Go on a free? Are you serious? Replacing him will cost a large percentage of the money we get for him. Players like Dembele don't just grow on trees, they cost money, a lot of money.
Eh? I meant Dembele is getting the better end of the deal. And if he doesn't sign a contract before January we won't get anything for him - no team will pay a fee for a player they can offer a contract to in January and get for nothing in May...
I thought his contract ran out Summer 2013 but we have an option to extend for a futher 1 year. If I'm correct then after this season we can negotiate and still get a good price. I so hope I'm right !
If we sell him now, how do we sensibly spend whatever we get for him on the last day of the window Bandit? If he stays and winds down his contact so going on a free next summer, what have we lost? We get a stable team for a year and remember each league place is worth just under £1m (a Euro place more). The wage bill stays the same (or a little higher if Dembele gets a bonus for staying which is partly what I meant by a 'gentleman's agreement'). We save on the tax bill by amortising his value. If you do the maths, it's not as bad as it appears at first sight. During the year Jol can nurture an existng player and/or plot to get a replacement he really wants. Heck, we can even bid for Dembele ourselves, if we wanted to. Another consideration is Jol himself - as I understand it he left Hamburg because they cashed in on some big (ish) names - and since his contract is due for review next summer also I'd rather he didn't feel that this Club had sold him out. So yes, I'd rather let him go on a free in a year than buy for the sake of it on the last day or worse have no replacement and a few million rattling around the cash box. And after all there is still January to get us exited all over again (a club trying to ensure top 6 or one trying to a march on the others could well come in for him, Bidley). Not at all sure about the option clause F COYW and the language used by the Cub when discussing him publicly doesn't suggest it exists. There again they went public with Dempsey saying that a whopper of a new contract had been offerred but were silent about Dembele (who is arguably a bigger asset). So who knows. Either way, the problem would still exist in that the option is two way - the Club might want it but Dembele does have to take it and he's still a free agent.
The Guardian are reporting that Fulham have an option of an extra year on Dembele's contract. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/...oris-dembele-modric-real-madrid?newsfeed=true I'm pretty sure the club have never said publicly that this is the case, but it would explain why Jol seems quite relaxed about the prospect of any offers coming in for him and why we reportedly turned down £10m from Spurs in January. These arrangements are usually in the club's favour so the player has no say in whether the option is enforced. It happened with Dikachoi whose contract was extended solely for the purposes of getting a fee for him when he joined Palace.
I guess Dembele is going to come down to two things, the truth of which none of us are privvy to: Does his contract have, as the Guardian suggest, an option of an extra year; Does his contract have a fixed-fee release clause. If yes and no, he stays. Any other combination of answers and he probably goes, unless all the clubs interested in him get their first choice targets - he seems to be second or third on a lot of shopping lists.
The club are denying that there have been any bids for either of the two Ds: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/s...am-pair-moussa-dembele,-clint-dempsey?cc=5739 Personally I can't see Moussa going to Spurs - at least not in this window. His public comments suggest that he's set his sights higher than that and is happy to bide his time at Fulham waiting for the really big move to come along. Maybe in 12 months time if Real/Man Utd/Chelsea haven't come calling he'd go to Tottenham, but my guess is Champions League is his minimum requirement, and if he keeps playing like he did at Old Trafford it's only a matter of time before he gets his wish.
Douglas says he doesn't want to leave Twente this season, apparently. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...las-wants-to-remain-at-fc-twente-8084042.html Not so hopeful, then.
Chritian Benteke Apparently the Villa bid has been rejected and he's not a happy bunny. PS Villa bidding for Charlie Adams
Jordan Rhodes Looks like he's agreed personal terms and going to Blackburn for £8m. Pity, notwithstanding the other news, I'd like to have seen him join us - but not at that price !
I think he's got the potential to be a Alan Shearer type of player, so I would have taken a chance on him.
Mark Noble Being reported that he has turnded down out overtures - http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/08/29/3339669/- In Dempsey matters I've never been too sure about this source, but can't see any obvious reason why this particular article should be other than accurate.
Eh, Noble is good but certainly not a deal I'd be devastated to miss out on. I imagine he's just holding out for a big pay raise from the Hammers.
Rhodes for £8m is an absolute joke, especially as it looks like we've got Berbatov for less than half that
More Berbatov talk from the Juve director - looking promising. http://www.football-italia.net/24469/marotta-juve-fair-berbatov
And more http://www.goal.com/it/news/7/calci...ta-litalia-e-sceglie-il-fulham-marotta-spiega http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896...juventus-director-marotta?source=breakingnews
His eyes look in different directions. Freaky. If he were talking to you you wouldn't know if he was looking at you or keeping an eye out for the bus. Berbatov coming, eh? We'll never forget you Moose Dembele (apologies to Burnley fans for shamelessly pillaging their idea).
