Transfer speculation

[DubaiSpur]

We dont need stardust our first XI is jam packed with it - what we need is a few more options in the squad to mix things up a bit

Stardust on the bench. Or, alternatively, stardust to force one of our starters (however unjustly) to really fight for his place.

Either way, stardust. We have some options to mix things up a bit - like GKN to put a pacy wide man on the flanks, Sissoko if we want a strong runner, Winks if we want a cerebral passing option, etcetera. But we use them less than we would do were they of a higher quality overall, perhaps. In cases like that of young Winksy, that will change as he improves and becomes more integral to the side - but elsewhere, there's still a need for an option that can be called upon with a minimum of fuss and who inspires real excitement in our team and fear in the opposition just by his presence on the touchline waiting for the call.

However good our season has been, remember that FA Cup semi. At the halfway point of the second half, Chelsea brought Fabregas and Hazard off the bench to change the game permanently - all we could muster in response was GKN. That needs to change if we're making that final step, imo.

 

[billyiddo]

They left two starters on the bench, doesnt mean anything...

I wouldnt call Zaha/Sigurdsson stardust but if we had those available to us instead of GKN and Sissoko then we'd be better off, considerably so - i think we need functional players that can slot in and do a job when needed, atm we lack that in one or two positions

 

[DubaiSpur]

They left two starters on the bench, doesnt mean anything...

I wouldnt call Zaha/Sigurdsson stardust but if we had those available to us instead of GKN and Sissoko then we'd be better off, considerably so

Oh, I agree - Sigurdsson (not Zaha, but Siggy at least) would be great to bring off the bench. That's sort of what I mean by stardust, not necessarily going out and getting Isco or whoever - not at this stage, anyway. But someone well known, who is capable of being consistently creative, incisive and impactful in the Premier League without much by way of a bedding-in period. Doesn't have to be the highest profile player - but there is a mental bonus to having a squad with a few people at Siggy's level around to rotate and bring off the bench. Scares the opposition, gives them yet another thing to think about - "oh, f*cking hell, we had to defend against these beasts for 60-70 minutes and now they're bringing *those* guys off the bench?".

 

[milo]

I do wonder whether SIggy could maintain his form if he was not starting regularly

 

[DeleHarry]

I don't think Siggy would want to be a squad player, a back up at this stage of his career. He is too good and could easily join someone like Everton and have a real positive impact on them.

We just have to look for young hungry talented players to come in as back ups. No-one expected Dele to be as good as he is and so quickly. He came as a talented young squad addition. I'm sure there are a couple more out there at home or in Europe. Young, hungry, talented, willing to work hard. This is our way forward under Poch.

 

[DubaiSpur]

I don't think Siggy would want to be a squad player, a back up at this stage of his career. He is too good and could easily join someone like Everton and have a real positive impact on them.

We just have to look for young hungry talented players to come in as back ups. No-one expected Dele to be as good as he is and so quickly. He came as a talented young squad addition. I'm sure there are a couple more out there at home or in Europe. Young, hungry, talented, willing to work hard. This is our way forward under Poch.

We can try. Plus, going to Everton at this stage is basically signing away the rest of his career for Europa League football and a shot trying to break into the top four - that's the stage Everton are at. Moshiri and Usmanov's money will definitely improve them, but it will take time and it will be an evolution, not a City-esque surge to the top (and even that took four years in terms of going from mid-table to title winners).

We can offer him CL football immediately - actually, we can offer him three starts in the CL right away, more or less, because Alli will be suspended for our first three games and he's the ideal replacement. We can offer him the prospect of playing in a title-challenging team, in front of 60,000+ crowds, under a manager who genuinely will give you a shot and keep you in the team if you outwork and outperform your positional competitors in training. We can offer him a platform, more or less, that we couldn't back when we signed him the first time around.

And we could probably offer him 90 - 100k a week, if all that isn't enough. Would that be enough to compensate for maybe missing out on a few starts here and there? That would be his decision, but I feel like it would be a harder one than you're suggesting it would be.

 

[milo]

I think that we'd struggle to put back up players on that kind of wage @DubaiSpur - they'd rightly be a queue outside Poch's office from the rest of the squad asking for parity or more.

 

[DubaiSpur]

I think that we'd struggle to put back up players on that kind of wage @DubaiSpur - they'd rightly be a queue outside Poch's office from the rest of the squad asking for parity or more.

