Nobody on here has ever been stupid enough to set their sights that high. That's Chelsea / Manchester City terrain and we'll never ever compete with that unless the club changes ownership. What has been suggested is being a tad more "extravagant" and "ambitious" than we have in previous windows - but not totally idiotic!
Whether or not we were in for Afobe is not really the issue for me. But I would have been more than happy to offload Grabban to Bournemouth for 8m, if that was indeed the offer and if by selling Grabban to Bournemouth it had meant they didn't go for Afobe well that would have been the icing on the cake. I just get a feeling that there is more chance of Afobe performing for them than Grabban. If we had sold Grabban for 8m and bought Afobe for 10m then the effect would have been getting Afobe for 2m. In my mind Afobe couldn't be any worse for us than Grabban and he certainly has the potential to be a lot better, so I think 2m would be a risk worth taking. Of course the facts are likely to be different to what we suspect.
That's a nice strawman you've built there Dave. On the topic of Afobe, and indeed other transfer dealings, I do fear that we've identified our top targets, and from there the board's approach is "**** or bust". By which, I mean we'll pursue one target for as long as is possible, but if it falls through then we've not been following other leads to wrap up second choice options quickly, or to take a second choice option if its looking more promising. It might well be that Naismith is our top target, and with that deal nearly confirmed we've not got the money to look at Afobe too, which is fair enough. We might have another deal progressing under the radar which makes Afobe irrelevant. At the moment though, it looks like we were desperate for him in the summer, and now what we offered then is now too much for us. It also seems like there's a reluctance to do any business that isn't perfect for us. Leeds want Lafferty on loan, we want to sell. So that deal appears dead. But with nobody else seemingly interested in Lafferty, don't we at least want him out playing to put him in the shop window? Unless he's absolutely terrible for them, half a season on loan will do more for his sale price than the same time with our U21's. Obviously the window should be judged when complete, and we have got two early deals done, but I'm not convinced our approach to dealings is quite right. Whilst I'm ranting, on a related note: Scouting. Ben Godfrey, Luke Pennell and the young lad with a complicated name I can't remember, have all been linked/joined, after multiple scouting trips. Whilst I'm all for signing youngsters and strengthening the crop of players we're developing, is that really the best use of our limited scouting resources right now? We know we're an unattractive proposition to good players, so rather than scouting youngsters, shouldn't we be concentrating on potential first team players, so we've more options to consider this month? A youth player from Dunstable is not going to impact on our PL survival, and this season that should be the thing the whole club is working towards.
No rumour from me, but does anybody else think that Peter Crouch might be worth a cheeky bid for? Has scored at PL level. I know he is about 33 - 34, but offer him a 2 year contract and a cheeky bid of 2m - ish. Could that be a possibility?
I'm starting to doubt very much that we turned down £8m for Grabban. I think a mirror journo hear Bournmouth had and £8m bud turned down. Assumed it was Grabban but actually it was Afobe. Bournmouth then upped the offer and it was accepted.
If you take all the reports as true. The course of events don't make sense. Like why would the have agreed personal terms with Afobe's people, when they had an £8m offer on the table for a different players?
Totally and utterly agree with this Spot on, DH. Likewise, saying to Sheffield Wednesday "Hooper is for sale - but we want £3.5m for him" Why not wait to see if / what the initial offer from the Owls is and negotiate from there. Bull. Chinashop. Approach.
Whether we had an 8 million bid for Grabban or not, if we had of let him go to Bournemouth, can you imagine how we'd all feel if he scored a goal, like he did for us recently and this gave them the point(s) that kept them up!! Let him rot and train with the U18's I say. Re a centre back, we'll probably end up with Vlaar or Senderos!!
I'm sure I read somewhere that Vlaar has signed for a Dutch team! Edit, just checked, it's AZ Alkmaar!
But (if the bid ever existed) it would have freed up / added circa £7m towards an upgrade who actually wanted to be at the club and fight for the shirt. Why do some people find that so hard to comprehend? (Not aimed at you, Luke )
It seems Bournemouth ain't finished yet! http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2016/01/1...h-launch-9m-bid-for-south-american-winger-an/
I have to agree Cromer - I would much rather we sold him and IF he played well and kept Bournemouth up, then so be it. I'm beginning to side with KIO and wondering if we are going to spend any REAL money in this window and by that I mean in excess of £10M on one player. Lots of rumours etc, but I'm 'not holding my breath' on any of them, even if they are by people 'itk!!!'
Carillo one side and Iturbe the other turns Bournemouth into a completely different proposition. With Afobe too, that's a spend of ~£35m this month! Obviously we can't compete with that. Not sure I'm worried if we don't spend £10m or so on a player, the fee doesn't bother me so long as its the right player. It does seem that that's the kind of fee to attract a striker who would actually improve us though.
