There's a sense of 'analysis paralysis' about our transfer dealings. We seem to be looking for the next option that will save us a few bob or realise a slightly better option. Too often there's a saga. It's a habit that we could do with losing. Grealish was exactly this. We pretty much had the deal done but didn't press home our advantage and it got away from us. Were we arguing on price or hoping to get someone 'better' or just confused? Maybe it's the result of too many being involved in the process or we're excessively frugal? Whatever, our activity in the final minutes of a window is excessive.
Or with Grealish did we start dealing with a club on i'ts uppers that was taken over during our negotiations and became a wealthy club, and therefore did not now want to sell their star player. If you ignore the facts, or as is usually the case, don't know them because they are not published then the argument falls flat.
Sky are reporting of a deal with Celtic for wanyama . Makes sense they still love him up there from his previous spell.
Grealish is one of the biggest ****ups I think we’ve made. £15m pre-takeover was his asking price, for a CL club that’s the equivalent of one of us going central London for a pint. To only offer £5m and Onomah and then slightly more afterwards was just a piss take. New owners came in and that fee bumped to £25m. We still didn’t match it. Then when we finally decided that “hey, he’s a good player, let’s just get it done and pay the fee” Villa turned around and flipped us the birds for trying to be such ****houses.
Nobody wants to sell for the lowest offer they're going to get. That's what clubs think that we're offering and we do have form. With Grealish, they were right and we got it wrong, to our considerable detriment. We need to remedy it, as it's hurting us.
I think your perspective is different to mine because you spend a lot of money on tickets which I don't because I am too far away. I don't blame you for feeling like that when you consider the high prices that Spurs fan have to pay to see their team. We have to agree to differ but I understand where you are coming from.
Yes, having spent nothing in the previous season and precious little before that, having a squad that makes the word 'threadbare' seem seriously inadequate. We had a serious windfall last season and we spent it, whilst decrying transfer spending and running 2 deals right to the wire... again. If we were 4th going into the window, would we have coughed up for anyone? Really? It's running things too close to breaking point when managers have options like Rose, Wanyama and Dier, who just weren't good enough anymore..and young replacements, who have zero PL experience, come in at the last minute, withg no pre-season and look lost for some time. ...and we failed to land Dybala by leaving it late again... ...and we ran Lo Celso and Sessegnon to the wire...again. Added together, it's a bit too Heath Robinson for a top club and we need to improve it. ...
I understand where you are coming from. Its not just about throwing money at it. However its always better to get your business done early, allows players to settle in. You know if someone is within price range and if clubs are asking too much you move on You only need to look at liverpool. They have bought really well (spending a bit too) but they move their players on quickly (how they manage that, maybe levy has a bad rep) and they generally get their transfers done early i think. Negotiate beforehand, dont drag it out and play chicken and get it sorted else you end up scraping at the end of transfers for a bargain. Wasnt the likes of alli and dier done early?
Lo Celso and Sessegnon were both injured so no point on rushing. As I've said we do better than most other top clubs already.
Plus I think the GLC holdup was also down to a) our apparent interest in someone like Bruno Fernandes as an alternative and b) working out the loan to buy structure that probably worked better for us and Betis as it screwed PSG out of some of their sell on fee. Gaining a reputation on dicking around on fees both when buying and selling has no doubt cost us rep in the markets though, even if Levy has managed to get some good deals over the years. Comes with the territory I suppose, even if we are now in a position financially to make steps to shed that reputation a bit.
Yes, that's in there. Wembley was cheap and we played well there for most of our stay. Now prices are considerably up in a short space of time, the football's worse and people like me are looking at how many games they want to attend, given the cost. The club don't want to press it too much further because it'll come back to bite them. We need a major rebuild and ENIC need to manage that successfully. I'm happy with the 2 players we've signed and have long doubted that we'd get anyone else - maybe Llorente on loan? So, I'm not pissed off about it, in the short term. Long term, we need to reorganise our infrastructure to do this better...and transitions from the academy...and moving on players we don't want, etc. Striving to improve every facet is the only way that we'll compete with the dodgy money elsewhere.
It's been rumoured...along with numerous others. I think that he'd be available, if we pressed the issue with intent...and hard cash.
