We all know what ‘last minute Levy’s’ game is. We see it pretty much every summer. However, I do sometimes think we need to look deeper than just blaming him for the lack of movement on the transfer front. Ok, for sure he’s playing the long game with Betis. He knows that they probably need to sell to balance their books up and so he’s playing poker with them. But, where’s the real value for players like Lo Celso and Sessegnon? Is Lo Celso really worth £80 odd mill? Or Sessegnon £45 mill? Is Levy in fact just refusing to pay overinflated prices? Players at other clubs, like Zaha and Maguire have plenty of interest in them, but it seems that they’ve been overpriced by their clubs and hence no takers at the asking prices. So, whether you agree or disagree, is it really all Levy’s fault? Or is he just doing the right thing by refusing to pay overinflated asking prices?
Yeah it’s a fair point. And probably why there’s not been too much movement in the market. I was hoping for early deals, but this is likely the reason why. It’s the same for all clubs. He needs to be careful that he’s not too stubborn with his valuation either though. At one end of the spectrum there’s over inflated prices, and at the other there’s Levy’s low balling. He managed to find a compromise with Lyon over N’dombele, so I hope we can find some common ground with our other targets. It’s so important this summer.
...but probably use words like 'manspreading', 'lookbook' and 'crema' on a daily basis? Oh god! I'm really old!
Classic Levy, dragging deals on until the last days (or hours) of the window to try and get the best possible price. Things appear at stalemate, with Levy refusing to meet the asking prices, I expect compromises to be met as the window ticks closer to slamming shut (or there jolly well better be). I suspect Lo Celso and Sessegnon have their hearts set on joining us, which gives Levy great room to bargain in the final days / hours of the window.
Lo Celso Watch El Desmarque report that somebody at Betis is complaining about an unnamed club looking to take advantage of Betis' need to sell to try and poach one of their players for a lower fee...which would have a little more weight to it if El Desmarque weren't one of the sources reporting a couple of days ago that we'd agreed a fee of €65m upfront with €10m in bonuses Also, today;s Narrative is that Lo Celso has agreed terms and is waiting for the clubs to agree upon a fee - which ignores the part about yesterday's Narrative saying that he hadn't met with any Spurs representatives to agree upon anything
WindyCOYS has made a few observations about the youngsters - or, to be more accurate, the U23s There's certainly some weight to this: Skipp passing over the U23s to play with the first team last season (and Parrott looks like he could do likewise this) certainly indicated Poch wanted to work with him ASAP, and there's certainly been a myriad of issues with the U23s where various prospects such as Edwards, Oakley-Boothe and Duncan go off the boil, just as it's telling that the agents of Edwards, Shashoua, Sterling and Georgiou wanted loans for their clients
Just came across this.... it's quite close to what I feel https://www.dearmrlevy.com/dml/2019/7/31/curb-your-pessimism
Our U23s clearly need a change. Last season was very poor, both in terms of performances and players coming through.
A lot of it came down to loaning out the main creative outlets, namely Shashoua and Edwards, yet not bringing through anyone in their place - which was compounded by TO-B and Georgiou missing chunks of the season, with the latter being loaned out when he was fit
I think he just sees the opportunity...players are on more than that at United. If we were in for him and made a serious bid I think we would have got him for something around 180k a week considering what he’s on at Juve.
Just the ‘finer details’ (payment structure/ add-ons?) left to complete for Lo Celso according to reports. Contract until 2024.
