JK 'wanted'

[mattjtsmith]

Waking up to read LJ speaking about how we will struggle to keep JK this summer. Sounded a little defeatist. I really hope he won't let him go, seems like a striker is the hardest thing to sign in this division and we have one with amazing potential. Keep him on! 

[grifty]

I'd like to think at the end of the year we'd go back to Ligue 2 and have a look at the top 3-5 goal scorers in that league and see if we can pick up another JK. Different management and scouting network and all that, but if it aint broke!

[Unan]

I'd be very dissapointed if he left, we need the players not the money.

[Phileas Fogg]

It was rehashed comments from a couple of weeks back. It's realistic though, he will probably finish on about 18 goals now which is a fantastic return and he'll get better. Of course there will be interest. The plus side is we will almost certainly triple what we paid for him if he's sold in this market.

[glynriley]

It's good that clubs will be interested in him, shows he's doing something right.

If there is any firm interest in  him, the club need to play hardball with the selling price though. The only strikers who have scored more than him all cost 9,10 &11M. There's the value, he shouldn't be given away if we do decide to sell.

[Drew Peacock]

2 minutes ago, Phileas Fogg said:

It was rehashed comments from a couple of weeks back. It's realistic though, he will probably finish on about 18 goals now which is a fantastic return and he'll get better. Of course there will be interest. The plus side is we will almost certainly triple what we paid for him if he's sold in this market.

If Gray went for £10m after one good season we should be quintupling our money. But I sincerely hope we keep him. We should be buyers not sellers.

[Shtanley]

We'd be stupid to sell him, £10m or bugger off. We don't need money so I can't see him leaving. Just hope the fans appreciate his talent a bit more.

[View from the Dolman]

Just a few sentences that fills an easy story on a Bank Holiday. 

[Nogbad the Bad]

6 minutes ago, Drew Peacock said:

If Gray went for £10m after one good season we should be quintupling our money. But I sincerely hope we keep him. We should be buyers not sellers.

SL has said we (and he) shouldn't get too attached to individual players and in future the club would sell any player if an outstanding offer was made and our valuation met.

So, like it or not, unless he's changed his mind we are now a selling club; it's just a matter of the buying club meeting our valuation.

What City's valuation for JK would be is anybody's guess but you'd think he may soon prove to be a perfect example of this stated new policy in action.

Buy for 2m, sell for say at least 7m, recruit the next outstanding young talent for 1-2m, and invest the rest in strengthening other areas.

With his age and career record talk of 10m may be fanciful imo. - it's hard to imagine City would turn down a bid of 7-8m and a profit of more than 5m in one year for a nearly 27 year old striker.

[Vincent Vega]

Just now, Nogbad the Bad said:

SL has said we (and he) shouldn't get too attached to individual players and in future the club would sell any player if an outstanding offer was made and our valuation met.

So, like it or not, unless he's changed his mind we are now a selling club; it's just a matter of the buying club meeting our valuation.

What City's valuation for JK would be is anybody's guess but you'd think he may soon prove to be a perfect example of this stated new policy in action.

Buy for 2m, sell for say at least 7m, recruit the next outstanding young talent for 1-2m, and invest the rest in strengthening other areas.

With his age and career record talk of 10m may be fanciful imo. - it's hard to imagine City would turn down a bid of 7-8m and a profit of more than 5m in one year for a nearly 27 year old striker.

SL  made a good point about Gray at the Q & A at Notts County,  Brentford bought him for around 300k I believe and sold him for 9million with the add ons,his point was he wants us to be the team buying the Grays of this world cheapish and selling  for silly money .

[Londoner]

Offer of 5 mil we would accept....even though we should resist and fight for 8/9 million.

[mattjtsmith]

2 minutes ago, Doozerchris said:

SL  made a good point about Gray at the Q & A at Notts County,  Brentford bought him for around 300k I believe and sold him for 9million with the add ons,his point was he wants us to be the team buying the Grays of this world cheapish and selling  for silly money .

Unfortunately look at Brentford since then. 7th to 18th and falling fast! I think the replacement needs to be found before sale

[cidercity1987]

I dont think Johnson, with his love of a quick passing game, rates Kodjia as much as some. LJ probably fancies the 6m to reinvest elsewhere. 

[JoeAman08]

I'd say if we were going to let him go, that it would have to be at least 6m. Afobe is 23 and gray is 24. Kodjia is 27. Cuts the price a bit there. Doesn't have the numbers or track record of Rhodes or McCormack. So think 6m would be fair and can do a fair bit of recruiting with that. 

[formerly known as ivan]

Isn't it funny, a few weeks ago a lot of people would have been happy to see him leave. Funny what a few goals can do!

