Tristan Plummer

[fixit]

From the Daily Star Sunday

'Exclusive' by Carl Eldridge

Arsene Wenger is ready to pounce for Bristol City's teen sensation Tristan Plummer, already being dubbed the new Theo Walcott.

The speedy striker, 16, has yet to sign a professional contract for the Robins and can sign when he reaches 17 next month.

Steve Landsdown is desperate to keep the England Under-17 but the Gunners interest could scupper his plans; "Tristan is a player we rate very highly and we've had talks geared towards him signing when he's 17. We look forward to him developing his career here. He's an exciting talent."

Wenger's scouts have alerted him to Plummer's amazing talent, which has been on display in City's FA Youth Cup run. "Tristan's very quick, has an eye for goal and is clearly an outstanding player" said a source. "He has the same qualities as Theo Walcott".

ends

Maybe this is what's behind Steve's comments early this week when Christian Ribeiro signed his pro forms.

[bh_red]

well much as he is going to be a very good player, if this is the case there is not much the club can do to keep the player to stay, what is most important is that we get a proper fee for him if he decides to leave, Arsenal paid £2m+ for Jermaine Pennant?u....and that was nearly 10 years ago, so hopefully we will aim for a similar fee if Arsenal rate him that highly.

[CGS RED]

I think we are inviting offers for our better Academy stars. 3 Million for Lita and Cotterill in less than 2 years. SL knows a good money maker when he sees one. Plummer, Wilson and Artus are probably all under scrutiny from other clubs.

The reason I think we are inviting offers, is the sudden heightened coverage of the inder 18's on the main BCFC site. We've gone from a small coverage/result, to match photos, video highlights, managers comments and match report, thats more than the reserves get.

Make no mistake we are opening a shop window with our kids on display. Any millions recieved will be needed in January/June for established pros ready for the Championship league.

[City_pete1]

well much as he is going to be a very good player, if this is the case there is not much the club can do to keep the player to stay, what is most important is that we get a proper fee for him if he decides to leave, Arsenal paid £2m+ for Jermaine Pennant?u....and that was nearly 10 years ago, so hopefully we will aim for a similar fee if Arsenal rate him that highly.

Pennant was already in the press before Arsenal went in for him though, he was playing 1st team football - at the age of 15!

[Cyderman]

So, he's been compared to walcott by 'a source' in the Daily Star. I don't think SL will be planning for the millions just yet.

[grifty]

There's quite a few reasons why I'm not resigned to losing TP to Arsenal.

1. He expressly stated he wants to stay at City. I know loyalty means nothing in football anymore, but as a 16 year old Bristol City fan, I'm sure he would want to make a half decent splash into first team football.

2. He said he takes advice from his brothers seriously, and I'm pretty sure both Dwain and Twain will tell him that moving to Arsenal now would be a bad career choice, and it would be just for money (ala Anyinsah).

I had a couple of other points but I've forgotten them.

[fRed]

I don't believe anything really.

[Portland Bill]

I think we are inviting offers for our better Academy stars. 3 Million for Lita and Cotterill in less than 2 years. SL knows a good money maker when he sees one. Plummer, Wilson and Artus are probably all under scrutiny from other clubs.

The reason I think we are inviting offers, is the sudden heightened coverage of the inder 18's on the main BCFC site. We've gone from a small coverage/result, to match photos, video highlights, managers comments and match report, thats more than the reserves get.

Make no mistake we are opening a shop window with our kids on display. Any millions recieved will be needed in January/June for established pros ready for the Championship league.

Bloody hell, i thought you said Champions league when i first read it !!!!!!!

[You Know I Am Right]

absolute bolox.........same as a few years ago when the News of the World reported that arsenal were going to pay 2.5m for amankwaah to be their replacement for lee dixon

[WhistleHappy]

absolute bolox.........same as a few years ago when the News of the World reported that arsenal were going to pay 2.5m for amankwaah to be their replacement for lee dixon

That was TRUE.... just that Cheltenham got in first thats all!

[BS3_RED]

That was TRUE.... just that Cheltenham got in first thats all!

Wouldnt that be Yeovil

[bcfcchris2016]

i am not a greedy person, but if Arsenal want to sign Tristan Plummer. I would expect Millions to try and lure Tristan away from us.

[samo]

really lookng forward to seeing him play in the first team sometime soon.

maybe the fact he has not been involved yet, despite his obvious natural talent, might be just as much to do with getting him under contract first than his age.

he's does also strike me as the type of youngster who might be better suited to developing his game at the more skillful championship level than in league one (though i've only seen world and youtube highlights so might not be best placed to comment on this).

the emergence of this type of talent makes it imperative we get up and stay up asap. then we won't have to worry about losing each and every top prospect as soon as they show their quality.

