[SIGNED perm] Ismaila Sarr - club record fee

In reality, have them sit on the bench at Udi for 6 months & then a spell in Wales before a loan with obligation to buy to Brentford.

 

Remember that Gino also pops down to the cash & carry, hoping to spot new lines before they are in retail distribution.

Alternatively, you could see Gino as buying fine wine en primeur, letting it mature before selling it when it is at perfect drinking age.

The problem is Belgium doesn't produce fine wine.

 

We need Gino to be a shrewd shopper but other clubs don't have the same constraints as us. You mention AV being mugged by Burnley over Heaton but do you think they care if he costs £8m or £15m and has no resale value ? It's small change to them and whilst it would be crazy for us to pay that, if he strengthens their team, they really don't care what they pay....

 

It's not small change to them at all at this stage. If they stay up then of course their potential ceiling is much higher than ours, but right now, they've just come out of the Championship. They've created a brand new team and as we saw with Fulham, that could easily go wrong.

I would say Villa have taken a big risk in spending all their guaranteed Premier League money, including parachute payments on this one season. If they go down, they'll be in financial trouble as many of the players they signed are not worth the money they paid for them.

 

It partly depends if there are relegation clauses in their contracts and partly on how much their billionaire owners are prepared to bankroll them. I believe they have proper money behind them now, unlike previous recent owners.

 

Nothing has changed for WFC as a selling club to survive, except we operate at a higher level with higher costs:

Championship Survival Strategy (pre Pozzos): Develop youngsters from Academy and sell.

EPL Survival Strategy: Develop youngsters from worldwide scouting network and sell.

But if we were in the Championship now without the Pozzos we would be in trouble imo.

The way fees have escalated; the way Academies are stymied by the EPL to favour the Big 6 so it’s more difficult to hold onto decent youngsters; our lack of additional income streams from a big fan base etc
All these would put us at a much bigger disadvantage to compete against the billionaires who seem to be hoovering up Championship clubs.

Relegation would be a disaster as it would be difficult to attract the right youngsters to a small Championship club vs an EPL club.

 

Just behind Barnet?

 

Fulham don’t seem to be in financial trouble under those same circumstances?

Indeed their two biggest assets, Mitrovic and Sessegnon are still there.

I think there are differences between Fulham and Villa in what they are doing. Fulham came up with big efforts from fan favourites such as Cairney, Kamara, Ream and Bettinelli - those players remained at the club but were replaced in an ill-fated attempt at doing more than just ‘staying up’. I think that likely had an effect on the spirit at the club and then came the managerial changes which I still think were premature. The change to Ranieri was wrong IMO. Villa’s squad got them up but large portions of it were on loan and out of contract. Players like Hutton and Glenn Whelan were clearly not going to be good enough. They’ve spent a lot and perhaps overspent on most - but it doesn’t matter if their billionaire owners can afford it. I agree it’s still a gamble but I think they are taking that gamble as a measured one knowing they have personal wealth, and saleable assets like Grealish and McGinn should the worst happen.

 

But we didn't depend on youngsters for promotion last time? On the whole we assembled a squad of relatively experienced continental players and some outcasts from the PL. The Championship isn't a viable money generating place for any club to be. The whole aim of 2013-16 was to get out of it asap.

 

They are backed by the very wealthy. They will have no financial risk whatsoever from being relegated other than perhaps getting a fine for overspending in the championship. They are not like us, they do not need to generate the funds they spend !!

 

I agree.

The only caveat to that is that Randy Lerner was very wealthy before them. It’s not such a risk so long as the owners retain interest. If their interest is only held by being in the PL they could have issues. But from the noises they have made, I don’t think that’s the case.

It’s the same for all clubs at the highest levels - even us. If the owner loses interest and no longer wants to fund it, we are all f*cked.

 

Waiting for the £ to fall in value against the Euro. Gino negotiates and pays the transfer fee in Euros from his Italian Account and the club reimburses his London bank account. He gets more English money that way to spend on living in London.

 

Yes but the owner has to weight up the saving from no longer funding vs the damage he would do to the value of "his asset". Best to sell the minute you lose interest as long as still in the prem.
As I've said before, if I was Gino (and maybe I am ?), I'd sell now. The upside from here is limited, the downside from relegation is huge, and relegation will surely come at some point.

