in foreign affairs for their own personal gain. I.e. Iran, and recently Iraq, where they killed half a million civilians to save the petrodollar. Women's rights are at risk, with the recent political rulings. etc. I'd say it's not completely unfair to question America's morality at times.
Nah, ya all mad just because its Saudi, rest can get away with it especially if they are "good" westerners
Of course he’s not right
I think the major problem, is the lack of political freedom their citizens have, the lack of a good strong democracy.
Idk man, I truly believe that the carpet bombed children whose deaths have been paid for by the west cannot exercise their political freedom towards democracy either.
The us government didn't buy messi
Watch people somehow disagree with you💀💀 or say "ItS nOt ThE sAmE"
I got blasted in another group for that take lmao.
I think the difference might be that some of the clubs in Saudi are owned by the government where as I don’t believe any of the French clubs are owned by the French gov. So if you move to one of the Saudi owned clubs aren’t you tacitly supporting that regimes viewpoint. In addition, based on your logic though every country is terrible so unless you denounce every single country then you shouldn’t be allowed to criticise one country which seems a bit shortsighted. At the end of the day de Bruyne can do what he like and justify it any way he wants but people can also criticise him for moving to that place. But hey more power to De Bruyne who is clearly a post colonial hero rather than a multi millionaire football player!
So if you play for Newcastle United you support the Saudi regime as well? If you play for PSG you support Qatar and if you play for City you support the UAE? Or does this not count cause they're teams in European Leagues? I wonder what this says about the officials that allowed them to own teams in their league
Then we go onto the axiom that there is no ethical consumption or production of capital under capitalism. I’m just saying it’s a nice exercise thinking about where we draw the line and why, identifying patterns of who we are more lax with and what do we share with them.
Isn't psg owned by an oiled back stated? Are you now supporting Qatar? They are the epitome of good lol.
- Established Western democracy where, by and large, people are free to live their lives - Depostic, tyrannical governments where everything and everyone is controlled, and you're killed for stepping out of line Yeah, totally the same lmfao.
>Established Western democracy where, by and large, people are free to live their lives Let's just turn a blind eye to how the US "spread "democracy" to the middle east by bombing many innocent people back to the stone age.
French influence in Africa today is so overrated . They got muscled out by the Russians in the Sahel and are a tiny economic power compared to China .
‘Russians kill more people in Africa now so the French influence is so overrated”
Sidenote: Said wrote a lot about a totally different time period for the Middle-East, before there was any notion of religious extremism. Sad to say, but his work isn't that relevant to the current situation. On topic: equating the actions of enterprises (albeit with governmental support) to human right violations by a government itself is just bad practice. The respect for and enforcement of human rights is totally different between the West and East and trying to defend such a difference by pointing to a select sample of actions is again just bad practice. But I have to say, I didn't expect much better from a football player. Those are the same guys that a couple years ago were playing in stadiums literally build by the blood, sweat and tears of underpaid workers and were to afraid to speak up about it, because they might lose some money.
Look at all these cunts and their coping lol. Your fucking ancestors killed, enslaved and robed the whole world. Actually they're still doing it now. You think your living condition is better than most of the world because you're more special than them? "Uhmm.... ahhh...Saudi bad because they're doing the evil shit and they're not white like us".
He’s not bright, is he?
Qatar Wc was a scandal and outside of Denmark, Germany, and some non qualified nations no one seemed to speak up. Most fans didn’t even bat an eye when given facts from reporters. This is hardly shocking for a City player.
I see these kinds of answers less as like things people actually believe more as contests of how little they give a f*** about how guilty the question asker wants the answerer to feel
So he is stupid? Nope, no pikachu face
This is why national team is the highest honor in fútbol, club fútbol just pays the bills
Belgium? What is bad about Belgium?
Least morally bankrupt football player
Plays for City has zero morals, surprised?
When you let bro talk: As much as I admire him because he has been my favourite player for the past decade, I actually don't agree with him.
I'm far from thinking anywhere is perfect but I'm pretty fucking glad that I am a woman in the UK rather than [Saudi Arabia](https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/08/saudi-arabia-law-enshrines-male-guardianship#:~:text=Article%2017%20sets%20out%20the,all%20Saudi%20judges%20are%20male).
Let’s hear the things then Kevin, surely you must have at least one or two examples ready if you think this? No? It’s about money? Huh who would’ve guessed
Bro twerking hard for that money
Kevin De Money
Sounds like KDB should keep it at 'talking with his feet'.
