I think that was partly it. We needed the window to raise the funds from the sales so we could be sure we weren’t overstretched. Chelsea stepped in at a time when we couldn’t or wouldn’t make the commitment.
With the Hoever deal in place and Wolves willing to take take installments for a slightly inflated fee we’re more comfortable to move forward. Maybe even by that point we knew Brewster would be off too.
That’s my take on it all anyway.
A lot of this going on in here today.
We only know Werner was a priority target for us from the same people who said it was us or stay where he was for him. Who also then explained how we didn’t do it straight away like they said we were going to because it was our plan to do it later in the window.
For me there are no “reliable” ones with us anymore. The only time we get to hear anything from our end is when it’s done and about to be announced and sometimes things leaked in hindsight after the fact, but then usually only about those we have ended up signing.
I think that is harsh on Werner RE his motivations. As Rab has already pointed out, he’s already been left at the alter once by a club making their intentions public then not following through. He then found himself with us in a situation where he’d reasonably be concerned that it was going to happen again, regardless of the reasons for our hesitancy. Chelsea expressed their interest and followed through. That is powerful and attractive to any player, let alone one like Werner eager to not relive his previous summer.
I don’t need to “know”. The original point being discussed was whether the club was presenting itself as broke in order to close deals on favourable terms. The possible structure for a Werner deal that didn’t happen is largely irrelevant to that, particularly as the Jota one did.
What we do know however, is that the club felt it needed to apply for government funds before backtracking following fan reaction. We do know the club talked about wage reduction with players and at some point it withdrew all the funds from its credit facility to hold as cash.
We also know the club made deals paying as little as it could up front even if it meant the cost of the deals overall was more expensive, and chose not to pay for a CB despite looking for one.
We also know that incoming deals were largely financed by players being sold or going on loan, with very little if any of the expenditure being financed by borrowings.
Thing is Pearce doesn’t need to be fed anything now, he is removed from the traditional press and yes some will listen on every word for the club it’s not the be all and end all it’s why he has to come up with these think type articles for the Athletic.
And I’m not saying the Athletic is bad as I’ve read some good stuff on there and it is the home to some good writers.
1st paragraph was blown out of all proportion by negative press, we were going to get a fraction of the annual taxes we pay back.
2nd paragraph that’s still a kind of credit, it’s just interest free. We are still ultimately held to those amounts. The only difference between those deals and using a credit facility to meet an up front cost and then paying the credit off is the Interest charges. If a player is wanted enough we’d do it.
3rd they weren’t, about 50%. It’s actually a strange coincidence we’ve made roughly the same amount in sales for several years now.
I want a rumour. Reliable, unreliable, unsubstantiated, tenuous, unrealistic, fantastical, fictional - I don’t care. Just give us a rumour!
I heard a rumour Gravenberch is the CM we actually want not New House.
I don’t understand this point?
It wasn’t interest free. That’s the point. The club were offered two prices for Jota, the option to pay over a longer period which is the one we went for came at a higher cost, and a higher than the cost we pay for our credit facility funds.
My fault, I should have been more specific. I meant the first payments of these deals, not the full cost. We spent around £74m for the season on new players while generating probably over £40m - but if you break that down as to cash actually coming into and going out of the club the figures are around £15m each way.
I’d have taken Havertz over both Jota and Werner.
Except they said it would need to be later in the window BEFORE the Chelsea move happened or there was even a whisper of it. Hypothesize all you like but there are clearly people out there being paid to report this stuff that know things you don’t and report it in good faith. They shouldn’t be confused with the no mark twats on Twitter feeding out bollocks to anyone gullible enough to lap it up.
Your M.O seems to be dismiss any links you don’t like, believe the ones you do like, take any report of no interest as a clear signal that something is definitely happening and then dissect any deal/non-deal with your own theories presented as facts.
Maybe leave the intel to the journalists that have shown to be more reliable than others and put the tin foil hat away for a bit.
OK to clarify, I dont believe anybody finds out anything significantly before it happens from our end of things. It is however quite easy sometimes to guess and get things right. I do try to pay attention to things at the other end but that’s hard to know what is or isn’t reliable, bizarrely some of the most famous sources are the ones who get the most wrong but always present convoluted reasons as to why what they said would happen didn’t. Then they all back each other up and because of their standings their stories end up accepted as fact.
One thing I would say is those close to our club clearly seem to be manipulated into sending out messages. If you don’t believe it’s to help negotiations that’s up to you, I dont believe it’s somehow to manage fan fume. It causes more fan fume than just keeping silent.
Konate story broke in April by the same people who had clear intel on the Werner pursuit. Either they know stuff you don’t and you just don’t want to admit that or are very very good at guessing.
And given all you do is guess at stuff, i’ll back the guys who’s job it is to know things.
Konate story was in other sources in Germany in January. Did they hear something or just pick up on what others were reporting who they knew were reliable?
https://twitter.com/cfbayern/status/1350022713285496832?s=09
So you’re saying stuff does get out and not everything in the press is guesswork.
Good, let’s all move on now shall we.
Err yeah like I said;
But yeah let’s move on.
Bascombe reporting Burnley have made a bid for Nat. 10m plus add ons to bring total to £15m.
Thank you redfanman for the rumor!
Nat Phillips’ price… a silver lining as the player stepped in to show us what he could do last season. Helped us to third place, and caught the attention of other clubs.
Before that we would have let him go for a packet of spangles and some monster munch. But 10M or more helps the kitty, and for the player himself, he has been able to show he is a lower Prem level defender who can do a good job for the right team.
With VVD, Gomez and Konate on board here, plus Matip, Nat would not expect to play much and would depart with our very best wishes. If he goes he will always be assured of a warm welcome back at Anfield. We all know the score, and we all know how he stepped up, exceeded expectations and helped us nab third spot in a dog turd of a season.
Thank you Nat Phillips.
Don’t want him strengthening Douche’s side. Hopefully a better option comes in