Akpom's Instagram Story

Clubs like posting the fee when they think they've got a bargain, which they have there.

Selling clubs try and have the fee undisclosed when it's obvious the other club has had their pants down, or they're trying to grab any cash they can get, and they know it might annoy the fans.

Disappointing.

Wish him all the best though, I think he would have signed an extension if we had offered him a fair amount before Christmas (and then could have sold for more). I don't believe the club wanted to do that though (other than Carrick I expect). Too late leaving it till after Christmas, wage expectations would have went up, other clubs would have been sniffing and he would have been mad not to go to Ajax.
 
Andy_W said:
Clubs like posting the fee when they think they've got a bargain, which they have there.

Selling clubs try and have the fee undisclosed when it's obvious the other club has had their pants down, or they're trying to grab any cash they can get, and they know it might annoy the fans.

Disappointing.

Wish him all the best though, I think he would have signed an extension if we had offered him a fair amount before Christmas (and then could have sold for more). I don't believe the club wanted to do that though (other than Carrick I expect). Too late leaving it till after Christmas, wage expectations would have went up, other clubs would have been sniffing and he would have been mad not to go to Ajax.
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I don't think that is necessarily true - I think both clubs have to be happy for the fee to be in the public domain.
 
Easterside_Red said:
So Boro were happy but decided to tell the fans the fee was 'undisclosed'?

Doesn't make any sense.
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It does though - Boro haven't defined it as it can't be defined accurately as it stands, but it doesn't mean it's a secret. Ajax have given the min and max.
(at a guess)
 
Exact pound price depends on exchange rate used - I have used 1.16 and it comes out at £10.6m and £12.36m.

The pound/euro commerical rate has averaged just under 1.15 over the last 6 months, but currently is just over 1.16.

Lots of clubs had the chance to buy him, so I am confident the fee was close to his market value. For a player nearly 28 there is a career history to analyse.

Good to see Chuba has a long contract - 5 years.

Football can suddenly change and you never know what might happen in the future (we may meet again), not one person in the World would have guessed right on Chuba's career in the last 12 months.

Thank you Chuba for the last 12 months - a season you and us will never forget quickly, if ever. I/We salute you.

Its also good that we are selling players because they are moving upwards, its emotionally disappointing, but its also positive that players are blossoming @ MFC. We cut a beautiful flower to sell at market and plant the new seedlings in its place.
 
It appears to me that boro forgot to nail down that the fee had to be 'undisclosed' and as Ajax are getting a bargain they wanted to shout it from the rooftops.
 
Andy_W said:
Clubs like posting the fee when they think they've got a bargain, which they have there.

Selling clubs try and have the fee undisclosed when it's obvious the other club has had their pants down, or they're trying to grab any cash they can get, and they know it might annoy the fans.

Disappointing.

Wish him all the best though, I think he would have signed an extension if we had offered him a fair amount before Christmas (and then could have sold for more). I don't believe the club wanted to do that though (other than Carrick I expect). Too late leaving it till after Christmas, wage expectations would have went up, other clubs would have been sniffing and he would have been mad not to go to Ajax.
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Andy I would have liked more (up to £15m) but clubs look at many variables to value players especially experienced players. Akpom appears open to playing anywhere in Europe and there over 100 clubs that could have paid £15m but they chose not to. I am sure his agent and MFC advertised extensively.

I agree Ajax are probably pleased with the fee paid. Giving someone nearly 28, a 5 year contract is very long though and thus probably expensive and they stated that.
 
I hope we've negotiated a sell on clause.

If Chuba can back last season up at Ajax, I envisage him ending up in the Premier League before he's 30.
 
Redwurzel said:
Exact pound price depends on exchange rate used - I have used 1.16 and it comes out at £10.6m and £12.36m.

The pound/euro commerical rate has averaged just under 1.15 over the last 6 months, but currently is just over 1.16.
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My guess is that Boro have been paid in £GBP and left the currency exchange risk with Ajax.
 
Nano said:
Coventry were in the same position with Gyokeres and Hamer and they got £20m +£4m for Gyokeres and for Hamer they got £15m. Neither of them had played European football or won leagues like Akpom has.
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Had English clubs been interested in signing Akpom I'm sure the fee would have been higher. Why no interest?
 
Redwurzel said:
Andy I would have liked more (up to £15m) but clubs look at many variables to value players especially experienced players. Akpom appears open to playing anywhere in Europe and there over 100 clubs that could have paid £15m but they chose not to. I am sure his agent and MFC advertised extensively.

I agree Ajax are probably pleased with the fee paid. Giving someone nearly 28, a 5 year contract is very long though and thus probably expensive and they stated that.
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Agree on the lots of variables, but I think he's worth even more than that, but £15m might have stopped me from whining :LOL: 28 is like 25 these days, with players playing longer and I don't think he's had a bad injury record, nothing serious anyway?

Depends how many big clubs need a maybe up to lower-mid premier league level no 10? Clearly he's better than the championship, as he was critical to us and got 29 goals from there which is crazy. The last person I can think of with a massive output/ influence from a no 10 type role, for us, was Merson. Chuba got far more goals, but a lot less assists I expect, equally as important as each other I think. We sold Merson for ~7m and that was 25 years ago.

Who were the last players to score 25 in the champo? Going back Mitrovic 40, Solanke 29, Armstrong 28, Pukki 26 (and older), Mitorvic 26, Watkins 26, Pukkii 29, Abraham 25, Muapay 25 etc etc, all massive names worth a hell of a lot at the time, but they were all playing up front as the key focal point.

I think people quite underestimate the level of players needed to score that many in this division, especially for teams who don't go up, and players who aren't a no 9 etc.

Gyokeres is only 2 years younger, got about 8 goals less and they got about £20m for him, and he came behind Chuba in POTY etc. Similar contract situation and even some of their fans probably think they didn't get enough.
 
Andy

I can understand some reasons for the higher Gyokeres fee - for example

There is closer to 3 years difference, Chuba was born in Oct 1995 and Gyokeres in June 1998 and those 3 years are the very peak years of a player's career. If each peak year is worth 3m Euros that's worth almost £8m to 9m Euros. Sorry I don't accept the average player is lasting a lot longer. Peak age is still 27 for a typical forward. The game is getting faster.

Gyokeres goal scoring over last 2 years is 38 goals to Chuba's 33 league goals. Both are excellent record btw

Gyokeres is able to play as a lone striker, which allowed Coventry to overload midfield, but he can also create goals for others as shown against us in the play offs. Chuba did complete some assists, but not to the same degree.

Gyokeres is a regular Swedish International and has scored 3 international goals (FIFA Ranking 23rd). Chuba has said he would play for Nigeria, but they haven't shown any interest that I am aware of. (FIFA Ranking 40th)

Chuba goalscoring did benefit from having more creative players in the Boro team relative to the Coventry team.

Coventry supposedly was asking £20m in the summer of 22 for Gyokeres, I am sure this Board would have sold Akpom for £2m or less in the summer of 2022.

Overall as said I would have liked £15m for Akpom if we had to sell him, but we all are a bit greedy for our own player.

Merson was a England International (played against Argentina in 1998 quarter finals) and had won the equivalent of a Premier League, FAC and League final medals and played in two European finals. Different league to Chuba. It was also on about £120k/week in todays money.

Nano - the fee Coventry received was in Euros not pounds. The have received 8m Euros more than us plus 2m potentially for add ons. But as shown above Gyokeres has a number of factors that increase his value.
 
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