I think people are really misguided to think that selling Shaw would be fine. As a player, he's replaceable, but you simply can't put a price on his value as a symbol of our academy and a declaration of the fact that we are now keeping our best prospects.
Who are we declaring this fact to? I thought the goal was to win football matches with the best talent on the field, not issue statements to some mythical audience. And if Targett is that good, then we wouldn't be selling Shaw out of a position of weakness. Therefore, if there's a statement being made it's that our academy is so bad-ass that what would be someone else's once-in-a-decade gem is simply another easily replaceable player out of our neverending conveyor belt of talent.
That's how it works-- we produce great players, we have an excess, we sell some at huge profit, take the money and put it back in the academy to produce the next generation of great players.
ehh... forget it. I actually have no idea if Targett is that good, and I don't particularly have a desire to see Shaw sold, so the point is moot. We do need depth so it's not like both Shaw and Targett wouldn't be useful if we get to Europe someday.
But I just don't understand why it's bad to sell players from our academy or players who are very good and never will. Barcelona, Man City, Chelsea, etc. sell players all the time and no one thinks they are smalltime "selling" clubs.
If we need players, keep them. If we don't need them and can sell them for a huge return that we can invest more usefully somewhere else, then sell them. I don't care about making declarations.
I promise this is the last time I will mention this.
