Here is the thing. If you really, truly believe that Lallana is that loyal you should take that 50 million pound offer. In fact, you should take a 15 million pound offer. Even a free transfer. Lallana's just going to say no, because he loves it here that much so you have nothing to lose. And you'd build massive loyalty from Lallana and the rest of the squad because all of them will know that no one is being forced to stay here. The club will not stand in their way if they want a big payday or don't like it here, and every player is here because they love it here. That would inspire tremendous loyalty. But if Lallana doesn't even get to talk to the club, then what message are you sending Shaw? That he'd better sign a highly lucrative deal, or demand a minimum fee release clause, or sign very short term because if he signs he's stuck here. And he'll be 23 when his contract is up so he has every reason to believe he'll be worth a lot more a few years after he signs. Man U (or whoever) who wouldn't be offering 50 million unless it came with a big pay rise and a first team berth. So let me ask you this-- if Lallana really is worth more to us than Man U then shouldn't we pay him more than Man U would? I would imagine you'd be looking at something around 150k a week. Is everyone comfortable with Lallana sitting on the bench for that kind of wage because we are that loyal to him and he is loyal to the club? The only reason people don't want Saints to accept a transfer offer is they think that if we do, Lallana might very well go. So deep down they know Lallana isn't nearly as loyal as they make him out to be. And the only reason they don't want Lallana to go is because they think the club will be worse without him. So they are not nearly as loyal as they claim they are either. What it comes down to is that people want Lallana to stay at favorable terms to the club because it suits their interests (though perhaps not his). You're not asking the club to treat Lallana right because he's loyal. You're demanding that Lallana be loyal to the club when they treat him wrong, and disguising that fact. I bet Lallana would like to decide for himself what club he wants to play for, not have the fans tell him Southampton is where he needs to be.
A bit pompous, anyone can think what they want, they don't have to be right, but on present form there aren't many English players that are playing better or as consistently effective as Adam. May not be second but certainly well up there.
I know, its ridiculous. Everyone knows he's THE best Joking aside, we aren't exactly blessed with real quality English players so he must surely be up there.
Wow, I think you have too much time on your hands. All these mind games. Wasn't the original question, "should we sell Lallana"? I know loyalty means nothing these days, fair enough, its a business. But try it another way, Lallana likes playing for Saints and we like having him play. Plus it would cost a ridiculous amount to replace him with a player of equal or more talent. Even if we did, we know that big-money signings don't always work.
Yeah, you're right. So let's stop doing them. Hanging on to all your players and never selling them, though. Never once has that failed. So we're all agreed? No more transfer window threads, no more speculating on who might help the team. We're out of the transfer market forever.
Well, thats not exactly what I said! In fact what I said is, don't sell your best player for someone of equal talent (if you are lucky), for an over-inflated price when you never really know what you will be getting. Not quite the same as your loose "interpretation".
I haven't read all this thread but the answer has to be that every player has a price. People just have wildly differing views on exactly what that price is.
Actually the argument is that not every player has a price. If he doesn't want to go and we don't want to sell then he has no value or is priceless Lallana is currently(thats the important word) in this situation. He is likely to be in every supporters top 3 players for this season, he is team captain and the poster boy for this clubs vision of trying to win the premier league with a core of academy players. Selling him now hugely discredits that vision. Now if in the future he wants to go (like oxo) then we get what we can or if he no longer becomes an important member of the squad then i'm sure we would look to sell. As Adam said in a recent interview his career and the rise of our league status have grown together. (A truly beautiful thing). I used the word loyalty in a previous post and that's probably not correct. Like a lot of relationships and certainly in working relationships it's mutually beneficial.
He didn't say "the argument." He said THE ANSWER is that everyone has a price. And he's exactly right!
Whether or not Lallana wants to leave may be relevant to whether he will actually be sold (he almost certainly won't be) but it's not relevant to whether he has a price or not. For every player there is a trigger point where the transfer fee offered is so big that it wouldn't be "harming the vision" to accept it. Quite the reverse in fact, you could argue the chairman would probably be harming the club by turning it down. The only question is where that trigger point is. Is it something like £20m that might realistically be offered or is it a crazy, unrealistic figure like £200m? I'm not going to suggest what the figure for Lallana would be but I think it's high enough that no club will offer it and he won't be sold. However, in the total fantasy world where Man City offer Saints £200m for Lallana I'm sure Cortese would allow them to talk to him. For a start that fee's probably not far from the value of the entire club (Khan reportedly paid between £150m and £200m for Fulham in the summer) and you could also buy 5 Ozils or - more realistically - 16 Wanyamas with that sort of money. Would Lallana agree to leave? Maybe not (although, as has been said before, if a club DID offer silly money for him they'd presumably be offering him a truckload of money and a place in the first team, both of which might affect his thinking) but that doesn't mean he's "priceless".
All I wish to add is that 15 mill isn't Lallana's price...for that you get a Ramirez or an Osvaldo (plus change)...both good players, but hardly contributing as much as Adam. At 20 million, you would be about right, but will have lost a player important (or even essential) to our team. A case where luckily no one will offer enough money to cover Adam's worth to us.
Adam Lallana started the first couple of games very slowly and has been getting better and better this season. Let's just remember this when discussing Rickie on the other thread. Form is temporary, ability is permanent. Rickie and Adam are good examples of this.
