If Johnson was to fulfil his apparent potential i'm sure he'd be worth far more than the £3 million difference between the £8 million people seem to think acceptable and the £5 million rumoured offer. King hasn't really been at his best this season and £5 million would give us plenty of cash to purchase an adequate replacement, should that be neccessary, maybe it would give Ellington a chance to flourish. There are plenty of people who can score goals, but left wingers like Johnson are hard to find.
I'd let Marlon go for 5 million with or without Johnson. As I said before I think that's good business. We sold Young for 8 million (before additions) and in my opinion he's better than King.
Really? I'd snap that up like a shot if I was Aidy! £5,000,000 plus Lita? YES PLEASE! Lita has the potential to score 20 goals in the Premiership and he's young! Marlon has only really got 4 years left in him! I like King, he's EASILY our best player, but IMO Lita is better! I wouldn't sell King UNLESS we got Lita in exchange & £4,000,000 +! His body language at times looked bad yesterday...he hasn't IMO looked like he's wanted to be here all season...I don't blame him either! He get's sh*t service!
I'll tell you what, that is one VERY clever offer from Saaarfgate if true!! He knows how much Aidy likes Johno and he's in DESPERATE need of a striker to replace Yakubu...Johno isn't exactly a loss to him either as he has Stewart Downsyndrome playing left wing! £5,000,000 plus Johno for King?! I'd accept that aswell! Use the £5,000,000 to sign someone like Lita! That's basically having Leroy Lita and Adam Johnson in for Marlon King, who appears to be unhappy here IMO! That would be excellent business by Aidy! We need to be realistic about this! Johno and Lita would fit in well with our ethos of putting together a young team able to hold it's own in the Prem!
You are quite simply INSANE! :dismay: As stated above, he scored 5 in 12 or something like that, aswell as making quite a few! He's an England U21 international aswell! He has that quality that could keep us up if we do get promotion in May!
If we lived in an ideal world then that would be the answer yes! However, I really don't think King wants to be here! I really think King's ego/bemoaning of players drags everyone else down! He's not the kind of player you want when the chips are down IMO...I think that was evident against Burnley, Bristol City and Barnsley! At times it's quite cringeworthy watching him berate someone like Doyley for not playing the ball he wants, and then he decides to shoot from impossible angles when there are players in better positions! A class act, no doubt about that, far too good for this level...but if he's not happy and he wants out then we need to make it work for us! Johno and/or Lita in for King would be excellent business IMO!
But if he doesn't want to be here why make such obvious displays of team spirit as he did at Colchester by interacting with the crowd and calling together two huddles of the players?
We'll have the most expensive subs bench outside the big 4 and they'll be really happy with 10 minutes footy at most a week......NOT!!!!
That's 1 winger out and 1 in, and 2 strikers out and 1 in, and considering the facts that Lita and Johnson would both be starters, and that Henderson'll possibly leave if we go up, doesn't sound as silly as you make it out to be...
I'd take either £5m and Lita or £5m and Adam Johnson, both would be great and with my business hat on it's worth remembering both are young, England U-21 players, and have a far better potential resale value. If we are going to sell Marlon, we HAVE to get a QUALITY player in part exchange though. I'm really looking more and more at how Arsenal have improved as a TEAM unit since Thierry Henry left and think the same could quite easily happen with us if Marlon went...I really don't understand why he takes it upon himself to have a serious go at every other player who makes a mistake, but when he f#cks up he just smiles and thinks it funny 90% of the time.
I think we are all agreed then, Marlon can go for 5 million plus either Lita or Johnson. Whoever we get in exchange, we bid 5 million for the other. Now if Reading could through in Gunnarson as well, we would be into a right winner there! I can see boro being more interested in King than Reading. Reading have some depth in attack, boro have Alialialialidare and Stanley Tunki and nothing else.
A fair question, but why only huddles when we're winning games as we did last week? Surely a time for unity was when you lose against Barnsley, Burnley and Bristol City? That's my point, happy to do it when we win, but when we lost at Barnsley he shot down the tunnel sulking!
If Boro offered 5 million and Johnson I would bite their hand off. I think all along Marlon has wanted to leave in January, and Adie knows this. Playing half the season for us not only has provided him with the chance to attract some clubs but on a personal level has gave him the chance to repay the club and the fans for our support over the last 2 years. I firmly believe that it was planned that Malron was going to leave in January and all this "He's worth 60 million" and "We don't need to sell" is a load of bull to try and raise the price. Yeah, its a loss but I still think that we have enough firepower in the team to replace him. I feel as well that Marlon does generate a lot of negativity amongst some of his teammates, particularly the youngsters who feel they are forced to give him the ball... a bit like Henry at Arsenal last season.
