I tend to agree - this is the same as Lemina, Bouffal it happens every year. Given that we are the most private club when it comes to transfer rumours there is no way we would let this leak. Financially I think we could afford it -the improved league performance earnt us an extra £4.5m The FA Cup earns us £5m in prize money + there will be around £5m further in tv and gate receipt money. Plus the new sponsorship deal. So that alone should increase our transfer budget and there will be some money coming in from Lukabiako as he’s clearly off so that’s another £12 - £15m ..... but I still don’t think we are going to splash out on a £35m player - I would love to be proved wrong though .
Top 3 p1ss weak Watford wingers 1-- Fabrini - the original rag doll, was so light he would float on a cloud like Monkey. 2-- ????? 3-- Pereyra - he tries bless him, but those magical spindly legs are as a brittle as Ming vase. Anyone who wears a 3/4 cardigan like an old granny on her birthday is not going to be snapping into tackles on the halfway line.
Yes you're totally right about avoiding a bidding war. They'll be focussing on trying to sell the club, PL and career progression to the player rather than outbidding Roma.
We don't take big risks on transfers, particularly not overseas ones who have never played in the Premier League or have not already been at a Pozzo club. Look at the top five most expensive players from overseas clubs we've signed since promotion that had no Premier League experience or hadn't previously been at Granada or Udinese. Richarlison - £11 million Doucouré - £8 million Sven Kums - £6 million Obbi Oulare - £6 million Jurado - £6 million Anyone who thinks we're going to buy Sarr for £35 million needs a reality check.
I agree though I could see a scenario where they might look at it differently if they were to sell a player for £40-50m and believe that they had effectively added a better player and brought in a net £10m/£15m. Unlikely though. Also depends on if we feel we need to sell this summer. Selling a couple of our major players and only replacing with £5-10m prospects might be considered to put our prem survival at risk. Unlikely we would choose to do that but we don't know if any of Doucs/RP/GD are pushing for an exit.
You missed out Pereyra, who was around £12.5m I believe. We don't spend big, and it's almost a badge of honour, to create the best team on the lowest budget. There's nothing wrong with that, and for a club like Watford it's the only way we can really operate. As a fan, it's always exciting to think we'll be getting a big major signing though, but we do have to be realistic and readjust our expectations. It's inevitable when we're linked to players, like Sarr, and when the story appears to be growing rather than going away, the feeling of disappointment when he signs for another club is only natural. Like you, I'd take this particular story with a pinch of salt. I keep referring to something Duxbury said. It was along the lines of "If we ever signed a player for £30m, we'd feel we've done something wrong." Now, I'm going to play Devil's Advocate a little here and try to see if it's at all feasible, that such a deal could potentially happen. We do not know whether we are going to sell a couple of high end players. I suspect if we signed Sarr, then Pereyra would go. We're clearly in the market to sell Lukebakio, so those two combined would almost certainly provide the funds for the Sarr deal. We had our best financial season last year with the league placement and cup run. We've kept our powder dry for the previous two transfer windows, making a profit on trading. We're now approaching our fifth successive season in the Premier League, so if there ever was a time to make such an investment, it is now. On the other side of the coin, I just don't believe the Watford board want to make such a big purchase. They are not into vanity signings, to show the world we're a big club with spending power. The only way this would be sanctioned, is if the club truly believe Sarr could turn into a £70m player, like Zaha. Even then I'd be very surprised if the deal would be more than £25m. I could see something like £20m plus £5m add-ons, but that would be our ceiling. When AL mentions other clubs are interested and there could be an auction, then it really excludes us from the deal, or always has done in the past. I've watched a lot of footage of Sarr, and he's an exciting prospect at a good age, but he's far from the finished article. He's a rough diamond, if you like, so it makes me think if we do sign him, the transfer fee would be at least £10m lower than the £35m quoted.
There's a great winger who played for Peru as they made it through to the Copa America final. Maybe we should look at him ? A guy called "Carrillo".
To be fair to SLB, he said players who haven’t had PL experience or played for Udinese. Pereyra has played for Udinese.
I don’t think signings Sarr is as far fetched as some claim. But I do understand the reasonings behind why some would say it is, and they could be right. When Duxbury said his comments about us not signing players at such costs, it was a while ago. The transfer market has moved on again since then and even if we are behind other clubs, we have to move with it. More or less every other PL is spending those types of sums now - our prudent approach is good but I’m sure there are some at the club who are wary of that way or working becoming antiquated. As HB1 has said, there may be a belief that Sarr has a very good chance of being a superstar. If that’s the case, they may see it as a safe bet. We were rumoured to be in for Nicolas Pepe when he was at Angers and the club may be looking at his worth now and thinking they see the same progression with Sarr. I think Gino may go to £30m-£35m for the right player at some stage - but I suspect it would be £25m with some add-ons. And would likely see Lukebakio sold to fund it if it is Sarr. But Leventhal is the best source of info we have - and he suggests the interest is genuine so I doubt it’s unrealistic or far-fetched to think we may be in for him.
