the1stknowle

Saw Aaron Ramsey (Villa one) mentioned earlier as replacement for AS. Hes off to Burnley so it does look like Villa have decided to cash in on some of their youngsters - Archer also available. Hope that means we look again at Iroegbunam. We surely have to sign someone to replace.

And now they are signing Tyler Adams so he will be pushed even further down list. At minimum he will be available for loan.

They are spending so much that surely they will have to be very choosy about which of their promising youngsters they can hang on to and which they need to cash in on. Saw a story today that they might be willing to sell younger Ramsey to Burnley and no one is disputing that he is very highly rated. But obviously not when compared to Diaby, Tielemans, Mcginn, his brother etc (at least at the moment). Maybe they start looking at the Man City route of sell everything but insist on a buy back. You are probably right though that he'd be out of our range. I do hope we are a bit ambitious with our Scott replacement targets though.

Very different player, I know, but if we are going to invest a bit in an Aston Villa central midfielder, surely Tim Iroegbunam over Azaz.

Yep - I like James Piercy. He actually does some homework and can write. But I'd trust John Percy's sources over his. Let's see.

Not sure of the point here. If Newman is a proxy for Moyes and has scouted Alex extensively and they still haven't bid, does that not say that Moyes isn't into him??? They are not short of money. They are short of midfielders. They have bid for Zakaria and JWP and Paulinha. Because that is the kind of midfielder profile Moyes wants.

Yeah, agree we will bring in a Scott replacement. And given the inevitability of this move, you'd think we would have it lined up and can move very fast.

While Moyes there, I doubt it. Lots of stories coming out of WH about the profile of player moyes wants being very different to what the technical director wants. And Alex feels like a technical director pick (Ward-Prowse very much the type of player Moyes wants). If he went somewhere where manager wasn't fully on board with signing, that would be worst possible move.

John Percy is very reliable. And same story as yesterday with Peter O'Rourke from (much less reliable) Football Insider. Looks like its happening. But, deep down, we all always knew it was. Good move if it goes through - I'm not on board with the 'can do so much better' chat. New manager is supposed to be very attacking. And to commit this much, manager surely fully on board with signing so Alex will get starts. Rest is down to him.

Let's see. We will know soon enough.

Not sure about that. Football Insider can be absolute dross with literal guesswork and speculation manifesting as news. But Peter O is their actual journalist and article is pretty clear that it is sourced information and advanced talks. You might be right that the 'beat Wolves to signing' is overstating and speculative. But I would suspect there is something in this.

Youd think so from the outside. But they have some decent players still and, crucially, they have a very good manager so - as long as he can stick it out - I suspect they will be ok. Everton looking far worse I think, Luton will need a miracle and Sheff Utd I just don't think are very good.

Nice to see Tim Iroegbunam getting some mentions as we were apparently looking at him before and he does look very good. Would be a decent fee you'd imagine if they would let him go. But, regardless of how well he is doing pre-season, is he going to get minutes over Mcginn, Buendia, Luiz, Tielemans, Ramsey, other Ramsey, Kamara... So would they take say 3-5m rather than turning him into a perennial loanee??? Highly speculative but has been on our list and from the little I saw last season, very good.

Yeah exactly. Maximising your earnings is pretty normal and doesn’t reflect on anyone in their jobs. Unless you think your employer would be heartbroken to learn you would quit your job if another company offered to double your wages.

We will obviously take the highest bid. My point wasn't about that if you read back. Think you should give some of the examples you mention a bit of a longer timeline to yield any sell on clause, esp Kelly. But it doesn't really matter. The real point is that none of the three you mention above should be compared with Scott in terms of long term value. We made our big money with the initial sale of those three. But with Scott, he has a potential ceiling much higher than them or any player we have had before. (Marvin Brown aside, obviously). So from that point of view, its a completely unique case. And, money and FFP aside, as you say, also need to think about his development, as I think most right minded City fans will take a lot of pride in seeing him reach his potential and going to a club where he will play regularly in a top league would be great.

Much, much better for us if he goes to a stepping stone club rather than straight to, say, Spurs. Brighton or Brentford would be dream ticket you'd think to max out likely future transfer value (if he goes on to fulfil potential). Spurs currently seem intent on letting their most valuable asset leave for free rather than selling him for a 'reduced' price. Issue with Bournemouth is likelihood of staying in prem which would obviously change his value. But maybe this new manager is the nuts like people seem to think and they will do well. In which case, good place for both Alex and Antoine from both our point of view and theirs (assuming we have decent sell ons in deals which is surely a given).

Club just announced.

Brighton just signed new big money keeper so you’d imagine Rushworth might be looking around. If Brighton do bid for Alex, getting Rushworth as part of deal might be a possibility now. (All very speculative).

And for big money too despite only one year left on his deal. So, yeah, so long as their financial troubles aren’t really bad, they you’d imagine they will try to bid for Alex soon.

On your list of favourite realistic midfielders, where do you stand on Anjorin? I know he's coming back from another really bad injury but, when fit, he looks the business at this level and like he has capacity to go higher. Really good build and high level ability. And surely not going to get a look in at the Chelsea Player Dumping Ground. Maybe plays slightly further forward than Scott, but, when the inevitable happens with Alex, I would think one to look at.

That is sad. I feel awful for those very decent players getting paid more, for all the unnecessary exposure non-league and now L2 will get, and for football in general that some people who wouldn't have otherwise cared are being tricked into watching and enjoying it. So sad.

Yep. As I said in my post, that is exactly my view.

Where's the lie? The 'fairytale', such that it is, is that they were bought and put on this enormous international platform having previously been a tiny club constantly on brink of going out of business. Its not that they are some plucky underdog club defying the odds in national league. Nothing in the documentary ever gave off 'How on earth are little old Wrexham going to compete with the mighty Chesterfield!?!' vibes.

Barnard for me. Scott a very close second. Then Brennan. But all great to watch.

Yeah, I cannot get the negativity. It’s something different and nothing fundamentally wrong with what they are doing. They seem to be doing things right, programme is watchable and they have centred the fans. What will be interesting is when it starts going wrong. Because football fans turn on every owner eventually. Because football fans are the worst. When results aren’t flying it will start. And the entire brand (and associated sponsorship and player attraction) is now built on this wholesome goodwill. So if that is diminished, it’s a trickier proposition for them. Same sort of issues with what happens when people stop watching the show. Do the owners keep on? If not, how do they exit? Obviously becomes commercially less appealing once they are gone or once they aren’t on tv. Which is all to say it’s not like they’ve discovered some cheat code that is ruining football. It’s just a slightly different version of the (comparatively) rich owner story that you see in every league every season.