Not a lot admittedly I do think though that Bellamy's track record with things off the pitch was quite a bit better than Berahino's at the same point of their careers, and hadn't fallen out with any of his managers to nearly the same extent as Berahino has thus far. This should be factored into the fee, which I don't believe it is if we are planning on a bid for £18 million.
Bellamy didn't cost £18 million.
Bellamy cost £6.5m in 2001.
I don't have 'average fee' data over the years, so I thought I'd reference the British transfer record instead. At that time Rio Ferdinand was the most expensive British transfer at £29,100,000. Nowadays that record goes to Gareth Bale, at £85,300,000. That is 2.93 times how much Rio cost.
Bellamy's £6.5m * 2.93 = £19,053,265.
So you're right. We shouldn't be paying £18m, we should be paying £19m.
I don't agree with using Bale as the most expensive British transfer - it's Real Madrid doing the buying in that instance and their spending power is far greater than any of the British clubs. Bale is also the most expensive player in the world, not just Britain, and an anomaly in the sense that he is the only British player to my knowledge to hold that particular accolade. Zidane, his equivalent in 2001, went for £45 million - 50% more than Ferdinand, the most expensive British player. If you instead use the most expensive player bought by a British club as the benchmark - Angel di Maria at £59.7 million (ignoring Martial and his weird add-ons until they kick into play further down the line) - di Maria works out at 2.051 times the price of Rio, which would lower Bellamy's modern day fee to £13,335,052.
Jesus Christ.
This coming from the man who just dug out the biggest transfer fee we received in 2001?
Appreciate I was splitting hairs a bit in the previous post but at least let me get things back to Berahino:
- If we're using the sum we paid Coventry for Bellamy in 2001 as a yardstick for Berahino's relative worth, I don't think £19 million is a good deal.
- Regardless of what it would cost to sign Berahino, I simply don't like the guy. Pulis is probably the last guy I'd want to bring a talented youngster through the ranks but there's a real arrogance about Berahino that grates (as odd as it sounds, that FA Cup game against a lower league side where he scored 4 goals and couldn't even crack a smile springs to mind - as if the game was completely beneath him. He also got into a fight with James Morrison, who's hardly Roy bloody Keane). I know he's young, but his attitude seems a million miles away from those in his peer group - the likes of Kane, Barkley, Dier, Stones who all come across as consummate professionals despite their age. We have quite a likable squad at the moment who are beginning to turn it around on the pitch; I'm not sure I'd want to risk disrupting that by bringing in a bad egg. I rate McClaren as a coach but less so as a man-manager and I'd question his ability to get a talented but rebellious youngster on the straight and narrow.
So you like Kane, Barkley, Dier and Stones, but you hate Berahino.
I wonder what those 4 players have in common, that Berahino does not.
I wonder if there's something different about him. Hmmm.
http://i.imgur.com/SapANEE.jpg
:lol:
