Pierre Lees Melou

[KeiranShikari 1,420]

A premier league shaped Vrancic perhaps.

[cambridgeshire canary 6,735]

2 minutes ago, Uncle Fred said:

Cheap and never heard of him. How about signing a midfielder with premier league experience who isn’t a gamble? 

Hillarious how all you do is moan that we don't spend money and buy players yet soon as we do you moan about it

 

Never change Fred, never change

[king canary 7,609]

5 minutes ago, WSM said:

Tbf Rashica didn't have and still doesn't have any photos in Norwich kit

Oh really? Maybe just our new strategy then!

[Alfie54 76]

6 minutes ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Jay Spearing?

Wasn’t that banned by the RSPB

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,821]

Michael Bailey says the initial fee is 'well below £4m'.

When he says 'initial fee', does he mean just the first instalment or all guaranteed payments excluding bonuses?

[ncfcstar 292]

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

Michael Bailey says the initial fee is 'well below £4m'.

When he says 'initial fee', does he mean just the first instalment or all guaranteed payments excluding bonuses?

The latter, although I'd imagine there are some clauses which get paid up pretty quickly once the season starts.

[PurpleCanary 5,562]

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

Michael Bailey says the initial fee is 'well below £4m'.

When he says 'initial fee', does he mean just the first instalment or all guaranteed payments excluding bonuses?

I haven't seen the piece but it should mean the latter, the basic fee, just as I am pretty sure the basic fee for Gunn is £5m, and that talking about first-installment amounts of £2.5m in that case confused matters.

[chicken 2,627]

16 minutes ago, WSM said:

Tbf Rashica didn't have and still doesn't have any photos in Norwich kit

He's in quarantine, that's why. Been reported.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

Lees-Melou, Melou
He's French and he's six foot two
He's coming straight after you
Lees-Melou, Melou.

Looks a decent bit of business in terms of giving our midfield added physicality - more pace, stamina and good old-fashioned work rate.

[Danke bitte 965]

Out of interest, had Covid not happened, what does anyone think the transfer fee for Lees Melou might be? I.e. Has the French market bottomed out that badly we have ourselves a serious snip here?

[AJ 1,222]

40 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

Very different to Vrancic.

Lees-Melou doesn't have his expansive passing range, although his short game is good. He is a classic No.8, bags of energy and covers every blade of grass on the pitch. Very similar to Kenny McLean so adds competition there and allows Norwich to go to a 4-3-3 if desired. 

I wonder if they will use him to let McLean push further up where he has looked good at times.

Lees-Melou's average position over the past season was recorded as very much CM:

I also notice he Captained Nice for most of the second half of the season, so clearly a big dressing room addition/leader on the pitch in the middle as well.

[French Green 6]

OGC Nice fans were a bit split on him. I always liked his competitive nature, good distribution and occasional decent goal.

He has been playing in a team that under performed for Patrick Viera (good luck with that Palace!), but as I said before, if he can adapt to the premier league he should be a solid addition without setting the world alight.

 

[AJ 1,222]

1 minute ago, Danke bitte said:

Out of interest, had Covid not happened, what does anyone think the transfer fee for Lees Melou might be? I.e. Has the French market bottomed out that badly we have ourselves a serious snip here?

A good question. At the end of 2020 he was valued at around £7M but that was as high as £9M before Covid hit, according to transfermarkt. Obviously actually paid fees are usually higher than this value with all the add-ons and all that jazz, but would imagine it might have been around £8-9M realistically

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,821]

7 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

I haven't seen the piece but it should mean the latter, the basic fee, just as I am pretty sure the basic fee for Gunn is £5m, and that talking about first-installment amounts of £2.5m in that case confused matters.

The confusion over the reporting of the Gunn fee was precisely why I asked. It was a £5m guaranteed fee which could rise to £10m with £2.5m as the first instalment, and it was erroneously reported in a lot of places as a £2.5m deal which could rise to £10m.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,821]

3 minutes ago, Danke bitte said:

Out of interest, had Covid not happened, what does anyone think the transfer fee for Lees Melou might be? I.e. Has the French market bottomed out that badly we have ourselves a serious snip here?

It isn't covid that has destroyed finances in French football, it's the collapse of their TV deal. A new company offered a too-good-to-be-true record deal last summer and were unable to actually pay it.

[PurpleCanary 5,562]

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

The confusion over the reporting of the Gunn fee was precisely why I asked. It was a £5m guaranteed fee which could rise to £10m with £2.5m as the first instalment, and it was erroneously reported in a lot of places as a £2.5m deal which could rise to £10m.

