Tzolis to Bruges (loan to buy)

[Canary Wundaboy 1,359]

According to Michael Bailey in the Athletic this morning. Apparently the fee is likely to be in the region of what we paid. No sell-on costs as they were based on profits, of which there won’t be any.

[dylanisabaddog 4,947]

I like that system when we're buying but not when we're selling! Think I'd rather take a hit on the fee now and have money in the bank 

[Danke bitte 967]

4 minutes ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

According to Michael Bailey in the Athletic this morning. Apparently the fee is likely to be in the region of what we paid. No sell-on costs as they were based on profits, of which there won’t be any.

Oooof. Good we get money back but doesnt look good in the recruitment dept. Bit of egg on their faces. 

[cambridgeshire canary 6,752]

Another Webber masterclass

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

From one of the best prospects in Europe to loaned out with an option to buy. Disappointing.

[Mello Yello 2,297]

That's a shame....and disappointing to hear.....

[Dr Greenthumb 750]

Hopefully Brugge sell their assets so we can get the money to reinvest immediately, this has been the most pointless transfer I’ve known this club make

[Feedthewolf 4,853]

If we can recoup what we paid for him, that's a result. Thought we'd be taking a significant hit if we did sell him. Is there really enough money in the Belgian league that they could afford to pay around £10m for one player?!

[WD40 720]

17 minutes ago, Danke bitte said:

Oooof. Good we get money back but doesnt look good in the recruitment dept. Bit of egg on their faces. 

Webber and Webber alone if you look at the quotes when we signed him. Been tracking him since Liverpool youth. Has to go down as our worst transfer of all time given money paid and how he was exactly what we didn’t need at that time

[vlad666 203]

28 minutes ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

According to Michael Bailey in the Athletic this morning. Apparently the fee is likely to be in the region of what we paid. No sell-on costs as they were based on profits, of which there won’t be any.

Does it say if it’s an “option” to buy or “compulsory” after the loan? I don’t have access to the athletic. Thanks. 

[Canary Wundaboy 1,359]

“Talks over a loan deal with an option to buy have been discussed for about a month. That option would see Norwich recoup their initial outlay, although PAOK’s sell-on clause would become redundant as the percentage only applies to profits Norwich make on their initial outlay.

Although Bruges could commit to a permanent move immediately, they see Norwich’s offer of an initial loan as making better financial sense.”

Copied and pasted for you.

[Nuff Said 5,147]

14 minutes ago, WD40 said:

Webber and Webber alone if you look at the quotes when we signed him. Been tracking him since Liverpool youth. Has to go down as our worst transfer of all time given money paid and how he was exactly what we didn’t need at that time

Seriously?
 

If I could be bothered and it wasn’t blindingly obvious I could list five worse right now. Basically we’ve had a look at him, didn’t like what we saw (or maybe he didn’t like what he saw of us) and it’s cost us his wages for a year, if we get back what we paid. 

[Mason 47 1,388]

Having now read the article, I'm a bit softer on how bad this situation actually is.

The impression I get is a sliding -doors moment like Cantwell had on loan out at Fortuna Sittard; he was in a new country, not in the team, hating life, but to his credit got his head in the game and developed really well. Whereas Tzolis' entire mentality collapsed after the Liverpool penalty situation and revealed a young boy not ready for this international adventure. The pressure of intense criticism on the team won't have helped.

Sometimes moves just don't work. Recouping the fee for no loss is a result now, let's get on with overhyping Rowe and Springett so we can complain if they don't come good.

[canarybubbles 1,924]

Another skillful player wasted and gone.

[Canary Wundaboy 1,359]

1 minute ago, Mason 47 said:

Sometimes moves just don't work. Recouping the fee for no loss is a result now

I think where that position comes into scrutiny is when we spent a significant portion of a survival transfer budget on this player and he was nowhere near ready. Taking risks on players is all well and good but given the % of our budget that Tzolis cost, I don’t see how this transfer can be viewed as anything other than a massive failure.

[By Hook or Ian crook 917]

30 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

If we can recoup what we paid for him, that's a result. Thought we'd be taking a significant hit if we did sell him. Is there really enough money in the Belgian league that they could afford to pay around £10m for one player?!

Champions league money for Brugge 

[TheGunnShow 5,953]

29 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

If we can recoup what we paid for him, that's a result. Thought we'd be taking a significant hit if we did sell him. Is there really enough money in the Belgian league that they could afford to pay around £10m for one player?!

Bruges usually end up in the Champions League so I suspect they'll have a bob or two.

[PurpleCanary 5,570]

27 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

If we can recoup what we paid for him, that's a result. Thought we'd be taking a significant hit if we did sell him. Is there really enough money in the Belgian league that they could afford to pay around £10m for one player?!

Quite. Bailey is usually reliable but that would be surprising. The only thing I can think of is that Brugge think there is a real player there and in a couple of years they will be able to sell him to one of the major leagues at a hefty profit. In which case we may be trying to negotiating a solid sell-on clause.

