I would sell Patterson if a 10m+ bid came in for him. GK, to me, is the easiest position to add a bit of experience and leadership. I would look to add a free agent GK which allows us to develop Young over the next 1/2 years and then insert him into the team, and also use the money in other areas of the pitch. I seen us linked to Sam Tickle at Wigan who is a serious talent but I'm not sure we should be targeting a young GK when we have plenty of them at the club. Someone like Wes Foderingham, Marek Rodak, Vackav Hladky are all available on frees in the summer.
It’s a shame he has been injured while Clarke was out, I would have definitely given him a run in the team on the left wing.
Funny old season. At the start I wouldn't have been happy if any player was sold but now, after the run if form, I wouldn't be bothered if any player was sold so long as we got good fee. Can we replace correctly though?
Rodak for me would be a good signing, id be looking for a fee raising to 15 million for Patterson Still a good championship GK but probably hasn't kicked on like we all hoped this season I also would be happy to keep him but if we got 8 million up front we could say 2 very good players with that
Any sniff of double figures and I would be selling Patto personally. A sell on % would also be ideal.
If we have some Premiership sides looking to sign Patterson then maybe there will be an option to get a striker from them as part of the deal. Permanent, not a loan. They all seem to have loads of strikers of which many are not getting games so a 3rd or 4th choice from the likes of Liverpool would probably be the level we want. Think Cannon or somebody at that level.
Patterson is a really interesting one. I remember when he was at Notts County and I spoke to a couple of coaches there and said he was unreal and could be a top end keeper in time. The fans loved him. He came back here and I thought he came in and looked the part. I still do think he has a big ceiling, the puzzle is do we sell now to help with the next phase of our growth, or do we keep him and probably get £20m in another 2 years. The fact he is English is key. For me we cant lose too many this summer otherwise we could appoint Pep and get nowhere. If Clarke goes, we can perhaps afford to let 1 more go. If that were to be Neil or Ballard we would be goosed in my opinion. If it were Patterson or Hume then we can probably replace well and have funda left to strengthen 2 or 3 other positions. My choice would be to keep Patterson and sell Hume, if ever there was such a choice. Hume may well be close to his top market value already. We have Pembele in the building already and could do a loan deal for a young right back to fight if out with him. Opinions opinions.
I think we'll manage to hang on to Ballard this summer, but I also believe we'll have a battle on our hands to keep Clarke and Neil, with possibly Patterson going too. That should generate £45-£50M. It's just how much of that will be up front for us to replace and strengthen effectively. Hume has his admirers at the moment, but with Huggins out, I think we might hang on to him. Need to trim off some of the deadwood too, which might generate another few million.
The likes of matete, Anderson, bass will go I’d imagine, not sure what we’d get in terms of fee’s for them mind but it’s a weight off the wage bill
If Liverpool are serious we should be cheeky and ask for kelleher, wouldnt get him like but shy bairns get nout and all that
This is a pretty good take on the situation. I'm in no rush to sell Patto but if the right offer comes in, I'd want a 32 year old to replace him, not a 22 year old. Someone who can bring Richardson along as number 2 to see if he can step up, and of course leave the door open for Young to be the eventual successor.
I'll need a tin hat for this one I'm sure, but I'd rather lose Ballard than Hume. I see continuous improvement in Hume and he's already had a drastic rise from where he started. He's just turned 22. Ballard has been a Championship centre back for 3 seasons now and is 25 early in the new season. I think he's a consistently good defender at this level, but I'd find it hard to argue that there's a lot of growth left in him. Both could be at least lower half Prem players, but I think Hume could go a little bit beyond that.
Not for me. We probably don’t have a choice with Clarke sadly but if I had to choose other sellable players it would be Ekwah Hume and Patterson. Not sure Roberts is in that group anymore but he’d be first. Ballard and Neil I’d really want to keep
