The Sun saying we're in for Dwight McNeil. Not heard anything on that one Dazza? Would have thought more $20m than the $10m we've allegedly proposed:

'Crystal Palace want to sign Dwight McNeil from Burnley while West Ham also admire the English winger, 22, but Burnley are likely to want more than the £10m the London clubs would be ready to pay. (Sun)'

I'd be surprised if we're basing any of our forward-planning based on Ferguson being fit for any length of time.

He hasn't played more than a game at a competitive level in years.

Surely this must be Fake, how many left footed wingers do we need, Olise, Ebiowei, Rak-Sakyi, Schlupp and even Ayew who is right footed plays on the right, only way we would buy McNeil is if Olise was leaving, a right footer as cover for Wilf (if he stays) would be better

“That’s a joke son, I say, that’s a joke.” “Nice boy, but he’s sharp as a throw pillow.” “He’s so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent” “ “Son… I say, son, some people are so narrow minded they can look through a keyhole with both eyes.”__ Forhorn Leghorn

West Ham are supposedly after him so maybe Burnley are trying to drum up some competition?

One more point

No, it's the other way round.

All UK transfers must be paid for in full within 12 months and a minimum of 50% must be paid upfront. Most transfers are therefore 50% on date of signing and 50% in 12 months. Some clubs can request all the money upfront - i suspect we this this for Plange.
The only way around this is with add ons as these are not guaranteed. Making the add on quite easy to obtain is a way around this.

Foreign transfers have no such limitations so it is up to the 2 clubs to agreed. Usually it is over the length of the contract but the selling club will usually request as much as they can upfront. So say over 3 years it might be 40% upfront and 20% for the next 3 anniversaries.

A few years ago when Arsenal were after Zaha i think they bid c£40m claiming that was all they could afford, yet a few days later went out and paid £72m for Pepe. I strongly suspect that £72m was spread over a 4 or 5 year payment schedule

Plus points for McNeil:

- Negates the need to sign another striker if Benteke goes. We rotate Edouard and Mateta knowing we can use Zaha as a third option and still have cover out wide.
- Has played 134 games in the Premier League and is only 22
- This summer he is probably the cheapest he'll ever be due to Burnley's situation and his name being out of the headlines for a while - Burnley wanted £30m for him a couple of years ago. It'd be difficult for him to be worth less money at the end of his next contract if we signed him.
- Other than Zaha, we don't have another player who would say their preferred position is LW, other than maybe Eze who many want to see in a central midfield 3. Ebiowei, Olise, Rak-Sakyi, Ayew all prefer the right and Edouard isn't good enough defensively to consistently play on the left.

Downside:

- He's only scored 7 Premier League goals with 17 assists in 134 games. Even with Burnley's record, that's not good.
- It could mean taking money away from higher priority positions.

Summary:

In short, if the club is bringing in McNeil with a view to moving on Benteke then I can see where they're coming from - financially it starts to net out and we have a cheaper, younger, experienced prospect that we'll likely make money on.

If McNeil is an incremental signing, it doesn't make much sense at all. We end up with a lot of players of about the same ability.

26th January 2010 - Enter Administration
2nd May 2010 - D-Day 1 - Survival at Hillsborough
1st June 2010 - D-Day 2 - Survival at Lloyds
7th June 2010 - CPFC2010 exchange contracts.

But Vieira likes a Right-Footed player on the Left

“That’s a joke son, I say, that’s a joke.” “Nice boy, but he’s sharp as a throw pillow.” “He’s so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent” “ “Son… I say, son, some people are so narrow minded they can look through a keyhole with both eyes.”__ Forhorn Leghorn

When he first entered the scene I thought he'd be a perfect replacement for Andros but that we wouldn't have a chance signing him!

He has gotten noticeably worse every season however and I would be keen but only at a cut price. Although I am possibly the greatest footballing mind the world has ever known I could very well be proved wrong on this one. All a bit hypothetical for now in any case.

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

That's true, which makes it kind of ironic linking his possible arrival as counter-balanced by Benteke's possible exit (earlier post). If you were bringing him in, you would actually want to hold on to Benteke as he's our only really decent header of the ball, and with McNeil he would definitely get good service.

So what might look like a cheaper deal on paper, might actually be an expensive one if we had to hold on to Benteke to reap any real benefits.

Edited by antipodeagle (04 Jul 2022 10.57pm)

Yep, we might miss the two goals he's scored in his four years with us.

[I like Kouyate btw and think we should keep him, but using his height to get on the end of crosses ain't one of the reasons why. He reminds me of me: I'm 6'3 and play CB in an old mans' league,but I might as well be 5'5 for all the use I am with my noggin).