[SIGNED perm] Andre Gray signs for club record fee

Sinclair I would imagine.

 

Not the exciting prospect we fought to steal from Liverpool surely ?

 

He used to play for L*ton.

 

Meh. Pretty sure £500 would collapse the market in a transfer bookies market.

 

Was going to say, a ton was probably literally about right.

 

Nothing happens on a Thursday. Sooner or later, not Thursday.

 

I'd be surprised if it's that much. 14m would be a lot for a player with one year left on his contract & refusing to sign another one.

 

Yes, but the other three will think they are all the top dog and there is only one spot for grabs.

 

It wasn't just one tweet, it was several tweets, of a particularly abhorrent and unpleasant nature. The first batch of those were posted in 2012, when he was 21 years old, and included him saying that all gay people should 'burn'. The second was posted in 2014, when he was 23 years old, and started "I hate lighteys". So he wasn't particularly young, in either case, particularly not the second.

Now that apparently must be weighed against the fact that he was a known gang associate and general troublemaker until he left Birmingham, and he claims he has since moved on from that. He was, however, at Brentford for the second offence in 2014.

Now this is not me saying "He's Hitler", or "Don't sign him', but it is me saying that we should assess his transgressions in their appropriate context, and avoid giving him a magical free pass for questionable reasons because we are now interested in him. It wouldn't sit entirely well with me, but the only way he can redeem himself is to carry on showing, if it is true, that he is a reformed character who has learned from his experiences and mistakes. We are a family club who do a great deal of work in the community, and we also have Troy around, so perhaps it would be a good match from that perspective.

Edit - sorry, Wolverhampton, not Birmingham

 

I hate it when the lighteys run out. Especially the non-refillable ones.

 

Lighteys?

Sounds like a Swift invention. Perhaps he has hidden depths?

 

Think you guys are right.

Graph on the bottom of this:

https://www.oddschecker.com/football/football-specials/andre-gray/club-after-summer-transfer-window

Indicates that not much money has gone on us at all, indicates bookie manipulation instead.. suppose that's still a good thing!

 

Can also see him and Deeney either getting on like a house on fire or genuinely killing one another.

 

When we signed Andre Gray, concerned I asked my mother what trouble would he be?
Would he be a Deeney or Marlon King, this what she said to me,
He had a bad start son, coming from L*ton scum,
But Elton will set him right,
Deeney will set him right.

 

We should never sign him. I will never forgive him for fouling Sherwood. He had the ball in both hands for ****'s sake.

 

Not the ideal personality based on those tweets, but looks a good player, good scoring record last season for a team that focussed more on being solid and nicking the odd goal. IF he signs and stays free of injury he'll do well, pretty much a shoe in for our top scorer and yet another young English player as well.

 

Would have been nice if you had tied in the words scum, Elton and bum. In no particular order.

 

Would be very happy with him. Someone who has scored goals in the PL and at every level he's been. I'd rather pay £12m-£14m for someone like this than £25m for the likes of Simeone who would be a very expensive risk.

 

Modified:

When Andre was a little boy, he asked his mother what will I be?
Will I be trouble? Vile and obsence? here' what she said to him
You've had a bad start son, you played for Lut*n scum
Let Elton spank your bum!
Let Elton spank your bum!

 

Ok the boy made some silly judgement calls when he was young, im glad social media wasn't really a thing when I was younger as I'm sure some of the stuff would haunt me today. And playing for L***n that is just unforgivable however he joins us scores a few and gets off to a good start then all can be forgiven. The lads a talent fast English ticks many boxes what we need. If he doesn't kick his Watford career off with a bang then he most certainly will become this seasons boo boy.


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If he does sign, I'd like to be the first to apologise for calling him a "fecking scummer" at Griffin Park on that wonderful night.

 

He's suddenly jumped to 4/9 to join us. That's a fairly dramatic shift.

 

Yeah you can now make good money on him staying at Burnley 11/4 - with us the only team below 9/1 to sign him. If we're not signing him, then there's money a load to be made somewhere here. Odds following a very similar Chalobah pattern though.

 

How did he get along with SD? I think knowing that relationship might tell us a lot about his likely behavior here. And that really is the point,his views (if he still holds them) are totally 100% abhorrent to most of us. However, his opinions are irrelevant if he doesn't express them publicly, if his behavior doesn't reflect those views.

 

I pray that we sign Gray now purely so we can sing this.

 

Shares the same agent as our manager

 

Journalist who seems very reliable (did a little scan of the timeline), and was at the Burnley training ground a couple of days ago has said its virtually done for 18 mil.

 

18 million seems a little excessive

 

Link?

 

18m with a year left on his contract? Seems a bit bonkers but if he gets 15 goals he'll pay for himself in a year.

 

Not in this market it doesn't, not for a pacey, English striker in his prime who's scored goals at every level he's played, including the Premier League.

 

£18m for a striker who is dating a member of Little Mix? It's a yes from me.

If we got him, I would actually love to see us play him AND Troy in some games. Could see them having a 'Yorke and Cole' type of relationship on the pitch where one plays the muscle and the other the runner with both being able to swap depending on the defenders they are up against.

You'll have to excuse my enthusiasm. Transfer overload. But still...Little Mix.

 

I'll be super disappointed if Gray signs as, along with Hughes, Chalobah, Cathcart, Deeney et al, it means I'll be able to pronounce the names of the vast majority of our squad without dislocating my jaw.
Come on Gino, come on Duxbury and Dowling - sign some eastern Europeans who have multiple consonant surnames with more x's, z's and funny squiggles above and below seemingly random letters than you shake a goal-post at.
I mean seriously, where's the fun in shouting out Watson's name. Far too easy.

 

So far it doesn't appear we are in the market to pay 18m for anyone.
We put 8m offers in on about 4 prospects and sat back to wait until we get a nibble or we lose them. In this case I can imagine going to 12m + add ons but no more.
It's the type of situation that unless Burnley agree our valuation we will sit and wait as long as it takes right up to deadline day. Burnley of course want a deal sooner so they can re-invest so it is the balance in the deal you are looking for here.

 

Who did we bid £8m for? As far as I can tell, anyone we've bid for this summer so far, we have bought, anything else appears to be paper talk. Not aware of anything concrete about us missing out on anyone?

However, I have just read an article from beginning of July when Everton were linked with Gray that Brentford and (sadly) L*ton still have active sell-clauses so that is likely driving the price up. I'd say the whole deal will likely come to around £16-£18m once clauses and sell ons are met. Burnley will likely want International cap clauses and a European qualification clause etc I'd expect.