Forget same fee and wages, can you find someone who will outperform Salah at all?
If not, the answer would be what’s the next best option and how much would that cost? The club doesn’t seem fond of bringing players who are already there, we seem to prefer signing players at the point of exploding into success, like Salah himself, Mané to a lesser extent, Diaz, Jota, Gakpo, Szoboszlai, Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Keïta, Robertson, Konaté, etc.
They won’t come particularly cheap, but they will tend to come younger and on lower wages, meaning they could deliver for longer on more manageable terms.
Very much a thing. Always has been as far as i know, but usually not a thing spoken about when a player os happy to stay.
When Mbappe signed his new contract with PSG, the signing on fee was £150m. I think players out of contract or otherwise can negotiate a signing fee, and im pretty sure its regular practice, but its usually part of private discussions.
Yeah typically its spread over the length of the new contract, and is the portion they are still owed if they move before their contract is up. That is often where the financial complications come from and why “handing in a transfer request” is relevant. That is usually short hand for the player waving a portion or all of their outstanding signing bonus
We should be retaining all of them. We didn’t add to the first team at all in the summer and can’t afford to 2-3 of our best players when they’re all still at an outstanding level. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t get them all signed up, unless Trent wants to leave.
Btw it’s ok to hold this view and also appreciate that FSG have been relatively great owners
Yes, because it’s makes perfect sense if you do realise (and you probably do) that FSG don’t run the club day-to-day.
I’m not sure what will happen with the contracts, but I can see it being argued both ways about the age of Salah and van Dijk, and that will probably come down to what the club thinks about the probable points they start to decline.
For Alexander-Arnold, I don’t think it’s unlikely that he will extend his contract, but I think it’s a question of what his status at the club is. If both he and the club think he’s one of our stars (and let’s face it, he probably is), then it’s probably a situation where his contract situation is inextricably linked with the other two. Otherwise, if there’s a mismatch in valuation, then it wouldn’t be surprised that it will drag out longer.
I don’t think anyone would have put us where we are with Slot and everything changing.
I personally see it as tactics. The club will understand the lay out to replace.
I can see us keeping two if I’m honest. I think the demands of the other maybe too much. But you also have realise we may have made an offer in the summer that was rejected as the players want to see how Slot would be.
Oddest thing is when I read it first time up to the last line I felt it sounded a little arrogant and then I read the last line as let’s see what the season does.
Now I am more attuned to it being a negotiation stance but still.
No one knows what’s happening and I’d rather the club play it like that than putting its entire plan out in public.
