Keeping Leo on board ... Vital? or not so Vital?

[L2MidgetGem B.H.A Seagull]

I take it you don't see FFP as a good thing then?

I don't. The only teams It benefits are the top lot. That's how i see It anyways.

 

[B.W.]

Keep him. Chances of replacing him at his level = negligible. Say we get £8M. How much of that will go on his replacement? £3M? £2M? 50 pence? We just don't know. We need to be AT LEAST competing for the top 6 (not necessarily in it), or our ticket sales will nose-dive (season tickets will obviously cushion initial impact). What message does it send to our fans if we sell our (by far) best striker? One of only TWO at the club! FFS.

 

[bhawoddy]

Subject for discussion ...

We all know that Leicester have made several undisclosed bids for our Leo, and that Gus at Sunderland is allegedly keeping an eye on the situation. I am sure that there are other clubs in the Premier League who wouldn't mind taking a punt on signing him too.

Therefore how vital is it to the Albion that we hang on to him at any cost?, or should we cash in for as many millions as we can get, and splash the cash on a replacement(s)?

All opinions welcome.

IMO opinion we should have sold for 7M but fair play if they can get more. I think for that money we can bring in 2/3 quality players who will add more to the team than any 1 player alone.

If we hang on to Leo and hes unhappy that he didn't get his move to the prem, that's a scenario nobody will want. Lets hope we are not being too greedy . Time will tell.

 

[L2MidgetGem B.H.A Seagull]

IMO opinion we should have sold for 7M but fair play if they can get more. I think for that money we can bring in 2/3 quality players who will add more to the team than any 1 player alone.

If we hang on to Leo and hes unhappy that he didn't get his move to the prem, that's a scenario nobody will want. Lets hope we are not being too greedy . Time will tell.

I don't think It's about greed though. Personally I think It's about seeing how far they are willing to go as historically we are a club that has more often than not sold players for peanuts.

 

[bhawoddy]

I don't think It's about greed though. Personally I think It's about seeing how far they are willing to go as historically we are a club that has more often than not sold players for peanuts.

Obviously Brighton value the Player at more than 7M. If they don't get what they want, they wont sell. But you have to take into account the player himself becoming unhappy at you blocking his move to the Prem.

Fine lines IMO

 

[Machiavelli]

We'll have a way of playing, of course we will. I wasn't saying Leo didn't fit our style, I just didn't want to say that any 25 goal a season man will do, because they won't, they need to work in our team.


I'm sure some of the money would be reinvested in the team, otherwise what's the point in selling him? To sell someone who is the difference between having a shot at promotion and having no chance at promotion of we don't suitably replace him would be madness. And a complete false economy if Bloom wants any of his money back.

When we announce our losses this year they will be a lot lower than they were last year. I'm sure we can use some of the cash from Leo to reinvest, we just need to make sure it's done wisely.

Forgive me Commander, but surely 25 goals demonstrate that the striker is fitting in to our style of play.
On Ulloa, his finishing is there for all to see, as is his lack of pace. It's that conundrum, alongside the size of a transfer fee AND the options that Hyypia and Burke have as replacements that answer the question posed in this thread.

 

[spring hall convert]

we have a weakness recruiting in this area ( with a couple of exceptions ).

I'm not sure about that, we've had some excellent strikers in recent times (Murray, CMS, Wood, Vokes) they just haven't been excellent with us or we've let them go.

 

[nwgull]

I don't think It's about greed though. Personally I think It's about seeing how far they are willing to go as historically we are a club that has more often than not sold players for peanuts.

I don't agree with this last bit. We've done ok out of transfer fees in general in the past few years.

750k for Barnes - modest Championship scoring record and 4 months left on contract.
3m for Bridcutt - good price for a defensive midfielder at any level.
1.5m for Noone - our 3rd choice winger
1.5m for Bennett - not proven above division 3 when we sold him.
1.5m for Virgo!

The only time I can think of that we've been slightly hard done by is the 1.5m for Zamora. Could have got 4m from Everton (if my memory of Knight's book is correct), so keeping him for an extra season proved to be a gamble that didn't pay off. I feel that the same would happen to Ulloa's value if we held on to him, and he doesn't strike me as having the same professionalism that Zamora had when we kept him for that one last season.

 

[B.W.]

I don't agree with this last bit. We've done ok out of transfer fees in general in the past few years.

750k for Barnes - modest Championship scoring record and 4 months left on contract.
3m for Bridcutt - good price for a defensive midfielder at any level.
1.5m for Noone - our 3rd choice winger
1.5m for Bennett - not proven above division 3 when we sold him.
1.5m for Virgo!

The only time I can think of that we've been slightly hard done by is the 1.5m for Zamora. Could have got 4m from Everton (if my memory of Knight's book is correct), so keeping him for an extra season proved to be a gamble that didn't pay off. I feel that the same would happen to Ulloa's value if we held on to him, and he doesn't strike me as having the same professionalism that Zamora had when we kept him for that one last season.

I agree re the good value we've got on player sales generally. But your comment about Leo's professionalism seems a little unfounded. He's hardly done a Bridcutt (yet!), has he!?

