TRANSFER UPDATE: Sunderland standing firm on valuations as Khazri’s agent makes odd suggestion Roker Report have learned some new details regarding the situations of want-away pair Wahbi Khazri and Lamine Kone. By Gav1879@Gav1879 Jun 3, 2018, 9:39am BSTSHARE please log in to view this image Getty Images Reports in the Turkish media yesterday have claimed some rather bizarre details regarding Wahbi Khazri, in particular suggesting that the Tunisian playmaker has asked to leave the club on a free transfer. In the report from Fotospor it is alleged that Khazri’s representatives have asked for the player to leave the club for nothing on the basis that we’ve been relegated to League One, and that the wage restrictions that are set to be placed upon us as a result are unacceptable. Roker Report have since moved to clarify these rumours, and have been told that this is indeed the case and that Khazri’s agent has made this oddly specific request in a bid to get his client away from the club as soon as possible. please log in to view this image Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images The same goes for Lamine Kone, another player whose agent is trying it on a bit in order find a move away that works on his terms, but as we understand the club have made it very clear to the agents of both men that they have a valuation for the players and if those are not met, the players will be forced to meet their contractual obligations and play for the club next season in League One. Roker Report also understands that an offer of €6m has been turned down for Khazri, as the valuation is nowhere near the amount that the club believe they should receive for the services of a player who has been one of the standouts in Ligue 1 this season. Khazri has two years left on his Sunderland deal and, on the back of an impressive spell with Rennes, the club are understandably going to want to ensure that they get the best possible price for the player. But, if their estimation isn’t met, he will make up part of Jack Ross’ squad next season as we look to get back into the Championship. It’s a strange but new start for the club under the leadership of Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven, who quite clearly won’t be as easy to push over as the men in charge of the previous administration were. The message is clear - buying clubs either meet our valuation or you’ll be playing League One football next season. Charlie Methven famously stated on his first day at the club that “the p*ss-taking party is over”, and it would appear that Sunderland’s new owners are staying true to their word.
Everything Donald has said and done has been golden so far. Never expected to be this happy and relaxed about being in league one.
Khazri's agent(world football) client list doesn't exactly set the world on fire, Kone's agent has a lot of clients. https://www.transfermarkt.com/firsteleven-ism/beraterfirma/berater/1181 Don't want any of them to sign for us ever. Agent blacklisting should be a thing imo. Cheeky bastards
I reckon it'll be a game of poker. Agent wants free transfer for player, SAFC want £10m (for example). Meet in the middle and player gets sold for £6m or so.
I think if they do that then the New Owners talk will have been for nothing, he is our player for the next 2 years so that’s final. They knew (£££player/agent£££) knew what they were signing when they signed for Sunderland. As Charlie stated ‘The piss taking stops NOW’, hopefully he’ll have a great world cup and score a world against England (we win 3-1) and his price shoots up!!!
What world do these people live in for God's sakes!!! Why the hell would we give someone a free transfer who we paid £10m (I think) for? He's had a good season on loan and is tipped to have a good World Cup. Absolutely bizarre
Disagree 6m for a player who seems the type to go on strike and drive his price down sounds ok to me to be honest. There's getting a good price and overplaying your hand. We are a league 1 club and that guy just won't play for us next year. No matter what. As soon as a reasonable price is mentioned that helps us rebuild, I hope they take it.
I posted this in the Transfers, not realising that the AGENTS file existed. No harm in correcting my mistake. -------------------- Brian Storm said: ↑ Err, I didn't start that thread to discuss transfers, I started it to talk about agents giving their clients the wrong attitude. Put it back please. -------------------------- You are right of course, but you can not uninvent (is there such a word Gordon), the wheel. Go back to Shack's book, Clown Price of Soccer. Read up on George Eastham's case and Jimmy Hill's campaign to get a fair deal for Players. The Clubs exploited the players at every step and oppose any hint of progress or fair play for them. They lost that battle though, in the end. Now the football boot is on the other foot. IF, and it's a big IF, every Club at Every level was prepared to co-operate, they could still curtail the Agents. Refuse to deal with them. Refuse to pay them. Let players pay their own agents fees much as they pay for their own cars. But at every level, a club with more cash would break such an agreement in order to gain an advantage. Getting rid of Agents, as they currently work, wouldn't suit the Real Madrid's, MU's or PSG's of the Football World. (polyphemus, Today at 7:47 AM )_
Its not often that I disagree with you, but I'm going to disagree with the bit in bold here. If players know that we will fold on the price if they misbehave then this encourages them to misbehave to force through a cheap transfer. We have to be prepared to play hard ball with them to get the transfer fees we deem to be fair
I'd make sure we get a decent price before it comes to that to be honest. I think that's the smart business move. Seems we just disagree on his value. I haven't seen what he did this year but last year he was a player who couldn't get into a very poor premier league side. We're offloading to a league where there's not **** loads of money outside the top end. I'd be over the moon with 8m. I'd take 6m if it came to it.
But we can not afford to miss any chance to get the best possible deal. For example the difference between £8mil and £6mil might be getting in a very good Keeper, or not. And as has been pointed out, where we hold the contract the player is stuck with us, just the same as we are stuck with Rodwell. Anyone who goes on strike doesn't get paid. Most Footballers live expensive lifestyles and would find this a hard strategy to sustain.
And pushing for a deal better than we're going to get could mean we scare that team off and end up getting less or even end up being stuck with some **** on the books that we really dont want. I'm by no means selling cheap. I'm just saying sell at a reasonable price and don't try playing hardball over an asset that's worthless to us.
I agree with you absolutely. But getting this sort of thing right is why we paid Baine, (for example), over a million quid a year. Whoever has the job now and I assume it's our new Manager, has an instant opportunity to show just how good he is, or otherwise. It's early in the window. As it gets close to closing time Teams panic, just like we used to. It looks as if there will be a buoyant market where our motto should be, Faint Heart never F****d Duck.
The key bit here is not whether he is worth £6m or £10m it's that the value is to be decided between the selling and buying clubs and the players (and their agents) need to be told they have no say in it at all. If Sunderland value at 10 and others value less, they can meet in the middle and that's just normal bargaining procedure. Even if he goes for £6m (which I actually think isn't a terrible price for him but would be crazy to accept prior to the world cup as it is only likely to go up), if that's the best Sunderland get offered then so be it - he isn't going to play for Sunderland next year, I think we all know that, and his value will only go down. The key is getting the best price and telling the player to shut up.
Turning down 6m for Khazri is a bit of an eye catcher. I hope these lads know what they're doing as that seems like a very good offer giving the circumstances.
Having made the statement that the p1ss taking is over they’ve got to make a stand and Khaz or McNair could be the first example so they can send a message to the footballing community - actions speak louder than words so they might be looking to play hard ball on the first one.
There could be two outcomes from this stance. 1. The Club makes more money than is currently on offer. 2. The Club fails to sell the player/players who is/are then available for our campaign to get promoted. As I see it, it's a win - win scenario. What's not to like?
It certainly makes sense to hold on for another million or two bearing in mind that Donald thinks we need two dozen new players and two mil is enough to buy four decent players for this league.
