It’s a good question, and I don’t explicitly know the correct answer. One thing I’d suggest is we’re still at a stage in our project where our castoffs (even when young and talented) aren’t so good that they’re catching the eye of your United, Chelsea, etc. Part of that may simply be because they’re owned by Arsenal.
As for selling to the bottom 14 clubs or so, it’s tough. Aston Villa are the only ones really splashing the cash. Some others theoretically could but seem to prefer not to, or at least not without some comfort in what they’re getting (West Ham, Newcastle). The rest, I think, really have their spending overstated by fans. To think Crystal Palace or Brentford or Fulham or Brighton will push £40m+ onto any player is probably a little too optimistic. (These are all clubs I’ve had suggested as suitors for Balogun). Even Kudus is going for a price similar to what Inter offered for Balogun.
So, TL;DR: Maybe. But honestly, I don’t see a failure to market these players so much as I really do see some pretty average pricing. Our sales team is just carrying the baggage of the past administrations’ failures in that area.
I think we're on the same page. Seems like mid-table Tottenham might come into some money soon and be in need of a striker. Maybe they could spend that Kane money on Balogun+Pepe
Good post, Adam - I probably agree with all of it, especially with you being more pessimistic than most on what we can get for players.
And you mentioned that a lot of what we can get depends on whether we can get a PL team interested. Makes me wonder about how we can strategically loan out young peripheral players to attract PL interest. Could we have sent Balogun/Tavares to a PL club (or even Championship) in order to get attention from a mid-tier PL club with $$?
Obviously, a counterpoint is that Sambi to Palace prob didn't increase his value, but I'm wondering if our loan strategy is optimal for increasing sell-on value. Maybe we should just send a bunch of Pepe highlight clips to Boehly's inbox.
Yeah picking the nine guys on the bench is going to often leave players we like out.
It’s a good question, and I don’t explicitly know the correct answer. One thing I’d suggest is we’re still at a stage in our project where our castoffs (even when young and talented) aren’t so good that they’re catching the eye of your United, Chelsea, etc. Part of that may simply be because they’re owned by Arsenal.
As for selling to the bottom 14 clubs or so, it’s tough. Aston Villa are the only ones really splashing the cash. Some others theoretically could but seem to prefer not to, or at least not without some comfort in what they’re getting (West Ham, Newcastle). The rest, I think, really have their spending overstated by fans. To think Crystal Palace or Brentford or Fulham or Brighton will push £40m+ onto any player is probably a little too optimistic. (These are all clubs I’ve had suggested as suitors for Balogun). Even Kudus is going for a price similar to what Inter offered for Balogun.
So, TL;DR: Maybe. But honestly, I don’t see a failure to market these players so much as I really do see some pretty average pricing. Our sales team is just carrying the baggage of the past administrations’ failures in that area.
I think we're on the same page. Seems like mid-table Tottenham might come into some money soon and be in need of a striker. Maybe they could spend that Kane money on Balogun+Pepe
😂😂😂 they’d be very welcome!
Good post, Adam - I probably agree with all of it, especially with you being more pessimistic than most on what we can get for players.
And you mentioned that a lot of what we can get depends on whether we can get a PL team interested. Makes me wonder about how we can strategically loan out young peripheral players to attract PL interest. Could we have sent Balogun/Tavares to a PL club (or even Championship) in order to get attention from a mid-tier PL club with $$?
Obviously, a counterpoint is that Sambi to Palace prob didn't increase his value, but I'm wondering if our loan strategy is optimal for increasing sell-on value. Maybe we should just send a bunch of Pepe highlight clips to Boehly's inbox.