So it looks like Ince is in the bag (£4 million quoted) and it wouldn't surprise me if Sturridge was also a done deal. Say we also get rid of Cole and Downing is that good business? I reckon it's the best we can hope for. No way is Walcott coming, that's all smoke and mirrors and Huntelaar is just pie in the sky IMO. I'd be happy if those deals went through.
I'm not sure what I would think if the January transfer window is complete with the arrival of Ince & Sturridge for Downing and Cole. We'd still be short on numbers but the **** stains would have gone. The two coming in could turn out just as bad though and it would have cost us £16m! I think the only reason it has a positive side is because of the two that would be leaving, everything else about it stinks IMO
Ok, who else you bringing in. For me two young talents replace two has-beens/never weres. We'd be in a better place. If it frees up more match time for Suso and Assadi then happy days.
Can't complain with £4m IMO. £4m is a bargain for the highest scoring championship midfielder and he's only 20 years old. I do not know if he'll end up being as effective for us as he has been for Blackpool this season but the only way to know with these players is if you try them. I can guarantee you if Newcastle or Arsenal bought him for £4m in the January window most of thepeople on here would be criticising our transfer policy and crying over the fact that we hadn't signed him.
I'm not one for naming names so I will give that bit a miss However... Ignoring the outlay, I agree with you. I guess it depends on how much we would get for Cole and Downing, I think the best we can hope for is £4m and £6m respectively and that IS optimistic! If the rumoured £20m budget is true, those deals would leave us with roughly £14m to spend. I'm sure we could get a proven attacking player in for that, preferably someone with a track record of scoring goals
Its not really £4m though is it? Its actually £6m but we get the rumour sell-on clause of 35% back. If Ince went to someone else we would still get that £2m back. By paying £4m and sacrificing the 35% we are still paying £6m effectively Edit: However, it is a way of stretching the budget because the 35% will not have been built into any forecast because the club does not know of a guaranteed income figure. If Ince left Blackpool at the end of his contract we would get nothing.
There is one main benefit to a Downing & Cole for Ince & Sturridge swing...wages! Downing: £90k pw Cole: £100k pw Total: £190k pw (£9.88m per season x 2.5 years = £24.7m) Sturridge: £60k pw + £12m Ince: £30k pw + £4m Total: £90k pw (£4.68m per season x 2.5 years = £11.7m + £16m = £27.7m) So basically, by the end of 2014-15 season we would only be £3m worse of by doing this deal + signing on and agents fees (give or take a few million as these are very quick rough figures and I could be miles off)
We do well in getting rid of dead wood, then we just replace it with more dead wood. We got rid of Jovanivic and Poulson, N'gog etc. Then we bought in Downing, Carroll and Adam, my point being at the time we thought them 3 signings were big upgrades only to be proven wrong. We need to look overseas in my opinion, it's about time we took advantage of the cheap talent abroad, we need to make every penny count, we're not in a position to keep wasting money.
Exactly. It's a false argument to talk about swapping such and such for so and so. Downing and Cole should go whoever we bring in so you need to take them out of the equation when considering who comes in. Ince may well look like good value when you compare to other players already playing in England that's fair enough. Bring a player like Michu into the equation though and does he look such good value? Sturridge IMO is nowhere near the best we could get for that sort of money. In fact we could get two better players for that if we shopped around. However...as it looks like they may well be the two we buy all I can say is...fingers crossed they turn out to be better than our recent purchases.
Sturridge worries me. He just appears to be so moody and selfish that I can't see him being a true team player for us - let alone giving his all! I just get the feeling that there are better options out there. other sides appear to be able to find them so why can't we?
"Say we also get rid of Cole and Downing is that good business? " Only if we buy them back again in eighteen months for several times the amount that we sold them for, if this precedent is anything to go by.
Still don't want Sturridge. Sure we can get two better players for that amount if we looked abroad...not too sure what our scouts are doing tbh.
Well they might as well have stayed on gardening leave because so far they've come up with; "You know that player you didn't trust enough to buy in the summer, well we've watched him not play & we think you should buy him" And: "You see that player we let go a year ago? well we recommend buying him back. And we saved petrol money because we just asked rodolfo & watched out for the championship results!"
Are they the best players in the world? No. Are they available and affordable? Yes. Are they young with room to improve? Yes. Will they improve the squad, especially when you consider Downing, Cole. Yes.
We don't need wingers/midfielders who are going to chip in with 10 or so, we need a bloody striker who's going to get 25 plus.
Part of my thing with buys is, if someone else came in, would they keep that player around? Regardless of style if a player is of a certain quality he stays. that is one thing that worries me about some of the names being linked or buys we have made.