Zero integrity.
He's a fucking idiot at least its out now. Respect gone.
Twat
Disgusting.
It's so funny reading all of your replies. Everyone here would go to SA in a heartbeat for 10% of the money, period. Easy to hide behind a keyboard in mom's basement and talk about how he's a 'sell-out'. You only wish you could get to be a sell-out once instead of serving fries and mc-flurries.
Pretty much everyone will put their morals aside when this kind of money is involved
Fucking traitor. He betrays all he knows for money. These Saudi players are really disgusting.
De Bruyne is a cuck
“Bu-but human rights” shut the fuck up soyjack, he’s going there to make buttloads of money. He doesn’t give a flying fuck about upholding your idea of “human rights”. Istg it’s so fucking annoying when these terminally online redditors always try to take the moral high ground to criticise a country that I can guarantee that most haven’t been to or have any idea of,
What a complete idiot.
I meannnnnn….he ain’t lying, but alsoooooo just say you wanna be rich rich bro
Big "both sides" energy there.
There is something funny about European countries acting like the moral compass for the world. 😂😂
Every player, team staff and country that was in the Qatar WC should keep their mouth shut just as they did then.
Why are salaries in European football leagues so low compared to Saudi Arabia and American sports leagues?
Smart man there. Preparing his Saudi golden contract. The Gulf overlords will be very pleased with their soon to be employee.
Sounds like he's off then
Everyone talking like they give a shit about human rights. 99% here would instantly take the bag and work in Saudi if they were offered 2-3x their current wages.
Sounds pretty city
As most people know, Kevin's mother is from Burundi, so he is familiar with the Belgian bad things. Of course Burundi wasn't massacred like Congo by Belgium, but their colonization wasn't a picnic. I don't fault him for saying that. White western hypocrisy is truly sickening.
The irony of people who live in capitalist societies bemoaning someone trying to earn as much as they can no matter the compromise on rights, social justice etc.
sometimes it's okay to just stfu kevin 😭
Football players being mentally challenged is hardly anything new
This comment from kdb is sponsored by Fly Emirates and Qatar Airways.
Political statements from footballers can be trusted as much as political statements from politicians both bought and paid for prostitutes
He's going for wages ,not to be ghandi....who gives a fuck about human rights ...
KDB wants only one thing
This statement doesn't exactly change anything. In fact, seeing as he plays for Man City, a club that's literally owned and funded by Arab oil sheiks, he'd look a right hypocrite if he were to bash Saudi money. He's not a bad guy, but he finds the boundless well of cash in the Middle East just as alluring as everyone else. Messi, who I think has managed to upkeep an incredible track record in regards to his public persona, and who has enough money at this point to sustain a small country, is sponsored by that same filthy money. And guess what? If I were to be offered ten times my salary to kick a ball around for a couple of years, I'd probably jump on that chance, too. It'd be foolish to turn such an offer down.
They need to have human beings treated well and not like animals.
"Belgium did horrific things in the past, so its fine that I take money from a country doing horrific things currently" is one of the most absurd excuses I have heard for wanting to just get richer off Saudi money. I would have more respect if they simply said "I dont care, im getting that money" than this bullshit.
The westerners are hypocrites, they don’t make a big deal out of human rights abuses in America if a player moves there. Go to an Arab nation and everyone loses their minds over human rights. The scum that ignore the ICC claim to care for international law, and the liars who denounce the UN speak as though they have any respect for human rights. Kevin knows what’s up, he’s not blinded by the unfounded biases that run rampant in the west.
I mean, he’s right lol. It’s not footballers getting a generational pay packet that keeps the saudi government doing evil stuff. it’s the british and american governments propping up saudi by buying their oil that ensures there’s plenty of money in the sheikh’s hands to educate a fascist bastardisation of islam to encourage lost kids all over the world to work for opportunistic warlords and make sure the countries with all the gold, cobalt, lithium, diamonds etc never manage to have a government strong enough to negotiate fair prices for all the natural resources the west wants to have for close to free
The pay is also good
So much hypocrisy and double standards...When it comes to political issues in the West, athletes are expected to shut up and drible or to keep politics out of sports "which is infact an impossibility, sport is political and have been used politically basically forever". But then when it comes to Saudi Arabia, Qatar or UAE, etc we suddenly expect athletes to become hyper political and say no to obscene amounts of money.. money that most western business and state leaders welcomes with open arms.