- Oct 17, 2008
- 15,020
I think a lot of people get bogged down on fees. I used to attribute this to older fans where every penny counted (sticking a tenner in a bucket to buy Rod Thomas), but it seems universal across football now, even when clubs are run by petro-states and foreign billionaires.NSC makes my head hurt on fees - everyone seems to quote different. Ali Mac is almost nailed on to hit the add ons from my understanding so is £55m likely but don’t know for sure. Sanchez is clearly reported as £25m + add ons yet a few posters have said they read it as £20m + add ons…!
Either way, it seems a very good fee given his status and sulking and losing Spain spot etc. Roberts and Winstanley can still f*** right off though
Every club wants their club to be seen to be getting a good deal, and tribalism plays a huge part. It’s natural for fans not to get blasé about their club overspending - looking at what happened to Portsmouth, Leeds, Bradford and others - but this obsession with specifics of transfer fees is completely out of hand. Twitter wags, Sky Sports and the rags have long known that transfers and (alleged) fees are big business for them too. Clicks are cash.
My position is it’s nice to know the club is being run sustainably, but as fans even with published accounts we scarcely get the full picture on transfer deals.
In all business there are good and bad deals, but as long as this owner, supported by a phenomenal CEO and his team remain at the helm, we are in very safe hands. As an Albion fan that’s my priority rather than cock-waving about how much we do/don’t pay or receive in a transfer deal.