Virgil van Dijk

I believe we are progressing and that is largely to do with the scouting department. As of now our squad is as valuable (asset wise) as its ever been and it will continue to grow under Ronny as it did under Lenny. If the current trend continues we may be able to afford higher transfer budgets as we demand higher transfer fees in the future , whilst still having a very good side on the park.

We buy players improve them we sell them for large profit and seek to repeat the process which makes for a sound business model. We sell a Wanyama we buy and improve a Biton , a VVD and a Johansen yet we fail with a Puuki and a Balde , yet consider the valuation of the assets our money could be trebled.

All of the hard work putting the business model into action stems from a source and that source is PL.

 

I miss neil Lennon, he was the man to take us to the next level

 

Ronny can take us there, he's got a more progressive attitude in modern football. As much as I love Lenny.

 

As far as the "take a gamble " logic works would anyone at this stage think we should have paid the £4/5 M asking price for guidetti?

 

With 2 years left on his deal...

If he doesn't sign an extension and leaves next summer, could we end up selling him for a pittance (well, a lot less than what he is worth to us/ would get this summer).

Think id be okay with that actually for one more season of him with us.

 

No 1 target for Sunderland.

FFS big man dont do it! Can understand you looking for a big move and all that, but go to a club that is an obvious step upand not a pishy one that will fatten yor bank account and have you in the championship next year.

 

When it comes down to it I couldn't care less where he goes as long as the fee is right.

Although I would hold him in slightly higher regard if he just didn't go to the first club throwing cash at him.

Would rather he stayed though.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

Bang on. £8-£10 million from Sunderland is just as good as £8-£10 million from Chelsea.

 

Not to sure about that, I think if a player goes down to a Chelsea and performs very well then our reputation rises, subsequently our next transfer we can demand more cash.

£8m for Van Dijk is pathetic for us though, I want at least £12m.

 

Agreed.
We got £12m for Wanyama and van Dijk is every bit as good as him.

 

If he goes to Chelsea and never gets a game it has the reverse effect. If he is that quality then he will shine at Sunderland and move to a bigger team anyway as Vic seems to be doing.

 

Would be an embarrassing move to go to Sunderland. Not going to get Champions League football there, EVER.

 

True but I've got faith Van Dijk's going on to big things, there's nothing missing from his game and he's only 23.

 

I think the big difference is that Wanyama played a role that is more difficult to fill. He also had more standout performances in Europe compared to Van Dijk, who has struggled at times in my opinion. I agree with you that he is every bit as good though, but I think we will get around about the £10m mark for him. I just don't see it being as much as Wanyama for the reasons I gave.

 

The funny thing is, I bet if he played in the Champions League with the protection of Wanyama infront of him, he'd have a far bigger price tag.

I don't think struggled is the word for Virgil, think it's more exposed.

 

£10 million and a big sell on clause + a relegation release back to Celtic clause. Can only dream

 

I think he gets caught wrong side too often in Europe as well mate. I do agree regarding having Wanyama in front of him though to protect, but I think that only highlights further how important Wanyama was, and why I think his fee will be more than what we get for Van Dijk. He was protecting Wilson & Ambrose, and was a big part in making them look even better than what they were in my opinion.

 

You have to take into account the state of the market at any given time though when it comes to transfer fees.

A players value is only partly dictated by how good he is. When Wanyama was sold how many other midfielders of his skillset were available at the time? And how much demand was there for a player of his type?

These all play a part in the value of a player. If there's a decent number of young, talented defenders on the market then it stands to reason that we'd receive less in any transfer for Van Dijk than we would if there weren't many of them available.

It also comes down to how many clubs are actually looking for that kind of player this summer.