I really do not think anyone has taken the OP seriously in their valuation. Those suggested valuations possibly might be what might be expected for the individuals. The realism is likely to be a whole lot different should any of the players be actually in the market place. You have only to look at the quality and expected transfers to see how the market place is going and the prices quoted. Which would possibly add credence to my opinion.
The whole point was, what do you think it would take right now for Cortese to accept, not, what do you think we could get for them/what do we objectively think they're worth.
In my opinion, 10 million would not even be close to enough for Lambert. I feel that Lambert is the best player Saints can have at that position at any price. There is no reason to sell him for cash if that cash does not yield an improvement. You can offer 10 zillion pounds for Messi and Barca would accept but that transfer fee means nothing to Messi and he will not play for us unless also offered an equally ridiculous salary. And if you offer him that salary he would still be frustrated at not winning Champions League immediately because (not to pick on Messi who actually seems a decent guy) all these footballers find that the extra money actually replaces the day to day frustration of playing for a not-so-great-side. Why shouldn't Messi have it all? And in fact the less money-oriented Messi is, the less likely they would play for us as gobs of cash is about all we have to offer. That's the funny thing. In the end it is true that money does not buy happiness. And I am as cynical a fan as there is. No one likes to go out and not be the best or even worse to play on a mid-league side. It's not that I glorify the character of footlallers. It's the opposite. They stubbornly want it all and don't understand there may be trade-offs. They want it all. If you bring in world class player on insane wages they will still not be happy when they don't win because they think they can make a trillion dollars AND win championships AND be recognized as the greatest player ever and that will bring them happiness. They are wrong, but you can't tell them that. If Saints were to sell Lambert for 10 million which no one would pay in the first place, they would have to buy a replacement striker. As of now, Saints do not even have Mayuka who is gone for international duty for some time. It would basically be a month of Rodriguez or bust, and even then using Rodriguez at striker leaves you with no cover at the wings with Lallana already injured. So even if Lambert sold, it wouldn't help Saints as the price for replacements would go up as every other team would know Saints are desperate for a replacement and flush with 10 million cash. To sell Lambert, you would have to be very confident your scouts could find like a Ba or Michu kind of deal. Or that you can take the money and purchase defenders or midfielders to change the way Saints play so you don't need as good a striker. That is a very tough task in a short January transfer window with not that many players available and every other team and player knowing Saints need a player and using that as leverage. And Saints don't appear to need the money. If they decide to go defensive or some other tactical direction, they can just buy the necessary players without having to sell. Maybe I'm overly pessimistic about footballers or overly optimistic about Saints' finances but to me the limiting factor for Saints is not money. Lambert along with possibly Ramirez and Lallana just make no sense to sell no matter how you slice it.
The Don's asking price: Paulo Gazzaniga 2m Nathanial Clyne 10m Jose Fonte 2m Jos Hooiveld 1m Maya Yoshida 3m (maybe a bit more due to the Japanese merchandising side of things) Luke Shaw 15m Danny Fox 50p and a white board marker Jack Cork 15m Morgan Schneiderlin 15m James Ward-Prowse 8m Steve Davis 2m Jason Puncheon 1m (he is nearly out of contract) Gaston Ramirez 20m Guly Do Prado 2m Adam Lallana 25m Rickie Lambert 15m Jay Rodriguez 8m Others like Lee and Mayuka I would think he would just want his money back as with any that are not in the plans for the future such as Sharp, Barnard and Hammond. Like the poster above Lallana and Gaston are going nowhere at any realistic price. Lambert maybe not as sure because of his age. A 10m bid could start some the thought process at board level. Rodriguez was obviously bought in to play CF and whilst people may say he hasn't shown much, he hasn't been the 'focus' of our attacks yet.
Nigel said it..we would rather Lambert was scoring for us than for another PL team. As others have said, even if Lambert was sold for a large sum where would you get a great striker in January who suits our style of play, wants to come here, and won't need time to move and settle in. What about the effect on the team of losing our talisman (Adkins used the word talisman yesterday in relation to Rickie). Looked what happened to Liverpool when they had all that money...they ended up paying a fortune for Carroll!!! Impsaint...think 2 million too low for Fonte. May be what you'd expect to pay but, like Lambert, he is familiar with us and plays well. Even if replaced by a better CB (a good possibility) he would be a great back up and he's already here.
Thread is about the value of a player to us. Prices for us to sell players like Lallana and Lambert would have to be seriously stupid...like the money Liverpool paid for Carroll (still makes me laugh out loud). I honestly believe that Lambert would have done better for Liverpool than Carroll.
In answer to your question......Cortese would not accept any bids for any of the mentioned players, no matter how outlandish the bid. As for my valuation I could not possibly speculate. I do not profess to have a clue as to what we could or should get for any of our players. (Just that I would not like them to go on the cheap like some did before)
Beddy I like the sentiment and I'm for all the Cortese wont take any nonsense talk etc etc... He's an astute guy thats for sure and he's also recently pulled off a smart PR move with the recent appointment of Terry Paine to President this follows all the bad press from Lawrie / Le Tiss etc. So yep he's definetely switched on and a bit aloof and mysterious. It seems a bit silly to suggest that he wont accept any bids for any of our players. Why on earth not? if they can be replaced with better ones etc?
I'm sure Cortese is open to business deals as soon as the next Chairman, but he will only do deals that are in Southampton's interest. Although I doubt we have money sloshing around, we are in a good financial position and are not forced to sell players and risk our PL place.
As Nigel stated, we will only sign players who improve our squad, which might then allow for the sale of other squad players. Even unfancied players like Fox would be necessary in the case of injuries. We don't have the numbers to just ship them out. What Nigel wouldn't do is to express negative opinions, particularly in an incoherent and illogical manner, with the intention of Winding others up. He's no Troll, our Nigel.
So given that most of us think Saints will not be doing any significant selling over the transfer window, who do you think is the next player Saints will sell for a significant amount, for how much and when?