 

[Hotchilidog]

Forgive me Commander, but surely 25 goals demonstrate that the striker is fitting in to our style of play.
On Ulloa, his finishing is there for all to see, as is his lack of pace. It's that conundrum, alongside the size of a transfer fee AND the options that Hyypia and Burke have as replacements that answer the question posed in this thread.

This. The fact that he actually HAS SCORED a hatful of goals for us suggests he fits just fine. He was also able to score whilst playing under less than ideal conditions when he had to carry the team not fully fit. I am staggered at the amount of people who'd be happy to see him walk, it just utterly bewildering.

It may come to pass that Leo starts agitating for a move and does a Bridcutt, in which case we may have to sell, but I have yet to hear anything concrete in that direction. At the moment we do not need to sell him. As we also have CMS genuinely coming back and hopefully at least one further addition in this department before the season starts. Leo could be in a position to have his best season yet.

 

[Dub-67]

If we sell him then it becomes clear that we are turning into a feeder club for Premeirship teams. We need to keep our top talent if we are serious about going up.

 

[B.W.]

this. The fact that he actually has scored a hatful of goals for us suggests he fits just fine. He was also able to score whilst playing under less than ideal conditions when he had to carry the team not fully fit. I am staggered at the amount of people who'd be happy to see him walk, it just utterly bewildering.

It may come to pass that leo starts agitating for a move and does a bridcutt, in which case we may have to sell, but i have yet to hear anything concrete in that direction. At the moment we do not need to sell him. As we also have cms genuinely coming back and hopefully at least one further addition in this department before the season starts. Leo could be in a position to have his best season yet.

100% t h i s.

 

[bhawoddy]

If we sell him then it becomes clear that we are turning into a feeder club for Premeirship teams. We need to keep our top talent if we are serious about going up.

What if, by stubbornly keeping him, he becomes unhappy and we lose the chance to buy, say 3 good championship players, which would have given our promotion hopes a real boost.

The outcome could be that we don't get those players and have a very unhappy striker, going through the motions.

 

[RexCathedra]

If we sell him then it becomes clear that we are turning into a feeder club for Premeirship teams.

Half the teams in the Premiership are feeder clubs for Premiership teams.

 

[Tony Meolas Loan Spell]

Rubbish. We do not need Leo Ulloa to get us promoted. We need a 25 goal a season striker who fits our style, it doesn't matter who it is. If the club feel we can get that plus a few million quid profit to invest in other areas of the team by selling Leo, then it is absolutely the right thing to do. I'll be sad to see him go though, he is a quality player.

This. Basically it depends if we have a REPLACEMENT. If we do then great. If we dont then we are looking at mid table *yawn*

 

[sparkie]

This. Basically it depends if we have a REPLACEMENT. If we do then great. If we dont then we are looking at mid table *yawn*

If we go into the season with just 1 striker ( CMS ) we are more likely to be looking at relegation.

If the replacement we get is someone as poor as Wilbraham ( for example ) , we will also be looking at relegation as a possibility.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I haven't got a problem with selling Ulloa providing the side gets at least as much quality back in return.

Ulloa reminds me a bit of that Polish striker Rasiak from 10 years ago. He scored a few in his domestic league, then the Championship for Derby at around 2 in 5 goals per game, then he joined Spurs and couldn't get a start so went on loan to Southampton in the Championship and continued to score goals in that division for a few more years before returning home.

Ulloa will get you 20 goals in the Championship guaranteed. Right now we're unlikely to attract someone of similar quality because so many of our 'top' players have left in the last 6 months. If we do sell Leo then the fee will bolster the 2014/15 accounts and guarantee we'll meet the £6m loss target. Basically, Hyypia needs to make some decent signings that will then make us a more attractive proposition to the very top players we seek.

 

[B.W.]

I haven't got a problem with selling Ulloa providing the side gets at least as much quality back in return.

Ulloa reminds me a bit of that Polish striker Rasiak from 10 years ago. He scored a few in his domestic league, then the Championship for Derby at around 2 in 5 goals per game, then he joined Spurs and couldn't get a start so went on loan to Southampton in the Championship and continued to score goals in that division for a few more years before returning home.

Ulloa will get you 20 goals in the Championship guaranteed. Right now we're unlikely to attract someone of similar quality because so many of our 'top' players have left in the last 6 months. If we do sell Leo then the fee will bolster the 2014/15 accounts and guarantee we'll meet the £6m loss target. Basically, Hyypia needs to make some decent signings that will then make us a more attractive proposition to the very top players we seek.

Therein lies the problem.

 

[BensGrandad]

If a comparable type player is available at a realistic fee and could hopefully with his style of play get him and CMS to get 20 goals each then I would say sell him if not he must be kept irrespective of the price offered.

 

[Machiavelli]

Half the teams in the Premiership are feeder clubs for Premiership teams.

Exactly. All these comments bemoaning us becoming a feeder club are nonsense. It's generally a sign that we're buying the right players, developing them well, and they're proving successful here.