From BBC: Arsenal are close to completing the signing of Southampton defender Calum Chambers for a fee of about <b>£16m.</B> The England Under-19 international underwent a medical on Friday. Chambers, 19, has made 25 senior appearances for the Saints and Arsenal see him as an option at right-back, centre-back or in a more advanced role.
Hopefully someone will pay double that for John Stones one day and make us rich beyond our wildest dreams. Oh, and football is royally ****ed.
We cannot continue to allow our young players to be transferred for a pittence like we are. The Club has to change policy on this otherwise what's the point.
Whilst I'm not suggesting we got a great deal for Stones the situation is very different. Southampton have received about £80m in the last 2 weeks for Lallana, Shaw et al they don't need to sell and therefore it needs a silly offer to make them think about it. We on the other hand were skint and were not in a position to turn down a sum that would equate to 6 months to a years running costs for the whole club.
Agreed, but surely you have to value a player in the transfer market conditions and not align it to the turnover of the Club? We seem to cave in at the earliest cash opportunity, rather than push to create maximum value. I think most clubs will know this, which is why we always appear to be on the receving end of a poor deal.
I think you're right, it would be good for us to try and play hard ball occasionally if only to maximise our return. But regarding your first point, the value of player is not the same as the cost/price of a player. The price is determined by the figure where both the seller and the buyer reach an agreement, value is something far less tangible. I'd love us to get big money for our players when we sell them, but I'm not party to the workings of the club to know how we determine what's acceptable.
