Kalimantan Gull
Well-known member
Of course I understand that - but we are so unbelievably bad at it! If we want to progress, using our sustainability model, we will not only need to develop our own players (and sell on some of them for big fees a la Southampton, Leicester, etc.), but also sell players we no longer need in order to be able to occasionally pay a higher price for a player to fill a gap we ca't fill (striker anyone?).
But we're never going to get there as long as we're seen as a soft touch, a small club that'll accept peanuts for our players. Look at our record:
Duffy - can't sell, on loan;
Ryan, can't sell, on loan;
Locadia, can't sell, on loan;
Andone, couldn't sell, loaned out, bounced straight back to us.
Martin Montoya, couldn't sell, gave him away;
Ollie Norwood, loaned out, loaned out again (winning Championships) and sold for peanuts (and finishing above us in the league last season);
Bernardo, can't sell, loaned out;
David Button, practically given away for about a quarter of what we paid for him;
Dale Stephens, practically given away to a relegation rival;
Kayal, loaned out until his contract ended.
It's not a good record, is it? - we paid millions for some of those players. Strewth - gong back we even let Murray go for nothing!
You don't know if we got millions in loan fees for those players