Personally I think anything over £4m so we double our money within a season would be seen as good business by SL

[Vincent Vega]

Just now, mattjtsmith said:

Unfortunately look at Brentford since then. 7th to 18th and falling fast! I think the replacement needs to be found before sale

True, but no club the size of us or Brentford are ever going to turn down that sort of money they also have a great academy . As for finding a replacement if you or I can find a fool proof method for this we will be very rich indeed 

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

I dont think Johnson, with his love of a quick passing game, rates Kodjia as much as some. LJ probably fancies the 6m to reinvest elsewhere. 

The problem is £6m when people know you have that in your back pocket doesn't go very far. 

[Nogbad the Bad]

4 minutes ago, Doozerchris said:

SL  made a good point about Gray at the Q & A at Notts County,  Brentford bought him for around 300k I believe and sold him for 9million with the add ons,his point was he wants us to be the team buying the Grays of this world cheapish and selling  for silly money .

Someone like Kemar Roofe then you'd think.

City also have a policy of only going for players with the right character, not wanting to sign players who might 'harm the equilibrium of the squad or dent their spirits', so unlikely Gray would have fitted this criteria with his lifestyle background in the early days of his career.

It would also also presumably rule out bids for other similarly promising young players who are still immature or wayward.

[Tipps69]

All this talk of we should only let him go for £9m+, the reality is that if Aston Villa (or whoever else gets relegated) show any interest in the player & it will already turn his head!!

They can undoubtedly offer to at least double his wages without it being a problem, can offer him a more realistic opportunity at making it to The Premiership & can give him the opportunity to play in front of more fans on a regular basis (especially if it's Newcastle or Sunderland that come in for him) as well as the rest of the financial package.

And once his head is turned, we won't be able to compete & will likely have to take a lower valuation to what we'd like as the buying club is in pole position!!

A problem we may well face is when Baker goes back to Villa, if he's asked or happens to let his opinion known of who's any good from our playing staff, we could lose Flint, Smith, Kodjia & maybe Bryan as they could all undoubtedly perform at the top of this division on a regular basis & could all have their heads turned by the reasons I have already given in this reply!!

We aren't in a position to compete financially with so many of these clubs in this division!!

[Red Army 75]

The trouble we have had trying to get a goal scorer and the fees we've been quoted of wanting to pay to get one has been a nightmare. We spent 2 million on a player know one knew about and in my eyes has been a real success. To sell him for 4 or 5 million would be a complete waste of time. 15 goals first season so far. Lets get someone up with him and tomlin playing in behind them next season would be a fantastic forward line . 

[Lanterne Rouge]

2 minutes ago, Shaun Morgan said:

The trouble we have had trying to get a goal scorer and the fees we've been quoted of wanting to pay to get one has been a nightmare. We spent 2 million on a player know one knew about and in my eyes has been a real success. To sell him for 4 or 5 million would be a complete waste of time. 15 goals first season so far. Lets get someone up with him and tomlin playing in behind them next season would be a fantastic forward line . 

Absolutely agree but what if it comes down to the fact that in order to sign Tomlin and say, Baker we have to sell JK? That would be a dilemma.

[ScottishRed]

4 minutes ago, Tipps69 said:

All this talk of we should only let him go for £9m+, the reality is that if Aston Villa (or whoever else gets relegated) show any interest in the player & it will already turn his head!!

They can undoubtedly offer to at least double his wages without it being a problem, can offer him a more realistic opportunity at making it to The Premiership & can give him the opportunity to play in front of more fans on a regular basis (especially if it's Newcastle or Sunderland that come in for him) as well as the rest of the financial package.

And once his head is turned, we won't be able to compete & will likely have to take a lower valuation to what we'd like as the buying club is in pole position!!

A problem we may well face is when Baker goes back to Villa, if he's asked or happens to let his opinion known of who's any good from our playing staff, we could lose Flint, Smith, Kodjia & maybe Bryan as they could all undoubtedly perform at the top of this division on a regular basis & could all have their heads turned by the reasons I have already given in this reply!!

We aren't in a position to compete financially with so many of these clubs in this division!!

So are we suggesting that when a player we have on loan returns to his parent club - who will be in the same division as us ( hopefully) his recommendation is going to encourage that club to buy half of our first team? And that is a "first team" that has been in and around the bottom 5/6 all season! ? Really?

Re Kodjia, I doubt there will be that much interest, there may be some but not at 5/6m, as said above he is 27 and this is his first season at a decent level .

[Red Army 75]

4 minutes ago, Red Right Hand said:

Absolutely agree but what if it comes down to the fact that in order to sign Tomlin and say, Baker we have to sell JK? That would be a dilemma.

Im hoping the money we didn't spend last season on our famous targets will be made available for the players u mentioned. After all u don't get promoted by selling your best players . Here's hoping anyway . U reds

[glynriley]

8 minutes ago, Tipps69 said:

All this talk of we should only let him go for £9m+, the reality is that if Aston Villa (or whoever else gets relegated) show any interest in the player & it will already turn his head!!

They can undoubtedly offer to at least double his wages without it being a problem, can offer him a more realistic opportunity at making it to The Premiership & can give him the opportunity to play in front of more fans on a regular basis (especially if it's Newcastle or Sunderland that come in for him) as well as the rest of the financial package.

