Emi

[wcorkcanary 4,355]

6 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

Any beneficent billionaire would get turned away. They ain’t interested. 

Oh Jimbo. I really do hope things  change for you.  

[Indy 3,333]

Buendia has given us two seasons in the premiership, he’s been an integral part of our two promotions and has basically helped earned the club £200 million. Should Arsenal match our valuation then I’d be very happy to see him go up to the next level, Villa isn’t a great move for him as they’re a club who might tread water in the premiership but won’t win **** all.

£ 40 million for a player of his class is cheap and we’ll be pushed to find better, but we had Wes, Maddison, Buendia and I’m confident that our staff have already identified a replacement.

[Alex Moss 2,165]

14 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

Any beneficent billionaire would get turned away. They ain’t interested. 

Good god, you make it sound like all these plentiful ‘billionaires’ are just queuing up ha ha, I’m now convinced you’re either on a wind up or magic mushrooms 

[wcorkcanary 4,355]

5 minutes ago, Alex Moss said:

Good god, you make it sound like all these plentiful ‘billionaires’ are just queuing up ha ha, I’m now convinced you’re either on a wind up or magic mushrooms 

Or both !!!

[birchfest 397]

2 hours ago, Kenny Foggo said:

"If we do sell one, it's going to be a club record deal," Canaries sporting director Stuart Webber recently told BBC Sport.

"It's probably going to start with a number three in front of it and that will give us great opportunities to maybe make the whole better as well. We're really relaxed on that front."

 

Yes, we all know that one and we also know that he’s almost certainly talking about Max, a player we have know for ages is going to leaving this summer. But sure, whack it into this new context. 

[BigFish 1,988]

6 hours ago, king canary said:

It's a slight step up but it's not much and I don't think it's hard to make an argument against it, unlike Arsenal.

Yes it is a slight step up, but definitly a step up. Would be worth £millions to Emi though.

[Indy_Bones 442]

1 hour ago, Ken Hairy said:

No one is arguing Arsenal aren't bigger than us, what is being said is Emi should only be leaving us for clubs in Europe. I don't see Arsenal competing for top 4 in the next couple of seasons, and not under Arteta. 

If he's only interested in ££££ then of course he go, if he's ambitious to win big trophies, which I think he is, he'll wait for better clubs to come knocking, which they will even if its not until next summer. 

It's still far better for a player to be challenging for top 6 and the possibility of Europe than an expected relegation dogfight.

It's not just about money, Arsenal are a simply bigger club than us with higher prestige in the game, and superiority in the vast majority of aspects that matter to players who want to play at or near to the very top of the game, to say otherwise is denying 50  years of evidence to the contrary, and more relevantly, 20+ years of recent evidence, and that still includes their last two 'mediocre' seasons, where they 'only' finished 8th in the top league in the world...

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,892]

1 hour ago, TheGunnShow said:

We sold £40million of talent in Godfrey and Lewis and replaced them with two better defenders in Gibson and Giannoulis. Who's to say we can't do a proper job of our midfield with £40 million from Buendia, especially as there's a Skipp-sized hole in there already?

Whilst I see the general point, I think Buendia is different.

At the point when we sold them, Godfrey was probably a lower Premier League centre back (he has developed a lot this season) and Lewis was a top end Championship left back (probably still is). We got big fees for them based on their potential. As a result, spending decent money on their replacements allowed us to sign Gibson and Giannoulis, who are probably both lower Premier League players more or less, so replacing Godfrey and Lewis with equal quality was never a major concern for most of us.

Buendia, however, is a top-half Premier League player, maybe even top six. He's the best player we've had in a generation, and it seems there are a few people on this forum who underestimate how difficult it will be to replace him. I understand that we have a fantastic scouting and recruitment network right now, but finding someone on Buendia's level within our budget- and persuading them to join us- is impossible. Unearthing a gem like Buendia for an initial £1.5m is a once in a generation find, even for a scouting network as good as ours. 

The best we could hope for is that we throw that £40m into our current budget to give us about £60-70m to play with and we make up for the loss of Buendia by signing five or six £8-12m players (CB, DM, CM, 2xAM, CF) and three or four of them turn out to be good value signings.

[BigFish 1,988]

1 hour ago, Jim Smith said:

Any beneficent billionaire ain’t interested. 

Fixed it for you

[BigFish 1,988]

4 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

Buendia, however, is a top-half Premier League player, maybe even top six.

