Benik Afobe 3rd Bid Rejected

[Move Klose 303]

£10m rejected. Needs to do a Grabban and go AWOL to get this one done 😉

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,222]

Offer them the £14M asking price being reported and have done with it..........

[Buh 0]

You can offer them what you like they won''t accept till deadline day. They want this public and they want to attract as many other interested parties as they can.

Money''s gone mental

[Feedthewolf 5,885]

[quote user="Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB"]Offer them the £14M asking price being reported and have done with it..........[/quote]The more we spend on one player, the more expectation we place on his shoulders. We could have Gayle and either Walters/Murray for that money, and a significant lump to spend in January once the dust has settled and we have more idea how the season is panning out. If we blow the whole lot on one player, that''s an awfully big risk.

[Thisisbabyish 0]

Next!

[Dean Coneys boots 1,531]

Like it or not 10million is the starting price for a premiership striker. So it isn''t a case of spending all that money but entering the market we happen to be in at present. It is stupidly inflated but the purchase of Mings proved that.

Strikes me we either play with the big boys or do our best on less than anyone else. Stats show, however, that those who spend the least tend to go down...

[Essjayess 307]

That would leave Wolves in a massive dilemma, selling Afobe will cause a huge backlash from their fanbase who already clamour for many new additions to their squad but recognise that funds will only come from the sale of Afobe, But to sell him on the last day of the transfer window gives Kenny Jackett zero time for replacements. But that is their problem of course, not ours.Seem like City are once again doing this just with Robbie Brady...they know the guy they want and up the price with each bid, only with Afobe the bids are coming in quicker  owing to the time frame situation...but will City persist?..bidding this high is now new territory for the club..interesting.

[Crafty Canary 547]

[quote user="Buh"]You can offer them what you like they won''t accept till deadline day. They want this public and they want to attract as many other interested parties as they can.

Money''s gone mental[/quote]

By putting a price of £14 million on him they have already gone public. Now they can see how many clubs are willing to meet this. If more than one they have their auction and won''t need to wait for deadline day although it probably will go down to the wire.

Question is, will we meet that valuation and are we willing to risk going to the deadline and miss out?

[Proper Charlie 0]

I know you can''t judge a player on 1 performance, but from what I saw of him against Cardiff the other day, I wouldn''t pay 4 million for him let alone 14.

[mrs miggins 0]

You can normally tell a players worth by looking at forums e.g. ours to see Grabban''s value, TWTD to see Mings''.

Wolves seem to think £10m is nowhere near enough. They seem to believe they''ll consider it around £13-14m. They obviously rate him very highly.

http://www.molineuxmix.co.uk/vb/showthread.php?t=94133&page=26

[Making Plans 957]

If it''s £14m for Afobe with an unproven PL record or £15m for Austin with an unproven gammy leg then I''d be on the phone to QPR

[mrs miggins 0]

thats not the choice though is it when bigger clubs than us will be wanting Austin, with his wage package.

[Indy 3,471]

Could there be a fly in the ointment in Redders being sold to fund the move for Afobe and a CB?

Liverpool were linked and all is very quiet, but as he only has two years left and not renewed his contract for whatever reason, I''m wondering if talks with a potential club might be going on in the background!

Nothing in it but to buy 14 million pound players would think we need to consider balancing the books.

[ricardo 8,034]

[quote user="mrs miggins"]thats not the choice though is it when bigger clubs than us will be wanting Austin, with his wage package.[/quote]Do you really think they will?Perhaps you are right but I can''t see them taking a risk at that price. Surely they will be able to afford better options.

[kick it off 2,062]

[quote user="mrs miggins"]thats not the choice though is it when bigger clubs than us will be wanting Austin, with his wage package.[/quote]

Very good point. Afobe is rumoured to be on 15k a week at Wolves. We could treble his salary and it''s still be circa half the price of Austin''s rumoured salary.

