Morgan Gibbs-White

[DubaiSpur]

Completely ridiculous. Why we cannot look like an attractive proposition compared to Forest for a player like this is beyond me. That’s a bad sign for the ‘this summer is different’ idea I had.

We don't pay wages life-changing enough to get players fighting to move to us, we don't build teams that get players excited to play for us, we finished 17th so some must be wondering if we're all that.

For established players like MGW, Forest can probably offer him higher wages than we can, they finished well above us, and he probably judged his position too comfortable to really push for a move here especially if it involved tinkling off a Greek drug lord with criminal accomplices aplenty.

He would have pushed for a move to Saudi Sportswashing Machine or Emirates Marketing Project, because the wages would have changed his life, and the owners could have squashed Marinakis like a bug if need be - Saudis could have straight up chainsawed him into pieces, ditto Emiratis.

But Levy can't do that - at best he can send Marinakis a strongly worded letter. And the wages here are nothing special. So, we lose out in these situations.

Honestly, hard to blame Levy here - if he's at fault, it's for the more general decline in competitive wage levels and prestige from the Poch years to the point where, fresh off a trophy and with CL football, apparently no one good wants to join us. But going up against a criminal when you aren't one, isn't going to end well unless you can afford it.

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

To be fair, buying from teams in the Premier League is hard for everyone, because most have no need to sell their players. Too many owners now who can easily blow us out of the water in terms of cash, ambition, determination and sporting vision (and in Marinakis' case, sheer criminality, where apparently being involved in several murders is no bar to passing the Fit and Proper Persons' Test).

For the cash we were allegedly (allegedly) prepared to pay for MGW, there are plenty of comparable or better options there.

The bigger question in my mind is if that mythical investment that apparently fuelled this bid, still exists - or ever existed. A club with hundreds of millions apparently available does not sit on its hands and do absolutely nothing for two weeks. Seems strange to me.

Agreed. Very strange.

This ends up reading to me like maybe there wasn’t new investment, maybe this was just a classic ‘deal’ that we saw, just like all the other ‘deals’ we’ve done in the past, and we thought we were getting a bargain and so went for it? I have no idea who the alternative is, but to actually spend two weeks not getting this deal done and to be so thoroughly beaten by Maranakis…it does not look good for me. I hope there’s a great alternative out there that we will move swiftly towards, if we were thinking we needed this type of player.

 

[DubaiSpur]

I


We have no idea how the deal was/of being funded
But i do agree that for that money there are options out there.
I really like MGW and think he will have an interesting 18 months now because I don’t know where he will end up but Forrest won’t be as good, that’s for sure
We may now go for a couple of players instead, maybe Macatee and Eliot

I'm increasingly doubtful the money ever really existed mate - but let's see.

My worry is actually at CF as without solanke we don’t have a hold up player

Fair. Personally I don't rate Solanke or Rich as being good enough for where we (allegedly) want to go, which is (allegedly) winning the PL and CL if that bombastic Levy interview is to be believed. But, defo signing someone better than Rich to rotate with Solanke at least, should be a priority.

Still a long time to in the window in reality but frustrating

Sure, still a long way to go. Let's see what happens and then make a call at the end.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Agreed. Very strange.

This ends up reading to me like maybe there wasn’t new investment, maybe this was just a classic ‘deal’ that we saw, just like all the other ‘deals’ we’ve done in the past, and we thought we were getting a bargain and so went for it? I have no idea who the alternative is, but to actually spend two weeks not getting this deal done and to be so thoroughly beaten by Maranakis…it does not look good for me. I hope there’s a great alternative out there that we will move swiftly towards, if we were thinking we needed this type of player.

No club lays down £60m as a bargain deal … I’m sorry but not one club would even contemplate that

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I'm increasingly doubtful the money ever really existed mate - but let's see.

Fair. Personally I don't rate Solanke or Rich as being good enough for where we (allegedly) want to go, which is (allegedly) winning the PL and CL if that bombastic Levy interview is to be believed. But, defo signing someone better than Rich to rotate with Solanke at least, should be a priority.



Sure, still a long way to go. Let's see what happens and then make a call at the end.

That quote form levy was never about this season or next … it was about what is the ambition
It’s the same for very club imo because it’s the sole purpose of being there, to compete

 

[DubaiSpur]

That quote form levy was never about this season or next … it was about what is the ambition
It’s the same for very club imo because it’s the sole purpose of being there, to compete

Sure mate, but the question is if we actually have that ambition for now or the future. I severely doubt we do, and it was just so much useless spin.

But, that's derailing the MGW thread. Suffice to say this deal is dead, we move on, there are other fish in the sea - though time is running out on us.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Sure mate, but the question is if we actually have that ambition for now or the future. I severely doubt we do, and it was just so much useless spin.

But, that's derailing the MGW thread. Suffice to say this deal is dead, we move on, there are other fish in the sea - though time is running out on us.

Ambition is moving on to bigger and better
Who that is… I don’t know
Clearly we identified the need

 

[DubaiSpur]

Agreed. Very strange.

I hope there’s a great alternative out there that we will move swiftly towards, if we were thinking we needed this type of player.

This is where Paratici was really useful - man moved in elite circles and apparently had a rolodex of a dozen different players in negotiations for one position, so if a deal fell through like this, he'd still have a number of others on speed dial (not least, a bunch of players at Juve he could grab in an emergency )

Just based on how we do things, I don't think this Lange character operates that way.

 

[DubaiSpur]

No club lays down £60m as a bargain deal … I’m sorry but not one club would even contemplate that

Spot on. I do get what @SissokoWasGood (BoL) meant, but only in the Premier League would 60m be considered a bargain.

