Vicente - A 2nd Year?

[gazingdown]

I, for one, hope we keep him.

I suspect he'll play a lot more next year than this.

If (big if) we go up, we will really need players of his quality if we are to survive. Having him on our books may also even attract other quality players too.

Get him on a 2 year contract and then, if he was playing loads, we'd be able to sell him for a small fortune or keep him, either way it'd be a good deal. That said, a simple 1 year deal would do me fine.

 

[Life After Bobby]

If he proves up to the end of the season that he's put his fitness/injury problems behind him, he will stay. He's a player who needs to feel comfortable at the club he's at and where he lives, and I reckon he would be only too willing to stay if Gus etc have helped him to put his injury nightmares to bed.

 

[BearwoodSeagull]

Watching him in the game v Pompey, it seemed when he did simple things they were so obvious once he'd done them. But nobody else (in either team) had the vision or time on the ball to do it in the preceding 70mins. I've not seen such a gulf in class become so apparent in such a short amount of time. He really did completely change the game. I believe Albion can hold there own with pretty much all the teams in the Championship, but with Vicente playing some meaningful minutes between now and the end of the season and with the rest of the squad we've got, the playoffs are definately on.... the way this incredible season is turning out, we are almost guaranteed to make it to Wembley ....
I read somewhere, that when Vicente was in his prime, Valencia had turned down a €30m bid from Real Madrid for him....is that true?

 

[Joe Gatting's Dad]

The bid was made - six years ago, when he was 24.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

Reasons for Vicente to stay

1) Nice area. Warmer than the North
2) 45 mins from Gatwick Airport
3) Spanish speakers at the club as somebody else mentioned
4) New stadium to play in with excellent facilities and staff
5) 20k + crowds, could be going to the premiership

 

[Commander]

I read somewhere, that when Vicente was in his prime, Valencia had turned down a €30m bid from Real Madrid for him....is that true?

It was 36 million Euros. And he plays for us! Madness.

Also, the thing that I keep thinking about is, he's not 37 or 38, he's only 30! If we could get him properly fit he could have 6 or 7 seasons left in him.

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

It's an interesting subject. My view for what is worth, probably not a lot, is that there are few game changers around especially in the price range TB is prepared to pay for. No one apart from those directly in the know have any idea what contract he has but lets suppose its 10k a week. That's equivalent to one home game takings. We this year have had a few extra games in the cup that would not have been factored into our budget forecasts. Therefore these bonus takings would enable us to keep paying this wonderful luxury player without affecting the playing budget as such.

In return for giving him an extra year he could make the difference. These players are few and far between but if he only plays ten games a season, in those games he is likely to have such a positive influence on the outcome he could gain us many many points, possibly the difference between promotion to the play offs or mid table obscurity. If he does perform and the extra points are gained 500k + a year would be a real bargain.

 

[Shanker45]

It was on the ticker tape thingy on SSN yesterday that Gus was quoted as saying that he rated the chances of Vicente signing another year as just 50/50. I would like to think that Vicente would want to repay the faith shown in him by Brighton and stay but if someone came knocking on the door offering a lot more money etc. would he say no?

 

[sparkie]

It was on the ticker tape thingy on SSN yesterday that Gus was quoted as saying that he rated the chances of Vicente signing another year as just 50/50. I would like to think that Vicente would want to repay the faith shown in him by Brighton and stay but if someone came knocking on the door offering a lot more money etc. would he say no?

I reckon Vicente wants to stay, Gus wants him to stay, but it's difficult for Gus to justify the expenditure to the board, and so to make it easier Vicente needs to be fit for most of the remaining games.

It may not in fact be 50/50 - Gus may be being clever and the reality may be different - that could just be a public message to Vicente, or to the board, and not really to the fans.

 

[Bigtomfu]

I think Gus's comment is nothing more than him playing his usual astute long game.

As we saw with Murray he first wanted the player to prove that he was a 20 goal a season man before asking for 20 goal a season money, and then he and the club make the offer that's best for them.

Gus will know already whether the money spent on Vicente this year represents a significant part of his playing budget for next season, and he has previous in making tough decisions regarding players. I fully expect him to already know in his head that IF Vicente makes the pitch for a certain number of games between now and the end of the season what his decision will be.

It would be inappropriate of the club to disclose the terms of any player's contract but I expect with Vicente he has to be very sensitive to the players demeanour. If they reveal that he's on a PAYP deal it could have an adverse effect on his confidence. But as ever, In Gus nos fides.

 

[Sheebo]

If he stays fit, we'll get into the play-offs. That is not to say the efforts of the entire squad are what got us here, but he really can be the difference. The game against Portsmouth was case in point - he came on and changed the game. He absolutely ran the game in the last 20 minutes, and we went from a team marginally better than them to being a far superior outfit.

I actually think he's still good enough to be playing for a team of, say, Everton's standard. I can't believe we've got him, and even better, he clearly believes he "owes" our medical team for getting him up and running again and that's why he could well be here next season.

The fact he ripped his shirt off and celebrated the goal like he did suggests he's happy and hungry - can't believe he celebrated scoring for us like that!

 

[public school boy]

If he proves his fitness, but looking at his previous history it would appear that he has had numerous problems, with a lack of any transfer fee one must expect that some other club who can afford his wage demands will snap him up.

 

[Icy Gull]

The guy is world class, it's a no brainer that we try and keep him imo.

Think hard now, how many world class players have turned out for the Albion? Gotsmanov, Lawrenson? Struggling now and Im going back nearly 30 years.

If he was 100% he would still be playing Champions League and possibly be in the Spain squad - the best in the world by some margin.

Do we want to keep him is a DUMB question