CONFIRMED Anel Ahmedhodzic sold to Feyenoord

[metalblade]

We are threadbare at CB we have to bring in two new ones before we entertain selling Anel, that or settle for a mid table finish, maybe bottom half.

 

[Wards]

All depends on the money. Anything less than £5m we might as well keep him and let his contract run out At least we would have him for the season.

Not really if we can take the money and invest into a long term asset. £5m could see you get Hughes or another on a long deal. The alternative is having to find the same amount of money next summer when he leaves for nothing. We're not in a position where we can gamble that much.

 

[Slim Man]

Yeah I'm very open to him leaving.

He's a decent asset. He's not irreplaceable. Superb next to a Souttar type, less so next to someone who might be learning the ropes a bit like Bindon.

Flog him and get 2 centre halves in his place.

 

[Davalon]

Seems both sensible and a good deal if true.

Naturally the replacement(s) will be key to our performance but if he won't sign a new contract and we piss him off by not letting him go (subject to an acceptable fee) then keeping him could easily be worse than selling him.

 

[S64 Blade]

I don’t mind if he goes, but what I don’t mind is that we are already one centre back short and it’d be two, should Anel leave.

 

[blAdes96]

CB is threadbare.

It puts a lot of pressure on Jamal Baptiste & Sasnauskas, if one of Bindon or Robbo get injured. Not counting RND, given he's perpetually injured.

If Anel does go for €14.7mill - almost £13mill - it's a good price for someone entering last year of their contract.

It just would mean signing 2 permanently, we'd need to reinvest, which so far we've not seen - despite this "ambition" to be a premier league side...

 

[chesblade]

Trouble is if we sell and go for players abroad how long will the deal take, look how long the other one is taking

 

[Slim Man]

If we sell him he will be replaced. A side in our position cannot turn down an 8 figure or even high 7 figure offer for him. We know he's too weak for the Prem anyway and that's where we plan to get to.

 

[Maltby_blade]

We are threadbare at CB we have to bring in two new ones before we entertain selling Anel, that or settle for a mid table finish, maybe bottom half.

He would be replaced though wouldn’t he, so why the drama about finishing in the bottom half when it won’t happen.

 

[Pintor75]

For upwards of £14m he can go for me, not premiership class imo, so use the money to bring in another CB like Hughes or a loan similar to Holding till the JTW

 

[Mouth of the South]

FWIW I think he's a very good CB at Champ level and we'd be unlikely to get a better ball playing one if he leaves. Him and Bindon would be an interesting partnership, although they wouldn't frighten many CFs. Him and JLT just doesn't work.

That all said, the club has suffered previously from not managing players' expiring contracts well enough, and a glance across the city should be cast to see the worst case impact. Therefore, even though the timing is far from ideal, if the player has indeed indicated he won't sign an extension and the club receives what they feel is a suitable offer, I think it should deal.

I assume replacements/additions are already lined-up and just need to button to be pressed.

 

[Champagneblade]

Unless United are secretly rolling in cash which doesn’t appear to be the case then the club need to sell him this summer his value is only depreciating now until his contract expires and I’m not sure the club can afford to lose a valuable asset for nothing as you’d then need either to acquire a similarly valuable asset on a free or rely on an owner injection of cash to acquire that asset from a squad building point of view.

Better to trade him now and use the money raised to acquire an asset which will appreciate in value and help the team in the pitch this season.

Trade is the key point.

We can’t be just slowly dismantling the squad over time and replacing with loans and AI stuff.

As I’m trying to advocate as much to myself, we should wait until the window is done before we evaluate how good our policy is.

At present we have 3 first line centre backs and it’s clear that most would prefer Robbo as back up or replaced. Yes we have RND and he might be ok in Cup games unless he can prove he is fully over his injury. Sasnauskas and Baptiste seem a way off for now.

Like it or not, we started last season with Anel as our best defender, Vinny as our first choice midfielder and Moore as our starting striker. We could well have removed the lot.

There has to be some movement the other way. We need an excellent first choice centre half bringing in if Anel goes and we’ll have to pay for it.

Someone like Abdoulaye Ndiaye from Troyes. Was on loan at Brest in the division above. Left footed, 1.96m, rated at 4m on Transfermarkt.

Alternatively we could pull a bit of a shithouse move and ask Spurs to cancel Phillips’ loan and buy him outright. He hasn’t played for Stoke yet in competition. Spurs May need Stoke’s consent and it may depend if there is a break clause but if the player also expresses the desire then it might change things.

 

[KMC-1889]

Not really if we can take the money and invest into a long term asset. £5m could see you get Hughes or another on a long deal. The alternative is having to find the same amount of money next summer when he leaves for nothing. We're not in a position where we can gamble that much.

I good quality, proven, settled CB could be the difference between promotion and another season in the EFL. If we get promoted then losing out on £5m will be nothing.

Selling our starting CB a week before the season starts is a shocking idea because it’s an area of the pitch we’re already really weak in.

 

[CaptainMorgans]

I wonder how long it'll be until Jimmy Ramble appears on his Channel to tell us all we're negotiating with Feyernood for the sale of Anel.

#itk.

 

[PaddysMad]

I wonder if we are generating funds to have a busy end to window imo.

 

[Flatulent_Bob]

I wonder how long it'll be until Jimmy Ramble appears on his Channel to tell us all we're negotiating with Feyernood for the sale of Anel.

#itk.

I was about to ask, is all this off an obscure transfer website?

 

[Wards]

If we get promoted then losing out on £5m will be nothing.

And if we don't get promoted then £5m is a lot of money, especially so with no parachute payments. It's a gamble however it's dressed up.

