[SIGNED perm] Yaser Asprilla

An EPL side will be willing to risk £5-6 million on his potential alone, assuming he won’t be ready to start for a season; I don’t see anyone going over £8 million for him based on what they will have seen from him thus far.

 

Proof he’s committed to stay?

 

No one is bigger than the club. If he wants to leave we need the right money or massive sell on fees and performance based add ons and I dont see a deal happening so late in the window. If he plays well this season then selling him in a year is the best outcome for both club and player.

 

That would be a fair enough if every post above was purely "if he wants to leave then sell him, I only want players who want to be here". But they aren't.

We can kid ourselves into thinking every player in our squad wants to be a Watford player for the foreseeable, but every single one of them would jump at the chance for a move to any PL club. Let's just hope Asprilla is sensible enough to realise his best hope of the move he wants is a season of playing regularly, developing his consistency.

 

Given Louza was dropped for poor attitude/being late and Asprilla started, seems pretty obvious to me that it's the players agent who is doing the talking and not the player himself.

What protects Watford right now is that we will have a price which is based on his potential - and no one will come close to that price.

 

As far as I can see, the only source for this is Alan Nixon at The Sun and it's a totally nothing article:

https://twitter.com/TheSunFootball/status/1695760573034578131?t=Ext8azRXa5DSq-99OV_cww&s=19

He hasn't got a good track record of calling Watford news and when you read the article itself, it's generic fluff. 'Asprilla is hoping for a Premier League move...'. I'd imagine a fair few players would be hoping for a Premier League move.

Can't imagine there's anything much in this other than recycling some of the reports from Colombia earlier in the window. Worth looking at the source and what he actually wrote before people decide Asprilla is too big for his boots and start slagging him off.

 

From what I remember, Alan Nixon is quite reliable for Watford news. However, the point still stands, I think it is agent talk rather than the player himself

 

Think he was at one point but don't think he's had any ins to the club for several years. Obviously doesn't mean an agent couldn't have got in touch with him but there is so little detail, I'd come down on the side of recycling from elsewhere on a slow news day...

 

Mad that he thinks he's good enough for a premier league club when he can't even get into the worst Watford side since the 90s.

See Joao Pedro for further details. Found out after 1 match!

 

Even if we get a massive fee, it won't be reinvested in the team so we as fans, gain nothing.

 

Gianluca Nani is touting Asprilla to try and push his price up this summer, but saying he could be the new Lynda Bellingham isn't going to help.

http://sportwitness.co.uk/watford-s...gham-hands-says-transfer-interest-widespread/

However, just to check I've searched through Bellingham's career and maybe our Sporting Director has a point.

Most will know Bellingham from showing she was different gravy to her peers when she stole the show in the long running noughts & crosses series, The Oxo Family. A somewhat repetitive programme, Bellingham continually controlled the middle of the board and finally moved to bigger and better things in 1999.

The now deceased Bellingham had a starring role in All Creatures Great and Small (Are Vetted By Bayat), a drama about the transfer dealings of our favourite unconnected agent.

Then there was the timeless documentary featuring the Vicarage Road medical team, Doctor Who (Is On The Treatment Table This Week?).

She then starred in Second Thoughts, a series about every players emotional mindset a month after signing for Watford. Funnily enough, Obbi Oulare also had a starring role in that one but was uncredited at the time. In the recently released DVD boxset the big striker is finally getting the recognition he deserves, good or bad.

And finally, she was in (Absolutely No) Faith In The Future (If I Stay At This Godforsaken Club For Another Minute), a follow up to Second Thoughts. Re-runs of this can still be seen on Ratford TV, a small independent station run out of Nigeria.

Bellingham, below, pictured with Stephan Glass when they appeared somewhat confusingly as partners on Strictly Come Dancing, is everything Nani wants Asprilla to become. Bizarre.

 

Genius move from Nani to compare Yaser to Bellingham given there's a five month age gap and one has been inconsistent but talented in the Championship and the other is one of the best players in the world at the biggest club and about to play a Champions League final.

 

Faustino? I thought he was Yaser’s dad, rather than his brother given the age gap.

 

https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/s...o-intention-selling-colombian-yaser-asprilla/
Interesting...

 

Thing is if you think he won’t improve technically and physically next season (and I think he will), you may want to cash. As you probably think he is at the peak of his value. Personally I think another 40 championship games under his belt makes him a more saleable asset, and more attractive to a Premier League club.

For me taking the money now, means replacing him with lesser players or paying down the debt. Neither is a strategy to make us more competitive next season.

The big question is how will be the next South American 17 year old we can blood in European professional football?

 

How much longer does he have on his contract?

 

Define 'decent offer', I could definitely see him doing well at the moment for a decent side abroad, but teams below the elite outside of England aren't absolutely awash with cash

 

I'd say that's a fair value for him, but if we're in a solid enough financial position that we can rebuff that, then fair enough!

 

"Coupled with that is the belief players head coach Tom Cleverley does not see as part of his plans could be sold for sufficient sums without the need to listen to offers for Asprilla."

Who the heck could this be then?

Surely only Louza?

Or do the club think the combined £600k we might get from the sales of Ngakia, Morris, and want-away TDB will be "sufficient" for their transfer business?!

I suppose there is also Bayo, but again I doubt any fee would be much more than £1mil.

 

I do wonder who those 'out of favour' players we can generate funds for though, some paper money from Udinese for Ngakia perhaps most likely, then what? A Bayat Bayo backhander? Chak being flipped for a quick buck?

 

I'd be very surprised if Chak was included in the category of someone Clevs doesn't see as part of his plans.

 

Not sure that’s that pertinent though. Every player is for sale at a price.

This is the club setting their stall out and stating he won’t go cheap and will likely be held for a period of time like Joao Pedro was.

Reading this, and from hearing a couple of snippets over the last day or three, the club genuinely think they can raise enough money elsewhere to keep us ticking along from other players (one of which I have said will likely stay - so I can happily admit I get things wrong!).

 

Louza would make the most sense, he'd definitely generate some non-negligible funds, but by all accounts he's happy...maybe Clev wants shot of him?

 

So would I, he's played when he's been available, but maybe Bayat fancies the quick buck?

 

Well be keeping him, come hell or high water

 

We’ll.

 

"No intention to" does not equal "not going to". I think Asprilla will go for nearer £15m and maybe £2m of that at most back into the team.

 

It’s not that far fetched that we’ll keep Asprilla. He’s not at peak value and with two years left in his contract he could still stay and be sold next summer. He might even increase his value if he has an even better season.

 

I thought he was gone , as he was the most likely source of much needed cash , but this suggests maybe no club is going to meet our valuation so he’s likely to stay . Makes sense if we can eventually get 25-30 m for him .

 

But a well is pretty good at keeping high water.