Spurs getting Maddison for £40m. A more attacking player than JWP I know, but one that has had a similar impact on the PL in my mind and is also an England international etc. Two years younger than JWP. Just to set expectations about what we might receive.
40Million is absolutely fair in my mind, JwP shouldn't be going for any more than 40 I reckon. If Maddison Had a couple more years on his contract then he'd definitely be about 60M.
Maddison in his last year of his contract too isn't he? Wheras JWP has what, 3 years left? Don't know how much difference that makes on fees these days but it's got to make a difference.
It does make a big difference. Plus Maddison clearly has never entertained the idea of a year in the championship and there was plenty of noise about him wanting out during their relegation battle. He would likely have tried to force a move even if Leicester stayed up
He's a much better attacking/creative player. But JWP is much more versatile and a model professional and captain with an amazing fitness and injury record and loads of contract left here. I think £30m is too cheap for him personally. Coming off the back of his best season a year or two back he was being talked about in the £50m bracket and prices have risen since then. Not saying I think he will or should go for that much, just that £30m is too cheap imo.
And if you are looking at fees for other similar players then what about Declan Rice looking likely to go for £100m+. Clearly he is a better player than JWP and younger too, but is he worth x3 or even x2 as much? Compared to £100m for Rice, £50m seems perfectly reasonable.
TBF I think we've done well to get over half our money back, given how disastrous his spell here was!
Could have been far worse…. The fee I mean. Just reading around, Leicester could be a real thorn in our bollocks looks like they are getting Conor Coady, possibly Harry Winks and they are rivalling us for Piroe and we all know how that would likely end, because this is Saints.
Well like I said last Summer (and got stick for) we really should have taken advantage of his stock being high and tried to mug Newcastle off as he was never worth that sort of money imo. You've also got to factor in we've just been relegated and he's had a poor season so we'll never get what we could have previously. What I meant by better btw is that Maddison is good enough to start for a top club and is international standard. James is neither of those things. Can we also please stop this stuff about him being a leader/captain. He's never been good at that and it's not his game at all
Yeah - they will be favourites for the league I think, and it's a very strong one next year. But we've got a manager who will create an identity and a pattern of play centered around possession. If it works, and provided we have the right quality and depth, we should be able to achieve the necessary consistency to be right up there with them. Getting some business done early would help me envisage this mind.
£105 million for Rice is utter insanity. He's a decent midfielder sure but let's not take the piss jheez.