The fact is that, if we signed Brozovic, we wouldn't be seeing Sissoko at the club at all because when there's two places in the team but Brozovic, Hojbjerg, Winks and Sissoko vying for them, it's clear that Sissoko is going to be getting the short end of the stick - and at that point we find ourselves asking if it's worth paying £80k a week to somebody getting the short end of the stick when we have the likes of Harvey White and Alfie Devine in the pipeline
Didn't we only give Sissoko a new extended contract this season? Can only see him moving on if we take a hit on a 'loyalty' bonus and a loss on his fee, now this is an area where Daniel does struggle!
I don't think it's as clear as you think, because Sissoko, having initially started behind Winks in the pecking order in Jose's first game or so, ended up forcing his way back in and Winks was often benched, sometimes he didn't even make the squad IIRC. But then Sissoko got injured so it opened a path back into the side. Since the restart, the pair have been preferred over Ndombele for obvious reasons, albeit I would've liked to have seen more of Ndombele. I think if Ndombele sorts himself out or we end up switching him for someone like Brozovic, Winks will be the one taking a back seat more so than Sissoko. From a financial perspective too, it makes far more sense to move Winks on too, he could probably get us £30m thanks to the English premium and him being younger than Sissoko. Can't see us getting anything higher than £15m for Sissoko if we decided to list him up for sale.
Given he was mentioned as one of Inter's targets a few days ago, coupled with him having longer on his contract than Brozovic (three years to Brozovic's two) that means there is a scenario where we get cash + Brozovic for Sissoko, and if I were Levy I'd happily eat having to pay the loyalty bonus if that somehow happened
I've said it before and I'm sure that I'll feel the need to say it again, but Winks is irreplaceable for us. Not as in "he's the best player ever, ever, ever and nobody we sign will be that good", but as in we literally can't replace him. He's club and homegrown and we've got virtually nobody else that is, unfortunately. We need a big squad this season. Unless Levy decides to do some strange business, that means that we can't really sell Winks. Tom Carroll and Kevin Stewart are out of contract, while David Button only has a year left on his. I suspect people wouldn't be too impressed if we signed them, though.
I agree that Winks being sold is extremely doubtful for the reasons you've said, it's more just wishful thinking on my part. It's not entirely impossible that he can't be sold but a lot depends on how big our squad will be next season. We're already two foreign players down with Jan and Vorm, albeit it looks like Hojbjerg will take one of those spots. Question marks then remain over the likes of Aurier, Foyth and Lamela too.
I’d be happy to sign Kevin Stewart if it meant doing what Liverpool did and basically swapping him for Andy Robertson for nothing That has to go down as some amazing business by them
On the one hand it's tempting, although on the other Callum Wilson reportedly being available for £10m has more immediate upside
8m more for watkins is the much better deal in my minds. Admittedly, he is unproven (i have also never seen him play, only ever hear of him every week when @Dier Hard gets his hard on) but he's the sort of "up and coming" (yes i know he's hardly a younger) talent that could prove to be the real thing whereas callum wilson for me has proven he's more of a one season wonder. stats for wilson who really had only 1 decent season as the main striker The other thing that stands in good stead is watkins is 24 and has plenty of time to improve. Wilson is 28. At the very least, he's the levy type signing where if he doesn't do too well he still has decent resale value. Lastly, i'm not sure Bournemouth will be selling wilson for 10m, especially now they don't need the money having sold Ake off
I’d have Ollie Watkins over Wilson because he’s probably got a lot to prove and will be hungry to prove it As much as Kane is number 1, serious, hungry competition can only make him better...if not the hungry man will get his chance
Wilson's stats are actually reasonably consistent, and that's the key thing 2015-16: 5 in 13 2016-17: 6 in 20 2017-18: 8 in 28 2018-19: 14 in 30 2019-20: 7 in 27 As an average that's 1 in 3, going over it in 2018-19 and dropping under it in 2019-20, so if we're looking for a striker to support Harry Kane having somebody with a consistent scoring record in the PL is certainly somebody to look at compared to somebody who bangs them in for fun in the Slovak league As for the £10m figure, that was the one doing the rounds a couple of weeks ago, albeit reported by Murdoch's Hate Comic. That being said, it's a certainty that Wilson will be off this summer, and as he doesn't have a relegation release clause there's no minimum figure, which wasn't the case with Ake as Chelsea inserted a £40m buyback clause into the deal which took him there so The Sheikh Mansour Team had to match or better it if they wanted to sign him
Watkins adds versatility too. Can play ST, LW, CAM and RW. Spurs should’ve listened to me when I mentioned him back in his Exeter days. £1.8m Brentford paid I believe. DH > Spurs scouts.
