I mean it doesn't matter who you are I think you will struggle to offload a 32 year old Sissoko earning £100k per week.
This has been Levy's failing in the past, putting an extortionate price on our dross, meaning that we couldn't free up wages to pursue some of our targets. Until we find a way of rectifying this I can't see us progressing too quickly.
Especially since he's reportedly not keen on a move to the Middle East, which would balance out the salary part of that equation
He's not failing, you can't convince a team to buy your player but you can convince a team to buy theirs. What's Fabio meant to do too when a player like Winks, who's been told by Nuno and Fabio he's not wanted, is still refusing to leave even when there's clubs interested? There's literally nothing Fabio can do unless he holds a gun to the guy's head.
It's like people continue to ignore there's a depressed transfer market On the one hand Aurier is never going to get us much about £12m given he has a year on his contract and the ACoN is creeping up, on the other hand there is no reason why we should accept that we're going to cop a loss of £20m at least for Ndombele It wouldn't surprise me if that plays a part in Sanchez getting a vote of confidence for the season, based on the belief that the transfer market will get back to something close to normal next summer so we can get a good slug of cash for him, whereas this summer the only value in him was as a makeweight in the Kounde deal
...and on the subject of Ndombele, the fact that he reportedly believes Barca, Los Ladrones and Bayern are queueing up to sign him is also going to factor into trying to offload him, partly because two of those teams are flat broke so can't exactly pay what we'd be asking and there's that little bit about how, let's be honest, no they don't
The market is definitely a massive issue. But if Paratici is a pro at bringing in players, why didn’t we find someone to do the opposite? There’s an argument that we need that guy more! my fear is that if we don’t manage to make noticeable progress in sorting out our neglected squad in this window (as January is a nightmare), next summer could bring all sorts of other problems when we’re another year down the line potentially having no CL or EL football again.
I know there’s a depressed market but take the hit and get rid of these players. Holding on to them won’t make them worth more next year, just means another year of paying them and another year of no room for new (hopefully better) arrivals. Atm this squad is still miles off being decent.
Actually that isn't the case On paper it is possible to bump up the values of Sanchez over the course of the season so he can be a source of funds next summer, and there's a few other players on the bubble that can also be said for (Bergwijn being the obvious example, and feasibly we can balance out the loss we're inevitably going to take on Ndombele) On the other hand Aurier and Sissoko are only going to decrease in value, Aurier as his contract's ticking down and Sissoko as his age is ticking up, while the last 2-3 seasons of trying to increase Carter Vickers' value haven't led to any concrete offers
To be honest at this point we just need Aurier gone. If he doesn't go this window he will be worth even less in January. Its clear he isn't going to play much so get him off the wage bill. In terms of N'Dombele I can't see anyone buying him even at £20 million less than we paid for him. It makes sense to try and loan him to another club with an option to buy. If he has a great season we can sell him for the agreed price or to someone else for what we paid. If he is a flop then we have him off the wage bill for a season. I'm not worried about giving Sanchez another season. He is still young for a CB, I think if he can regain some confidence and built a partnership with Romero we could be on a winner.
Loaning Ndombele certainly seems like the best option, especially if the loan fee covers a chunk of the expected loss (for the sake of argument, £10m to loan with an option to buy for £35m next summer would balance things out nicely), but the obvious question at that point is where to loan him La Liga seems like a good option, but how many clubs can really afford that fee? Atleti and Sevilla are the only likely candidates out of the whole league. Same can be said about a Bundesliga loan, as Dortmund and maybe Leverkusen are the only teams likely to not run away screaming at the quoted figures
It doesn't do any good to give players away. You can't sign a player who is better than Aurier for nothing. And any player who is better than Aurier will likely cost more wages than him too.
To be honest watching Doherty for the past year, I'd rather we kept Aurier and binned the Irishman but that's not gonna happen due to Aurier's contract status. Only Spurs could manage to downgrade on an erratic mess though. As for Ndombele, we won't be able to sell him, no one will wanna pay half of what we paid and the club just won't allow him to go for a hefty loss. Loaning could be an option but does nothing to help us immediately in terms of bringing in sufficient funds to reinvest, I've said it before but I think trying to do a swap deal with someone will be our best bet.
Speaking of Ndombele, Nuno's confirmed he won't be involved against Wolves and reports are saying he's asked to leave (again!). The fact he's asking to leave is promising though, might mean there's a chance he won't demand extortionate wages/ bonuses etc to go. Get him out and throw in Winks in any deal too as a show of good faith...
Nuno has confirmed that Ndombele won't be involved again on Sunday. Makes me so, so angry how much we fecked up that transfer window. Ndombele, Lo Celso, Sessegnon and Clarke. £150m. Contributed almost nothing in TWO YEARS. Shambolic.
Sess is the only one I have genuinely faith/ hope in. Thought he (and Gil) looked the best of a horrendous bunch last night and considering he'd only been fully training for a week it puts the others to shame. Wanted to keep faith in Clarke too but the kid reminds me of Onomah, talented but doesn't seem to have the confidence to bring it whenever he gets a chance. He'll likely just go on loan again and will probably do so until his contract expires.
