Why would Eze be at the Afcon? He will be in the England setup by then

Because they left the door open for him to change his mind. He's not going to get a 2 year deal so that's why he ran his contract down however he may decide that better the devil... in which case we can re-sign him with minimum fuss on the deal he originally rejected.

It may not happen but who knows.

One more point

Has dazza slipped down the back of a couch or something? ,although the links/rumours have been sparse on Twitter lately hence why Reliable D hasn’t been around as much…….

Or because there is nothing happening!

Hmm, I see no floodgate issue here. 2/3 players a season will be able to make that case; only if they want to; and the club will consider it on its merits.

2 years works well with me for Kouyate. Does not take him past Jimmy Mac's age (or does it?).

I think it depends upon how its been integrated - if its a cast iron rule or if its a guideline consideration where there is the possibility where every case is decided upon its merits - in which case who decided which merits are more relevant ?

As others have said how will they handle the Zaha situation, perhaps offer him a new deal whilst still 29 ?

Additionally how many other guideline rulings are there (that we haven't heard about within the club) which could be effected by either upholding or an eroding of this one ?

Difficult to say -

But at the moment it seems as though the club is insisting on it being a one year deal & presumably the player is insisting that he wants more security than that - bit of a stalemate but the clock is ticking / the season is starting & presumably the club have a plan to go forward without him if necessary.