AyeDubbleYoo

is the fact that he makes our team significantly better not reason enough? No, because that would defeat the point of having any limits on wages. You are killing me man. Seriously, what the fuck does this club have to do that you won't try and find a way to justify? What are you talking about? Obviously 'improving our team' isn't reason enough to pay someone excessive wages, or we would be back to square one with finances. I want us to keep him, and I've posted in this thread saying it's difficult to say where the balance should be struck. I'm not trying to justify anything, nothing has even happened FFS. What do you think is a fair wage cap? I've no idea, and I've said as much on many threads. It doesn't matter to me how much a footballer gets paid, all of their wages are ridiculous. Relatively, I would put him in the Tiote/HBA bracket and offer him whatever they're on. I've also said that I've got very little evidence to judge whether our current wage structure is fair or not. But in principle I'm in favour of the attempt to control wages, and not just fill the squad with players who are only here for the money.

is the fact that he makes our team significantly better not reason enough? No, because that would defeat the point of having any limits on wages. You are killing me man. Seriously, what the fuck does this club have to do that you won't try and find a way to justify? What are you talking about? Obviously 'improving our team' isn't reason enough to pay someone excessive wages, or we would be back to square one with finances. I want us to keep him, and I've posted in this thread saying it's difficult to say where the balance should be struck. I'm not trying to justify anything, nothing has even happened FFS.

is the fact that he makes our team significantly better not reason enough? No, because that would defeat the point of having any limits on wages.

Of course. I'd be shocked if he asked for more than them though. Shouldn't be a problem then, he should be signing!

I know it's good to have good fullbacks, but they need to be tidy rather than brilliant IMO. What I meant was that there would be very little reason to pay Jose more than Tiote or HBA, for argument's sake.

If Tiote and HBA agreed to contracts that were within the mythical 'wage structure' then I'm sure Jose should as well. He's a good player, but at the end of the day he's a LB and they aren't that important.

It's really based on even less than that. Basically it's just the fact that people expect Mike Ashley to do everything they don't want, in this case sell Enrique.

Yeah, but we're about the 10th best club in the league and he's about the 4th best LB. That's a rough guess, but you see what I mean!

Situations change and people don't tell the press the whole truth, it's hardly news.

There's still no evidence that we are actively looking to sell Enrique just because we want to make a profit on him, I would be surprised if that's the case. The Carroll deal was exceptional, the fee was insane.

You could maybe have described Simpson as poor when he first joined, but now he's a capable Premier League RB. He backs off a bit too much for fans' tastes, but then most defenders do.

There's a truth to it though, isn't there? I mean, we know how futile and harmful it can be to 'show ambition' by just splashing money around.

He will start next season in the first team, and rightly so IMO.

Yep, it's one of the best signings we've made for years.

On a serious note, you have to wonder why we haven't just sent him back to Villa already.

I don't think money will be the deciding factor, he might just be ready for a change and a move to a better club. Even Liverpool have lost a few of their best players in the last couple of seasons.

Good post, it would have been a miracle if we had got a result with that team. Shame our next game is Man Utd, but we'll bounce back as we have done before.

If my club was spending £15m on Enrique I would be over the moon.

I think this a point we need to remember when the inevitable backlash starts.

Anywhere that he gets minutes in a decent team and gets knocked about a bit will be great for him. Maybe Leeds if they send Sanchez Watt back to Arsenal.

Is this irony?

The Boycoutt?

Is that based on anything? I know Ashley is dodgy to say the least, but I wouldn't think he would make a manager choose which one of his best players to keep. Each deal will be considered on its merits.

I'm not arguing about the fact of whether we can offer him what he might want. Firstly, nobody knows what that amount is, and secondly nobody knows how it compares with the club's wage policy. Thirdly, nobody knows whether the wage policy is reasonable or not! Fourthly, nobody knows whether it's about money or if any amount would convince him to sign. I hope we keep him, but I don't know anywhere near enough to judge whether the club has managed this correctly.

Well it all comes off the bottom line anyway, obviously contracts and signing-on fees have to be considered alongside other spending.