They could offer him £50K/week, with a signing fee of £4.5M for a 3 year deal. That would nearly equal his current deal and not break the wage cap. And it would be cheaper than trying to get a replacement of sufficient quality IMO.
What, and keep this ludicrous signing fee a secret from the rest of the squad? Righto.
Who said it it would be kept a secret? Look at it like Coloccini replacing Coloccini.
Would the players object transfer fees/signing fees being paid for his replacement as well then?