Lets say come end of January, SB has shipped out the players (could be Fryatt and McLean for example) he doesn't want and brought in one striker - so we have 24 players plus Aluko. Now, we get to deadline day and Aluko isn't yet fit. We have one place left for one player. Does SB include Aluko anyway as the 25th even though he's not ready to play (and could be a couple of weeks from fitness) or does he try and sign another player instead ? If he weighs up his options he might decide that including Aluko is too risky considering his recent Achilles injuries. It's only hypothetical and if Aluko proves hit fitness by mid-Jan he'll certainly make the 25 anyway. It's just a possible scenario...
If we sign Defoe we need to add him to the squad. Would you drop Fryatt or Aluko given Aluko's injury situation (I know the obvious answer is McLean or Prossy, but I'm expecting more than one transfer in January so they might have been swapped for other players by then as well). I also off the top of my head don't know if Cairney is in the squad or not.
If we only had 24 other players we would have to name Aluko as the 25th. Last year Sunderland even had to name Elmo in their squad for the second half of the season, even though it was impossible for him to play for them again as there was no rule or loophole that would make him eligible for them.
The point is though if SB has a chance to sign another player on deadline day, does he do it and include the new signing as the last and 25th man or NOT sign him and hope Aluko gets and stays fit. What would you do ?
Aluko tweeted last week that all the speculation is crap. Both he and SB more concerned with the injury atm.
If he turned down a contract worth 30k a week because he wanted more then he can go for me. Talented player for sure, but he's crocked and by the sounds of it greedy, cashing in while he still has some value would be a good option.
Cairney isn't in the squad. If we were signing more players in January, hopefully strikers, then I would keep Aluko, ship out Fryupp, and if possible McLean & Prossie, and hope that Sagbo plus two new arrivals and Aluko could do the business and keep us up.
Cairney not in http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/2013-14/sep/premier-league-squad-lists-201314.html
Aluko has done very little so far this season apart from that goal @ Newcastle. His wage should be 30k a week max but cut in half if this injury keeps causing him to miss games. I dont think we shall see a rush for him now. Spot on. SB will have irons in the fire and ready to be pulled come january. imo. Good points i agree with. Last window we shipped out Evans and Cairney(loan) for Huddlestone and Livermore. Who would complain if we did the same in jan with Fryupp and Mclean for Defoe and Rhodes as an example ?
To me it looked obvious when he joined us from Rangers for such a small contract. I knew this day would come. I would consider selling in January if we can get a nice amount and reuse that amount immediately. But you can be sure that if we sell, a large number of idiots will phone in RH and moan like a bunch of morons despite not taking into consideration his injuries and his unwillingness to accept our offers.
