How close did we get to signing him back in 2013 when he was at Groningen?
Signed for Celtic for 2.6m so we would've table a similar price I guess.
Poyet tried to sign him the year before Celtic were after him, but we couldn’t agree a price with Groningen. According to reports at the time we wouldn’t up our bid from around £2 million. I think we’d moved on by the time Celtic signed him as he was out of our price range.
This isn’t quite what happened.
We scouted VVD and made an approach. The two clubs agreed a price (something like £2.25m) and the player was keen to come, in the January window.
However Groningen had a slump in form and were in relegation trouble - and so decided that they couldn’t afford to lose him in January. Instead they told the Albion that the deal was still in place for him to move, at the price they’d shaken on, but only at the end of the season.
His form then attracted other interest, including Celtic, and Groningen saw the opportunity of a few £ more. They told Bloom that the player was still ours, but the price had gone up by (around) £400k.
Bloom was apparently fuming, and point blank refused to consider it, as a matter of principle - They’d shaken hands on a deal.
Bloom was apparently fuming, and point blank refused to consider it, as a matter of principle - They’d shaken hands on a deal.
This isn’t quite what happened.
We scouted VVD and made an approach. The two clubs agreed a price (something like £2.25m) and the player was keen to come, in the January window.
However Groningen had a slump in form and were in relegation trouble - and so decided that they couldn’t afford to lose him in January. Instead they told the Albion that the deal was still in place for him to move, at the price they’d shaken on, but only at the end of the season.
His form then attracted other interest, including Celtic, and Groningen saw the opportunity of a few £ more. They told Bloom that the player was still ours, but the price had gone up by (around) £400k.
Bloom was apparently fuming, and point blank refused to consider it, as a matter of principle - They’d shaken hands on a deal.
This isn’t quite what happened.
We scouted VVD and made an approach. The two clubs agreed a price (something like £2.25m) and the player was keen to come, in the January window.
However Groningen had a slump in form and were in relegation trouble - and so decided that they couldn’t afford to lose him in January. Instead they told the Albion that the deal was still in place for him to move, at the price they’d shaken on, but only at the end of the season.
His form then attracted other interest, including Celtic, and Groningen saw the opportunity of a few £ more. They told Bloom that the player was still ours, but the price had gone up by (around) £400k.
Bloom was apparently fuming, and point blank refused to consider it, as a matter of principle - They’d shaken hands on a deal.
So you're saying it's all Barber's fault we didn't sing him?