Indeed. There was some confusing reporting, suggesting the fee was £2.5m which could rise to £5m and then could rise to £10m, so two lots of add-ons?! Never heard of such a thing. But the EDP's official, as it were, list of deals in and out gives the basic figure for Gunn as £5m plus potential add-ons, and for Rashica as £8m plus potential add-ons. I suspect the Lees-Melou figure will be given as around £3.5m plus potential add-ons.

[chicken 2,627]

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

The confusion over the reporting of the Gunn fee was precisely why I asked. It was a £5m guaranteed fee which could rise to £10m with £2.5m as the first instalment, and it was erroneously reported in a lot of places as a £2.5m deal which could rise to £10m.

I think because people confused initial instalment as the initial fee. Sports reporting appears to be more and more a game of whispers now so I largely ignore the detail until Archant or Michael Bailey report on it after the fact.

It makes little difference I know, but if it's £2.5m this summer and £2.5m next - it makes a difference to the transfer budget this summer. Worth noting that I believe MB tweeted that some of the add ons were very unlikely and Southampton would be happy with getting £6-7m in return in total. Which seems very fair if he does successfully take on the mantel from Krul in due course.

[Crabbycanary3 994]

1 hour ago, Wings of a Sparrow said:

Fans at Dijon said he was mustard.

Bump

[Crabbycanary3 994]

Has Francis Benali come out of retirement?

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,821]

10 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

Indeed. There was some confusing reporting, suggesting the fee was £2.5m which could rise to £5m and then could rise to £10m, so two lots of add-ons?! Never heard of such a thing. But the EDP's official, as it were, list of deals in and out gives the basic figure for Gunn as £5m plus potential add-ons, and for Rashica as £8m plus potential add-ons. I suspect the Lees-Melou figure will be given as around £3.5m plus potential add-ons.

Yeah, that's exactly what I'd assumed.

[Ken Hairy 3,773]

52 minutes ago, Uncle Fred said:

Cheap and never heard of him. How about signing a midfielder with premier league experience who isn’t a gamble? 

Cheap because the **** has fallen out of the French market, although why I'm trying to explain to an obvious troll who clearly doesn't even support Norwich is anyone's guess 🤷‍♂️

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

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

Michael Bailey says the initial fee is 'well below £4m'.

When he says 'initial fee', does he mean just the first instalment or all guaranteed payments excluding bonuses?

I'd take that to mean potentially all we will pay, but hopefully we'll pay more as the additional payments will likely be for things like Premier League survival, and appearance landmarks like 50 or 100 games?

Buendia fee was initially £1.5m but then promotion triggered an additional payment which took it to £5m. 

If no promotion then it would have just been the £1.5m! 

You'd expect survival to be the trigger with his one? 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

5 minutes ago, Ken Hairy said:

Cheap because the **** has fallen out of the French market, although why I'm trying to explain to an obvious troll who clearly doesn't even support Norwich is anyone's guess 🤷‍♂️

Was it France where they had the TV deal collapse?

[Canary Wundaboy 1,359]

1 minute ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Was it France where they had the TV deal collapse?

Yes.

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

1 minute ago, TeemuVanBasten said:

Was it France where they had the TV deal collapse?

Yep.
French football's financial crisis and what it means for the Premier League : CityAM

[Michael Starr 519]

We've stolen him from under Crystal Palace's nose apparently. 11th hour. He was in England about to have a medical with them and did a u-turn after we assured him more game time due to his versitility.

Edited July 13, 2021 by Michael Starr

[TheGunnShow 5,940]

1 minute ago, Michael Starr said:

We've stolen him from under Crystal Palace's nose apparently. 11th hour. He was in England about to have a medical with them and he did a u-turn.

Would make sense, as Patrick Vieira would know him well.

[NorthCarolinaYellow 197]

34 minutes ago, French Green said:

OGC Nice fans were a bit split on him. I always liked his competitive nature, good distribution and occasional decent goal.

He has been playing in a team that under performed for Patrick Viera (good luck with that Palace!), but as I said before, if he can adapt to the premier league he should be a solid addition without setting the world alight.

 

 

Thanks for the insight! Honestly, I am 100% okay with the bolded bits at <£5million.

[Canary Wundaboy 1,359]

1 minute ago, TheGunnShow said:

Would make sense, as Patrick Vieira would know him well.

After working under him at Nice, perhaps he wanted to try a decent coach?

[Well b back 3,216]

Quotes from the BBC

Lees-Melou 'excited' by Canaries switch

Speaking about his move to Norwich, Pierre Lees-Melou said: "I’ve heard a lot about how Norwich plays football in the right manner and style and also the club’s spirit and mentality. I love that and that got me very excited.

“I also spoke with Morgan Schneiderlin and Yoann Barbet about football in England. They spoke very highly of Norwich and the club’s position and standing.

“I appreciate the opportunity in this club and wanted to get the move sorted and start quickly. I’m excited to discover a new country, language and play in the biggest league in the world.”