In which case why is there no interest, or even rumour of interest, from the top six?

Edited June 5, 2021 by BigFish

[Indy_Bones 442]

1 minute ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

 it seems there are a few people on this forum who underestimate how difficult it will be to replace him.

No, we all understand it will be difficult if not virtually impossible to replace Emi, but what many of us sadly accept is that if a club of a higher stature than ours who are willing to pay the asking price come knocking, there's pretty much nothing we can do about it.

Any player who's looking at their career would see a move to the likes of Arsenal and Athletico as being better for them than staying with us, and not simply because of wages either, so if the interest is genuinely there and they will pay accordingly, the player will go, regardless of whether or not a replacement of an even vaguely similar level is possible.

This is purely about player power in these situations, and just like Spurs can't force Kane to stay if he decides to move, we can't keep Emi if that's his choice either. Leicester couldn't keep Kante on the back of actually WINNING the Prem, so why do people think we can keep Emi when we've not even got close to that level of performance and chance of Europe????

[Midlands Yellow 4,116]

9 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

Whilst I see the general point, I think Buendia is different.

At the point when we sold them, Godfrey was probably a lower Premier League centre back (he has developed a lot this season) and Lewis was a top end Championship left back (probably still is). We got big fees for them based on their potential. As a result, spending decent money on their replacements allowed us to sign Gibson and Giannoulis, who are probably both lower Premier League players more or less, so replacing Godfrey and Lewis with equal quality was never a major concern for most of us.

Buendia, however, is a top-half Premier League player, maybe even top six. He's the best player we've had in a generation, and it seems there are a few people on this forum who underestimate how difficult it will be to replace him. I understand that we have a fantastic scouting and recruitment network right now, but finding someone on Buendia's level within our budget- and persuading them to join us- is impossible. Unearthing a gem like Buendia for an initial £1.5m is a once in a generation find, even for a scouting network as good as ours. 

The best we could hope for is that we throw that £40m into our current budget to give us about £60-70m to play with and we make up for the loss of Buendia by signing five or six £8-12m players (CB, DM, CM, 2xAM, CF) and three or four of them turn out to be good value signings.

If and when Emi goes and we signed 6 players for an average of £10m half of us on here would die of shock. 

[Terminally Yellow 2,487]

1 hour ago, Midlands Yellow said:

It would have to be an English billionaire because any Johnny Foreigners aren’t welcome to bid. 

Just a bit of casual racism from one of this forum's most deplorable personalities. 

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,892]

3 minutes ago, Indy_Bones said:

No, we all understand it will be difficult if not virtually impossible to replace Emi, but what many of us sadly accept is that if a club of a higher stature than ours who are willing to pay the asking price come knocking, there's pretty much nothing we can do about it.

Any player who's looking at their career would see a move to the likes of Arsenal and Athletico as being better for them than staying with us, and not simply because of wages either, so if the interest is genuinely there and they will pay accordingly, the player will go, regardless of whether or not a replacement of an even vaguely similar level is possible.

This is purely about player power in these situations, and just like Spurs can't force Kane to stay if he decides to move, we can't keep Emi if that's his choice either. Leicester couldn't keep Kante on the back of actually WINNING the Prem, so why do people think we can keep Emi when we've not even got close to that level of performance and chance of Europe????

I'm not sure if that last paragraph is directed at me, because I'm one of the ones who have been saying that all week. As a matter of fact, the entire post is what I've been saying all week.

I know that we're unlikely to keep Emi and I completely accept it.

My point was purely directed at those who have been saying that "we replaced Godfrey, Lewis, Maddison etc., so we'll do it again". This is going to be far more difficult, I fear.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,892]

2 minutes ago, Midlands Yellow said:

If and when Emi goes and we signed 6 players for an average of £10m half of us on here would die of shock. 

I agree; I can't see it happening. But like I said, it's the best we can hope for!

[Midlands Yellow 4,116]

3 minutes ago, Terminally Yellow said:

Just a bit of casual racism from one of this forum's most deplorable personalities. 

Wynn-Jones posts on here? 

[Midlands Yellow 4,116]

5 minutes ago, Terminally Yellow said:

Just a bit of casual racism from one of this forum's most deplorable personalities. 

I thought you were sharper than that. 

[TheGunnShow 6,075]

13 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

Whilst I see the general point, I think Buendia is different.