Didn't we give Sissoko a 100k a week? He hasn't played much, despite being signed (presumably) as an important option - that could change next season, but at the moment, he's basically a backup. I don't think we'd be selling our offer to Gylfi as 'being a backup option' - it would be more along the lines of being a valued first-team player with the same chance of getting minutes as Alli, Eriksen, Son et al provided he works hard in training and performs well when selected. Maybe that could also get us some leeway in offering higher wages than would otherwise be the case (for example) for someone like GKN?

 

[the dza]

I think that we'd struggle to put back up players on that kind of wage @DubaiSpur - they'd rightly be a queue outside Poch's office from the rest of the squad asking for parity or more.

Isn't this the whole point of us moving into the new Stadium (with Wembley first)? Increase revenue and pay more in wages.

 

[milo]

Didn't we give Sissoko a 100k a week? He hasn't played much, despite being signed (presumably) as an important option - that could change next season, but at the moment, he's basically a backup. I don't think we'd be selling our offer to Gylfi as 'being a backup option' - it would be more along the lines of being a valued first-team player with the same chance of getting minutes as Alli, Eriksen, Son et al provided he works hard in training and performs well when selected. Maybe that could also get us some leeway in offering higher wages than would otherwise be the case (for example) for someone like GKN?

Good point

 

[milo]

Isn't this the whole point of us moving into the new Stadium (with Wembley first)? Increase revenue and pay more in wages.

Who knows whether we will earn more playing at Wembley than WHL and how much if we do. And we haven't paid for the new stadium yet.

 

[AdamB]

Who knows whether we will earn more playing at Wembley than WHL and how much if we do

Given that we will hopefully have attendances next season which are more than double this year, then even once you deduct what we are paying the FA, I'd hope that we would make more next year

 

[DubaiSpur]

Isn't this the whole point of us moving into the new Stadium (with Wembley first)? Increase revenue and pay more in wages.

Over a longer-term, though. @milo's right to be wary of increasing our wage cap too quickly, and I agree with him- it could eat into our repayment plans for the stadium and our ability to keep the squad on a relatively stable footing in terms of the wage hierarchy.

Five years from now, it will be a different story entirely. Right now, though, changes won't be as dramatic as that. Still, I think we could get away with paying Siggy 90-100k - using the approach I've outlined above, anyway.

 

[AdamB]

Isn't this the whole point of us moving into the new Stadium (with Wembley first)? Increase revenue and pay more in wages.

Yep, and we've have a bigger capacity than Liverpool, Arsenal (just) and Man C and we charge higher prices than each of them (and Man U) so would hope we could start to close the gap in wages

 

[DubaiSpur]

Given that we will hopefully have attendances next season which are more than double this year, then even once you deduct what we are paying the FA, I'd hope that we would make more next year

Aren't the tickets going to be cheaper? Figured they would need to be to fill Wembley to capacity, or even to get it to 60,000+ on a regular basis.

 

[milo]

Given that we will hopefully have attendances next season which are more than double this year, then even once you deduct what we are paying the FA, I'd hope that we would make more next year

But we won't be earning (or earning a lot less) from food or drink in the stadium. I think that it is naive to bank on higher income for a few years yet.

 

[milo]

Aren't the tickets going to be cheaper? Figured they would need to be to fill Wembley to capacity, or even to get it to 60,000+ on a regular basis.

Season tickets are the same, there would be an uproar if match tickets are less.

 

[the dza]

Who knows whether we will earn more playing at Wembley than WHL and how much if we do. And we haven't paid for the new stadium yet.

We need a quality side going into the new stadium though, especially if we want to charge top dollar to all those corporates. Our low wage bill isn't sustainable if we want to be a side that challenges every season imo. I don't see why we have to pay off the stadium before increasing our wage bill, I'd hope the increased revenue would cover debt-payments and allow us to pay higher wages at the same time.

Aside from the stadium, we will be getting huge money from TV now, finishing 2nd with so many games broadcast in the first season since the crazy money TV deal was struck. A better showing in the Champions League next season will generate even more cash.

 

[DeleHarry]

I read that we are paying £15 mill to rent wembley next season

 

[milo]

We need a quality side going into the new stadium though, especially if we want to charge top dollar to all those corporates. Our low wage bill isn't sustainable if we want to be a side that challenges every season imo. I don't see why we have to pay off the stadium before increasing our wage bill, I'd hope the increased revenue would cover debt-payments and allow us to pay higher wages at the same time.

Aside from the stadium, we will be getting huge money from TV now, finishing 2nd with so many games broadcast in the first season since the crazy money TV deal was struck. A better showing in the Champions League next season will generate even more cash.

ENIC are not going to change their business model now. I would be amazed if we significantly changed the amount of turnover that we spend on wages.