03 Jul 2026 19:24:56
No Xhaka for us, Sunderland wanted £30mil.
03 Jul 2026 21:44:39
I'm disappointed, but at the cost Sunderland wanted, definitely right to walk away.
03 Jul 2026 22:13:00
I wouldn't have valued him much more than our initial £8m bid, so no thanks from me!!
03 Jul 2026 23:04:34
Tom, I would not bid more than £3 million for him. I do even wonder if this is all Twitter talk as well, designed to pick up the naive....
03 Jul 2026 23:57:22
Quite possibly... Say we want experience, make a low ball offer for a player, say we tried at least and then sign another kid.... It is the Blueco way after all.
04 Jul 2026 13:18:48
So, out of interest, what should the club have paid for him?
04 Jul 2026 14:55:07
Tom,
Value now does not matter, he is not coming.
04 Jul 2026 18:56:39
Bill, I generally don't care about any transfer fee as I see it as a "club valuation" issue. As I posted when this deal was first mentioned. I think it will boil down to what the "player" wants.
My question was one of interest in how high other posters rate the player. I personally don't think we should go above £12m at a push. I also think this deal might well be back on the table at some stage.
05 Jul 2026 08:56:52
15m, maybe even up to 20m. Is he worth that much? Probably not, but if Alonso wants him and he'll help, then I don't mind overpaying a little bit. In general a £20m signing is pocket change.