Watford are bracing themselves for a fight to keep Marlon King, skysports.com understands. The Jamaican international has bagged ten goals in 20 games this season and, as many predicted, is one of the leading lights in the Championship. King endured an injury nightmare last season which robbed him of playing any sort of meaningful part in their doomed Premier League campaign. Now he has returned and is hitting the net as expected, but that has led to a host of Premier League clubs gearing up to test Watford's resolve. Battle The Hornets have already insisted that King is not for sale, but they have sold prize assets Ashley Young and Hameur Bouazza in the previous 12 months - which shows they are not averse to selling at the right price. However, it is understood that King would command a fee of more than £6million - which may put some suitors off. Fulham, Wigan, Derby, Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Sunderland are all thought to have cast an eye over King in recent weeks.
6 milion? call it at least 10, i dont think hes going, he more valuble to us than any other club who would buy him, so no one will meet our price
Well thats dropped then hasn't it? It was £60 mill in the summer. All of those teams are struggling, he's as much chance of being relegated with them as he would be if we get promoted and he stays put.
It did say 'of more than £6million' Add another £54million and you have his valuation :dismay: I agree though, from his own personal point of view, he must be better off re-evaluating it in the summer!? All the above teams are in trouble! Sod it, I'd take £5,000,000 from Boro if they threw Johno in with the cash! Use the money to sign a quality replacement for King...someone like LITA!
If King leaves then the club are showing fak all ambition..king, young & bouazza would be taking the p1ss!
My yorkie pal who first mentioned the M'borough interest in King with Johnson as part of the package, tells me tonight that Southgate and Aidy have already spoken of a deal in theory and that a firm offer will be tabled in January. He does by the way work on the sports desk of a N Yorks paper so has very good contacts. Now if this happens I'd be chuffed to bits especially if he failed to keep them up we could probably get him back in the summer at a big discount.
As much as I think Johnson is a brilliant player and someone who could be MASSIVE in the future, I think Watford need King more than him here and now. I still believe that if we sell King we will not get promoted, and it's fine to say 'oh but we can replace him', but the fact is that we won't, we won't get Lita or anyone even close to the quality of King.
To be honest I think Marlon's time left with us is limited anyways - so we might as well make the most of him. We know the board will sell at at least 10 mio - if not less - so to get a good amount AND a great player in one swoop would be fine by me.
If that is the case, Aidy will be very unhappy at being told who goes - the decision has to be Aidy's. If Aidy does sell him and there is not the suitable replacement then AB will have gone against his word (£60 million, meaning not fior sale). Adam Johnson is not a replacement for MK, but would be a very good addition for the future of the club at the right price. At the forum recenctly AB said his "phone will be switched off in January" when asked about MK going.
Very true Paddy but at that stage the full impact of Johnsons play and the subsequent slump in form following his departure was not known.
Aidy was saying that AT THE TIME, he felt that Marlon was essential for the club to get promoted back to the Premiership. Thus, the price to buy Marlon was basically what the club would get from a season in the Premiership. It was not ever intended as a promise that he would not sell Marlon for less than that. It was an indication of how valuable Marlon was to the club. However, We do have an abundance of Strikers and limited delivery to them. If flogging our best striker gets us double the number of decent balls into the box, that may be worthwhile. Sure, King is better than Ellington, but if King gets 10 goals in 20 games with average delivery and Ellington gets 12 goals in 20 games with good delivery, it seems like it may be a decent deal.
Funny that, but he said the same thing about Ashley Young this time last year King will be gone either in January or the summer, make no mistake about it! I just hope Aidy gets a good deal out of it!
But don't you think that his impact on the game went far beyond the mere figures, with him in the side we looked far more incisive going forward and we had decent delivery both on crosses and on dead ball plays, something we have been sadly lacking since he left. Given his age I really do think that Johnson and £5m would be a superb deal, and probably about the only one I'd like to see us take for Marlon.
Ignore Nak, I think he must need his medication! How can anyone criticise Johno?! I agree...if King was to go to Boro then Aidy should only sell if we can get Johno! As you say Suffolk, we looked much better as a unit and he provided excellent balance/width! We have missed him lots since he's gone back!!
Im not criticising him im saying about Siggys post (forgot to quote it) in which its saying with Johnson we might create more, so I was pointing out that he had only created King goal against Palace. I think he is a brilliant player but think I would rather keep King.
as with posters above i belive M.K will go in the January sales. i don't believe aidy when he says any of his players are not leaving. he said this about ash and then hammer and both left. look at the team and players that beat leeds at Cardiff. where have the decent and 1/2 decent players gone to ply their footi ? getting johno would soften the blow to some of losing m.k but not everyone. look at how many are linked with robbo at west brom and he`s not for sale either !
