To be fair, I wonder how many fans would be placated if he did? The world is so cynical now that it would all be taken with a huge block of salt.
In which case not only is there precedent for multiple bids being utterly meaningless but there is precedent : - this summer - with the same club - for a player who wasn’t a guaranteed first teamer at his club So a second bid isn’t immediately a sign of something untoward
I’ve said for a long time that JWP would be the only player I’d have no idea how to replace. Ings is replaceable, anyone else you want to pick too. The club will feel that way. His output in defence and attack, alongside the massive number of minutes he plays every season, means that he’d likely have to be replaced by two players just to cover the shift. That’s completely ignoring the set pieces, the leadership and also his status as poster boy for the academy. I don’t think we’re likely to get pressured enough by Villa. He’s too vital to fold on unless it’s for silly money or he really wants the move.
Chelsea had an £85m bid rejected for Lukaku. Why they ever sold him is beyond me. He’s always had all the tools to be an elite forward. It’s just been a matter of circumstance and experience.
Know what always cheers me up? Looking at Chelsea's 2013-14 roster. A roster that featured Lukaku, Mo Salah and Kevin de Bruyne, and couldn't find playing time for any of them. Lukaku went on loan to Everton, because they had to play Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto'o (both of whom were already past their prime); KdB was sold mid-season having barely seen the pitch, and Salah took his place. Wasn't long before he too was deemed surplus to requirements and farmed out on loan before getting sold to Roma. Just a tremendous evaluator of talent, is Jose Mourinho.
The coaching career of Mourinho is really fascinating to look back on. He’s obviously been hugely successful and has performed the odd miracle but his inability to play nicely with others really makes it feel like a “what if?” He should have been Chelsea’s Ferguson. Their talent vacuum at that time was peerless and they had the tools to dominate for a decade. Now it just looks like JM is just another ageing coach who the sport has passed by.
Their first bid was so derisory, in that light why would anybody at Saints bother issuing a response?
Just shows how ridiculous their resources are that they can make that many catastrophic choices, but it doesn’t hurt them because they can just spend their way out of it.
I am assuming that SLS was following the sayings involving senses in the thread before they commented. Mind you I should be careful When you assume things you make and ass out of you and me!
He's not the first player that Chelsea sold and then bought back for a lot more money than they sold him for