Stato
Well-known member
- Dec 21, 2011
- 7,365
What bids have we had? None worth while - because we are seen as little Brighton, who've never sold anybody for more than £10M. We might think it was great that we turned down £20M for Dunk when he should have been sold for $40M - but nobody was offering £40M, not for a player from Brighton! And were we really so afraid of Duffy playing for another team in the EPL ? - we must still be a bit small then ............... Then even Celtic wouldn't buy him. That also begs the question as to why weren't we afraid of Stephens playing for a rival? As far as not paying for reserve keepers is concerned, I believe we paid seven figure fees for both Button and Steele. Arsenal, on the other hand, just borrow one from us.
We buy - but we can't sell, not big anyway. whether you like it or not, that is a barrier we have to get past if we are to progress. Until we do we will remain, in the eyes of potential buyers for any of our players, a smaller club (and therefore likely to receive lower bids for our players) than the likes of Southampton, Leicester, etc., thus reducing our purchasing power within the context of sustainability.
Leicester got stupid money for Mahrez, Drinkwater and Kante because those players won the league, not because the purchasers thought 'Oh, it's Leicester, we'd better offer more money.' The value is in how much the buyer wants the player not what they think of the seller. Liverpool paid stupid money for Van Dijk because of how good he is, not because they think Southampton are a big club. Man Utd overspent on Maguire because they were desperate for a centre back and he is England's captain. You seem to be suggesting that we have somehow failed because we haven't sold anyone for a massive transfer fee, missing the point that since he sold Ulloa, seven years ago, Tony Bloom has refused to sell any of our best players. I'd bet that, when he eventually does decide to sell someone who he'd prefer to keep, he will take the buyer for every last penny, regardless of their opinion of Brighton.