I'm of the view that I'd rather WB stayed for another year.....though I think he will be sold....on the thinking that Zaha probably goes next year and they don't want a double whammy.

Personally I think its Sakho who should be sold.

He's aging and on big 'Benteke like' wages and as Benteke won't go to China we need to lower that wage bill.

Edited by Stirlingsays (19 Jun 2019 9.17am)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Real life is getting relegated and seeing your SKY money rapidly disappear.

Last season i thought that Sakho, when injured, was the player we missed most. Not saying he can’t be replaced but we either need one or two very good CB’s whenever he’s gone. It’s the stuff he does when we start possession at the very back or playing penetrative passes through the lines nearer the halfway line and patrolling the halfway line where we struggled badly without him under Roy’s rigid football.

I agree on your thoughts on Zaha and AWB. Unfortunately Zaha has to go at some point, or when he’s finished we’re probably relegated soon after anyway, just because any winger alone and no other additions with the usual budget will be bought too cheap.

Selling AWB first allows us to get closer to being ready for selling Zaha, and how much do we expect AWB’s value as a RB to increase in a year anyway?

COYP

I’m not sure who you/we expect to buy Sakho. He’s on £130k so that rules out most of Europe and he was essentially a Liverpool reject so that rules out England. Plus you say he’s injury prone. He’s badly missed imo but we overpaid and overpay to match his lfc wages but he’s still a crucial player. But if someone is interested and we have an excellent target in mind then fine.

COYP

R2-AWB2?

So I manage a Workshop which provides a safe learning environment for blokes struggling with PTSD and other mental health issues. Being a Palace fan isn't listed yet.

I agree with Sterling We need to do something about our financial position.

We have a number of players on mega salaries which if we are honest for a club our size / income needs to be addressed.

We have a few players who would be saleable for a reasonable price.

We also owe money on some of our more expensive purchases.

There is also the rumours about the sale of the club to foreign investors. This if they are the right investors may be the way forward if they invest in team and infrastructure and underwrite the debt.

So how do we lower wage bill? Firstly by terminating contacts such as Mutch , Puncheon etc. Secondly by offering less generous terms to fringe players on contract renewal possibly Souare and Wickham and I think has been happening as contracts come to an end. Sell some of our high earners, selling Zaha Sakho or Benteke? Firstly we need a buyer who will pay the fee and the wages. They will all have to be replaced too. I don't think there will be any takers for Zaha as his value to us as a club exceeds the benefits of sale. Sakho is a real possibility for sale and we are rumored to be looking at younger players. Benteke his lack of goals and loss of confidence mean finding a buyer is difficult. Aston Villa possibly? I think he will stay but we need to play to his strengths and Wilf and Andros need to be told to cross to his head.

Selling AWB will bring income but not reduce the wage bill as he is not on high wages and a replacement will probably earn more. I think that Man U will come in again and we will accept a figure of about £40 million up front, realistic extras such as a sellon clause of 20% ,call up for England, United to be in Champions League, win premiership, cups etc, plus the waiving of the Wilf sales clause. It really depends on how much United want him.

As I said earlier the potential purchase of club will be a huge factor as buyers will value club with AWB as an asset and may prefer to keep AWB and finance new purchases or offer less for club with him gone