Sounds daft saying it, but one point of note, and I’m aware of the clubs finances. Is £4,800 a week realistic for an in demand striker with 15 goals to sign. I know in real terms it’s a lot, but in football terms that’s a **** offer, he would get £10-12k Championship. We need to offer him with a step up if promoted and maybe a release clause of not. If we’ve offered him that flat long term then in this day and age, well he wasn’t gonna sign it.
But you also need to factor in that he was released by Man City then Fulham and we "took a chance on him". I wonder if he would have made a good shelf stacker if we had not taken the chance. This was reported on roker report btw "Despite a myriad of clubs being linked with Maja, there has not been as much interest in the player from Premier League sides due to the relatively high cost of acquiring a player who has only just made an impact at first team level. The 19-year-old was offered around £10,000 per week, with a rise included if we get promoted and a release clause if we miss out."
I don’t see him being released previously being a factor, many, many top players are. Where’s that £10k week/release clause from? The club seemed to state £4,800. If he’d been offered £10k he’d have signed before they finished offering.
I saw somewhere today or yesterday that our best offer was about 10k with the increase on promotion and release clause that you mention, like anything the press reports I've got no idea how true it is. Agreed that if it was 4.8k he'd be right to turn it down, he's better than that to be fair
Like I said it was on Roker report where has the club stated 4,800? - with regard to him being released previously it should have induced some loyalty, but I suppose nowadays that counts for f-all
Hopefully he will - personally I wonder even if he does would he be as effective in the championship if we go up.
In fairness to young players that can be a two way street. There's not much loyalty to players who go off the boil or get career threatening injuries most of the time so iffy you're in his situation there could well also be a voice in his head saying this may be the best position you are ever in to negotiate. Clubs used to be more loyal, players used to be more loyal. In fairness the Watmore situation shows you guys in a good light.
The offer was structured, with a release clause and offered the starting wage he asked for. We met all his demands. It's also come out(how true this is I don't know) that the agent never spoke to the club again once we set a deadline. Looks like he wants to leave and telling Ross he wanted to sign was nothing more than a play to deflect it onto his agent, probably both to keep Ross picking him and to keep fans on side. Worked like a dream. Hook line and sinker. Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk
Whereas the rest of us would happily work for our current employers for ever without any concern for the wage, indeed we would refuse to work for another Company no matter how much they were offering? Every year each Club issues a retained list. Every Club will release a whole raft of youngsters, mostly 18/21 year olds, into the big wide world with their lives in tatters along with their hopes. This is just another face of football. Loyalty doesn't come into it. (trying to be fair!!!) A footballer pays an Agent to do his thinking for him. The average footballer hasn't the experience to get the best deal for himself which is why they hire agents in the first place. Prior to the appearance in the game of Agents, The Clubs ripped the players off unmercifully. It's like how most of us hire an Estate Agent when selling a house, along with a solicitor. But you have to trust both and assume that both have your best interests at heart. If nothing else, Maja is likely to come away from all this, however it works out, with a better deal than if him and his Agent had simply accepted the first offer. Our best HOPE is that Maja is happy enough here to TELL his agent to accept the deal on offer. The so called deadline date was conjured up, by the Club to put pressure on the player. In contract terms it's meaningless. As at the time I'm typing this, it aint over yet.
Roy Hodgson has said he has never heard of Maja when asked if Palace were interested. Agent must have said it to press source. All part of the game but good on Roy for calling them out on it. I am sure if Palace were interested, he would know
Poor old Roy is at a stage where he nearly forgets to go to the toilet to take a pi55.....I take his comments with a pinch of salt
.. he could also be playing a game ... getting the message across that if interest is eventually shown, it won’t be that keen to be backed by offer of high wages
He is no fool. Anybody who can take a team to Man City and win is worthy of respect. If more managers came out when agents are riding the press to try to drive up wages or tout for business, it would be good for the game