Don't know if this has been done before but watching the video clips during and after the Everton game couldn't help but see footballer who was enjoying doing his job. The expression on his face in the after match celebrations were a sight to behold. Surely this is a player who enjoyed his season with us and hopefully is a priority for Sam to get signed up ASAP. We brought him back into the football brotherhood when he was in a bad place with his previous club, his bad boy reputation has proved to be a load of bollocks so come on Ellis and Sam get his name on a contract NOW.
He has been a revelation, a real class act, he finds space where there isnt any, he and Defoe are musts for next season.
He is out of contract come December with Rubin Kazan (interesting time for a contract to end) Got to be worth just buying out his contract and giving him £50k p/w Bearing in mind he is on £80k p/w apparently
He is a must imo but will he take the pay cut or do we wait until January get him for nowt and offer him more? Is he Kazan's player or Inter Milans?
If I remember rightly there was an interview with him where he said that not everything that was reported was true, but he also made it crystal clear he's not going back there. I'd like to think we're the forerunners to sign him, he must have enjoyed it with us and as great as he's been I don't think he's been so good that the top sides will be desperate to have him. As long as we pay him what he wants we'll sign him I reckon.
With his contract ending and he probably will never set foot on Russian soil again I think a compromise could be worked out so at least his club get a little bit of money and more importantly stop paying those high wages. My only concern is no matter how much he loves our club if a big club comes in especially with European football and can match those wages I think he will go. His agent will be using his new high value and will be beating down doors on every club in Europe I'm guessing
I know a lot of foreigners are mercenaries, as are their agents, but I think him, JD, Kaboul, Kone, Kirchy etc were stunned at the support and have fell in love with the club already.. I hope so anyway. Just get him signed.
I really hope you are right mate but he can play at a much higher level than us at the moment. I just hope Sam can convince him that we have that possibility and get some good signings to back up that promise.
I don't see the likes of JD, Kaboul, etc leaving but if we want to sign the loanees we've had this season we have to be able to promise something more than an annual relegation fight. There's going to be a lot of money thrown around this summer and there'll be other temptations out there.
Direct quote from Big Sam: “He wants to stay, so one of things we have to do is start that negotiation." He'll be here next season I reckon, don't think he did enough to alert any of the big boys. The best he can hope for is midtable Premier League imo, which is exactly where we should be next season. If he really shines for a whole year, then maybe he can start looking a little higher.
That's a good point that. The bulk of the extra TV money might have to be spent just to stand still. Ellis is going to have to stick his hand in his pocket to move us up the league
