The context of the Vale deal, as I recall it, was that it was the end of the window and we'd just missed out on Dervişoğlu and felt we were still short of an attacker with a lot of injuries in that area. Sounds like in our desperation we agreed to an over the odds deal that we probably should have walked away from.
So, all those wondering where our FFP went seems like the penny is finally dropping. Prem youngsters - believe chopra at Newcastle in the 00s was on 15k, Carroll similar, probably more and this was before they'd played a first team game. There were significant appearance bonuses on top of the basic also. Market for the most highly rated youngsters amongst the big boys has been ridiculously competitive for the last 20 years, hence stupid contracts to kids who have proven nothing. Its no surprise he's on 25k a week though I am surprised Chelsea weren't paying a chunk of it. I guess we negotiated the Jan return clause which is fair enough as it could have been a full year liability and there was probably a sweetener on the Simons loan as well - if there wasn't I'd be surprised. At least now we know how this year's budget was reportedly maxed and how there can still be wiggle room for incomings if we send them back. I guess we panicked back in late August when the key signings started dropping like flies. But Acun is spending his limit on top of the KLP fee, I hope it puts to bed the idea he hasn't really got any more money than the Allams. If it wasn't obvious before. Finally.
There's plenty of wiggle room. I'd even be tempted to send Pelkas back too. I like him but if he's on north of £30k a week, I don't think he's done anywhere near enough to warrant that. It's just an insane amount of money for this level
I think we'll sign him. 30k a week is not outside the going rate if you have top 6 championship ambitions. If we have that kind of money I have no issue with us spending it as long as we get value for it. Pelkas in his few games has stats to rival some who have played every game. He's that ****ing good.
He's a decent player but I don't think he's worth £30k a week. I don't think he offers enough for that. I expect him to stay though. If Salah is expected to quickly become a regular starter for us, I don't see how he fits in. He's probably won't be back till March either
It wasn't just Youssouf though. We were supposedly talking to the Israeli kid too then all of a sudden Vale and Simons come in and I'm wondering wtf?
Think he's considered one to develop and provide cover in the interim, with the expectation he'll become key and well flip him for a decent profit if we don't go up when the time comes. But with every kid who's not yet established you can't consider them 'ready' straight from the 21's - or only rarely anyway.
I'd be reluctant to part with our second top scorer unless like you say, we at the very least recoup our fee.
With Tufan actually fit now too and looking better and Adama coming back as well. I just don't see how he fits in. I'd rather save the money for the summer as Pelkas isn't someone we need to or appear to be looking to replace this window
Like I say, one with an eye on the future. We've clearly signed competition in the 10 role - something we realistically didn't have before. Don't think Tufan was supposed to be that - think he was initially envisaged as a partner for Seri. So realistically we were looking at Pelkas and Traore competing for the 10. Best laid plans go awry when long term injuries happen though. And a third AM coming through behind with an eye on the future would still be looking at first team opportunities when one of the others wasn't available. If Salah was fit he'd probably be on the bench now, a d we probably wouldn't have panicked into the Vale loan. just like Baxter being injured gives Timmy an opportunity as Ingram's no2 - I think they've tried to sign quality at all stages of development. Pelkas is quality though. Only question mark for me is that he does seem a bit injury prone if you look at his history. I think we've missed him in the last couple of games, and he's versatile too - can play a free role off either flank if he's the form player and someone else is bossing the 10 role. It's a squad game. He'd be in my 24. No question.
I wouldn't like to see him go, there's definitely something about him and he's definitely enjoying it under LR. You can see that by the weight he's lost
He's clearly not here to take the piss and live it up as Acun's pal as was the accusation from some. Based on how he's physically changed in the last couple of months anyway.
If he gets his engine and shape discipline right, I wouldn't be surprised if he replaces Woo in a deeper role. I don't believe he was initially signed as a 10.
Contributions vs minutes if you check the stats say different. Who's said Salah is expected to become an instant starter? He's a u 21 and needs breaking into first team contention. As we've seen with Vale and Simons he will have to be a bit of a freak to break straight through.
Yes, it's odd that right around the time Stan became our chief scout, we brought in the likes of Gedo, Davies, Boyd, Huddlestone, Livermore, Long, Jelavic, Greegsy and Meyler. Yeah we were in the Premier League for some of those signings, but Ternent was also responsible for bringing in the likes of Abel Hernandez and Robert Snodgrass, players which at the time felt massive. Since he left, I can't think of a single player (until this season when we signed Seri and Tufan) that I've sat up and taken notice and thought "that's a really good signing for us." I mean, the signings I mentioned above netted us millions in transfer fees, since then the only players we've sold for any decent amount of money were academy products we produced. The rest had absolutely no sell on value whatsoever, with the exception of Leo Lopes who we made a small profit on. I could go on, Sam Clucas, signed for £1.3m, sold for £15m. Andy Robertson, signed for £2.85m, sold for £8m. Harry Maguire, brought in for £2m, sold to Leicester for £12m plus another £13m+ when he signed for Man U and made England appearances. Heck, we even made a million quid on Diame going to Newcastle. Oh, and you'll never guess who found Jarrod Bowen poking around at Hereford United? £18m rising to £25m. Now, Stan's gone and into well deserved retirement, but one of Acun's first ****ing tasks should have been to look at our recruitment staff and bring in some competent people.
But if Pelkas was to sign, he'd not be on £30k a week. He isn't going to be playing at Fenerbahce, so he'd probably take a paycut to come here, something akin to what Ozan/Seri are on. Salah is due back end of January, but he wasn't signed to be a starter, we just got the opportunity to snaffle him up so we took it.
It's not a difficult sell; we have an up and coming manager, an ambitious owner who wants to get us to the Premier League and half of a decent squad. If we can say to him we'll have a squad in Summer capable of pushing for the top end of the table and you'll have a good chance of playing in the top flight, I think he'll take it.
