We would only let Mane go if we want Koeman to walk. Not going to happen because the same money will be available in the summer. We are a football club first and no club (not facing administration) would sell such an important player in January. The same goes for Vardy at Leicester...footballing suicide.
Mane is just what top club look for. Pace, skill, goals, good work rate, strong, creative, unpredictable and he is still young and likely to continue improving - he has the lot. It would be really nice if one of the big 4 teams from overseas paid big bucks for him rather than us lose him to a Premier League team.
I'm certain that Leicester will sell Vardy in January if there is a 30-35+ million bid. He's only come good this season and I imagine that they will want to cash in as soon as they can. He might get badly injured, and/or his goals might dry up completely, before the end of the season. We mustn't forget that Leicester have 29 points already and their main goal is still supposed to stay up. The January transfer window opens on 2nd Jan and shuts 1st Feb. They have 9 games between now up to 23rd January. They will most likely be over 40 points by then and still another 15 games to play.
I really don't know what more they can do to convince you. Ronald has said not for £100m and the club has posted it up as confirmation (see my post on the transfer thread). We don't need the money and he's got another 2 years on his contract so his value won't be affected. Why would we be stupid enough to sell him in January?
I really hope he isn't sold to a Premier League team. Hopefully someone like Bayern Munich makes a decent bid.
Do you really think we wouldn't sell him for 50+ million in January? 99 million?! I'm not sure, but I reckon a bid of 35 million+ would probably tempt us. What's been said is almost teasing the big clubs to make a huge bid for him. We can't forget what's happened to Rodriguez and Forster. It would be silly not to sell him in January if there was a huge bid in my opinion.
I don't think bidding wars really happen anymore, unless you're talking about a top CL player that both City and Chelsea want - it's usually the club you think are after him who get him, so in this case Man U (in summer). A deal is probably being done as we speak. Which would be a shame on the footballing side, as I reckon he'd be better off shining for us until Van Gaal has left Man U and some sort of dynamism is built back into that side. There's a chance to walk into a side without that stupid Rooney hierarchy crap attached to it. But of course, once Van Gaal goes, there's no guarantee they'd want him anymore, so he has to push for it now. But as ever, as long as he's priced out of the range of wannabes like Spuds, I don't care where he goes.
Of course we'd sell him if a firm bid for, say, £50m came in. But doesn't change the jist of what Ron is saying. He's not for sale, precisely because no one would bid that. He needs to perform significantly more consistently than that to warrant close to that. He absolutely won't be sold in January, so we don't need to worry. Financial decisions are over Koeman's head, and I don't think Koeman would quit if the club sold him for, say, £70m and promised Ron all the proceeds. He'd probably extend his contract infact!
You can't convince some people. It makes no sense to sell someone you stopped leaving only a few months ago. He isn't a yogurt with a short use by date.
If Sadio does think about leaving, his performances for us in the near future could influence how it would pan out.
Wanyama has really suffered from losing Schneiderlin, as his regular partner, mainly, I believe, because he has had multiple partners, this season, all of whom plays in a different way to each other. His ability to win the ball is every bit as good as last year, but he has been guilty of going missing, at times, in his hunger to win the ball. Last season, the gaps he was leaving, were generally covered by Schneiderlin, but this season it doesn't happen. His passing still lacks consistency.
Koeman talked about the defence being out of position and not communicating....we used to be used as an example on Sky and MOTD of how a defence works, but not any more.
Onionman Jr and I will be holding court in the back garden of the Old Farmhouse from 2ish. Be there, or be somewhere else. Vin
I'm gutted. Got tickets and realised yesterday that I'm working this weekend. Who invented weekend work?!