[king canary 7,623]

Just now, PurpleCanary said:

Quite. Bailey is usually reliable but that would be surprising. The only thing I can think of is that Brugge think there is a real player there and in a couple of years they will be able to sell him to one of the major leagues at a hefty profit. In which case we may be trying to negotiating a solid sell-on clause.

Bailey said they had a bid of £8.5m rejected for him in Jan 2021. Also they are expecting to sell Noa Lang to Milan or a Premier League club for well north of £20m

[lake district canary 4,539]

You win some you lose some, but it does add to the idea that it is daft to build players up to much when they arrive at a football club. The hype led to an unrealistic expectation of him.  I feel that the culture shock was too great for the young lad to come in to a new country, Norwich in particular and the Premier League and he lost his way.  The Liverpool penalty decision was a key moment - "he'll never do that again in his career" Farke said, indicating the level of telling off he must have given Tzolis after that. That penalty goes in and his season takes off - but it didn't. 

[PurpleCanary 5,570]

Just now, king canary said:

Bailey said they had a bid of £8.5m rejected for him in Jan 2021. Also they are expecting to sell Noa Lang to Milan or a Premier League club for well north of £20m

Thanks. That makes it seem more plausible.

[Mason 47 1,388]

1 minute ago, Canary Wundaboy said:

I think where that position comes into scrutiny is when we spent a significant portion of a survival transfer budget on this player and he was nowhere near ready. Taking risks on players is all well and good but given the % of our budget that Tzolis cost, I don’t see how this transfer can be viewed as anything other than a massive failure.

It's for sure a failure, but I also feel like in terms of 'a Norwich signing' it should have had a high percentage of working out. Even other players were saying early on how impressive he was and 'could do it all'.

The greater criticism for me lies deeper in the nuance of last seasons transfers. If we hadn't got the midfield SO wrong, I don't think we would currently be discussing Tzolis leaving 

[Dr Greenthumb 750]

47 minutes ago, Feedthewolf said:

If we can recoup what we paid for him, that's a result. Thought we'd be taking a significant hit if we did sell him. Is there really enough money in the Belgian league that they could afford to pay around £10m for one player?!

They are selling two players for a potential total of £50m

[hogesar 9,704]

32 minutes ago, Nuff Said said:

Seriously?
 

If I could be bothered and it wasn’t blindingly obvious I could list five worse right now. Basically we’ve had a look at him, didn’t like what we saw (or maybe he didn’t like what he saw of us) and it’s cost us his wages for a year, if we get back what we paid. 

Exactly, if we pretty much recoup our spend then it's a poor signing but we've done fantastically well to somehow retain his value (or negotiate to a point where someone is willing to pay it) - when he's looked so far short of what's required.

[Gibbo 131]

A loan is less than idea for us though, it doesn't give us the immediate funds to replace the player and no guarantee that we won't get him back at the end of the year too, like what happened with Cantwell (though I thought the original obligation there was to buy him if they went up...).

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,822]

1 hour ago, Feedthewolf said:

If we can recoup what we paid for him, that's a result. Thought we'd be taking a significant hit if we did sell him. Is there really enough money in the Belgian league that they could afford to pay around £10m for one player?!

 

32 minutes ago, king canary said:

Bailey said they had a bid of £8.5m rejected for him in Jan 2021. Also they are expecting to sell Noa Lang to Milan or a Premier League club for well north of £20m

And Charles De Ketelaere, who's expected to fetch at least as much as Lang. Milan seem to be more interested in De Ketelaere now, according to the Italian press.

[canarydan23 4,060]

I think it's a shame. I'm convinced there is a player in there who hasn't been particularly well-handled by either Farke or Smith.

I hope we retain an option to keep him in case he goes to Bruges and tears it up both in Belgium and in Europe and he ends up going full time for £8.5 million or £10 million when by that point he's a £30 million player. I'm biased because I'm a signed up Philhellenist and he's also awesome on my Fifa game but I think he'll wind up a top player.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

I am leaning more to thinking its the player wanting to go. It doesn't make sense that we would get our money back for a dud. Obviously there are those like Bruges who think he has the talent. £10M to them is £20M in the EPL.

 

[king canary 7,623]

2 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

I am leaning more to thinking its the player wanting to go. It doesn't make sense that we would get our money back for a dud. Obviously there are those like Bruges who think he has the talent. £10M to them is £20M in the EPL.

 

Yeah that is what I'm wondering. It seems clear Smith doesn't fancy him but is that because Tzolis isn't showing much willingness to turn it around here? I do wonder if he's got his heart set on a fresh start somewhere else. Interesting that Bailey is saying he is keenest on a move to Bruge even though there is interest from stronger leagues like Netherlands and Germany- maybe he thinks his best bet is to go be a big fish in a smaller pond?

[Branston Pickle 3,667]

I think there is obviously a decent player in there, but he was never right for where we were last season, or now for a Championship fight.  It does have to go down as a very poor transfer as it ended up wasting a good 20/25% of last summer’s available transfer funds.