They have him valued at £2.7m on transfermarkt (incidentally where he's already cited in the Saints' squad), previous reports were that Girondins wanted £15m.
I was talking about the Swedish attacking midfielder When I looked at transfermarkt they had already moved Mara to us. Jumping the gun a little
Perhaps Shane Long will take a leaf out of our current PM's playbook, by 'resigning', but still turning up for matches, with his boots...
There is a suggestion on SW that there are two medicals booked in for this week. But I gather youth team medicals could count towards this
I don’t really understand the Lingard to forest thing. Surely that’s like quadruple what they’re paying anyone else!?
It smacks of an "all your eggs in one basket" approach to survival. It's 10% of their additional revenue that maybe, just maybe (if he gets 20 goals say) keeps them in the league and allows them to consolidate. I think it's madness but I sort of get it.
So this Mara chap..... Never heard of him (which means **** all because I hadn't heard of Mane and Pelle either) but this is a massive gamble with the players we've bought this summer. I'm really hoping it works out and somehow clicks. Either way, exciting times ahead.
Apparently it is only a one year deal. Which makes much more sense for forest than anything longer But what formation do they play? I thought they played with a back three and wing backs? You can’t usually fit traditional wingers into that kind of system. Unless it is 5-4-1?
I`m delighted with the way Saints have conducted business since the end of last season, on and off the pitch. There will be some inconsistency with new, younger players, but so long as they are giving 100% and are being well coached, that`ll do for me.
That’s what “established Premier League players” can cost as free agents. He had a competing offer from Saudi IIRC.
I wonder about the precedent this might set. Players running down contracts and signing massive one year deals. Takes things closer and closer to a US style system. Indeed Lingard and Henderson's wages are so out of proportion with the rest of Forest's squad they are almost like Designated Players (a system that arguably isn't that bad but couldn't work in european football unless all countries did it). Although I have no idea what their other new signings are on. I imagine almost all are beating their prior top earners. Or at least the new defender, striker and the liverpool right back. Interesting decision
Mara would be our sixth signing of the summer. Two of which were completely under the radar with no rumours associated Given that I would like to think we are still looking for at least three more (not impossible given two can be loans) then that might well mean at least one more complete surprise signing. Which would be fun
I like the Lingard to Forest thing. The wages sound a lot, but there is no fee. If they were paying 6m plus 80k a week it doesn't sound as bad, even though it works out roughly the same. Also, if it doesn't work out for them this season, then they aren't burdened with him, moving on. These days so many players run down their contracts anyway that the whole sell-them-on-for-a-profit thing isn't a guarantee. And if he is anywhere near as good as what he was for West Ham in 20/21, then he might just be the difference between staying up or going down. 9 goals and 5 assists in 16 games! And after 23 years outside the top flight it's good to see Forest going for it. I hope they have an entertaining season for their fans.
Yeah, without knowing whether there are any further signing-on bonuses (my guess is that the 180k p/w is aggregating his total compensation to make the figure look more eye-popping), no one would've batted an eye last year if someone paid a 3m loan fee and picked up 120k p/w in wages for Lingard. I don't think it's great value, but I also don't think it's the worst price to rent him for a year.