He never said that Ash and Boozer wouldn't be sold. He said that Ash would only be allowed to go if the deal was right for him and the club. And he said that he had a price in mind for Boozer that would trigger his sale if met.
I think we should be expecting more cash. King has proven vital to our fortunes in recent history and is a figurehead for the club. Johnson, whilst undoubtedly talented (don't get me wrong I am his biggest fan) has only just begun to make a name for himself and is a peripheral figure at struggling boro. I reckon 8 mill plus Jonno and we would have money to sign a decent striker to replace King (assuming that Duke doesn't step up) and add a promising winger who in turn adds a huge dimension to our team. Anyway. Is this still speculation or are we supposed to start booing King next game and calling him a greedy b'stard.
Eh? He's said that now. Or rather he said it at the Fan's Forum last month. But specifically for the Ash and Boozer deals that you bring up those are the comments he made.
Jan 18th 2007: Aidy says Ash can go for the right price. http://www.football.co.uk/watford/boothroyd_faces_young_loss_240246.shtml Aug 2nd 2007: Aidy says a bid has been received for Boozer and is being considered. http://www.football.co.uk/watford/bid_received_for_bouazza_250462.shtml No where has Aidy ever said "these players will not be sold", like you suggested.
I could have sworn that Aidy said in about December time last year that he'd cut the phone lines or something, when he was questioned about interested parties for Young!?
Hell no, I'm not thinking anything bad of Marlon. All I'm saying is - I think that whether we go up or not - he'll move on in July at the latest. So we may as well make the most of it - and I for one would rather get a brilliant talent like Johnson and some cash than an extremely high price in a cash only deal. Ideally we'll keep Marlon and buy Johnson in a straight cash purchase but with clubs like Spurs sniffing about that'll not happen. I personally won't mind Marlon going. He's stayed longer than most players of his capabilities would have. He's been loyal. I would love to see him show what he can do - can become on a greater scene, for a better team (though with Boro - marginally better). But I want us to come away with something in hand as well. I still love Marlon (in a non-sexual fan>< footballer way) and the fact that he's ours. But just maybe - the Johnson and cash deal can benefit all parties.
I was wrong. Ho hum. Apologies to all! :dismay: http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/search/display.var.1053305.0.young_going_nowhere.php
glad someone else remembered it as well. the papers went mad with offers from nearly every team in the prem and aidy kept saying he wasn`t for sale. i might have got it wrong about hammer but not both of them. on king he said 60 million. does anyone else remember that ?
Why the hell does every one seem to want King to leave just for a bit of *****ing money that we DON'T EVEN NEED!!! Fact is that we won't be getting Johnson in a swap deal, we won't get the amount of money we (the fans) want or expect for him, and IF he does go, he will NOT be replaced with anyone even close to his ability/class. Selling King in January would be an absolutely ridiculous decision.
I think you're missing the point Nath - NO ONE wants King to leave. All I am saying is - whenever he does go - we need to make sure we make the most of it. And a deal included Johnson (whether you think it likely or not) would fit that description for me.
I know you don't Krisvad, and it's a fair point about Johnson but it's just not going to happen, and there's enough others on here who seem happy enough to just take the money and assume we'll get someone of equal quality, which just isn't going to happen either!
Correct. He will go sooner or later...he'll either leave in the next 8 months or he will lose his value with age! I think we should cash in on him....BUT ONLY IF THE DEAL IS RIGHT! A cash and player swap is good business IMO...King will leave sooner or later...Henry left Arsenal, Zola left Chelsea...Van Nistelrooy left Manure...good things always come to an end! There are plenty of Marlon King's out there, so it certainly wouldn't be the end of the world! That all said, I wouldn't sell him for a quick dollar...only if the deal involved a player of Johnson's or Earnshaw's calibre coming this way aswell!
Sometimes you do better with 4 decent forwards than with just one great one. The decent ones mean that the defence has to spread out more and that leaves openings. Even if they stop two, the other two are available. In the few games I have seen this season, Marlon has been lucky to get 5 touches of the ball each game. He makes a good attempt at goal with a few of those but the defence is obviously trying to mark him out of the game. With Ellington, Priskin, Johnson and Smith, that becomes harder since Johnson and Smith can cross or shoot. I am not advocating that we should get rid of Marlon. He is a Watford legend like Luther or Mooney and I would prefer that he die of old age playing for us. But, if that is not to be, I don't want a campaign to sack Aidy just because Aidy makes a decision that he thinks will benefit the club.
Not again. I swear this exact thread happened the other night... Not going to bother arguing again, basically King can't go, as we cannot get a replacement. We won't get promoted without King, even with Johnson. End of.