If we learn anything from that lot then it's learning to sell when you need to before you start losing assets for nothing.

 

[Paisley Blade]

I don't like Depeche Mode so it's a yes from me.

 

[Moan? Nope-I saw Longhorn]

Oops

 

[FriethBlade]

FWIW I think he's a very good CB at Champ level and we'd be unlikely to get a better ball playing one if he leaves. Him and Bindon would be an interesting partnership, although they wouldn't frighten many CFs. Him and JLT just doesn't work.

That all said, the club has suffered previously from not managing players' expiring contracts well enough, and a glance across the city should be cast to see the worst case impact. Therefore, even though the timing is far from ideal, if the player has indeed indicated he won't sign an extension and the club receives what they feel is a suitable offer, I think it should deal.

I assume replacements/additions are already lined-up and just need to button to be pressed.

How's the saying go...'assumption is the mother of all mistakes' ?

As we 90% knew Souza would be off i assumed we had a replacement lined up for him and here we are 5 days before the start of the season with no CDM replacement.

Of course it makes sense accepting anything over 7m for s player who will leave for free in 12 months...but from a team and fan point of view it only makes sense if it is reinvested in a good permanent replacement. If its a loan w have then weakened 'our' squad with both the new loanee and Bindon disappearing in May.

 

[DifferentClass]

I don't like Depeche Mode so it's a yes from me.

Are you human mate?

 

[Addison]

Said my piece on Anel I dont want him to go but if he does we have to ensure we have ready made replacements through the door before he leaves adopting the same approach as we have with releasing Moore.

If Anel goes then who are the replacements lined up? Hall at the Stir suggests the club have identified these but we are less than 1 week away from the start of the season and the gaping hole at CB is becoming ever wider. Robinson starting if fit against BC is looking more and more likely a possibility. We will have learned nothing from last season if this happens as Bristol Citys wide players leave him for dead.

That is to say if JLT is fit and Bindon also. Unless there is a rapid turn around this week with incomings at CB we could be starting the season with a make shift defence and that is just not acceptable.

 

[brownblade]

The 14.7m quoted in the article is referencing a football website estimate - there's not a chance in hell we'd get anything like that much money.

Personally think £4m+ would be acceptable as he has a year left and everyone's still him struggle in the Prem. But obviously we need at least two CBs signed/almost signed before we sell Anel.

This could also be made up of course. But I'm sure some fake in the knows will give us some more information soon.

 

[Striker]

The ignorance of owners, who believe they can sell any of our players and replace them with someone cheaper.

The same mistakes, made over and over again, by people that don't understand competitive football.

99 times out of a hundred if you buy a cheaper player they're
"NOT AS GOOD AS THE ONE YOU SOLD" Doing this ensures you go backwards.

 

[Weasel]

I think most United fans have been patient with the club this summer re the team strengthening (or lack of of) considering we are had about 8 players out and only brought in 2 rookies (not including the overseas AI punts) but to be going into a season without sorting a replacement for Souza and getting in some experience for the back line is quite poor on the clubs part. I get we sometimes have to wait for the better options to become available but even so im sure most fans would have expected at least a couple more in by this stage and so close to the first game with perhaps a couple more nearer the transfer deadline. Even if there are reasons why the defensive midfielder isnt yet available (work permits or waiting for Everton to bring in their own targets first), there is still no real reason why we shouldn't have strengthened the back line by now.

I can quite understand why some fans are getting annoyed with the club and its recruitment strategy again. Oh well, let's judge the club when the window shuts blah blah blah... all whilst games are played in the meantime.

 

[Paisley Blade]

Are you human mate?

Borderline ( that is a tune).

 

[coolasanidiot]

The ignorance of owners, who believe they can sell any of our players and replace them with someone cheaper.

The same mistakes, made over and over again, by people that don't understand competitive football.

99 times out of a hundred if you buy a cheaper player they're
"NOT AS GOOD AS THE ONE YOU SOLD" Doing this ensures you go backwards.

Not even buying anything so far. These folks saying wait til end of window have got some superior level faith.

 

[FTPE]

This is one I'd only let go if we found his replacement FIRST. Everton won't let their young DCM come to us until they sign a replacement, why should we let Anel go until we do the same?
If we got £10-£20m for him then fine, but if we get £4-8m for him then I'd lineup a replacement first because if there isn't one at that value, he's worth keep and letting go next summer.

The yanks won't take the gambles the Prince did though. Walking out for free (regardless of this seasons impact) won't be an option.

 

[Moan? Nope-I saw Longhorn]

Even accepting that Sheffield United are the most incompetent inadequate insolvent & indolent of football clubs I do, in moments of (foolish) weakness, wonder whether the phrase ‘contingency planning’ has ever been uttered in the environs of Bramall Lane?
Or is (any) transfer business conducted in linear fashion whereby consideration of (potential ) signing is only initiated on the departure / absence of a player.
Conventional wisdom (sic) on here would appear to (strongly) suggest the latter

 

[brownblade]

The ignorance of owners, who believe they can sell any of our players and replace them with someone cheaper.

The same mistakes, made over and over again, by people that don't understand competitive football.

99 times out of a hundred if you buy a cheaper player they're
"NOT AS GOOD AS THE ONE YOU SOLD" Doing this ensures you go backwards.

That's a bit wild. Buying low and selling high works for all sorts of things in life, including football players, as we've seen a thousand times in the modern game!

No guarantees obviously.

There have always been some question marks over Anel's consistence and ability to step up. Importantly we'd lose him for free next summer unless he signs a new deal.

I'm happy for him to sign a new contract, I like him, but we've all been assuming that isn't going up happen.