Summer transfer, gossip, speculation and the usual butter ollocks thread

[N'ZMAV]

Michy Batshuayi: Chelsea striker set for contract extension and Crystal Palace loan

Would have been a decent loan signing.

[eamonn]

Bowen has looked very good for West Ham. If he played like that for us you'd be calling him our best post-lockdown player after Luiz. I'd rather we had overpaid for him than Watkins.

[kippaxvilla2]

£50m for two championship players.  Bit steep innit.

[N'ZMAV]

£50m for two championship players.  Bit steep innit.

McGinn, Grealish and Mings were Championship players not so long ago...

I'd have paid £50mil for a couple of them

[Mellin]

There's a lot of quality in the Championship. It's all about sourcing the right one(s). Championship player of the year probably isn't a bad place to start. None of ours managed that whilst we were down there and we had some very good (and bad) players.

[chrisw1]

If Bellingham went for £25m, Watkins, was always going to cost more.

I don't think there's any correlation.  I doubt there will be many clubs spending really big mnoney this window and I think Brentford are very lucky we were absolutely desperate.

Disagree. It's a market. A good young Championship player went for £25m, why would a better one cost less?

I just think they are very diffent signings.  Bellingham was a gamble on someone with incredible potential who Dortmund believe will go on to play at the very highest level of the game.  Watkins is a really good established Championship player, but he's 24 and has 3 full Championship seasons under his belt and top clubs aren't queing up for him.  I really like Watkins, but I feel there's a strong chance Bellingham will go on to greater things.

[villa for life]

Does it really matter whether he cost 15, 20, 25 or 30 million??

It’s all crazy amounts anyway..

[john e]

I like the price tag, it shows people we're not fucking about.

We've been fucking about for weeks.

So we should just pay whatever price a club wants and not try and negotiate?

Some top negotiations there getting that price down to 33 mill

[algy]

If Bellingham went for £25m, Watkins, was always going to cost more.

I don't think there's any correlation.  I doubt there will be many clubs spending really big mnoney this window and I think Brentford are very lucky we were absolutely desperate.

Disagree. It's a market. A good young Championship player went for £25m, why would a better one cost less?

I just think they are very diffent signings.  Bellingham was a gamble on someone with incredible potential who Dortmund believe will go on to play at the very highest level of the game.  Watkins is a really good established Championship player, but he's 24 and has 3 full Championship seasons under his belt and top clubs aren't queing up for him.  I really like Watkins, but I feel there's a strong chance Bellingham will go on to greater things.

To me it looks like strikers peak in their late 20s (look at the top scorers from last season...). Scoring bucketloads in the Championship from age 21-24 seems promising to me. We paid, what, £20m for Mings ... so £8m extra for a striker under those terms seems ok to me. Not bargain basement price right enough, but i don't think it's massively overpriced either.

[Clampy]

I like the price tag, it shows people we're not fucking about.

We've been fucking about for weeks.

So we should just pay whatever price a club wants and not try and negotiate?

Some top negotiations there getting that price down to 33 mill

£28m and they might have wanted more than that seeing as some goes to Exeter.

[Ads]

If Bellingham went for £25m, Watkins, was always going to cost more.

I don't think there's any correlation.  I doubt there will be many clubs spending really big mnoney this window and I think Brentford are very lucky we were absolutely desperate.

Disagree. It's a market. A good young Championship player went for £25m, why would a better one cost less?

I just think they are very diffent signings.  Bellingham was a gamble on someone with incredible potential who Dortmund believe will go on to play at the very highest level of the game.  Watkins is a really good established Championship player, but he's 24 and has 3 full Championship seasons under his belt and top clubs aren't queing up for him.  I really like Watkins, but I feel there's a strong chance Bellingham will go on to greater things.

That's fair enough and I agree with a lot of what you say. I do think though that the Championship's best players cost good money. Bellingham is not so far along and Dortmund are gambling more, but he is still a talent and that costs a premium.

There's been rumours of interest from others in Watkins too and Dortmund have to box clever given the finances over there; Sancho, Haarland, Bellingham etc.

I like Watkins and the fee doesn't bother me.

[ChicagoLion]

Would the people moaning about the price be moaning more or less if we went another day without buying someone?

[KevinGage]

The price is really only a factor if going higher than we wanted impacts on further deals and means we might have to settle for a second choice winger of midfielder.  None of us truly know if that's the case.

We could have waited until towards the end of the window and chance the notion that Brentford's resolve may weaken. But the risk there is it wouldn't or someone else nips in.

As it is -if we tie this up fairly early this week - Watkins has the best part of two weeks with us to prepare for the Sheff U game.

[Londonvilla]

EDUARDO CAMAVINGA is who I want next for our midfield as we need 2 players who are young with resale value.

I think £28m plus add on should get him

[LeeB]

EDUARDO CAMAVINGA is who I want next for our midfield as we need 2 players who are young with resale value.

I think £28m plus add on should get him

Me too pal, but I think the best clubs in Europe will as well.