The January Transfer Window

MrsGrey

OutcastLondoner said:

Haller said he'd been waiting for that move, so I kind of doubt the pay-off. Unless it's really true that we actually paid far, far less than the 45m for him, the maths don't seem to add up.

Didn't Moyes say they hadn't expected a bid for Haller this window?

If they weren't looking to sell him as a priority, I doubt they'd have pad someone to take him off our hands.

OutcastLondoner

Yes, and that the deal was too good to turn down. So I have the same doubts. He'd been playing, so we were hardly desperate to get rid of him.

OldCastleSwift

MrsGrey said:

OutcastLondoner said:

Haller said he'd been waiting for that move, so I kind of doubt the pay-off. Unless it's really true that we actually paid far, far less than the 45m for him, the maths don't seem to add up.

Didn't Moyes say they hadn't expected a bid for Haller this window?

If they weren't looking to sell him as a priority, I doubt they'd have pad someone to take him off our hands.

Moyes did say that, but Haller said he'd been speaking with Ajax for months. If we weren't aware of these conversations, I would've thought that we'd have been quite vocal about what would have been obvious tapping up.

I can believe we'd pay him off. I mean, £22m was probably the best we could have got for him, particularly as he would have been benched for the rest of the season if Antonio managed to stay fit. Come the summer, with no games behind him, we may've struggled to get even £15m.

So even if it cost him £3m to guarantee £22m now, I can see Sullivan doing it.

baracks_a_hammer

It all amounts to similar things though right?

We could have got a fee of £19m to transfer him to them and they take over his contract

Or we get £22m and then pay him his shortfall

The disappointing thing for me is this talk of him speaking to Ajax for months. This would possibly indicate a potential lack of real effort and focus whilst on the pitch for us. That’s really poor if so.

Cuz1

If Antonio doesn’t miss another game through injury I’d be amazed to be honest

BubblesNeverDies

baracks_a_hammer said:

The disappointing thing for me is this talk of him speaking to Ajax for months. This would possibly indicate a potential lack of real effort and focus whilst on the pitch for us. That’s really poor if so.

I thought that was obvious. I'd posted on another thread that it was if he was trying to avoid injury as he expected to be transferred. The way he allowed himself to be bullied off the ball so easily and his reluctance to get stuck in just confirmed it for me, and all the while collecting £130k p/w . Totally unprofessional.

Cuz1

All speculation I presume I’m sure Sullivan and the solicitors would have taken the money and sued them for tapping him up and forcing us to accept a bid of 22 odd mil for a player worth far more

BubblesNeverDies

Cuz1 said:

All speculation I presume I’m sure Sullivan and the solicitors would have taken the money and sued them for tapping him up and forcing us to accept a bid of 22 odd mil for a player worth far more

Not if he's judged on his performances for us.

Cuz1

But there bid was accepted not heard any threats of going to eufa, move on nothing to be seen everyone s happy

OldCastleSwift

baracks_a_hammer said:

It all amounts to similar things though right?

We could have got a fee of £19m to transfer him to them and they take over his contract

Or we get £22m and then pay him his shortfall

The disappointing thing for me is this talk of him speaking to Ajax for months. This would possibly indicate a potential lack of real effort and focus whilst on the pitch for us. That’s really poor if so.

Unless they have a strict wage structure and couldn't go above the £90k they're paying him 🤔 But I agree about the conversations with Ajax; pretty poor form if he was negotiating a deal without the club's knowledge.

Jorderz_Moyes_will_be_Moyes

Do the tapping up rules just cover a club talking directly to a player?

It feels like agents are talking to different clubs all the time about their players. Just curious whether this is actually allowed or whether it’s so impossible to police that we just have to let it happen.

In any case, I imagine the meaning of his being talking to Ajax for a while is that his agent has been talking to Ajax for a while.

claretandbluesky

To be fair I think it's quite a gamble for Ajax. If we had watched his last matches for us but playing for someone else and we were told we were paying £22m for this guy and 90k per week, we would probably think that not the most astute business.

Cuz1

Or he’s not allowed to talk to a friend who’s the coach there as I’m sure happens at most clubs also

IronHerb

Well, he got an assist and a goal ruled out by VAR in his 45 minute winning debut appearance so guess him and Ajax are satisfied with that..

Cuz1

I thought they drew

IronHerb

My error. 2-2.

Fortuneseeker

When is the deadline for our new signing to be made so he can play v Burnley? This is going to happen isn’t it? 🤞

Cuz1

Mrs Sullivan is scouting him as we speak 😂😂

OldCastleSwift

Fortuneseeker said:

When is the deadline for our new signing to be made so he can play v Burnley? This is going to happen isn’t it? 🤞

Midday Friday I believe. I'd be amazed if we got a deal done by then.

Fortuneseeker

OCS, I’ll be disappointed. Haller leaves in haste & we are left in dispair as usual.

ASLEFshrugged

As long as Soucek and Bowen keep banging them in I'm not too fussed if we haven't replaced Haller.

ASLEFshrugged

Gazzetta dello Sport reckons we could sign Roma's 26yo GK Pau Lopez for £10.5m but...

Ex says rather than signing another GK we want Fabianski to sign an extension

OutcastLondoner

Wasn't Bowen's last goal against Villa?

baracks_a_hammer

ASLEFshrugged said:

Gazzetta dello Sport reckons we could sign Roma's 26yo GK Pau Lopez for £10.5m but...

Ex says rather than signing another GK we want Fabianski to sign an extension

Well there’s a surprise

OldCastleSwift

Just listening to his podcast now. Not a great deal of new news, so to speak. Dia our number one target, but that broke yesterday, linked to loads of strikers, Arnautovic and King seem to the back-up options that we'll turn to at he end of the window if Dia/Daka/Milik/Piatek don't happen.

Maybe a left-back coming in (again, lots of randoms linked), but a CM seems to be down the list of priorities, which if true is a big mistake, IMO. We're an injury to SouDec away from being in a whole world of pain in midfield.

Pearces_Left_Foot

http://sportwitness.co.uk/club-yet-receive-written-offer-west-ham-striker-willie-mckay-involved-deal/

Dia linked again

alderz

Chat seems to be that Dia is about to be announced

Hamstew

Seen some of the usual people on twitter hinting etc..

ASLEFshrugged

WBA have signed Snodgrass and a back up goalie but no other Premier League team has added to the first team, just U23s.

Where's the tumbleweed emoji?

baracks_a_hammer

ASLEFshrugged said:

WBA have signed Snodgrass and a back up goalie but no other Premier League team has added to the first team, just U23s.

Where's the tumbleweed emoji?

Not entirely the complete picture though. Other clubs may be sitting tight as a result of significant recruitment in the summer - eg villa and Everton. Everton it seems are looking to offload players but are doing so having recruited the players they actually do want earlier.

We almost got relegated last season and our response was to shed a whole load of players (which is fine if they do not suit the manager), but hardly brought in any - and the most significant of those (which I don’t count to be Soucek) our manager seems reluctant to play regularly!!