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If City sign Nasri after he's already played in Arsenal's Champions League qualifier he won't be eligible to play in any of City's CL games, same with Fabregas if he plays then goes to Barcelona. What's the reason for the cup-tied rule? I always just accepted it in the old days, it was one of those things about football that were a matter of "that's just the way it is", like going down to ten men if someone got injured in the days before substitutions. But it seems a daft & pointless rule now, and I've forgotten what purpose it served in the long ago era. Anyone know?

Good question.

I doubt that it ever served a purpose, if it did I have no idea what it was.

I like the rule, you dont want to knock a team out of a cup and then come up against there better players in later rounds who have then been transferred on.

On a side note if nasri does play for arsenal his value will signifantly drop, he wont be worth 20m to us if he cant play in champs league esp with him been free next season.

Why the rule? God knows!!

What I do know is that if Nasri is picked to play then it will force his hand into either refusing to play or handing in a transfer request. It's a 20 million pound gamble for the cockney arsewipes, they play him and get knocked out meaning they have an unhappy player and no money or they just succumb to the juggernaut that is MCFC and make themselves 20 million better off guarenteed regardless.

If he plays and arse win is he still cup tied or is it only if hes in a losing team?

Blue in the face wrote:If he plays and arse win is he still cup tied or is it only if hes in a losing team?

what!!?

If he plays for arsenal he is cup tied regardless of the outcome.

gillie wrote:If he plays for arsenal he is cup tied regardless of the outcome.

Thanks mate.

Two things here, the cup tied rule goes back further than the transfer window rule I think??? So therefore under old rules it had more significance. Secondly as already mentioned, given new rules his value for this season would be devalued if the buying club as in us in this case were reliant on him being part of our CL campaign.

So either the the Gooners are either looking to de value him buy holding out, getting him to play the qualifier and hold on to him OR we or the intending purchasing club would accept that he is cup tied for just season, focusing on what he can offering the league/other cups, in our case he would still be worth buying IMO

gillie wrote:If he plays for arsenal he is cup tied regardless of the outcome.

he hasn't traveled with the squad apparently (BBC). I think it's unlikely he'll play for them again. Wishful thinking?

I've always wondered about this Cup tied rule and could not see the logic behind it. According to Wikipedia the reason is this:

This prevents a wealthy, still competing team from gaining an unfair advantage by signing talented players from clubs that may have lost out in earlier rounds, in an attempt to increase their cup chances.

But the Criticism is:

The cup-tied rule comes in for criticism from various fans and media pundits, particularly when a high profile player is ineligible for significant matches. Some argue that the rule is antiquated and that since the introduction of transfer windows, clubs cannot buy players solely for cup matches, but will only do so for the league (in which there is no cup-tie rule).[5]

Others argue that a purchasing team ought to be able to field its new player as it sees fit, and his or her eligibility for cup competition ought not to be affected by the matches played for previous clubs.[7]

I tend to agree with the criticism.

Once the introduction of the transfer window was put in place it really did lose all practicality, however from that wiki page when they can pull out specific cases where a player has been affected and list them, not sure it comes up that often.

And if they are cup-tied their value tends to drop, which is a bonus for a primarily buying club.

Well the cup-tied rule is pretty obvious, it stops mega-money clubs buying extra players once they get to the QF etc and see they have a chance of winning. Mega-money as in old days that is, not now.

The other point no-one has mentioned is that Nasri is suspended for the first leg of Arsenal's match. Luckily!

He had a stand-up row with Wenger on the plane last week, but if the stubborn old twat wont sell him, we're buggered!