Sadly, young English players cost. I'd say 15m is the rate for a raw talent such as KWP. One good performance against Watford won't do it but if he finishes the season strongly...so be it.
KWP and Jack Clarke for a start and Nitcham from Celtic... as long as he’ll be worth £80 million in 2 years....
Not Saints related, but Bayern have agreed to sign Leroy Sane, for £41m + add ons, which looks like a great deal for them.
Most of his wages done for another year - maybe even a decent loan fee too. Let's hope this just adds to the good relationship between the clubs and they can sign Forster on a permanent deal - perhaps with us getting Ntcham - although i dont know much about him in fairness.
All I know about him is that his name looks like a spelling mistake every time I see it *for those of you that know my name you can see I sympathise.
Why are we loaning players to a club in a weak league who can nowhere near afford to buy them? Surely a club in Spain or Italy wouldn't mind a loan of Elyounoussi?
You are right. But on the other hand, IMO their midfield doesn’t particularly work well together. I do not know why. I just feel like it should be more effective than it has been based on their talent. Also Mourinho is pretty picky about the type of players he likes and I do feel like PEH fits his mold. It wouldn’t be the first time Mourinho made seemingly pointless wholesale changes at a club. It used to work. Now it doesn’t, but Mourinho gonna Mourinho.
The poorer Spanish/Italian clubs likely can't afford him, either. You'd be surprised what some Spanish teams pay in wages...it's far more stratified between haves/have-nots than the PL. A couple years ago, Barca spent more than the bottom 14 clubs combined, and Celta Vigo (which was close to the median) spent about 30m GBP on wages. Celtic spent about twice as much. Edit: because it's pretty wild, in the 2018/19 season, not only did a club like Celtic comfortably outspend a large number of La Liga sides, a large number of Championship sides did the same. More than half of the Championship had a wage bill exceeding 30m GBP; I can't find 2018/19 figures and I'm not going to do them manually, but in 2017/18 less than half of La Liga exceeded that. There are three ridiculously wealthy Spanish clubs, seven middle-class ones, and then there are a bunch of teams that spend like they were the 45th-biggest club in England.
1. Wages off the books - doesn’t matter where 2. Looks better in a weaker league; more likely to find a suitor
If we are interested in Ntcham then that may also be a reason why we’d send Elyounoussi back to them to sweeten the deal.
I really think the league the loanee plays in makes a difference. There seemed to be a consensus Mo "wasn't cutout for the English game," which of course is shorthand for it being too fast and physical; on the other-hand "suited to the Scottish league" would be a euphemism for being a bit pish. If Ely was to have a great season for an Italian team, the "middle class" clubs - as you put it - in Italy, Germany and Spain may take serious a look, as there is a churn and circulation of players across those clubs and leagues for significant fees. They are the clubs we complete with for signatures. He is unattractive to PL teams after his experience here. I cant think of a midfielder that has transferred out of the Scottish game for any significant amount of money. I know Celtic have a CL window, but even playing well for Basel, attracted a higher price for him; as the style of football they play, tactics and technical level helps envision him cutting it in the suitor's leagues.
Could well be a factor. Maybe we're aiming for some form of exclusivity with Celtic, and their (prideful) fans are seeing some extra benefit from it via these loans.
Because we’re doing them a favour before nicking one of their players, I would guess. Edouard would be nice too.