As I said before, I don''t have any problem with us spending this on Afobe if that''s who Alex wants. The lad is strong and quick, but most importantly, he is absolutely clinical. Give him half a chance and he buries it. That''s essentially what we need to ensure our continued top flight status. We''ve dominated all 3 we''ve played, but only have 4 points to show for it, when we have deserved 9. Even discounting the ref at the Palace game, Grabban had an open goal and we had plenty of other chances to score.

I also think that in addition to be able to play the lone striker, Afobe would be ideally suited to complement CamJam should we decide to go 4-4-2 for a game, or during a game when situation dictates. 

[kick it off 2,062]

He put 2 past De Gea a year ago remember. 

[Feedthewolf 5,885]

You know what, I''d actually be happier with a prudent approach here.Jerome has been playing really well, is in the prime of his career and well-motivated behind an excellent manager – what effect will it have on morale if we bring in a player for £14m who has no top-flight experience at all to start ahead of him? And if we''re not going to start Afobe, then why spend that amount of money on him? Neil is, like Lambert before him, getting the best out of players who, on paper, aren''t that great. Even without Olsson and Mulumbu we''ve done very well in our first three games. Even with three top-quality signings we''ll still lose a lot of games to bigger clubs, so why not bring in players at the same level who will be motivated to compete for places? Then we will still have a healthy pot in January if one area is looking particularly weak.Not that I wouldn''t welcome a marquee signing, but it could be equally tactically astute NOT to splash out on a monster signing in the long run. Just putting it out there.

[mrs miggins 0]

Whats the risk Ricardo?

Austin is holding the cards. There''s no doubt about that imo. I''d expect him to be paid quite a bit of money, e.g. £50-60k a week and to sign for an established club, probably in London or ''tup north.

He''s scored a lot of goals for a relegated team, he can play upfront on his own. No risk whatsoever. QPR will accept less than the £15m they ''want'' because they need to.

I may be wrong though, theres a first for everything.

[Legend Iwan 30]

£10m really isn''t the starting point for a Premier League striker, especially when the striker we''re trying to purchase hasn''t yet played in said league or tested himself against equivalent sides in say the early stages of the Champions League like some overseas talent. Wickham cost £7m; Murray is an option under £10m; Andre Gray, who is similar to Afobe, cost £9m.

While I don''t want the board to make the same striker mistake as we did in 04/05, if we pan to Wolves'' quote, we''re entering the same level of money that has secured other teams the likes of Shaqiri, Rondon, Mitrovic, Schweinsteiger, Darmian, Wijnaldum, Ogbonna, Cabaye and Clyne.

[kick it off 2,062]

[quote user="Feedthewolf"]You know what, I''d actually be happier with a prudent approach here.Jerome has been playing really well, is in the prime of his career and well-motivated behind an excellent manager – what effect will it have on morale if we bring in a player for £14m who has no top-flight experience at all to start ahead of him? And if we''re not going to start Afobe, then why spend that amount of money on him? Neil is, like Lambert before him, getting the best out of players who, on paper, aren''t that great. Even without Olsson and Mulumbu we''ve done very well in our first three games. Even with three top-quality signings we''ll still lose a lot of games to bigger clubs, so why not bring in players at the same level who will be motivated to compete for places? Then we will still have a healthy pot in January if one area is looking particularly weak.Not that I wouldn''t welcome a marquee signing, but it could be equally tactically astute NOT to splash out on a monster signing in the long run. Just putting it out there.[/quote]

A point well made, but the flip side of that is Dean Ashton syndrome. If we wait until Jan, it could well be too late if that''s the way our season goes. I don''t believe it will go that way under Alex Neil, but if Wolves want 14mill now, and they''re top of the table after he''s banged 20 goals by January then he''s going nowhere regardless of how much cash we throw at them. We have seen how crazy the prices are this window, and we all know that January is even worse so there''s not much point keeping our money in our pocket until Jan when it will be worth less than it is now. I don''t believe we do have to sign players of a similar level, that approach catches up with you in the end as you never improve. Jerome isn''t the sort to let his head go if we bring in a marquee striker, he''s the sort to get his head down and force his way into the team. I would rather has as many good players as possible in the squad from Day 1 than sign 2 more Grabban level players and hope it comes off.

