Apparently had an £8m bid rejected and Sunderland told us to f**k off.

The bid sounds about right, as does their response.

Let the man cook

I'm not one to side with our board on pretty much anything, but Xhaka is 33 (turning 34 almost as soon as the season starts) an 8m bid is not insulting. It would put him into the top 10 most expensive players over the age of 33. Why is it okay for clubs to bid low on our players, but the moment we do it, it's an insult? Chalobah is entering his prime years, and Como are apparently bidding £22m. Are we expected to pay that much for Xhaka?

Just because we spent stupid money on sh*t like Neto, Garnacho and Gittens, it doesn't mean we should keep doing it and throw stupid money at an okay at best player that is entering his final years. There is nothing unique about Xhaka, we can find the exact profile of midfielder a few years younger if we looked around enough.

£10m with a couple million more if we secure Champions League football. That is as high as we should go for Xhaka.

Edited Sunday at 23:562 days by Scott Harris

Jesus wept, we shouldn't be spending anything more than a token fee to get this guy out of Sunderland. We're talking about someone who ultimately has had no more than a handful of decent seasons at the back-end of his career. It's nothing like signing Giroud or Eto'o to cover a glaring gap, more like signing Loic Remy or Demba Ba.

That said - I do like the style of player he is and believe he is the sort of player that complements Caicedo. Energetic off-the-ball, great passer between the lines, very good at switching the play to the wings. As long as Enzo Fernandez cosplays as a striker, we do not have anyone in the squad remotely like that.

We are "buying" a player coach and a potential assistant manager. At the end of the day we paid around £4 million to Liam Rosenior for 2 months work.

All the money is essentially stupid in this modern game. Maybe we can offer Sunderland a few players on loan and not take them back this time?

If Xhaka happens, it allows the very promising young players already signed up to both learn from an experienced player and have a clear pathway of their own.

39 minutes ago, TheCeleryKing said:

If Xhaka happens, it allows the very promising young players already signed up to both learn from an experienced player and have a clear pathway of their own.

As Tosin, Koulibaly, Neto and countless others have shown, 'experience' means nothing if those players are not top players. It would be a different conversation if we were talking say, Bayern's Leon Goretzska (who is available on a free).

On the other hand, said player also has to be able to consistently contribute at a very high level, not just provide vibes in the dressing room. In 2020, Lampard had the decision to go with Gerard Pique or Thiago Silva on a free, for 'experience'. Despite Pique's superior 'experience', he was clearly in decline, whereas Silva was still performing at a very high level in the Champions League and easily still among the top 10 defenders at that time.

Xhaka is a difficult one because he is only marginally in either category. Not ever a 'top' player, and his best performances have come basically in the last 3 years of his career. The key would be using him as a squad attacking player who can defend, rather than a straight-up backup to Caicedo.

4 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Why is it okay for clubs to bid low on our players, but the moment we do it, it's an insult? Chalobah is entering his prime years, and Como are apparently bidding £22m. Are we expected to pay that much for Xhaka?

Because one has for sale sign and the other doesn't.

Edited Monday at 04:252 days by Bob stark

10 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

We paid £17.2m for this kid who has done fck all both at home, twice, and with us.

I agree that the messages of 30m were ridiculous but 8m is a pisstake even for a 33 year old two time FA Cup winner and Bundesliga winner.

I don't think Washington was a real signing.

Edited Monday at 04:292 days by Bob stark

6 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I'm not one to side with our board on pretty much anything, but Xhaka is 33 (turning 34 almost as soon as the season starts) an 8m bid is not insulting. It would put him into the top 10 most expensive players over the age of 33. Why is it okay for clubs to bid low on our players, but the moment we do it, it's an insult? Chalobah is entering his prime years, and Como are apparently bidding £22m. Are we expected to pay that much for Xhaka?

Just because we spent stupid money on sh*t like Neto, Garnacho and Gittens, it doesn't mean we should keep doing it and throw stupid money at an okay at best player that is entering his final years. There is nothing unique about Xhaka, we can find the exact profile of midfielder a few years younger if we looked around enough.

£10m with a couple million more if we secure Champions League football. That is as high as we should go for Xhaka.

If you were sunderland would you not do the same? He's their player of the year and believed to still have much to offer in their europe quest. 10 millions for EPL Club is really nothing nowadays. It just doesn't make sense for them to sell unless it's a big money but then it doesn't make sense for us if it's a big money.

He needs to hand in transfer request, make enemy with the sunderland fans (like he did with arsenal fans) then maybe sunderland has a reason to sell.

Not a fan of Xhaka, but if this is part of the Alonso's grand plan, all for it to happen. I can't recall last time we signed a 33 year old ( Etto maybe?), get 2 years out of the player with CL qualification and a trophy or 2, 10M+ it's money well spent.

6 minutes ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Not a fan of Xhaka, but if this is part of the Alonso's grand plan, all for it to happen. I can't recall last time we signed a 33 year old ( Etto maybe?), get 2 years out of the player with CL qualification and a trophy or 2, 10M+ it's money well spent.

Sunderland very highly unlikely to sell him. Why would they? He was one of the keys to their success last season and will need him more in Europe next season.

I think he would be an asset to us.

He understands how Xabi likes to play and is a leader.

