As it was only in the papers maybe we didnt sign him??? Im going to wait until CI have it as a scoop then its official. Or what if Sagbo doesnt exist at all??
The papers talk a lot of **** and present it as fact. I just don't understand why a release clause would become public knowledge. Normally people only talk about release clauses when it's a big name player who is expected to be moving on. I'd be surprised if anyone outside of Hull and has heard of Sagbo or gives a **** that we've signed him.
To understand the 2 year contract and the £5million release clause you have to be realistic about our position. This club will be (at best) seen as a shop window and stepping stone into the EPL by decent players, but that is something Bruce seems to be using to our advantage. A long contract and no release clause would probably have scared Sagbo off because he could see himself playing in the Championship next season and tied to the club for a long time. This way he knows if he does well he will stay in the Prem either with us or another club. Also we know we're not going to be stuck with him if he's crap and if he's good and we can stay up we can re-negotiate a better contract and he will have more confidence to stay here...Simples.
You sound really desperate to dismiss it PLT. As it is unusual to be reported then i tend to think its true.
No that makes sense. I was sort of thinking that when I wrote it. It seems weird either way, certainly not desperate either way though.
If it's coming across as denial I'm obviously not being very clear. I'm doubting the accuracy of it since it's just papers reporting it (although I don't know which ones as I haven't seen it myself) but as Chazz pointed out, it seems a weird thing to report and that could be because it's true. It certainly wouldn't be the first time a paper has come up with a laughably inaccurate story for no reason though.
So we should be grateful Sagbo gave us the chance to sign him? Whereas we have given him the chance to play in the PL, which is what he desperately wanted? Other clubs rumoured to be interested, we are the only club who made that firm offer. An own goal by the club IMHO re release clause and contract length.
I'm sure if they could have got him without the release clause they would have, and the contract length will have been carefully considered too. It's not like they've just picked some random numbers out of the air.
No, I totally agree that the papers make up a lot of **** and it should be taken with a pinch of salt. However, we can't dismiss it as BS.
The thing about a release clause is, it means that we have to accept the bid, it doesn't mean that Sagbo will want to leave, nor does it mean he has to accept the terms they offer. I suspect that if he has a decent first half of the season, we'll review the terms in January.
Yes I think we should be grateful Sagbo gave us the chance to sign him and we should also be grateful if other good players give us the chance to sign them. There is only one thing to understand here and that is; City are one of the relegation favourites and every potential signing will know that. So we can either use the Duffinesque method of paying a king's ransom for old mercenaries, or make the terms short and attractive for players. Bruce is using the Wigan template, because he knows the only issue is staying up. Every season we survive the club becomes a more attractive prospect to new players, but until we're established we have to use these methods to get players to come.
I wouldn't be surprised if the release clause only becomes active upon relegation, a bit like QPR have supposedly done with Remy and our agreement with Geo to let him go for free if we got relegated
His contract will probably be a lot more complex possibly with options for extensions depending upon appearances
What I don't get is why are the media mentioning the clause? Almost pointing out our mistake. I don't think they do that when other players sign for teams. Has it got anything to do with his comment about "new Benteke"? It just feels like they've put everyone on alert, everyone will be keeping an eye on him in case Bruce is right about his Benteke comment and now they know how much it'll take to buy him off us.
These terms don't suit the club, at which point if these were dependent on a 'deal' then the club should have walked away. You can't have players dictating release clauses or contract length.