It''s probability at the end of the day. Afobe is more likely to be successful than signing two Grabban level players and one of them coming good (although 14mill wouldn''t even buy two Grabbans in this window remember!)

On a related note, could Cam play in behind Afobe in Hoolahan''s spot? I''m not saying he should every week, but against the physical sides who like to bully, Wes has historically found it difficult and Jerome would certainly win his fair share of flick ons etc. Doesn''t have to be a Jerome or Afobe scenario if we do get him, they could be an effective partnership, either both up top, or with Cam in behind imo, and the Prem is an increasingly squad based league rather than starting 11 based.

[Van wink 2,994]

Waiting for the January window is not a good option, we need someone in now and prices will be even higher in January.

[Guest]

I have no idea if this youngster is worth anything like the amount Wolves seem to want.  But we know quality strikers don''t come cheap unless you get extremely lucky in the transfer market.  Sadly, bad strikers can be just as expensive (Balotelli, anyone?).But put it this way. Swansea signed Bony for £12 million. That was a lot for them. But they got the best out of him, then sold him on for £28 million.Afobe probably won''t score 20 league goals like Bony.  But if he keeps Norwich in the Premier League, then next year''s massive increase in TV money will more than cover his transfer fee.  However, we know from the RVW debacle it is a gamble.

[swjf50 0]

Why don''t we offer Wolves £9 million plus Grabban ? Grabban could do well for them in the Championship and he doesn''t seem to want to work for his place here.

[mrs miggins 0]

Because why would Grabban want to go to Wolves when we''re in the PL and so are Bournemouth? come on sir.

[TheTetteyRole 0]

I like Afobe and I think that, especially if Grabban leaves, he will be here on the 2nd Sept. But isn''t Gayle at 6-8m a better option? A goal every 167mins (I think) in the premier league.

14million for someone unproven is a huge gamble, although he might be 20 if he has 15 goals by January.

[Cantiaci Canary 610]

I think we''ll go to the £14M.

[kick it off 2,062]

[quote user="mrs miggins"]Because why would Grabban want to go to Wolves when we''re in the PL and so are Bournemouth? come on sir.[/quote]

Because we tell him he goes to Wolves or he rots in our reserves. We''re well within our rights to refuse to sell to Prem rivals. He clearly doesn''t like not playing so can''t see him losing the next few years of his career, and where does he go after two years of obscurity? If he wants to be difficult, and act like a child, then he needs to be reminded he doesn''t hold all the cards and can''t dictate to the club who we sell him to. If Bournemouth won''t match our valuation then we won''t sell him cheap, but he has the chance to go to Wolves and be the main man there in a team that are looking for promotion. High stakes approach that is definitely boom or bust, but if Wolves want him and Bournemouth don''t pay up then there''s not many options left open to us.

[mrs miggins 0]

Thats the ultimatum you''d give him? ''go to wolves or rot in the reserves.''

Imo that''s very naive and childish. The club needs to be better than that and better than the attitude that Grabban has shown. The club needs to be above all that nonsense imo.

[Redders Right Foot 22]

I don''t really know any wolves fans but I do know a few knowledgeable Arsenal supporters (Oxymoron I know) - but while they have both said they rate Akpom higher, they see Afobe developing better right now, and while 14m may be steep, he is worth it. I''d really like to see this one come off.

[Lessingham Canary 108]

I''m with Cantiaci, and believe we will end up paying wolves the £14m. Could get excited by his arrival, but also concerned that with Hooper going we are only left with Lafferty and Loza for cover.