FFS

BTW, just to be pedantic; the answer to your question is yes. He has played on the wing many many times for Argentina with Messi in the centre. Please save the excuses because every theory you ever give is so black and white and for the sake of fairness, following on that theme, you have got it wrong... once again.

Edited by Mstrobez (16 Apr 2017 8.06pm)

Yeah, this is the whole point of the debate. Are a couple of seasons really worth it? He'll be released at 35 with no money made from an eventual sale.
Can't we find a 22-24 year old forward who can provide a similar amount of goals as Defoe in a couple of season AND be sold for some serious cash after that?

Ok. If you think Aguero runs and is hard-working I can't make you change your mind. From my perspective he isn't. I haven't watched Argentina's qualifiers, but after doing some research I saw that he has played on the wing for them as you said, but not many times, more like once a year, in order to appease Higuain, not Messi. The results have been disastrous and it was a master cluster****.

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In my opinion, he could never play as a winger in a competition like the PL.

Back to Defoe, he used to be much faster, but age doesn't pardon anyone. Now he doesn't run as much as he used to, instead he plays from experience, having better touches and better positioning. However, the clock is still ticking and by the time he would start playing for Palace he'd be 34. Maybe be a good back-up the first year (max 10 goals) and with a decline at 35 (maximum 5 goals per season).

Is that worth it? Don't look at it just from the perspective of acquiring him free. Look at it from the perspective of not promoting a younger forward who you could capitalize upon in 2 years.

It wasn't just Gayle.

Odion Ighalo- bought by Watford for 8 million, sold for 23,5

Matej Vydra- bought for 8,4 and sold for 12 after promoting the team to the Premier League

Berahino- team product, sold for 14 million

Gayle- bought for 5,3 and sold for 12 after many goals and assists in little playing time

Sterling- what's more to say about him? Team product, sold for 62,5 million

Brown Ideye- bought for 5,4, sold for 12 million

Benteke- bought from Genk for 9 million by Aston Villa, sold to Liverpool for 46,5

Lewis Grabban- bought by Norwich for 3,7 million, sold for 9,3

Lukaku- bought for 15 million, sold for 35,5

Shane Long- bought by Hull for 8,5, sold for 15

Luis Suarez- bought for 26,5, sold for 81,7

Danny Welbeck- club product, did very well as long as he played there, still brought in a profit of 20 million

Chicharito- bought from Mexico for 7 million, sold for 15 and they could have/ should have gotten more for him

Loic Remy- bought by QPR for 10,5 and sold for 16

Sadio Mane- bought for 15, sold for 41, 5

Wilfried Bony- bought for 16, sold for 32,3

All of those above were under 27 at the time they were bought, most actually under 23.
Enlisting a 34 year old player has to be done very carefully, taking his overall impact into account.

I went to an evening with Tony Cottee three weeks ago and he told the audience that was gathered - who included quite a few Hammers as you can imagine - that West Ham had already tied up a deal to resign him for next season.