I know this thread wont be very fashionable atm, but its my opinion he wants to go, and i think 10-12 mill is a very good offer. IMO hes not as clearly cut better than the rest of the midfield enough to justify not selling for that amount of money, especially as he wants to go and his heart wont be in it if he stays. hes worth that much because of the value of his potential, but theres no guarentee he will meet that potential, especially if he sustains a long term injury etc. i vote let him go and beef up other areas of the squad. im thinking in terms of, if we kept chamberlain, would the squad be as good as if we bought in 10 mill worth of players to boost the defence/forwards? imo probably not...
I think if we make 10-12 mill from the sale.. then i'd be over the moon... yesterday it showed we didn't need him to compete at this level... but with the sell of puncheon shortly... i can't really see him leaving this season! The foundations are in place for a strong season i hope.. and who knows we could do a norwich and he might stay for the prem.. but if we miss out.. and he performs well in this league, surely his value goes upp? then sell him on ! and bring in 2/3 players of QUALITY from the sale and make a push of it!
<yawn> It's one game into the season! This time yesterday you would all be saying we need to do everything to keep him. We beat what was a poor Leeds side and suddenly he is surplus to requirements... It's a long season!
What happens if he doesnt play well this season though, his value will massively go down because the value of his potential will go down and we miss out on 10 mil, why risk it? And I think de Ridder is intended as a replacement for Puncheon, and from the friendlies and what we saw yesterday, he looks a goodun
And i wasnt suggesting he is surplus, im suggesting that is he worth keeping vs receiving 12 mill for strengthening the rest of the squad?
He is a saint's player whatever.. and i think he will play good... he needs to play in this league to prove to himself that he is ready for a move to prem.. what happens if he doesn't cope at this lvl and arsenal buy him to just put him in reserves until his contract runs out and release him.... that would make you happy?
He wants to go, its his decision. If he's made a bad decision about wanting to go to Arsenal (which i think it is a bad decision) then we cant be blamed for selling him
Could it be possible that he watched the game yesterday and was thinking "I wouldn't mind being part of this?" Just a whimsy.
How do you know he has made his decision he wants to move to a top 4 team... He is a kid and has aspirations as all players doo!! I think the media are just good at making him sound like he rather be there than here!!! i persoanlly think he has it in his sights but not nessicerally right now
I thought he got into trouble with the club for talking to the media without permission. If he wanted to go why hasn't he handed in a transfer request?
Would like to keep Chamberlain, but you learn in life to make the best of what you get rather than what you want. Still think he will stay (are Arsenal interested at our valuation?), but a nice bundle of cash can always make you feel better (providing Adkins gets some to spend).
He was indeed fined for talking to the media without permission, in keeping with his contract. He said that he wanted a top club to come in for him and pay the very large sum of money that would be needed to make that happen. Well, I bet that Paul Wotton could have made the same plea through the papers in all honesty, if not very realistically. Alex has always tried his hardest whilst wearing a Saints shirt, and I would have no problem with him going for the sort of price discussed. That would be a good business decision and a good football decision. But then I seem to remember saying all this on the Deja vu thread earlier...........
Only a bonus. It depends how much he really wants to go as the wages would dwarf any loyalty(!) bonus from Saints especially as he does not want to get injured before big chance.
Know what you mean, but I believe Alex's contract with Saints runs for another two seasons. So if Cortese says he's staying, he stays. If he says he goes, he goes. All I've heard is that Cortese usually gives any offer the once over and then pronounces it derisory and throws it in the bin. So as far as missing out on £10-12M, I'm not sure that SFC will blink. Probably for the first time in the club's history, we are not cash poor. If the money is required, it's there, so don't go worrying about missing out on upwards of £10M. We need the player quality more than the money. I would simply get rid of Puncheon and then see what's up.
I agree hence my suggestion . If you want to go put in a transfer request , or is he / his agent that tight ..... Or do they want their cake and eat it ?
