Wilson

What to do?

I love him. As I'm sure everyone does.

The only problem has obviously been injuries.

I can understand the idea of selling him for £15 - 20M especially since it's his last year of contract and we have to be careful of FFP.

Not long ago(yes I'm fickle) I was of the opinion that selling him and getting a younger version in made sense.

Does it?

We won't get a younger fitter version of Wilson for anything less than say £40M.

I think we have other areas to focus on, then go out and spend our whole budget on an Isak competitor/partner when Wilson's contract expires and he can have a nice goodbye and a good last paycheck.

As long as Wilson accepts being second choice, we can spend on a new GK, 2 new CB's a RW, a proper DM and a LB.

Wilson would have less chance to get injured. With a good RW, Gordon would have more rest and could fill in if really necessary at CF.

Thoughts?

It's a real difficult one.

Cal always comes back and scores goals when he's fit. You can't doubt the mans quality, nor his bullet proof self-belief & mentality.
That is never in doubt.

However, when you look at the numbers and see that he as missed 45-50% of all matches since we signed him. We just can't accommodate that kind of player. Top 4 teams have 22 players in the squad that are available.

Anthony Gordon's comment "what is a players best ability? It's Avail-ability!" He is right.

R9 one of the greatest players I've ever seen play the game. He would have cast a shadow over the world of football not even Messi or CR7 would have been able to step out from under. Sadly his fitness was never there and he missed so much football.

Wilson is of that mould. Cal's GtG ratio is right up there. However, we need a guy who's gonna be available for 28-30 a season.

Sadly, that guy is not Calum Wilson!

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Originally Posted by usedtobeshearer

Not long ago(yes I'm fickle) I was of the opinion that selling him and getting a younger version in made sense.

Does it?

We won't get a younger fitter version of Wilson for anything less than say £40M.

Thoughts?

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Striker and Right wing are the two key positions we/the club will spend big money on in the summer.

The summer transfer budget is gonna be £100-150m.
With a free'd up wage bill of £300,000/week with the players out of contract and the sale of Jamal Lewis & the midget Fraser as examples of how we need to streamline the squad the board have plenty of room to manoeuvre.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ragatino

It's a real difficult one.

Cal always comes back and scores goals when he's fit. You can't doubt the mans quality, nor his bullet proof self-belief & mentality.
That is never in doubt.

However, when you look at the numbers and see that he as missed 45-50% of all matches since we signed him. We just can't accommodate that kind of player. Top 4 teams have 22 players in the squad that are available.

Anthony Gordon's comment "what is a players best ability? It's Avail-ability!" He is right.

R9 one of the greatest players I've ever seen play the game. He would have cast a shadow over the world of football not even Messi or CR7 would have been able to step out from under. Sadly his fitness was never there and he missed so much football.

Wilson is of that mould. Cal's GtG ratio is right up there. However, we need a guy who's gonna be available for 28-30 a season.

Sadly, that guy is not Calum Wilson!

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Can't disagree with any of that.

He's sadly always going to be a gamble.

But with financial restrictions..we have to gamble somewhere.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by usedtobeshearer

What to do?

I think we have other areas to focus on, then go out and spend our whole budget on an Isak competitor/partner when Wilson's contract expires and he can have a nice goodbye and a good last paycheck.

As long as Wilson accepts being second choice, we can spend on a new GK, 2 new CB's a RW, a proper DM and a LB.

Wilson would have less chance to get injured. With a good RW, Gordon would have more rest and could fill in if really necessary at CF.

Thoughts?

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GK - Mamardashvili will be the perfect summer acquisition at £25-30m

CBs - Adarabioyo from Fulham on a free & Potentially Llyod Kelly from Bournemouth also for free makes the most sense in terms of smart business

RW - Soule from Juve would be my first choice, fits the model 20yrs old, massive potential, has end product again £25-30m

LB - as mentioned in the Lewis Hall thread. I really don't think people are giving Targett the respect he deserves. Hall & Targett are both good enough to mean we don't need to spend in this position. Adding Llyod Kelly for free means LB is not a position we need to invest in this summer. With BDB as a 3rd/4th choice option we're well stocked at LB

DMF - the only time we've had conversations about needs a holding defensive midfielder is when we've been shredded by injuries and Tonali not being available. Moreover, Eddie Howe has shot down the questions in press conferences that we require or that he even wants a static No.6. Eddie's Philosophy is for a fluid playing style where players can seamlessly drop in to multiple positions, Joelinton playing wide left or in Left Centre Mid .

I just don't think the club will go in for a midfielder as a priority. On the books currently we have:
Tonali, Joelinton & Bruno as the first choice starting 3
Willock, Anderson & Longstaff as second choice 3
Young Lewis Miley has all the potential in the world to force his way into those positions and prove we are well covered in the middle of the park.

Eddie wants to have a variety of players with different profiles in the squad Wilson does offer the long ball as his hold up play is an advantage when we are against teams that are gonna pressure us.

We went in strong for Benjamin Šeško last summer when he was at Salzburg before he want to Leipzig. We've maintained that interest. the word is that the club have continued the discussion with RB football group to secure the signature of the player. There is interest in the player from across Europe. He would be my choice to replace Wilson.

At Wilsons age with his record of being unavailable, as mentioned above. We simply can't rely on him. If he's happy to be in the mix with Isak and Benjamin Šeško then I'd keep him but no doubt he'll want to play when fit. I just get the feeling that that will not be at NUFC next season.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by usedtobeshearer

Can't disagree with any of that.

He's sadly always going to be a gamble.

But with financial restrictions..we have to gamble somewhere.

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Kieran McGuire 'the Price of Football' Podcast had gone through NUFC's financial situation at a granular level.

Our issue is not the acquisition of players. It's always been about wages v income.

As mentioned in previous posts "Thread: Contracts ending in the summer"

Wilson is on £46,000 / week
Miggy is on £60,000 / week
Dubz is on £40,000 / week

= £377,000/week if we move them on in the summer too.

The club will have a boat load of cash off the books.

Check out the "Thread: Contracts ending in the summer" to get a bit more info on where we are financially.

What I would add to this thread is that Eddie said yesterday that he wants to keep him and will do everything he can to make that happen.

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Originally Posted by Zippity

What I would add to this thread is that Eddie said yesterday that he wants to keep him and will do everything he can to make that happen.

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I do concede that if he can stay fit and is available in and around the squad the strength of that self-belief, individual ability to win a game & his vast experience in the dark arts of the game would be a huge benefit to the likes of Isak & Sesko, should we bring him in to the squad.

Wilson is NUFC's 2nd highest premier league goal scorer of all time only bested by Shearer. If Cal is happy to work as part of a 3 man strike force in rotation then we'll have frightening options.

Hard to say, when you dont know who you can bring in as replacement...

...but like I have said many times before. Hes too much injured to be a ***** part of our squad. When you need him theres a 50 % chance hes out with injury.

I would say, sell and cash in while there is still some value there.

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