We lack leaders at this football club, and when the going gets tough most of our players disappear.

He has character and even some our better players like Moi, Palmer and Estevao need guidance if only to help stop these stupid bookings we get regularly.

If he can even help usher people away from officials and picking up needless bookings which ultimately leads to suspensions it would be worth it at the right price.

I think around £15m including certain add ons is a fair deal for good player with the the right attitude.

26 minutes ago, 2211 said:

I think he would be an asset to us.

He understands how Xabi likes to play and is a leader.

We lack leaders at this football club, and when the going gets tough most of our players disappear.

He has character and even some our better players like Moi, Palmer and Estevao need guidance if only to help stop these stupid bookings we get regularly.

If he can even help usher people away from officials and picking up needless bookings which ultimately leads to suspensions it would be worth it at the right price.

I think around £15m including certain add ons is a fair deal for good player with the the right attitude.

This is my opinion on the matter. If we can get him for a sensible price he's the kind of signing we've been asking BlueCo to make for years.

1 hour ago, dermott said:

Sunderland very highly unlikely to sell him. Why would they? He was one of the keys to their success last season and will need him more in Europe next season.

Player power.

All I wanted this summer was to sign mentaility monsters that can set the standards for the rest.

I don’t think we are necessarily missing talent in the squad, but a lot of the signings we have made recently don’t have the right mentality. Gittens, Garnacho, Delap and co are quick to crumble when things don’t go their way.

Colwill is the only one I feel can really set the tone. James, Caicedo and Enzo also, but to a lesser extent.

Xhaka fits the bill and Palestra looks to have a good head on his shoulders. We are going to need more to change the dynamics of the squad though.

We need to weed out players with weak mentality and replace them with fighters.

If the player wants to leave for London and Alonso, it’s almost inevitable it will happen. We’ll end up over paying - not the first or last time.

Problem for Sunderland is replacing his contribution for anywhere near the prices quoted is very difficult. No wonder they’ll dig in for a bit.

Think £12-15m + Premier League or Champions League bonuses would work.

They only paid about £11m for him didnt they, so its not exactly taking the piss to offer a bit less than that for a player his age with one year off his contract with them.

It seems were the only club that is expected to offer the exact right amount for a player or be ridiculed, were the goldilocks of football, offer too much were morons for over paying, offer too little were being horrible to the other club....

9 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

As Tosin, Koulibaly, Neto and countless others have shown, 'experience' means nothing if those players are not top players.

Hang on, Pedro Neto was 24 when we bought him, we hardly bought him for 'experience' . . . Tosin was free and we thought we were getting a deal and Koulibaly was past his prime. But I am not sure we were buying those players to add experience to the squad/team - we were just buying the usual players that somebody thought might be good.

9 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

It would be a different conversation if we were talking say, Bayern's Leon Goretzska (who is available on a free).

On the other hand, said player also has to be able to consistently contribute at a very high level, not just provide vibes in the dressing room. In 2020, Lampard had the decision to go with Gerard Pique or Thiago Silva on a free, for 'experience'. Despite Pique's superior 'experience', he was clearly in decline, whereas Silva was still performing at a very high level in the Champions League and easily still among the top 10 defenders at that time.

Xhaka is a difficult one because he is only marginally in either category. Not ever a 'top' player, and his best performances have come basically in the last 3 years of his career. The key would be using him as a squad attacking player who can defend, rather than a straight-up backup to Caicedo.

Our new manager really likes Xhaka. He is the bloke that he wants as a player-coach type of thing. I;m okay with giving him that. But I concur Xhaka is not on the Thiago Silva level and never was.

2 hours ago, icecoolguy22 said:

Not a fan of Xhaka, but if this is part of the Alonso's grand plan, all for it to happen. I can't recall last time we signed a 33 year old ( Etto maybe?), get 2 years out of the player with CL qualification and a trophy or 2, 10M+ it's money well spent.

Tut, tut, how quickly they forget

2 hours ago, dermott said:

Sunderland very highly unlikely to sell him. Why would they? He was one of the keys to their success last season and will need him more in Europe next season.

Xhaka is driving the transfer as he wants to live in London and reunite with Xabi Alonso. X and X names. Also, of course he wants to live in London - who would want live in some other sh1t hole part of the UK.

1 minute ago, TheCeleryKing said:

Xhaka is driving the transfer as he wants to live in London and reunite with Xabi Alonso. X and X names. Also, of course he wants to live in London - who would want live in some other sh1t hole part of the UK.

@PloKoon13.

11 minutes ago, dkw said:

They only paid about £11m for him didnt they, so its not exactly taking the piss to offer a bit less than that for a player his age with one year off his contract with them.

£8m was never something they were going to accept though. We aren't paying for the age we're paying for how important Xhaka is to Sunderland. They are losing a key player and they're in Europe.

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

£8m was never something they were going to accept though. We aren't paying for the age we're paying for how important Xhaka is to Sunderland. They are losing a key player and they're in Europe.

Quite.

The price is always going to be high when the selling club doesn't want to sell and requires "persuasion" !

I can see a deal getting done for £15m or thereabouts, and maybe a couple of our players going their way for reasonable fees or on loan as well, mainly due to Xhaka himself agitating strongly for the move.

Edited Monday at 13:471 day by Sexyfootball