At the point when we sold them, Godfrey was probably a lower Premier League centre back (he has developed a lot this season) and Lewis was a top end Championship left back (probably still is). We got big fees for them based on their potential. As a result, spending decent money on their replacements allowed us to sign Gibson and Giannoulis, who are probably both lower Premier League players more or less, so replacing Godfrey and Lewis with equal quality was never a major concern for most of us.

Buendia, however, is a top-half Premier League player, maybe even top six. He's the best player we've had in a generation, and it seems there are a few people on this forum who underestimate how difficult it will be to replace him. I understand that we have a fantastic scouting and recruitment network right now, but finding someone on Buendia's level within our budget- and persuading them to join us- is impossible. Unearthing a gem like Buendia for an initial £1.5m is a once in a generation find, even for a scouting network as good as ours. 

The best we could hope for is that we throw that £40m into our current budget to give us about £60-70m to play with and we make up for the loss of Buendia by signing five or six £8-12m players (CB, DM, CM, 2xAM, CF) and three or four of them turn out to be good value signings.

I'd be saying we could redo our whole defensive midfield. Is Buendia a big player for us? Absolutely. However, my view is if we sort our defensive midfield out, we could end up with an even more functional team with a far more solid base at Premier League level from which we can attack, especially if we get another centre-half that hits the ground running reasonably well.

In other words, I'm basically saying it doesn't necessarily have to be a like-for-like replacement when it comes to getting our team as a whole to fire in a higher league, taking our financial constraints into account.

[Terminally Yellow 2,487]

Just now, Midlands Yellow said:

Wynn-Jones posts on here? 

Vile. 

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,892]

11 minutes ago, BigFish said:

In which case why is there no interest, or even rumour of interest, from the top six?

Possibly they may feel there's better value abroad. Prices are much higher in England and Emi doesn't have the bonus of being homegrown.

If you look at the teams from 5th-8th in last season's Premier League (Leicester, West Ham, Spurs, Arsenal), Buendia would be a decent player for any of them.

[cambridgeshire canary 6,857]

12 minutes ago, Indy_Bones said:

No, we all understand it will be difficult if not virtually impossible to replace Emi, but what many of us sadly accept is that if a club of a higher stature than ours who are willing to pay the asking price come knocking, there's pretty much nothing we can do about it.

Any player who's looking at their career would see a move to the likes of Arsenal and Athletico as being better for them than staying with us, and not simply because of wages either, so if the interest is genuinely there and they will pay accordingly, the player will go, regardless of whether or not a replacement of an even vaguely similar level is possible.

This is purely about player power in these situations, and just like Spurs can't force Kane to stay if he decides to move, we can't keep Emi if that's his choice either. Leicester couldn't keep Kante on the back of actually WINNING the Prem, so why do people think we can keep Emi when we've not even got close to that level of performance and chance of Europe????

People tend to forget that while club loyality is a thing in football- It's not quite as big as it was 100 years ago. Hell, 50 years ago when half the players who played for teams came out the academy and tended to be locals who were born in and lived in the area and thus played for their clubs.

 

These days football is a global and not a local sport. Sure, you still get your youth academy lads and the like but beacause football is so big and worldwide, it's far more of a job than a 'kiss the badge all day every day it's my life' kind of thing, with teams being full of players not just from across the country but the entire world and many who other than playing for the club have no real connections or deep seeded years worth of love for the area etc

Let's say you're working somewhere. You enjoy it, sure it's not the biggest workplace in the world and all and it's not really going anywhere but it's somewhat stable and the people are alright.

 

But then you get a job offer from a far, far bigger better company that's offering to double or triple your wages for the same job you're doing now. What do you do?

Edited June 5, 2021 by cambridgeshire canary

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,892]

1 minute ago, TheGunnShow said:

I'd be saying we could redo our whole defensive midfield. Is Buendia a big player for us? Absolutely. However, my view is if we sort our defensive midfield out, we could end up with an even more functional team with a far more solid base at Premier League level from which we can attack, especially if we get another centre-half that hits the ground running reasonably well.

In other words, I'm basically saying it doesn't necessarily have to be a like-for-like replacement when it comes to getting our team as a whole to fire in a higher league, taking our financial constraints into account.

Yeah, that's how I see it. We'll never replace Buendia with like-for-like quality so strengthening other areas is the best (only?) option.

[TheGunnShow 6,075]

2 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

Yeah, that's how I see it. We'll never replace Buendia with like-for-like quality so strengthening other areas is the best (only?) option.

