Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

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I hope you are right

Vuskovic got 4 years of his contract left?

We should act like a big club in all this and tell them to FO if so

Yeah until 2030. Like I said, Brighton are just trying to stir up ****. They know we’re in a difficult position so fair play to them, but they’re also facing not getting a 50m fee for a player who could just walk out for nothing in 12months.
 
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I think we are just an easy target for journo's. Everyone knows we have to strengthen and the pressure is on. So the stories about Savinio, Gibbs White, and now Vuskovic are easy to make. As usual there is all the discussion about what turns out to be so much hot air. I'll believe it all when I see it.
 
Sounds like we want at least double for Vuskovic, good.

I think he leaves this summer though, especially if we get van Hecke. His ceiling is higher than anyone we have but I do understand RDZ’s stance of getting in proven experience right now after the two seasons we’ve just had and the likes of van de Ven, Senesi and possibly van Hecke (plus Danso) are that to a tee.

We’re not a good place for young talent anyway, both in terms of developing it and/ or finding it.
 
Sounds like we want at least double for Vuskovic, good.

I think he leaves this summer though, especially if we get van Hecke. His ceiling is higher than anyone we have but I do understand RDZ’s stance of getting in proven experience right now after the two seasons we’ve just had and the likes of van de Ven, Senesi and possibly van Hecke (plus Danso) are that to a tee.

We’re not a good place for young talent anyway, both in terms of developing it and/ or finding it.
The problem is the last three seasons can be summed up as two seasons under one of the worst off-the-ball coaches we've ever seen followed by half a season with one of the worst on-the-ball coaches we've ever seen

This coincided with certain players being retooled into markedly different roles, and some certainly atrophied: Sarr went from a progressive carrier from deep who was legit being compared to Camavinga at Metz to a high-pressing CM who didn't really carry the ball, and Udogie went from a line-hugging LWB with an effective cross on him to an underlapping LB tasked with spamming square balls across the six yard box, and Johnson went from a pacey (if technically limited) winger with a good shot on him to Clint Dempsey

Add to that the obvious point it's much easier to introduce a young player to a winning team than one which regularly goes a run of 3-4 games picking up a points total that can easily be counted on one hand
 
The problem is the last three seasons can be summed up as two seasons under one of the worst off-the-ball coaches we've ever seen followed by half a season with one of the worst on-the-ball coaches we've ever seen

This coincided with certain players being retooled into markedly different roles, and some certainly atrophied: Sarr went from a progressive carrier from deep who was legit being compared to Camavinga at Metz to a high-pressing CM who didn't really carry the ball, and Udogie went from a line-hugging LWB with an effective cross on him to an underlapping LB tasked with spamming square balls across the six yard box, and Johnson went from a pacey (if technically limited) winger with a good shot on him to Clint Dempsey

Add to that the obvious point it's much easier to introduce a young player to a winning team than one which regularly goes a run of 3-4 games picking up a points total that can easily be counted on one hand
Yeah you’re not wrong, I think this is all why we’re still not a good place for youth, even with RDZ’s upturn if atmosphere/ form.

He’s already targeting experience at CB and there’s more positions we’re expected to strengthen in areas where we have more youth (CM and out wide). Very hard to see where Vuskovic, let alone Bergvall, Gray, Tel, Odobert etc are gonna get proper minutes next season with only one game a week and *if* we do well, it’ll probably make it even harder for them the following season because you’d like to think we’d only add more quality for potential European competition.

In some ways I sympathise with them but there’s too much on the line to risk them if they can’t immediately hit the ground running which none of them have (Vuskovic aside of course).
 
Sounds like we want at least double for Vuskovic, good.

I think he leaves this summer though, especially if we get van Hecke. His ceiling is higher than anyone we have but I do understand RDZ’s stance of getting in proven experience right now after the two seasons we’ve just had and the likes of van de Ven, Senesi and possibly van Hecke (plus Danso) are that to a tee.

We’re not a good place for young talent anyway, both in terms of developing it and/ or finding it.

It is deeply worrying and needs a thorough and pretty ruthless review.

You'd have to go back to Oliver Skipp to find a young player we'd either bought and developed or developed internally into a player with first team PL competence, and with the greatest respect that was only the pre-injury version of Skipp. Post injury he has just shown that League One is his level.

There is no doubt Vuskovic is looking at our track record and thinking 'nah'. In his mind, a move to Brighton now will mean he's a Real/Barca/Bayern/City etc player in 2-3 years, whereas if he follows the Spurs route it looks like year one will be out on loan, year two will be competing for a place in the first team, and year three will be establishing himself in the first team, which means his ambition to move to a huge club is delayed by 1-2 years.

It also has to be said that this would represent a major success in another area we've largely failed in, which is to at least generate serious profit from the youngsters if they aren't destined to make it here for the long term.

Gil, Veliz, Rodon, and Clarke all sold at a loss. The painful reality is if we sold Archie tomorrow it would also be a loss. Paltry sums earned on the sales of KWP, CCTV etc. but we're lagging miles behind other teams who routinely pull in £30m+ for nobody academy players.
 
It is deeply worrying and needs a thorough and pretty ruthless review.

You'd have to go back to Oliver Skipp to find a young player we'd either bought and developed or developed internally into a player with first team PL competence, and with the greatest respect that was only the pre-injury version of Skipp. Post injury he has just shown that League One is his level.

There is no doubt Vuskovic is looking at our track record and thinking 'nah'. In his mind, a move to Brighton now will mean he's a Real/Barca/Bayern/City etc player in 2-3 years, whereas if he follows the Spurs route it looks like year one will be out on loan, year two will be competing for a place in the first team, and year three will be establishing himself in the first team, which means his ambition to move to a huge club is delayed by 1-2 years.

It also has to be said that this would represent a major success in another area we've largely failed in, which is to at least generate serious profit from the youngsters if they aren't destined to make it here for the long term.

Gil, Veliz, Rodon, and Clarke all sold at a loss. The painful reality is if we sold Archie tomorrow it would also be a loss. Paltry sums earned on the sales of KWP, CCTV etc. but we're lagging miles behind other teams who routinely pull in £30m+ for nobody academy players.
...though that is, in part, as they're colluding with other teams to dodge PSR

But the fact we could get £8m for Alex Pritchard a decade ago and the closest we've come to that fee since is the £6.7m we got for Troy Parrott should be leaping off the spreadsheet
 
That was another masterful management of young talent.... <doh>
IIRC he buggered his ankle at the worst possible time

That being said, it rally did feel like the club was under the impression he had to stay in-house for three years to qualify as CG (same with Alfie Devine, while I'm on the subject) when we could have loaned him a year or two earlier to get him minutes

...though hanging around with members of the Kinnahan cartel probably didn't help his chances