[Albion] How much for Dale Stephens?

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

How much would it take for you to give Dale a one-way lift up to Burnley, waiving the petrol costs, letting him choose the music and stopping for some sweets and crisps at the motorway services?

I'd do it for £1k

 

[beefypigeon]

I'd be happy with £8m, in fact I'd be happy with about £7.5. He has less than one full season of his contract left, and in my opinion isn't even our best central midfielder.

Don't get me wrong, I think he's a great player and brings something that the likes of Kayal, Norwood and Sidwell do not. But £8m is a LOT of money for a decent championship CM who has never set foot in the premier league.

I think for the money we are talking about, we could source a replacement of at least equal quality. The problem however is 1) time, and 2) chemistry. We all know how well Kayal and Stephens worked together last year and there would be no guarantee that a replacement would follow suit.

 

[Rod Marsh]

I would be happy with 8m like many people have stated. I'm just disliking Burnley, Dyche etc more as every day passes for their penny pinching. Hendrick now seems to be linked with Hull, so the options available to Burnley are reducing. So for both those reasons I went for 10m. Ever the optimist!

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

As I said on the other thread, for me it all depends on if we do sign a quality attacker.

If we do I wouldn't sell him for anything as I think we will have a very good chance of going up and it would be worth the risk of losing him on a free.

If we don't sign the attacker, I don't think we will go up and would sell for £8 million as he will definitely go next summer then anyway and we will need to try and cover our massive losses.

 

[studio150]

If I'm driving its my music choice that gets played and for every guess the intro that Dale gets wrong the price rises by £500k, so it could be a long drive back with Dale still in the car as Burnley bulk at the extra cash required.

£7.5m minimum all payable up front

 

[BensGrandad]

£150m to cover not getting promoted.

That is the correct answer as losing him will cost us that.

 

[VAL1850]

If he has to go, £8 mill , with agreement he stays to January

 

[severnside gull]

Valued himself at £10m
Disrespectful to accept less

 

[Triggaaar]

I'd do it for £1k

I think Bozza meant the amount that the club gets, rather than our fee for doing the driving.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The problem with keeping a player who is worth upwards of £8 mill is that you necessarily have to lift the ceiling on your own wage structure to keep them onside.

It will cost another £1million a year to keep him after this, and probably another £1million p.a. on contracts for Knockaert, Dunk and Kayal too.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

on that basis we should be signing more players on £100k a week.

Maybe that's what it takes to do a bit more than keep crashing out at the first stage of the Championship play-offs

And before somebody comes back some shit 'good at spending other peoples money' response, it's increasingly obvious that although we're a well-run club, that's all we are. Nothing to be ashamed of in that, in fact it's highly commendable - up to the point where TB is trying to recoup some of his investment. Can't be long IMHO before we sign our first Asian striker, for no other reason than to stimulate interest in the Albion in the cash-rich Asian market. Would be very surprised if TB didn't go halfers with an Asian investor at some point soon.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

If he refuses to sign then 8 sadly

 

[madinthehead]

Depends how much he is earning..

 

[Taybha]

 

[Easy 10]

If he has to go, £8 mill , with agreement he stays to January

Absolutely NOT. Terrible idea.

We'd just end up with a half-arsed disinterested player, playing out his "gardening leave" with us, counting down the games till he can be running out at the Emirates, Anfield, Etihad etc (and primarily making sure he doesn't get injured in the process).

 

[British Bulldog]

Current market seems to be £10m, £11m seems about right.

 

[El Presidente]

on that basis we should be signing more players on £100k a week.

If you are signing a player for £100k a week, then the chances are that he would cost about £20 million from his present club, so the numbers start to get stratospheric.

When the Albion binned Fulham off last year when they bid for Dunk, part of the deal was that Dunk signed a new contract, on an alleged £19,000 a week (Fulham offered him more but he prefers to play for his local team). I would suspect that they have offered Stephens something similar. I would be surprised if Burnley offered a huge amount more, as they are fairly careful with their money, but there could be other reasons for him wanting to move up North.

 

[El Presidente]

Maybe that's what it takes to do a bit more than keep crashing out at the first stage of the Championship play-offs

And before somebody comes back some shit 'good at spending other peoples money' response, it's increasingly obvious that although we're a well-run club, that's all we are. Nothing to be ashamed of in that, in fact it's highly commendable - up to the point where TB is trying to recoup some of his investment. Can't be long IMHO before we sign our first Asian striker, for no other reason than to stimulate interest in the Albion in the cash-rich Asian market. Would be very surprised if TB didn't go halfers with an Asian investor at some point soon.

There is no evidence that TB is trying to recoup his 'investment' though. This is becuase he does not see the Albion as an investment, more of a labour of love. Whilst there is a limit to the amount of money he is prepared to lose whilst in control of the club, there is no indication of that breaking point being reached.

As for the Asian links, I think that is fanciful. Chinese gamblers already have plenty of English clubs under Asian ownership, they have not been particularly successful. There is no evidence that having Asian investment improves on the field performance, just look at Birmingham City.

 

[MrSnuggles]

I have to go to Burnley later, he can hitch a ride with me and l will lock him in the car til thedeadline has passed!

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

There is no evidence that TB is trying to recoup his 'investment' though. This is becuase he does not see the Albion as an investment, more of a labour of love.

Sorry, but the bloke's primarily a mega-successful businessman, so far as we can tell. Very much doubt 'a labour of love' would be allowed to continue for very long in the face of such annual losses. PB's bleating's and references to the owner picking up the tab are WAY more strident than they ever were before. Lack of promotion is patently starting to HURT.

As for the Asian links, I think that is fanciful. Chinese gamblers already have plenty of English clubs under Asian ownership, they have not been particularly successful.

Not saying they necessarily have to be successful, they just have to help cover the tab. Tho with a smart manager (eg. CH) given adequate time and resources, there's no reason why it shouldn't work. I dare say TB would like to have total control. But then again, so would DK.