And once his head is turned, we won't be able to compete & will likely have to take a lower valuation to what we'd like as the buying club is in pole position!!

A problem we may well face is when Baker goes back to Villa, if he's asked or happens to let his opinion known of who's any good from our playing staff, we could lose Flint, Smith, Kodjia & maybe Bryan as they could all undoubtedly perform at the top of this division on a regular basis & could all have their heads turned by the reasons I have already given in this reply!!

We aren't in a position to compete financially with so many of these clubs in this division!!

Valid points. However, take the example of Peterborough. They consistently get the fees they want, despite their players moving on to bigger and better things. City have, too often in the past, allowed players to move on for lower fees than they could expect to get. Buying a proven replacement for JK will cost a lot of money, and buying a player from France or lower leagues in this country, is a gamble.

I understand that SL wants us to be profitable in the tranfer market, but it's about time we realised the value of our assetts and cashed in accordingly.

[Vincent Vega]

25 minutes ago, Nogbad the Bad said:

Someone like Kemar Roofe then you'd think.

City also have a policy of only going for players with the right character, not wanting to sign players who might 'harm the equilibrium of the squad or dent their spirits', so unlikely Gray would have fitted this criteria with his lifestyle background in the early days of his career.

It would also also presumably rule out bids for other similarly promising young players who are still immature or wayward.

Not sure about Roofe, but I do think we will be back in for Dack. One thing is for sure this summer is the time for Mr Ashton to walk the walk.

[miketh2nd]

45 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

I dont think Johnson, with his love of a quick passing game, rates Kodjia as much as some. LJ probably fancies the 6m to reinvest elsewhere. 

Kodjia is ideal for quick passing , the reason he hasn't scored more is because not enough players have been on his wave length and so became greedy with his chances.  Which isn't a bad trait in a poacher striker . 

So now we have odemwingie and Tomlin with Kodjia make the most of watching them play together.  I doubt we will see them together  next season but if we do would be a huge state ment to the rest of the league.  

[samo II]

We've no need to sell, he's on a long contract, and he could end up on close to 20 goals in a relatively low scoring side.

Unless he's given an opportunity to go to a top flight side here or perhaps back in France then I'd suggest we are in a strong postion to get a very good fee for him.

Ultimately, I hope he stays and developa here; with a year of learning the language, getting used to the English game, and a full summer settled here and working with the team I think he could be even more impressive than he has at times been here.

Just think of the sort of crazy money we'd have to spend to buy a 15-20 goal at this level, and with his contribution being a significant portion of our goals scored this year all this talk of taking 'gambles' neglects to take into account that without a reliable source of goals we'd have been relegated by now.

[Northern Red]

I suppose there's a bit of a dilemma for clubs who might be interested in Kodjia in that paying a lot of money on the back of one very good season is a gamble, the fear being that he doesn't repeat this season's feats and you've got an expensive flop on your hands.

Alternatively if there's no bid, he stays here and does at least as well again, then the asking price will go up again. 

[REDOXO]

10 minutes ago, ScottishRed said:

So are we suggesting that when a player we have on loan returns to his parent club - who will be in the same division as us ( hopefully) his recommendation is going to encourage that club to buy half of our first team? And that is a "first team" that has been in and around the bottom 5/6 all season! ? Really?

Re Kodjia, I doubt there will be that much interest, there may be some but not at 5/6m, as said above he is 27 and this is his first season at a decent level .

Flint Smith Kodjia and Bryan are pretty much the best players we have contracted to us. We would be nuts to think they are not known at clubs that could afford to purchase. There are already early rumours about Flint (he is after all one of our leading scorers over two years) and everyone needs forwards who have proved they can score in this league like codge, with as you say a bottom 5/6 club.

If Baker goes back to Villa and we do not make a good enough offer to them/he does not want to stay, anyone would be nuts to think he would not be at least asked the question, is anyone any good and are they ok in the dressing room?

As has been stated earlier, City will sell if the right offer comes in and the right player is available (either internally or externally) and this revenue gets to buy new players or support the ongoing work with our academy. Baker and Flint is a possibility at both AG and Villa next season, offers for Kodjia are inevitable and enquiries for Bryan are likely to....This is a good thing when compared to the last 30 years!

 

 

[miketh2nd]

1 hour ago, Drew Peacock said:

If Gray went for £10m after one good season we should be quintupling our money. But I sincerely hope we keep him. We should be buyers not sellers.

I dont think we will get quite what Brentford got for Gray, mainly due to JK age having Said look at Vardy how he blossomed late.

 

Not comparing Jk to Vardy completely as vardy is of course better but they have similar tales in that they blossomed late. If JK played liked vardy countering oppostion with pace and being a bit more decisive with his defending rather then wreckless defending he could be PL quality . When you think how far he has come in a season with relegation threatened city.