I’ve heard two things. Arsenal want a low buy back clause. And Joes representatives want a low min fee release clause. I’ve heard they want it to be as low as 30m!
**** that, Scousers pulled that stroke last season with Sheffield United, a clause saying they could buy him back at the same price if he comes good effectively using us as feeder clubs, no surprise it's a top 6 club.
The delay is length of contract and wages. He wants a short contract, we want him to have a long contract. He also wants a release clause in case we get relegated.
I've no issue with him wanting a release clause if we go down. The figure would need to be at least a few million more than we paid but realistically we'd be looking to offload players at that point anyway. I'd also not have a problem of a buy back clause or a release to Champion league teams for +15m on what we buy him for, Obviously it's better if it's not in there but if that's what it takes then i get it. If he then has a storming season and we lose him for a profit of only 10-15million then we're still presumably safe for a season up overall. I fear this may be coming more common place. I don't like it but it's hard to fight it from where we're at. Anything under £40m can f*ck off though, otherwise the risk/reward ratio doesn't feel in our favour.
With Steve Bruce openly claiming in the media that Willock is our number one priority and doing so on countless occasions it just puts the pressure on. It puts the club in a bad place when it comes to negotiating terms. Willocks agents can play on it.
I don't think it's wages that's the 1st conclusion people come to. It'll as we've both said be the clause
The sudden bids for the other 2 have lead me to the conclusion that things are not looking good at all
Them bids make us look desperate. But may also be to manipulate Willock representatives to lower their demands. We like to piss players off don’t we.