 

I can’t say I disagree with much of that.

The only thing being that I don’t think there are people queuing up to buy football clubs. They are a vanity project by and large. Lerner wanted to sell Villa whilst they are still in the PL. Sunderland too. Newcastle are a club that are absolutely ripe for a Man City style transformation but they still can’t get it done.

I’d say we are getting away from the thread title - but Christ, it’s been going on long enough that I don’t think we can be blamed.

 

Agreed.
That’s why I said ‘without the Pozzos’:
We wouldn’t have got promotion.
We wouldn’t survive (easily) in the Championship today.

Look how far we’ve come etc...
Shelling out £20+m for any player for a club our size is remarkable.

These figures are banded around as if it’s no big deal by fans of EPL clubs ‘demanding’ they buy players and pay them £big bucks PER WEEK (big 6 etc).
It’s an incredible financial bubble operating out of touch with reality.
If we get Sarr I’d be delighted but if we don’t it’s good to know we have a down to earth business minded owner with a plan B, C etc.

 

I saw the 'pre-Pozzo' rider on your early comment but was more responding to this one:

"Relegation would be a disaster as it would be difficult to attract the right youngsters to a small Championship club vs an EPL club"

Agree generally with your view of transfer fees.

 

The point is Villa’s owners have 5 times what Moshiri has at Everton. Their only risk is FFP rules if they went back down as the owners can absorb any loss. If you have 10 billion, 140m is indeed small change.

 

Please don’t sell us Mr TUT, what would you do on a cold winters English Saturday? And where else would you see ‘000’s flags waved in your support?
Just sell a non controlling part of the business for £100m and take the money offshore.
That should help your retirement fund..

 

We can’t afford Sarr now that the pound has dropped again. That’s Brexit for you

 

Trouble is, if I sell a non-controlling share, the price per share is lower as the investor is effectively a powerless captive along for the ride. If I sell a controlling share, then I am now captive.
I love running a football club, it's my job, my hobby, and I'm good at it.
But I don't want to blow c£300m by missing the chance to sell while we are in the prem.
....is I'm sure what I would have said, if I was Gino.....

 

Until the point that the HNW owner gets bored of/embarrassed by his black hole of an investment.

I fancy Pozzo will have more commitment & stamina than the average billionaire slobbering for trophy assets.

 

Interesting one.

It is likely that there are non financial factors bearing on Gino. Dad has done 30 years at Udi. A bit of inter generational pressure not to bail out. Kids at school in England. Also, high risk that he couldn't replicate the WFC experience at, say, Millwall. Remorse at making the huge Gino Flag redundant.

I reckon we're stuck with him for a while.

 

Encyclopedic knowledge of gardening stuff doesn't tally with Gino's back story.

 

You had me fooled .. not sure I can trust anything you say again ..

 

There's a man in a car park in Greater Manchester who disproves this,

 

Exactly. In 1880, we didn't even have a club to not spend £20m+ on a player.

 

I just wish there were more Odemwingie types manoeuvring into the Colney car park.

 

His back story doesn't really come into it. Ok I guess it does but he is sitting on a c£300m asset based on the alleged approach last summer. They have never had that sort of football wealth before. Could set the family up financially forever... What would we be worth as a small Champ side battling the Forests, Leeds, of this world ? A tenth of that if very very lucky ? They are football men but also businessmen. I'd bank the £300m and go back to Italy and run Udinese when my dad retired. But I'm an accountant .

 

I think he's just queuing for the pay and display m8.

 

I am really Gino. But Gino D'Acampo.

 

This thread is almost approaching mini transfer sarrga status. Still nothing like the good old days of Juan Iturbe but moving in the right direction. Come on forumites, let's get it to 50 pages before he signs for someone else!

 

Today is the day that he signs for us, I just know it.

 

Give Paul Young his stuff back you ****

 

I'm hearing Gino is in negotiations with Sarr's travel agent, negotiating compensation for the prematurely cancelled holiday. This is getting closer.

 

Is he on holiday?