Regarding Neil, I cant see why he wouldn't sign other than him wanting to be away, but I dont think he'd be playing pre season if he was off. Id heard he turned down a cracking offer, whether its true or not, I dunno.
Just catching up, play 5 aside on a Monday so missed the game also. Re/Neil, he’s had the offer on the table from us for months, there comes a point where he’s surely being badly advised. he’s missed out on months of better pay, probably upwards of half mill. at this point I’m not really sure why because ultimately if someone was going to come in for him, they probably would irrespective of whether he’d signed a new deal 9 months ago…
Woah that's massive. First indication we've seen Xhaka wants the move. Definitely think it would mean Neil is going... but if Neil is to go I can think of no better replacement.
I think we'll see a lot of movement between now and Saturday, starting to get to the point where we need players in to jell before West Ham
or could stay where he is. For me mate, it would be great to have him here ofcourse, I'll wait with patience. lol
Is selling Neil to fund Xhaka good business? Suppose it depends which way you frame it. Paying £15m+ on Xhaka plus 80k/week seems steep but if you offset it against what we'd get for someone in the last year of his contract (pure profit) it probably makes sense.
I don't think one is the cause of the other. If Neil gets sold it will be because he won't sign a new deal (for whatever reason), not because we've decided to buy Xhaka to replace him.