Ordinarily I'd agree with you, but he does seem to want to come the Premier League and has been quoted as wanting to sign for Watford. I've only really seen Arsenal seriously linked, from the EPL, and he's only being linked as a back-up option if they don't get Zaha. Sometimes you can get players of quality if the timing is right. If you make them feel special and wanted, like we've done for certain players in the past, that approach can work. If he truly wants to play in the Premier League, that would rule out other European clubs. When you think of it, there aren't too many EPL clubs that would probably be looking at him. Palace would be my bet if they lose Zaha, and they'll have a lot of money to spend after two major sales. I'm surprised they are not already linked. I don't think Everton would be after him, as they have that position covered. At Watford he would be a first team regular, and he knows he can grow his career. The only other two rivals, apart from Arsenal & Palace, could come from Leicester and West Ham, who would always be looking for this type of talent. I think we have a chance, but I think it's only an outside bet.
Your last paragraph is spot on. He is by far nowhere near the finished article. If we're looking for 20m for Lukebakio who has had one good season, I'd agree with the 25m for Sarr.
Could be, but I’ve heard that Prince didn’t mind tracking back , as long as you let him wear a raspberry beret.
I completely agree with this paragraph. I'm not at all complaining that we do things a bit on the cheap, it's a sustainable model and very shrewd. It also fits perfectly with Watford as a small, over-achieving, against the odds kind of club. I think Gino is unique amongst Premier League owners in that football is his primary business and he doesn't have another industry to bankroll his spending. It's not surprising that we'll be a bit cuter, he needs to make money out of Watford, it's not just a vanity project for a billionaire.
Seriously think Mahmoud Hassan is the better player at a third of the price. The Sarr story won't go away but it must be complete fantasy.
Why must it be fantasy? What are you basing that on? And Trézéguet has not played in any of Europe’s top leagues. It’s doubtful he’s the better player. Leventhal is the closest thing we have to believable rumours and he has mentioned Sarr and not Trézéguet. Indeed, Trezeguet has only been mentioned in a couple of Turkish media outlets. It’s not really worth talking in terms of it being one or the other - because there’s nothing to suggest that. We are always told the Pozzo’s can spot talent etc etc - if they think Sarr is worth £30 odd million against £8m for this other player, there likely a good reason why.
Personally I don’t think the owners are worried about what they spend on a player. It’s more around keeping spend the total spend within a budget. If Sarr represents value then I can see us spending big, particularly of there is an outgoing player that would offset part of the outlay. As Leventhal implies, if the Sarr transfer turns into a Dutch auction its likely we won’t take part. But if we can get a reasonable deal for him, then why not.
True but I think the Pozzo approach to transfers is, to some extent, a numbers game. They buy promising young 'uns (aka 'who the **** are you?), prime of life ones who've gone slightly off the rails & seasoned old 'uns (aka almost hasbeens). High risk in each of these groups. Given this, they will tend to buy a portfolio of players & so curb the amount on any one player. Btw, what an excellent pre season icebreaker exercise this would be. Day 1 back Javi asks the lads to sort themselves into one of those 3 groups. Hilarity to ensue, followed by deep collective depression.
Quite right. If we wanted to talk about real targets, we should be looking at what players got released by our PL compatriots U23 sides at the end of the season. That’s where the real action is.
I agree about the wages although our issue is that our overall revenue (of which 85% comes from TV) is one of the smallest at £123m-Palace are £150m and West Ham and Newcastle £175m so they can afford more in wages because they have £25m-£50m more income. As an aside our debt of £80m is the 9th highest in the PL-even more than Man city ! (thanks to Swiss ramble for the data) It was correctly pointed out previously by GOBE that the value of our players exceeds the £123m book value so we are not going bust in the short term but to compete long term and by that i mean stay in PL and try to win a trophy will be very hard when we dont have billionaire owners running a 20k (or even 25k) capacity stadium with limited commercial income to add to the TV money. One could argue that this limitation will also deter potential investors to take a minority stake as what is their upside. I think we are lucky to have the Pozzos and that they will stick around for the medium term
Into my heart on air that kills From yon far country blows What are our transfer target bills Sarr,Hassan and who goes? I see the land of discontent I see it shining plain The thought of Gino's money spent Will not happen again. Apologies to AE Housman.
