should we really be spending £24million on one player??

[dishy]

spend as much as they like, it aint costing me anything.

[TonyD]

We have needed a striker like Bent for soooooooo long!     When we sell on Petrov, NRC, Warnock, Ireland, Heskey, Beye, Davies and either Downing/AY, we not only get the transfer fees but about another £12m per year in saved wages.  We can afford the gamble on this one.  We cannot afford not too!

[The Left Side]

IMHO we have needed a big signing since the loss of Milner, the money has been there and with the bizarre circumstances of this season DB could be just what we needed to get us back on track. He is a proven goalscorer that could potentially give us 20+ league goals a season, which is something we haven't had since Yorke/Withe/Shaw.

[The Left Side]

Too late to go back now, I guess we are stuck with him!

[avfcpg]

Ignoring the add on's (they will pay for themselves if the targets are hit), £18 million is a lot of money. But forgetting relegation, each place in the prem is worth about £900k? If his goals help get us from 17th to 10th(ish), that in itself is worth £7 million. Add in the fact that getting on the end of Youngs, Downings and Albrightons crosses suddenly raises thier profile (and therefore value). Players are always more expensive in a successful side (ashley young being a prime example...world beater when we were 6th, over rated apparantly now).

It depends which way you want to look at it. £18 million for a proven premier goalscorer? Hell yes...it's worth every penny. There's no guarantee that he will score goals, but you have a better chance with him than a £6 million Keane or a £7 million unknown Zigic, or even both.

Price comparsions are futile...forwards cost more, they nearly always do, contract lengths left differ. It's needs vs demand.  He can hit the ground running and he's just what WE need, never mind what other clubs need.

We could have signed Owen Hargreaves for £18 million !!! Balotelli cost how much? And lets see how Dzeko for £24 million gets on....all unproven in this league.... 

[dave.woodhall]

Spread ovet the length of his contract it's four places a season.

[avfcpg]

Exactly. Looks a snip when you look at it long term....not that many journo's or other fans will. Great signing and good deal all round...

[badluckeric(gates)]

when MON said we dont need a marquee signing, even though I was a MONn supporter ('was' being the operative word) I said at the time he was wrong.
A marquee signing was exactly what was needed and we never did it.
As Graham Taylor says on bbc tinternet this morning, 'goals come with a price tag and this boy scores goals'.
So its a yes, yes, yes from me.

[Holtenderinthesky]

To answer the OP.  Yes.  Definitely yes.  It's about time we joined the big league when it comes to transfers.  In fact, I'll go further and say that I'm GLAD that he cost 24mil.  If we had picked him up for 7 mil then it wouldn't have had the same effect amongst the fans, the positivity at making a big signing etc.  We needed to spend big on a player almost as much as we needed the player himself IMHO, if anything, to send a clear message out to our rivals/detractors/players.

[Holtenderinthesky]

We have needed a striker like Bent for soooooooo long!     When we sell on Petrov, NRC, Warnock, Ireland, Heskey, Beye, Davies and either Downing/AY, we not only get the transfer fees but about another £12m per year in saved wages.  We can afford the gamble on this one.  We cannot afford not too!

Did you see the PC yesterday?  Ash and Downing are not for sale!

[Bosco81]

Has it been mentioned anywhere what the clauses are that would take the fee to £24M.

[sfx412]

Has it been mentioned anywhere what the clauses are that would take the fee to £24M.

If you are pro the deal its 18 mill, if not its nice to accentuate the 24 mill

As Houllier pointed out only Rooney and Drogba have scored more goals in the Prem over the last 5 years, 1 more in fact, so he should succeed with the number of players we have creating chances.

He might also free up more chances for the likes of the others too.

[Bosco81]

I'm not worried about the size of the fee, I just wondered how it could reach the full price.

[Concrete John]

Has it been mentioned anywhere what the clauses are that would take the fee to £24M.

I did hear somewhere yesterday that one is an extra £1.5m if we stay up.

[WALTERS WARRIORS]

Has it been mentioned anywhere what the clauses are that would take the fee to £24M.

If you are pro the deal its 18 mill, if not its nice to accentuate the 24 mill

As Houllier pointed out only Rooney and Drogba have scored more goals in the Prem over the last 5 years, 1 more in fact, so he should succeed with the number of players we have creating chances.

He might also free up more chances for the likes of the others too.

Part of the "extra" money is not being relegated. And part is if Bent becomes part of the England set up .......