[red as fcuk]

I think we are inviting offers for our better Academy stars. 3 Million for Lita and Cotterill in less than 2 years. SL knows a good money maker when he sees one. Plummer, Wilson and Artus are probably all under scrutiny from other clubs.

The reason I think we are inviting offers, is the sudden heightened coverage of the inder 18's on the main BCFC site. We've gone from a small coverage/result, to match photos, video highlights, managers comments and match report, thats more than the reserves get.

Make no mistake we are opening a shop window with our kids on display. Any millions recieved will be needed in January/June for established pros ready for the Championship league.

If putting him in the shop window was SL's plan, do you not think he would've been involved in the first team by now?

[somered]

Does the lad speak French? if not I can't see him fitting in at Arsenal.

[WhistleHappy]

Wouldnt that be Yeovil

ah yeah Yeovil..well thats what I meant innit..

[Bristol Boy]

Liam Rosenior was probably what was behind his comments and we can't let anything like that happen again.

That's the problem with these cup exploits but I hope the lad and his parents are level headed enough to sign for City.If he then moves on ala Walcott then good luck to the boy, you can't blame him and the money will come in very handy in building the team, as much as I'd like to see him stay and perform like Ashley Young did for Watford in getting them in the Premier League.

[Bristol Boy]

If putting him in the shop window was SL's plan, do you not think he would've been involved in the first team by now?

Not if it means he clears off without signing the contract at 17 it doesn't!!!

[BCFC_Harry]

bcfcchris2004 Posted Yesterday, 11:12 AM

i am not a greedy person, but if Arsenal want to sign Tristan Plummer. I would expect Millions to try and lure Tristan away from us.

but seeing as he hasn't signed a professional contract, doesn't that mean he could go for free?

[WhistleHappy]

..we should do all we can to keep him, you know what its like when you really need a plumber there so hard to get hold of! (plummer/plumber.... I know)

[red as fcuk]

Not if it means he clears off without signing the contract at 17 it doesn't!!!

My point is, if SL was putting his young players in the shop window, with coverage on World etc, why not showcase his talents on as high a stage as possible?

You and I both know, everybody at the club wants the promising young players signed up, whether or not they want to drum-up interest from bigger clubs after that, is open to debate.

[CodeRed]

Not if it means he clears off without signing the contract at 17 it doesn't!!!

Isn't it the situation that - if the player hasn't yet signed a pro contract yet - we are only entitled to a tribunal set "fee" and that the "fee" will be set by the tribunal and is based on compensation for the amount of money we have spent on his development via the acadamy? .....ie we can't just slap a £X million price on him.

Hence the fact that the 16 year old Rovers player (can't remember the name) who recently was signed by Chelsea ended up at only £400K, Dunford IIRC was really PO about it - complaining that it was a waste of time developing young players only to have them picked off by clubs like Chelsea.

I believe Walcott had already signed a pro deal for Southampton when Arsenal bought him - different scenario therefore.

If this situation does apply to Plummer - and he is signed cheaply by Arsenal then we have been pretty dumb showcasing his talent on "World" BEFORE he has actually signed a contract.

And to those who - incredibly - have posted along the lines that .......he will probably choose City over Arsenal - better for his development, city fan etc etc - for goodness sake get real ! he's probably got an agent already, and the agents already desparately trying to get Wenger to take his calls!

Name the last young talent to turn down a transfer to a Premier Club ?

CodeRed

[Nibor]

Isn't it the situation that - if the player hasn't yet signed a pro contract yet - we are only entitled to a tribunal set "fee" and that the "fee" will be set by the tribunal and is based on compensation for the amount of money we have spent on his development via the acadamy? .....ie we can't just slap a £X million price on him.

Hence the fact that the 16 year old Rovers player (can't remember the name) who recently was signed by Chelsea ended up at only £400K, Dunford IIRC was really PO about it - complaining that it was a waste of time developing young players only to have them picked off by clubs like Chelsea.

Correct, although the Rovers fee for Scott Sinclair may well end up being £1m if he goes on to play for the first team and gets international caps etc. Still not as much as they could have potentially got had he played for them and scored regularly for a season or two before being sold.

I believe Walcott had already signed a pro deal for Southampton when Arsenal bought him - different scenario therefore.

Nope, he'd signed a pre-contractual agreement - which is basically a contract to sign a contract! It gets around the minimum age of 17 for pro contracts and is something we should probably be looking to do.

If this situation does apply to Plummer - and he is signed cheaply by Arsenal then we have been pretty dumb showcasing his talent on "World" BEFORE he has actually signed a contract.

