Tom Lees

[damianb1]

23 hours ago, whatevertrevor said:

Coveted by Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Barca, and Real. To the tune of £50m no less. But John Stones is poo poo. What planet are some people on?

 

He is a Rolls Royce of a defender that just needs a new dents knocking out and his gears calibrated. Enormous potential there. If he cuts down on the errors, which you'd expect he will as he develops, he could be the best CB in Europe in a few years.

He's not in the same league as varane at Real Madrid, now there is a rolls Royce of a centre half. Stones needs to learn a hell of a lot about defending and from a development point of view would be much better spending a

season or 2 longer at Everton now they have a former international defender in Koeman in charge.

[theowlsman]

Our owner is not looking to sell anyone, we don't need to sell, we won't sell. Unless it's some ridiculous fee like 30 million of course. Is there anything else to add? Nope, don't think so.

[Animis]

6 minutes ago, theowlsman said:

Our owner is not looking to sell anyone, we don't need to sell, we won't sell. Unless it's some ridiculous fee like 30 million of course. Is there anything else to add? Nope, don't think so.

 

I agree that he doesn't need to sell anyone, and I suspect these foreign owners have also some personal pride invested in how these things pan out - a sort of one upmanship status that may ensure he definitely doesn't sell Lees; him being a very important part of the team. Also, one week before the kick off and we are short anyway at the back, would be potentially disruptive and cost us a good start which he'll be expecting/demanding.

 

However, £10m would ensure re-investment if the budget is already stretched. The key then would be can we pick up another Lees at a bargain price.

[bigthinrob]

13 hours ago, Bluesteel said:

 

No one wants to sell their key players.

 

But even Man U will decide they need to sell for a certain price, no one is immune. If you sell all your assets and don't invest then you get nowhere but if you get a ridiculously huge fee and split it on two or three key players you couldn't afford previously there is a chance it could work favourably. 

 

If it came down to it, I'd see FF as harder to replace than a centre half, as good as Lees is.

 

Yeah, all valid points, but would the money we would hypothetically get for Lees be of more use by reinvesting it than keeping him in the side? I'm not convinced.

 

You should always look to improve, i can't argue with that, but at the moment we seem to have a decent squad and are already struggling to accommodate some key players. 

 

The argument is, that if for instance we got 8 Mill for Lees, we could buy 2 or 3 players with the proceeds.

 

We probably could, but would it dramatically improve the team and compensate for the loss of Lees? i don't think so.

 

18 months ago it would have been a no-brainer. 3 slightly above average players would have made an enormous impact, but not now. 

 

For the money touted, i'm not convinced we would be able to acquire players who would improve on what we already have.

[oldishowl]

We seem to be struggling to sign one decent centre half at the moment yet people think we could easily find a replacement for Lees.

 

Even with the money it would be hard and if you have to spend most of the money to find a replacement why sell a player we know can do the job

[ReluctantNicko]

Can't see Lees wanting to go to Burnley if he is only 3rd or 4th choice behind Keane, Mee and Tarkowski.

 

Keane and Mee are first choice after being paired halfway through last season and only conceded 12 goals in their 23-match unbeaten run from Boxing Day onwards

[Bluesteel]

4 hours ago, bigthinrob said:

 

Yeah, all valid points, but would the money we would hypothetically get for Lees be of more use by reinvesting it than keeping him in the side? I'm not convinced.

 

You should always look to improve, i can't argue with that, but at the moment we seem to have a decent squad and are already struggling to accommodate some key players. 

 

The argument is, that if for instance we got 8 Mill for Lees, we could buy 2 or 3 players with the proceeds.

 

We probably could, but would it dramatically improve the team and compensate for the loss of Lees? i don't think so.

 

18 months ago it would have been a no-brainer. 3 slightly above average players would have made an enormous impact, but not now. 

 

For the money touted, i'm not convinced we would be able to acquire players who would improve on what we already have.

 

Maybe not 8m but 10m and it would be hard to say no I think. It may allow us to get a centre back and wingers in, plus the other centre backs and left back we need anyway.

 

Im guessing we will need to fill these positions regardless, but the trigger point for a sale would depend on how much of a risk we are taking with FFP without one. I wonder if we will re-asses both ins and outs in January on that basis.

[Philb125]

For me it's a bit like Southampton a few seasons back. You can sell your stars, but only if you have replacements lined up and you receive top value for them. 

 

Lovren  out van dijk in

Shaw out Bertrand in 

 

As long as you have options lined up in every position and sell from power as a club you evolve and get better, whilst players move on in transient manner. 

 

Now more than ever I have faith that we are building a network of scouts and identifying options (even if the initial scouts are based in Scotland, watford and Portugal ). 

[Standidno]

On 31 July 2016 at 13:12, ReluctantNicko said:

Can't see Lees wanting to go to Burnley if he is only 3rd or 4th choice behind Keane, Mee and Tarkowski.

 

Keane and Mee are first choice after being paired halfway through last season and only conceded 12 goals in their 23-match unbeaten run from Boxing Day onwards

Keane will go to Leicester