Again, you can find much better on the continent for that money. I am usually against the idea of buying the cheaper player just because he's cheaper, but in this case, I think there are genuinely loads out there who could match MGW's output for a fraction of the cost.

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

Spot on. I do get what @SissokoWasGood (BoL) meant, but only in the Premier League would 60m be considered a bargain.

Again, you can find much better on the continent for that money. I am usually against the idea of buying the cheaper player just because he's cheaper, but in this case, I think there are genuinely loads out there who could match MGW's output for a fraction of the cost.

When I say bargain, I mean way cheaper than their actual worth. And I’ve never criticised Levy’s willingness to do those sorts of deals. I would criticise focusing on those details too much at the expense of of getting real top players that we really need to push on.

The moment MGW signs with us he’s not a 60m player anymore. He’s worth way more. I can completely see Levy thinking it was worth a go to get a deal done at that price.

 

[Bishop]

I'm not particularly fussed this deal hasn't happened as I'm not so sure he's what we truly needed (a player of his type is not on my priority list). However I suppose Frank wanting him makes it disappointing as he did see a need for improvement in that area and I do agree generally I just think a DM would be of more importance.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I'm not particularly fussed this deal hasn't happened as I'm not so sure he's what we truly needed (a player of his type is not on my priority list). However I suppose Frank wanting him makes it disappointing as he did see a need for improvement in that area and I do agree generally I just think a DM would be of more importance.

No fan Wouk knock a quality addition but I do agree we need others more pressing
Would have been a great fit here though and worked well with the players we have

 

[DubaiSpur]

When I say bargain, I mean way cheaper than their actual worth. And I’ve never criticised Levy’s willingness to do those sorts of deals. I would criticise focusing on those details too much at the expense of of getting real top players that we really need to push on.

The moment MGW signs with us he’s not a 60m player anymore. He’s worth way more. I can completely see Levy thinking it was worth a go to get a deal done at that price.

Fair, but like I said, I don't think MGW's actual worth is more than 60m. Buying in the Premier League means prices are inflated way beyond what the player is actually worth.

Objectively, a player in his mid-20s, with somewhere around a dozen goal contributions, playing for a mid-table side having a good year, with a good engine but some physical limitations, and a couple of England caps - that's what you're getting with him.

For 60m on the continent, you can get genuinely good players that have proven themselves in top-level competitions, from the CL to their national teams, for years. Arsenal got Zubimendi for less than that, Gyokeres for about that, Xavi Simons is going to Chelsea for about that.

We would never compete with Arsenal or Chelsea - both are bolder and more ambitious than we will ever be under ENIC. But, it's just an illustration to demonstrate that the Prem badly inflates values.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

When I say bargain, I mean way cheaper than their actual worth. And I’ve never criticised Levy’s willingness to do those sorts of deals. I would criticise focusing on those details too much at the expense of of getting real top players that we really need to push on.

The moment MGW signs with us he’s not a 60m player anymore. He’s worth way more. I can completely see Levy thinking it was worth a go to get a deal done at that price.

I’m not sure he would be worth much more
There are ceilings for players based on their role and position
If he goes next summer and he has had another great season they ain’t getting more than £70m for him and the market will be smaller imo

 

[Robbo]

I blame Romano for jinxing us with his "here we go".

It's truly been an odd saga, though. And TBF that Forest announcement really feels like a PR stunt for their owner, from what is essentially a one year contract extension.

Oh well. Time to move on. Although if there's truth to what we've read about that contract clause, I wonder what legal steps Levy is now preparing.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Fair, but like I said, I don't think MGW's actual worth is more than 60m. Buying in the Premier League means prices are inflated way beyond what the player is actually worth.

Objectively, a player in his mid-20s, with somewhere around a dozen goal contributions, playing for a mid-table side having a good year, with a good engine but some physical limitations, and a couple of England caps - that's what you're getting with him.

For 60m on the continent, you can get genuinely good players that have proven themselves in top-level competitions, from the CL to their national teams, for years. Arsenal got Zubimendi for less than that, Gyokeres for about that, Xavi Simons is going to Chelsea for about that.

We would never compete with Arsenal or Chelsea - both are bolder and more ambitious than we will ever be under ENIC. But, it's just an illustration to demonstrate that the Prem badly inflates values.

This
That’s exactly my caveat with it all
We may well now go for simons although again, I’m nervous at the fee

 

[Mikey10]

Massive lol. A clusterf uck, although I suppose some will still try to spin it differently.

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

I’m not sure he would be worth much more
There are ceilings for players based on their role and position
If he goes next summer and he has had another great season they ain’t getting more than £70m for him and the market will be smaller imo

Yeah…we’ll see. Obviously I don’t know for sure. Maybe it wasn’t so much a ‘bargain’ as a reasonable price for a proven player that wouldn’t require too much back and forth in negotiation.

Personal opinion though is that at the rate prices are inflating, MGW would be an £80m+ player with us as long as he performed. Because we’re now buying the 55-60m players, the next level up is what Liverpool or Madrid are buying. If he wanted to leave us, that’s the bracket he would be in.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Massive lol. A clusterfudge, although I suppose some will still try to spin it differently.

I’m not sure what the club can do differently here .., if of course those that said it was done were right with the release clause
That’s the area to question the most

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

I blame Romano for jinxing us with his "here we go".

It's truly been an odd saga, though. And TBF that Forest announcement really feels like a PR stunt for their owner, from what is essentially a one year contract extension.

Oh well. Time to move on. Although if there's truth to what we've read about that contract clause, I wonder what legal steps Levy is now preparing.

I would do exactly the same thing in his situation. He assessed the situation, and he won.