I was thinking the same thing in the other thread, 25 already, that's a lot of his career gone by with not much to show for it when he would have been better served coming back to us for a season in the Championship - would have been playing alongside Hourihane and Winnall for another six months at the time. Instead he just stagnated. DK's next move should definitely be to play more football.
Could we not trigger our agreed fee then offer Dike a contract with the same 17 million pound clause? Tell him he's better staying for a season and if he plays as he has been he can go If the buyout is met with our blessing?
To be fair, Fletcher's original move wasn't a bad one. Went to West Ham and got a fair bit of game time in the Prem. Then Boro would seem like a decent move on the face of it. He's just not managed to impress his managers there by the sound of it. It's different to Hecky going to Leeds or Winnall to Wednesday, which where obviously basket case clubs. Those moves were obvious money > career ones. Fletcher couldn't turn down a move to West Ham for Barnsley. That really is a one off offer.
I think with Fletcher if he'd done it in the Champ like Dike has West Ham would have been a great move, and if Dike went to West Ham or Everton it would probably be a good shout. Fletcher needed to take another step up after performing well in League One, but skipped a step and never really caught up. It'd be the same as Dike skipping West Ham etc and going to a big six club.
You could see a scenario where a top club buys him and loans him back to get another 12 months of scoring under his belt
The lad is decent, he's strong, he's fit and enthusiastic, he's got an eye for a goal at this level, is he premiership quality though ? Hopefully next year with us.