And to those who - incredibly - have posted along the lines that .......he will probably choose City over Arsenal - better for his development, city fan etc etc - for goodness sake get real ! he's probably got an agent already, and the agents already desparately trying to get Wenger to take his calls!

Name the last young talent to turn down a transfer to a Premier Club ?

CodeRed

You might be surprised. We've already got at least one young professional I know of who turned down Premiership clubs to sign for us, and other players have done the same with us before. They don't do it because they're fans or love the club - that's a ludicrous idea. They do it because they get good advice and they know that they've MUCH more chance of playing at the top level if they get regular first team football for a couple of seasons with us. A clever agent who wants to make more money long term out of his player will be telling them to stay.

Consider Lita or Cotterill - if they'd moved to a Prem club at 16 they'd still be in the reserves or youth team earning a few hundred quid a week (mega money doesn't happen for young players until they've broken through), now they're both probably earning 10 times that and playing in the first XI on top of having represented their countries at various levels. This league and the one below are littered with players that were Premiership youth proteges that never made it and were released at 22/23, and the new youngsters can look at that and the massive number of foreigners being brought in - and then see Dave "£2m" Cotterill on Match of the Day and the decision is easy.

[CodeRed]

Consider Lita or Cotterill - if they'd moved to a Prem club at 16 they'd still be in the reserves or youth team earning a few hundred quid a week (mega money doesn't happen for young players until they've broken through), now they're both probably earning 10 times that and playing in the first XI on top of having represented their countries at various levels. This league and the one below are littered with players that were Premiership youth proteges that never made it and were released at 22/23, and the new youngsters can look at that and the massive number of foreigners being brought in - and then see Dave "£2m" Cotterill on Match of the Day and the decision is easy.

I'm not really thinking of youngsters who sign for our acadamy rather than a Premier acadamy - as clearly there's less competition, more chance of earning a pro contract, and more likely an earlier opportunity to play league football.

My point was that once a player has come through the ranks of a club like City and made it to the first team ( and of course Plummers not played 1st team yet) - then when a big club comes knocking (as Lita, Cotterill ) then they will go, even if it means going back to reserve football.

As I said - Plummers not signed Pro yet but it's going to happen, and if he stays at City he will probably get into the first team quite soon (like Cotterill & Lita) and no doubt WILL move on quite quickly. I'm not suprised clubs like Arsenal are trying to get in early and avoid paying big fees. That said they are probably checking on dozens of talented youngsters all the time.

Landsdown has said that (when referring to Wigan's deadline swoop for Cotterill) that this is inevitable and that we should accept it and look to be doing the same to clubs further down the pyramid. We havn't quite managed the last bit of that philosophy though!

CodeRed

[Nibor]

I'm not really thinking of youngsters who sign for our acadamy rather than a Premier acadamy - as clearly there's less competition, more chance of earning a pro contract, and more likely an earlier opportunity to play league football.

My point was that once a player has come through the ranks of a club like City and made it to the first team ( and of course Plummers not played 1st team yet) - then when a big club comes knocking (as Lita, Cotterill ) then they will go, even if it means going back to reserve football.

As I said - Plummers not signed Pro yet but it's going to happen, and if he stays at City he will probably get into the first team quite soon (like Cotterill & Lita) and no doubt WILL move on quite quickly. I'm not suprised clubs like Arsenal are trying to get in early and avoid paying big fees. That said they are probably checking on dozens of talented youngsters all the time.

Landsdown has said that (when referring to Wigan's deadline swoop for Cotterill) that this is inevitable and that we should accept it and look to be doing the same to clubs further down the pyramid. We havn't quite managed the last bit of that philosophy though!

CodeRed

Yeah, once they're into the first team if a big club comes in with a big money offer the player will want to go and as long as the money is right the club will let them.

I just don't think our academy players are as easy targets for big clubs before 17 and before they've broken through as some do.

Hopefully if we get promoted we will find less pressure on us to sell young players - just imagine what we'd do to this division if we had our current squad plus Rosenior, Lita and Cotterill still here... promoted by Xmas?

[Tony Pentland]

if this speculation is true and arsenal are interested tristan will go, trust me

[Roger Red Hat]

if this speculation is true and arsenal are interested tristan will go, trust me

And why should we trust you , Tony Pentland?

[Nibor]

And why should we trust you , Tony Pentland?

Because Robbie Fowler's signing for City ?

[Roger Red Hat]

And why should we trust you , Tony Pentland?

Because Robbie Fowler's signing for City ?

Aaaah, Tony Trustworthy, from now on, it is then.

[Ecko]

Today, Tristan was negotating a deal to Arsenal in the Marriot hotel.

Looks like hes gone and i didnt even get to see him play!