OK time for my thoughts on this I think. I seem to be in the minority that think that we will not get promotion if Marlon leaves, no matter who comes in to replace him, even Johnson on the wing. The service he is getting has been absolutely awful for the vast majority of the season so far - not from our wingers crosses, which in the main are good, but from the midfield who are unable to create anything with any degree of imagination or flair. Briefly we rectified that at Colchester, but were back to our normal, crappy selves for Stoke. King is the only reason we are at the top of the table. His hold up play, ability to run the channels and get balls in and obviously his own goals have been irreplaceable. Who else would have done that? Priskin? Haha. Hoskins? Haha. Ahikodi? Haha. Kabba? Haha. Ellington also decided to starve himself making him completely irrelevant. I do not blame him one little bit for being greedy at Stoke, and some of the other **** games, as it is the only way we are going to score. He gets no support from anyone except Hendo, and fortunately for us they have been pretty good so far. Saying we will be better if he goes is a stupendously ridiculous thing to say. Perhaps it wouldn't be if we had Arsenals quality in the rest of the bleeding team, but we are a CHAMPIONSHIP SIDE - we do not have any Fabregases hanging about waiting for their chance for ****s sake! We have a bloody indie band Irishman and an illegal immigrant! King must stay. No price is big enough because we won't get an equal standard to come and play for us. And no, Lita will never, ever, ever come and play for us.
I was beginning to think I was on my own Potguy, I'm glad someone agrees with me :happy2::happy2::happy2:
marlon is a class player, you dont want to sell him. especially not in january. we also dont need the money. stop being stupid people.
If he goes for either of the above deals id be happy as long as the 5 million is spent on a player of real class aswell.My only worry is that Marlon looks like he really could be premiership quality and thats hard to convince to come.
£5 Mil AND Adam Johnson? Maybe I do believe in Santa Claus after all! As good a player as Marlon King is and as integral to us as he is, nobody is IRREPLACEABLE. Henry, Cantona, Beckham, Zola, etc? All replaced with no real fuss. If the rumours about his attitude are true it could be a blessing in disguise. Also, if it meant The Duke would get a decent run in the team then it could also turn out to be a good thing - I think a Hendo/Duke partnership could be DEADLY if we had 2 QUALITY wingers like Smith and Johnson (even McAnuff if he hits form) pinging balls in.
5million plus johnson is one hell of a tempting deal dont really know what i would say to that. on one hand we need johnson hes that spark of brilliance we've been missing on the other hand if johnson was involved in a potential swap does this not simply mean he is out there to be got? and as such wouldnt we be better off keeping marlon and throwing whatever money is needed at southgate for johnson?
The way I see it, neither Marlon nor Johnson will be sold in a straight cash deal. Either is too important for the present or future of their respective teams. However, if the departure of one guarantees a replacement, then it's a different story. To get Marlon, Boro would have to pay over the odds to get him (maybe not 60 mio) - the reason is that Marlon is worth so much more to us than his market value - simply because we're are extremely unlikely to attract as good a forward in the near future. Marlon's value at Watford is much higher than his value would be elsewhere. To get Johnson we'd have to pay over the odds to get him. Boro know we like him which pushes up the price. They know they can cash in on Downing and have ample replacement ready. That means Johnson's market value to Boro is actually higher than his "true" market value as a young talented LEFT winger. Also there could be pressure on either manager from fans to retain either player. But by securing another talented player in exchange - the manager can improve the squad as well as maintain a good relationship with the fans. I think most Watford fans are thinking "well king IS our best player BUT with Johnson as supply line - the rest of our forwards will score enough to secure promotion - and with cash in hand put towards other improvements - DEAL". I think most boro fans would think "Well Johnson is a fantastic talent - probably. But he's unproven in the premiership and is unlikely to keep us up. Furthermore, we have Downing already so he's a squad player at best. We'll be getting someone who is leathal in any division - who can spark the team and possibly keep us up... DEAL". I think the only argument would be the amount of cash involved. I mean, Ash went for around 9 mio and Johnson is a similar entity. Not quite as good but still. So he'd be worth at least 5 mio (though I'd probably say 7). King isn't worth 60 for sure but without the Watford evaluation of him - he's just a very very good champiionship striker. Top price for one like that is 8.6 - so say 9 for Marlon leaves between 2 and 4 mio on top of Johnson.
