Wickham Fee Reportedly Agreed With Sunderland Mon 27th Jun 2011 23:40 Town are reported to have accepted a fee which could eventually total £13 million from Sunderland for striker Connor Wickham. The Black Cats have been making the running for the 18-year-old frontman since becoming the first club to lodge a firm offer for the England U21 international last week. The fee is said to consist of £9 million up front plus a further £4 million in clauses relating to appearances and achievement. Town are reported to have given Wickham permission to speak to the Wearsiders regarding personal terms. Liverpool have also been strongly linked with the Hereford-born striker in recent weeks, but the Reds are yet to make a concrete bid, despite reports to the contrary earlier in the month. The player himself is believed to favour a move to Anfield, having supported Liverpool as a boy, but Sunderland now appear to be in the driving seat, although Town manager Paul Jewell said in March that the one-time Reading academy schoolboy was only interested in a move to one of the Premier League's bigger clubs. Spurs and Arsenal, who have also been eyeing Wickham since his days in the Blues' academy, are also yet to show their hand. Its a lot of money for an unproven kid but if all the hype about him is right then it could prove to be a fantastic signing.
It is a lot of money but then he has been attracting a lot of attention and some rave reviews. Would be a huge feather in the managers and the clubs cap if he did come and a great support for the manager by the board but I just cant see Arsenal or Liverpool letting it happen. Watch now for the respective bids from these and maybe other clubs in the next few days.
What it is, is a MASSIVE show of ambition, and a statement. It's a ****ing gamble mind, hopefully we won't get 'Tore-Andre'd' if he signs..
If we sign him, and he steps up, he's worth double instantly. I think it's too much, but if he's as good as the talk, he'll be worth every penny. He's nee Leon Best mind....
Massive gamble mate, his goalscoring record is average at best. I can't see him making the step up very quickly, I might be wrong. Still, better than our set of strikers - except Ba
I openly admit it's a gamble, but it does seem there's summat about the lad, certainly we had an Ipswich fan on here the other day filling in the blanks, and it all sounded good. He's a big lad, and i imagine he'll be used off the bench initially, if he signs of course, which i still doubt in all honesty. Adrian Mutu sold yesterday for £650k.......
Like you say, if the gamble pays off, you have bagged yourself a great striker and will benefit from years of goals, or you will double your money when he moves on to bigger things (no disrespect). I personally think he needs another year with Ipswich. Although, if you wait that long, some of the really big fish will enter the race if he proves himself, tricky one!
Getting info from friends on Twitter (via Facebook) that he has agreed to sign but is on holiday at the moment. Initial £8m rising to £10m. However also says that Liverpool have bid £12m. Don't know who is supplying the info on Twitter or whether its accurate. Wonder if anyone on hete who does Twitter on here can clarify?
I can't help but find this ridiculous, and hope that either: A. This kid really is the real deal and proves me wrong B. We actually have a lot more money than I thought and have another top striker in the pipeline What we need now is a couple of experienced heads. IN selling Bolo we lost a figure in the dressing room who was very, very popular, and our team is still insanely young.
Aye , here's hoping. He could be a Shearer (Ipswich fans words, not man), or he could be Jon Stead with neon flashing lights and bells on.... I haven't seen him enough, but i'll trust he has been correctly scouted.
Ashley will be so pissed off if he turns out to be a world class striker who is sold on for £30-40mill.
All i can say is it's a bold move indeed, and i'm happy in respect to the fact it clearly re-affirms Ellis Short's commitment to the club. I just hope one of the other 'bosmans' Bruce mentioned turns out to be an experienced striker, ie Freddie Kanoute.
I saw a stat recently showing Kanoute to be in the top 10earning strikers in Europe, so I think that rules us out.
Apparently Liverpool are to put in another bid - I think it will boil down to where he wants to be and where will be best for his career development. These days, players decide more so than clubs, agents cut the deals and the cat is in charge of the pigeons.