I still think Placheta and Hernandez are going to have quite a bit to say this upcoming season, especially coming off the bench or indeed on counter-attacks. Hernandez was probably our best player in Project Restart, and it was due to that express speed haring into opposition space when we were forced onto the back foot.

We didn't have that as an option so much this season in the Championship as we spent large parts of it on the front foot, well in the opposition half, trying to thread balls through packed, low blocks or just unhinge them sufficiently to work our way around then back across and in. That doesn't really suit out-and-out speed merchants.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,892]

Just now, TheGunnShow said:

I still think Placheta and Hernandez are going to have quite a bit to say this upcoming season, especially coming off the bench or indeed on counter-attacks. Hernandez was probably our best player in Project Restart, and it was due to that express speed haring into opposition space when we were forced onto the back foot.

We didn't have that as an option so much this season in the Championship as we spent large parts of it on the front foot, well in the opposition half, trying to thread balls through packed, low blocks or just unhinge them sufficiently to work our way around then back across and in. That doesn't really suit out-and-out speed merchants.

I see that point of view, but I'm not sure if we will keep both of them here next season. They were only bit part players last season so if we sign the wide player we want (or two if/when Emi goes) that would push both Placheta and Hernandez down the pecking order, so there may only be space for one of them in the squad as the direct, pacy winger from the bench.

[king canary 7,700]

21 minutes ago, Terminally Yellow said:

Vile. 

Hes fairly obviously playing off the quote from Wynn Jones about not selling to foreigners. 

[TheGunnShow 6,075]

2 minutes ago, king canary said:

Hes fairly obviously playing off the quote from Wynn Jones about not selling to foreigners. 

That was how I saw it as well.

[Jim Smith 2,363]

37 minutes ago, Indy_Bones said:

No, we all understand it will be difficult if not virtually impossible to replace Emi, but what many of us sadly accept is that if a club of a higher stature than ours who are willing to pay the asking price come knocking, there's pretty much nothing we can do about it.

Any player who's looking at their career would see a move to the likes of Arsenal and Athletico as being better for them than staying with us, and not simply because of wages either, so if the interest is genuinely there and they will pay accordingly, the player will go, regardless of whether or not a replacement of an even vaguely similar level is possible.

This is purely about player power in these situations, and just like Spurs can't force Kane to stay if he decides to move, we can't keep Emi if that's his choice either. Leicester couldn't keep Kante on the back of actually WINNING the Prem, so why do people think we can keep Emi when we've not even got close to that level of performance and chance of Europe????

Course we can keep him if we choose to. He’s got 3 years left on his contract hasn’t he?

Spurs can also keep Kane if they want to. The risk is obviously his value running down as he gets older and nears the end of his contract but they could make him see out his contract unless it has a buyout clause in it. 

[Ken Hairy 3,795]

48 minutes ago, Indy_Bones said:

It's still far better for a player to be challenging for top 6 and the possibility of Europe than an expected relegation dogfight.

It's not just about money, Arsenal are a simply bigger club than us with higher prestige in the game, and superiority in the vast majority of aspects that matter to players who want to play at or near to the very top of the game, to say otherwise is denying 50  years of evidence to the contrary, and more relevantly, 20+ years of recent evidence, and that still includes their last two 'mediocre' seasons, where they 'only' finished 8th in the top league in the world...

I'm not disputing that, I'm saying he can and should demand better. If he leaves us for an arsenal or villa I'd be disappointed for him settling on 2nd best. 

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,892]

5 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

Course we can keep him if we choose to. He’s got 3 years left on his contract hasn’t he?

Spurs can also keep Kane if they want to. The risk is obviously his value running down as he gets older and nears the end of his contract but they could make him see out his contract unless it has a buyout clause in it. 

But keeping him here against his will would be counterproductive and a lose-lose situation. He'd clearly be unhappy if we block a realistic (£40m) bid from Arsenal, so we'd end up with a player that wouldn't be the same Buendia we know and may end up being dropped, because we know that Farke doesn't tolerate those that aren't 100% committed.

In an ideal world we'd keep Buendia in his current, happy, settled state because he's more important to us than £40m in the bank. But is an unhappy, unsettled Buendia that Farke may end up dropping anyway if his head isn't right worth more than £40m? Probably not.

 

[Jim Smith 2,363]

Media now reporting he’s likely to go to Villa. An utter disgrace if so. Completely and utterly ridiculous.