If we have bid 30 million euros it means we are serious. Thankfully our competition is Mike Ashley's Newcastle who are rummaging around in the bargain bucket until the club is sold. Will Gino twist or stick? There is no way we will go to 40 million so this could be interesting. Plenty of scope of course for being gazumped by a club that does not have a ground hog day moment every transfer window.
It's on the record that we want to establish ourselves in the top ten. That means we will have to fork out at some point and smash our transfer fee record. I fully support the Pozzo's aim of getting value in the market and unearthing talent like Joao Pedro. However, if we lost Doucoure, Del Boy and Pereyra in one window we would struggle to match last season, let alone push on even marginally. If we don't fork out we will revert to the same situation as Newcastle. If you stand still or sell your best assets (Muff?) You are heading towards the danger area.
We won’t lose Doucoure, Pereyra and Deulofeu in one window. I have no facts to back that up but I just don’t see how it will be allowed to happen. It’s on record that we want to establish ourselves. But we can’t spend what we don’t have. Or to be more accurate, we can - but we won’t. 30 million euros or pounds would only ever be spent if we had the clear means to do so. So hypothetically, some would say we need to sell one player of high value to do that. But the caveat is that we made a net profit on transfers last summer. And we found £18m the summer before for Gray. I’m not so sure it’s beyond us to make a big summer signing without having to lose a player to do so. I don’t think it will happen but I do t think it’s impossible.
Of course we say we want to establish ourselves in the top 10 ! We'd be stupid not to. Our accounts showed we had lots of debt and little cash. The Richie sale was required to balance the books. If we want to make a major €30m signing, the cash will have to come from somewhere.
Would be pleased if this happened. However, hopefully we only sign this one, and don't also hand a contract to France's U21 CB Malang Sarr.
http://www.insidefutbol.com/2019/06...nal-and-newcastle-target-ismaila-sarr/424942/ http://sportwitness.co.uk/watford-p...seduces-him-transfer-can-be-done-for-e40-45m/
If we off-load Dodi Lukebakio this definitely moves forward, as the player himself reckons he is worth 20 million euros! If at least one of Okaka, Success or Sinclair move we get closer to covering this fee. Although not mega-rich the Pozzos probably have reserves built up over the years through astute trading. That said Rennes are taking the Mickey with their valuation even in a totally bonkers market. If Arsenal or Leicester enter the fray we will be left behind but don't think that a Newcastle bid is credible at the moment.
We won’t get a fee for Sinclair. We wouldn’t get much for Success and he’s on a long contract with an attitude problem - will be very hard to shift. Okaka will fetch about £5m max and likely less, and will probably go to Udinese so technically we’ll be letting him go for free as the owners will just be paying each other. Lukebakio could bring in funds. I’d be surprised if Gino has much in cash reserves. We’ve not seen that in the years they’ve been here. As I said in an earlier post, I don’t think a large outlay is potentially beyond us - but we won’t be going anywhere north of £30m and I suspect we won’t even go to that. Sarr cost Rennes £20m to begin with and has done well. They will want a good profit.
Ultimately Sarr has the potential to be a £60m+ player. Pay the £30m, enjoy the talent, reap the rewards, invest the profit. Or you could buy another Ken Sema.
Yeah agreed, if we are serious about pushing into top 10 or top 6. We need to be investing in a top talent like Sarr. I really hope it comes good for Big Ken but a stint at Udinese might help him.
Could see Brighton taking him if we put him on the market. Would be relatively cheap and he showed his best form under Potter in Sweden.
Sometimes we are looking a few windows ahead - show interest now when a player has a couple of years left on his contract but only come back in a year later and see then if we can get a deal done. Current case in point is Dawson. Overall it seems to me we have tried for a few windows to improve our CB spots but with no joy. This window we have to get a couple in. We are clearly also looking for a replacement for Dacoure and an upgrade up front but if they don't come off at the price we want then we will not buy for the sake of it but instead look again at the next window. Sarr will only come in this window at a max of 25m + addons so very unlikely. If he doesn't move anywhere then we will try again in the next window.
This guy gets you off your seat. But definitely not the finished article. Him and GD running at the oppositions defence would scare the living daylights out of them. Big money for a 21 year old who has his off days. But doesn't every player.
Expensive, but as everyone loves to point out when a player’s potentially being sold “it’s not my money”. Already good enough to start for us, would bring much needed pace out wide and I’m convinced we would sell him for a big profit in just a year.
I’m not convinced that our accounts tell the full picture. What the basic figures don’t reflect is the value of our assets. Even before you consider the value of our own team we've got the likes of Lukebakio, Pedro and that Brazilian youth whose name I’ve forgotten and can’t be bothered to look up. I think if you consider the value of our assets in the squad and on loan compared to a few years ago our finances are pretty awesome.
TUT, don’t we basically have to make a net £20-30m sale each year to balance the books? Putting £1500 on a season ticket would fix this instantly.
Is there any point to having a speedy winger if Troy is still crunching through the gears in the centre circle when the cross comes in?
I’ve watched his yewtube and he basically kicks the ball past a player and sprints after it. What’s so impressive about that? I used to do that at the age of 10. £40m you’re having a larf when Del cost £15m.
