In all of the discussion in the media about our spending spree over the course of the last few months, very little has actually been made of the fact that our incoming transfer fees have been completely covered by the sales of our players. It's a complete false equivalency to compare our spending this window to the likes of Manchester City, PSG, Monaco, and Chelsea, as they've engaged in deficit spending that has not been offset by sales. Even the likes of Cardiff and Southampton have spent significantly more than us, on a net basis.
Here is a rough estimate of our business so far:
Out
Huddlestone: 5 million
Parker: 3 million
Dempsey: 6 million
Caulker: 9 million
Bale: 85 million
Total: 108 million
In
Soldado: 26 million
Lamela: 26 million
Paulinho: 17 million
Eriksen: 10 million
Capoue: 9 million
Chiriches: 8 million
Chadli: 7 million
Total In: 103 million
There are two takeaways from the above. Firstly, it needs to be said that Levy and Baldini have done exceptionally well to bring in the quality and quantity that they have. However, even more importantly, we've be able to sell fringe players for very good prices, and of course the Bale sale is a world record, and an incredibly impressive sum by itself.
Secondly, we should have significant resources to spend tomorrow if there are targets available. We were prepared to spend 30 million pounds on Willian, which would have been 20 million more than what we paid for Eriksen (who will be the signing of the summer for us, in my opinion). That's not even considering the potential sales of Adebayor, BAE, Sigurdsson, and others. Now, there may be a segment of supporters here who think that bringing in any more new faces would be too destabilizing and it'd be better for us to just stand pat tomorrow and play out the season with our current team. However, I'd argue that there still are still weaknesses in our squad, namely at left-back, and in the back-up striker position. When you consider injuries and the fact that we do have the money to spend, I expect us to be very active in seeking out deals tomorrow. Waiting until January, where prices will be even more outrageous, doesn't seem like a good idea to me.
So what do people think here? Would you be satisfied with no transfer activity tomorrow, and comfortable with just having two strikers (in the event Adebayor is sold), or even potentially welcoming Adebayor and BAE back into the squad? Or would you continue to be aggressive and net spend to fill in any gaps in the current starting XI?
Here is a rough estimate of our business so far:
Out
Huddlestone: 5 million
Parker: 3 million
Dempsey: 6 million
Caulker: 9 million
Bale: 85 million
Total: 108 million
In
Soldado: 26 million
Lamela: 26 million
Paulinho: 17 million
Eriksen: 10 million
Capoue: 9 million
Chiriches: 8 million
Chadli: 7 million
Total In: 103 million
There are two takeaways from the above. Firstly, it needs to be said that Levy and Baldini have done exceptionally well to bring in the quality and quantity that they have. However, even more importantly, we've be able to sell fringe players for very good prices, and of course the Bale sale is a world record, and an incredibly impressive sum by itself.
Secondly, we should have significant resources to spend tomorrow if there are targets available. We were prepared to spend 30 million pounds on Willian, which would have been 20 million more than what we paid for Eriksen (who will be the signing of the summer for us, in my opinion). That's not even considering the potential sales of Adebayor, BAE, Sigurdsson, and others. Now, there may be a segment of supporters here who think that bringing in any more new faces would be too destabilizing and it'd be better for us to just stand pat tomorrow and play out the season with our current team. However, I'd argue that there still are still weaknesses in our squad, namely at left-back, and in the back-up striker position. When you consider injuries and the fact that we do have the money to spend, I expect us to be very active in seeking out deals tomorrow. Waiting until January, where prices will be even more outrageous, doesn't seem like a good idea to me.
So what do people think here? Would you be satisfied with no transfer activity tomorrow, and comfortable with just having two strikers (in the event Adebayor is sold), or even potentially welcoming Adebayor and BAE back into the squad? Or would you continue to be aggressive and net spend to fill in any gaps in the current starting XI?
Its not like we have better players available
