I think £20m is still a bargain in today's prices, sadly one with wages we can't afford in our current guise. That's partly why I was so sad to see us cash in on Akpom, but can appreciate it's not me covering our weekly losses!
And to think, some genuinely thought £10m would be enough to sign him
So many times in these discussions the player's wages are blithely ignored in the "fag packet" calculations of fans. We've sold Chuba for £10m and Tav for £10m (or whatever it was) and that means we can afford to buy Archer for £20m. Simple innit? But both Chuba and Tav would be on a fraction of what Archer will expect to earn. And we'd be committing to that for four maybe five years with the very real risk that he fails or turns out to be made of glass and is perma-crocked.
That's not true though.
£20m.. I was like £20m out..
Possibly but one ACL and...
Logically though - isn't it a bit more astute to invest money from players who are entering the second half of their careers, into younger promising players, with prices rising. Last season we added probably £8m to £10m to the value of Giles, Archer, and Ramsey, but other clubs have benefitted.
I think the basic strategy for us is to buy low and sell high.
True - but my guess is the market value for Archer was at least £12m in January, even if he had agree to come and Villa agreed to sell. The most we have paid for a player since 2018 is around £4m plus add ons.
Logically maybe, but since when was a football supporter logical. Patience is the key the way we are going, but again not a virtue football fans are known for!
The truth is in the middle, I really doubt anyone will pay 20m either. We wanted 15m for Akpom and took about 11m. This 20m statement is a negotiating position to flush out serious bidders. He's had 2 very good half seasons at tier two, and a handful of prem appearances that were poor. He has great potential, but it isn't a given that he will ever be good enough for the prem, just a high probability. So 20m is a big gamble.
And to think, some genuinely thought £10m would be enough to sign him
Yes, we have to trust in our scouting network now, this is something we have been doing to varying degrees of success since 2009. Hopefully the recent overhaul makes this a slicker more effective operation.
Newy
I much prefer this current model to just dropping a ton of money on absolute garbage. Monk and Pulis era being the worst offenders.. no lesson's learnt from the Strachan era obvs
Interesting - Brighton and Brentford models have really only born fruit financially following promotion. This makes sense, as big clubs will never spend a significant amount on players who haven't done it in the Premier League, hence why your looking at £10m for Archer, Akpom and Tavernier and not what some of our fans would hope. Conclusion, apologies as this is teaching most to suck eggs, is you have to get promoted by hook or by crook. Even if successful the current Boro model only helps alleviate losses in the Championship or below.
Think I tried to post the same about the same time as you - think you probably explained the point better!