Liverpool agree £9m bid for Rickie Lambert

So that's done. Time to move on. Can we try to manage that in less than, say, 1000 years?

 

Fee consensus seems to be "an initial £4.5m". Not exactly the £9m Jim White thought (how could a journalist be wrong?) but could be worse.

 

As I said the other day, reported fees differ from source to source not because one is wrong, but because they have different ways of summarising a complex deal. One will just report the initial fee, and the other might be reporting the entire value of the deal including what it may rise to when including installments and clauses. No one is necessarily wrong, they're just simplifying it to make the number more quotable.

 

Letter from Rickie

 

If we ever see £9m from this deal I will eat my hat, and jacket for that matter.

 

The cheek of the board to say they don't want to do transfers until the manager is in, after they've literally just done that.

 

I hope Rickie gets on the pitch when Liverpool come to St Mary's because he will get a standing ovation from every single fan in the ground.

 

It's probably something like "we'll pay you X amount if he scores X amount of goals/makes X number of appearances". I'd expect to get some future installments, but if there are ones dependent on performance then quite possibly not all of it.

 

Hopefully just the one exception because he was meant to leave in Jan.

 

They said it was their preference, not that they definitely wouldn't do it. You can't tell me you don't see the case for Lambert to be an exception.

Clearly, but whichever way you slice it, Jim White's figure is miles off.

 

That's quite a gummy old hat and jacket to be offering, but I think you'll be safe. Perhaps have a jar of piccallili standing by...?

 

The use of an oxymoron couldn't be more appropriate for this moment. I describe it as a gut wrenching delight. I'm so sad that I will not see Rickie in a Saints shirt again, at least not in the near future, but delighted to see a guy fulfil his boyhood dream. There really is no more deserving at Saints than him to get this chance. All the best to you Rickie, you will always be a legend at Saints.

 

If it's the maximum amount we can potentially receive, he's not miles off at all. Just being purposefully unclear.

 

I also said earlier that I can see sense in transferring Lambert. If the Board say no more [until at least the manager arrives] I will be delighted.

 

Again, if we see £9m from this deal, I'll eat my clothes. If only Jim White had made a similar offer.

 

Just because we're unlikely to actually get it, that doesn't mean it's not the potential maximum amount, all clauses included.

 

Tiny bit emotional reading his letter...

 

It would be funny if he missed a penalty when he came back to Saints.

 

I'm not disputing that. Clearly our views differ on what he meant and we're not going to agree so let's agree to disagree.

 

Club statement:

Southampton Football Club can confirm that we have received multiple offers for some of our players in the past weeks. This is a confirmation of the depth of the development that is ongoing in our academy and of the present standing of our first team within the Premier League.

We are staying true to our plan and vision and, as a result, we have no need to accept any offers. We are deep in the process of appointing a new manager who will continue to move our club forward. It remains our preference not to partake in any transfers until the new manager is in place. Our scouting & recruitment department continues to monitor targets we have identified to improve our squad, and the new manager will have final input into our recruitment process.

However, Southampton Football Club can confirm that it has reached agreement with Liverpool for the transfer of Rickie Lambert.

There may be circumstances under which the club will feel it is right for a player to move on. Those circumstances have to be right for the club and the player. This is the case with Rickie’s move to Liverpool.

When Rickie Lambert requested to leave for Liverpool, the club felt it could not stand in the way of having him fulfil his boyhood dream of playing at home. It will be a big challenge to replace him and our intention is to source a quality replacement who will fill his shoes now but also for many years to come.

Chairman Ralph Krueger commented: “On behalf of the club, I would like to thank Rickie. He served with distinction and helped to take Saints from League 1 to the Premier League.

“Rickie has been a shining light in Saints’ growth and will forever remain an icon in the history of the club. He leaves with the best wishes of everyone at Southampton and will always be welcome back at St Mary’s.”