I can't see Afobe being worth £12-15m at this stage, given that he has only 6 months in the Championship and the rest in lower leagues. I'd say that £6-7m would be the maximum, given that. Compare Redmond, for example, who has proved himself in both the Championship and the PL.
Well this is rather final: http://www.wolves.co.uk/news/article/statement-benik-afobe-2632099.aspx Unfortunately a no-goer
Well that's yet another rumour quashed then http://www.insidefutbol.com/2015/08...-wolves-respond-amid-norwich-bid-talk/230482/
I don't think that necessarily means that's the end of it but we will have to splash the cash which makes it more unlikely. Every player has his price.
As a player of his ability you're probably right with your valuation of £6-7m, but as I said earlier, that doesn't take into account the fact Wolves value him as their best player and had no intention of selling him (as has now been proven). That's why I reckon the only way we'd have any chance is by bidding around the £12-15m mark. That's why this story never added up.
The rumour is that the substantial bid was more than three times what Wolves paid for him. So that would suggest our opening gambit was in the £6-7m range, rather than our top line figure. With a player like Afobe, I would have thought that much of the consideration would take the form of add-ons.
I'm going to say it. This transfer window has been rubbish. Really frustrating. One saga a summer is enough. Results on the pitch may make all that redundant, of course, but still.
I'd still rather have our squad than several teams. But agreed it's been dull, McNally is clearly still working though so things could change.
I can see your logic, Supers, but it's still a big jump to 12-15m, IMO, when reports talk about us putting a £10m price-tag on Redmond, who's a far more experienced and proven player in the Championship and the PL. Anyway, it all seems irrelevant now. It has been frustrating, Rob, (well the Brady saga anyway) but we have added 5 good players and not lost any so far as well.
I don't mind one saga, what would a transfer window be without at least one?!? But to have three or four, which arguably we have had... We could really do with a certain few players having been lost, though I appreciate that's not quite what you mean!
Seriously, what happens to our fans during a transfer window? They all go mad! I can’t really see how anyone can say its been ‘rubbish’. The only reason some fans think this is because they get far too caught up in all the rumours and constant chat about possible new buys, 99.9% of which are complete bullshit. Most of the players we’ll have been linked to won’t have even crossed the minds of our club. If you build your hopes up on the basis of a flimsy rumour you’ve only yourself to blame when nothing materialises. We’ve signed: Mulumbu - outstanding piece of business on a free transfer. Dorrans - worth far more than the £3m we paid for him, totally runs our midfield. Brady - very decent player, versatile, covers two positions. Wisdom - I’m personally not a fan but only a loan and adds pace. Kean - largely irrelevant, competition for Rudd more than Ruddy. We’ve not lost any key players and only spent around £11m including a loan fee. Ok, we haven’t managed to get in that elusive centre forward but that appears to still be the ambition. I would have signed a centre back but it appears the manager isn’t interested in one. That’s up to him. I can understand the disappointment at the two positions above that haven’t been filled and that we haven’t been able to shift one or two fringe players but how can anyone say its been ‘rubbish’? It’s such an over reaction and surely everyone knew we didn’t need a major overhaul. I swear these transfer windows do more harm than good. I wish they’d scrap them or just have one window in July where ALL deals have to be completed. It’s been embarrassing watching most of this window unfurl (especially on Twitter) and the barminess of some of our fans who seemingly go into meltdown on a daily basis because they haven’t had a ‘transfer’ to celebrate. I'm sure they'd like the club to spend x amount on any old player, just so they have a deal to talk about! I suggest these people must live very dull lives if that’s what they yearn for. Take a break from football next summer. That's my advice. You'll feel all the better for it.
Rick, there is nothing to suggest Norwich have put a price tag on Redmond's head. It's been in a few headlines (all stemming from the same report) but there are no quotes attributing anything. It's just made up. There is no way we'd accept that bid.
I blame the rhetoric around the playoff final and the £120m to be won. A lot of people seem to assume that that money has just dropped into our account over night. The reality is we have now got three years worth of guaranteed income totalling that amount. So we could, if pressed, borrow against that but we shouldn't as its a downward spiral, far better to structure our deals so they are spread out over long periods. This goes to another constant refrain which is that we haven't spent the Snodgrass/Fer money yet. Well I bet we have keeping things comfortable last season, it no doubt paid the wages of our Premier Legue players and this season we have probably had to offload some high earners or Valuable players such as Redmond to make things work. I think that's a good deal be fans seem to thing transfer money is sandboxed. In general I don't think many fans on Twitter seem to understand the business aspects of these kinds of deals or the complexity of businesses that McNally is running. one of the things I like about this forum is that in general people don't seem so naïve about these realities. (Even if you are all socialists )
One article quite emphatically suggested that, probably wrongly, but considering that Austin is available at £15m, I can't see Afobe being worth that any more than Brady was. I agree with your and Bath's views on the transfer window though. Yet again, it's all about 'expectations'.
IMO we desperately need to sign a new CB. And if Neil doesn't rate Hooper as seems to be the case then another striker too because Grabban isn't good enough.
I bet Afobe is worth £15m to Wolves - and surely that's the point. It's not about what value you can get elsewhere. They don't want to sell him so whoever wants him will have to pay through their nose to make it worth their while. Is it really that hard to understand?
I too would sign a centre back but I don't think our manager wants one, or at least its not a priority to him - so its irrelevant what we as fans want. AN has already told of his admiration for Hooper. It's not that he doesn't rate him, its just he doesn't fit into his starting setup as readily as Jerome or Grabban. Our system requires a more mobile centre forward and Hooper isn't that. However, as an option from the bench or in case he wants to play two up top he's perfect and has tonnes of ability. That's why AN wants him to stay. We need four strikers who can all step up to the plate if required and having different technical abilities is important too. You all know my thoughts on Grabban, although I'd argue he's done ok so far (albeit missed one gilt-edged chance). He does work hard and bringing him on for the final ten minutes of games will help stretch defences - so he does have his uses - but we need someone who is closer to the Jerome mould who can come in if anything happens to him.
