As far as I can tell, Rayan has a release clause in January of £130m-ish (might be £135m, can’t recall), which then apparently becomes £80m-ish (might be £85m, can’t recall lol) next summer.
Ergo, hugely unlikely we try for him in January.
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Yeah, but that’s not the end of the discussion. If we offer them something between his winter window release clause and his summer 2027 release clause, they might bite knowing that his clause will certainly be triggered next summer.
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But knowing how we do business, I can’t see any way we’ll willingly pay more for a player six months before we know we can get him for significantly less.
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You are getting any meaningful minutes out of Ekitike this season. To go into a season with those options is writing season off.
Understood, but, from the outside looking in, a protracted negotiation, which appears to be hampering other moves, will be much more damaging in our current position, with a new manager in the process of implementing his system. There is hard headed, I want that toy and only that toy negotiation,and then there is practical, get the manager the tools he needs, so that he can properly prepare for a season, negotiation.
We were willing to pay for Guehi instead of waiting for a year.
We can wait until the summer, but we then risk competing with everyone for him.
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Possibly. But that’s why I labeled it a “worst case scenario.”
We didn’t in Jan we thought we could get him in the summer for nothing.
Yes, but we appear to fixate on a target, and have problems letting go, which gums up other moves, sometimes, more important moves.
What do you mean we only work on one deal at a time.
And we ended up not getting him at all. That’s the risk with waiting.
We can only work on one deal at a time as we are using an abacus!
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You might be right, that we dwell a bit long.
Hard to say without knowing exactly what is happening but does look that way.
So, no news on Barcola then.
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Rumour is that they are set to open talks. Hughes has reportedly open his mouth for weeks but the talking has yet to open. There is usually a very long transition from that to that
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Talks are progressing well. Haven’t got on to the Barcola Transfer yet, but both parties have enquired after the other’s family and agreed that it’s unseasonably dry for the time of year.
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Maybe they are talking in entish…
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So would I. But coupled with signings. All our rivals are on the move and we are still at the proverbial starting line.
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Never forget the story of the tortoise and the hare. Just because they went fast and appear to ‘be ahead’ doesn’t mean anything until the end of the race [transfer window].
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