[Albion] Lewis Dunk to Chelsea? EDIT: New 5 Year Deal Signed

[darkwolf666]

Added to this list he absolutely deserves the chance to earn more than a Championship runners up medal, not saying we won't be ever be in the mix for silverware but this is potentially quite a few years down the track.

That raises a very good question.

What do professional footballers play football for?

To play to the highest standard to the best of their ability?
To win lots of trophies?
To earn lots of money?
Because they enjoy doing something they are good at (with a combination of the 3 above)?

 

[SimpKingpin]

That raises a very good question.

What do professional footballers play football for?

To play to the highest standard to the best of their ability?
To win lots of trophies?
To earn lots of money?
Because they enjoy doing something they are good at (with a combination of the 3 above)?

Everyone is different. You know the answer already.

The club should avoid players who are simply in it for the money (Locadia anyone?).

The most ambitious players will likely want a chance at silverware, possibly Europe, possibly a legacy.

Depends if they enjoy playing or not.
I know plenty of very successful players in the world of esports who make a LOT of money and hate the games they play. Luckily the amount of money they make is conditional on performance (prize money).

Anyway, long story short, that’s why you need to hang onto the young ambitious players like Ben White and not cash them in immediately. The cash you get may be able to buy you a couple of less ambitious players because, let’s be real, the most ambitious players aren’t looking at Brighton and going “I want to play in In the UCL so I think I’ll go to Brighton”.

We have to be realistic and not deluded.

Anyway, sorry for hijacking your question to make a point about ambition and player management / recruitment.


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[Albumen]

Good luck to him.

 

[Berty23]

If dunk goes then we will have exchanged our captain and club legend for 39 millions quid and an established Dutch international and champions league player. Dunk has been absolutely brilliant for us but if we want to be able to sign top players we need to allow some to move to bigger clubs. It will hurt losing Dunk who has been exceptional but if we can spend that money on a left back and a striker than veltman plus LB and striker feels like an improvement given we also have Clarke and White to come in.

I will definitely be hoping dunk does well at Chelsea and gets his chance for England at the Euros. I will be annoyed when on the third match of the day of the season they do a special feature on his passing and say “look at the distribution he has added to his game since the move”

 

[um bongo molongo]

I don't think anyone would think that no player in the current Brighton team is irreplaceable, but the key word is "improvement", is Henderson an improvement...

Yes, in my opinion. But I’d improve our attacking or midfield options first, personally.

 

[blockhseagull]

If this happens there are a few of us here who will be owed apologies.

A few of us called out issues with Matty Ryan’s performances this season and were utterly pilloried for daring to suggest we could improve the GK position.

No chance of it happening

At all

In the slightest

 

[severnside gull]

Good luck to Dunk if it happens.
I still don’t see anything beyond speculation based on his not being in publicity shots but it could be a game changer in terms of squad building so let’s see

 

[GloryDays]

If this happens there are a few of us here who will be owed apologies.

A few of us called out issues with Matty Ryan’s performances this season and were utterly pilloried for daring to suggest we could improve the GK position.

Haha.

 

[darkwolf666]

If this happens there are a few of us here who will be owed apologies.

A few of us called out issues with Matty Ryan’s performances this season and were utterly pilloried for daring to suggest we could improve the GK position.

I hear this fella is quite good, but apparently he is a bit too short...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtModd--3zY

 

[Super Steve Earle]

I'd invest in a left wing back.

I'd pay a good amount of money for another Lamptey.

Yet Lamptey showed that Lampteys needn't be too expensive.

 

[darkwolf666]

Good luck to Dunk if it happens.
I still don’t see anything beyond speculation based on his not being in publicity shots but it could be a game changer in terms of squad building so let’s see

I can see how the publicity shots thing good cloud some people's judgement, as granted, you wouldn't want to plaster a player all over your merchandising pages if he is off shortly! However, having said that, maybe it was thought time for a change of face in the kit shots, etc.

Only time will tell...

 

[GloryDays]

No disrespect to Ryan but Henderson is a fantastic keeper, this would be an upgrade.

Respectfully disagree. I would be at a loss to explain why the club deem it necessary to replace MR unless, of course, he is being coveted by a bigger team playing in Europe. MR is in the top 5 keepers in the league. A timely reminder last night that Ederson is total junk and if he faced half pressure MR faced each game he’d have RSI from picking the ball out the net - IMO.

 

[el punal]

It seems to me that the club has a policy of NOT selling their important players regardless of the offer on the table. Remember the saga of Dale Stephens at the start of 2016/17 season when he asked to leave. Tony Bloom/the club dug their heels in and said no - Stephens got his shit together, knuckled down and got over it.

As for Lewis Dunk? Probably the same applies. We are in the process of building a strong squad with the aim of being a PL top ten side. Why on earth would you then want to get rid of your most valuable players who would be instrumental in achieving that aim?

The club I identify in doing the exact opposite to us is Southampton. The number of superb players they’ve let go in the last few years who could easily have made the Saints a powerhouse side is baffling - even more so when you consider who they replaced them with.

 

[blockhseagull]

If it HAS to happen then £40m plus Tomori on loan for a year might make it easier.

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

And if that’s not all enough, he’s a Chelsea fan, and this is his last chance of a big move.

Not to mention he'd be in with a shout of going to the Euros if he went to Chelsea. Can't see Southgate picking him while he's at the Albion sadly

 

[Uncle C]

No disrespect to Ryan but Henderson is a fantastic keeper, this would be an upgrade.

Too tall.

 

[GT49er]

If it HAS to happen then £40m plus Tomori on loan for a year might make it easier.

I'd rather get that young lad everybody's talking about from Leeds on loan!

 

[Simster]

I'll be amazed if this doesn't happen, especially as Spurs are sniffing around him too. But Chelsea can offer UCL football next season, so he'd jump at the chance. I'm not that disappointed either because although it will weaken our side, I think we'll be ok and most importantly, this is exactly how it should be.

You have to factor in that Dunk has been here for 9 years, forced himself into a regular squad place, then took captaincy. We've done really well in the Championship in his time here, then won promotion to the Premier league, and then he was a massive factor in us staying there for 3 seasons. He didn't even cost us a fee as he came through the youth system, so when an offer of £40m comes in from a big top 4 club (and one that he supported as a boy), we can't very well say "it's not enough" unless we want a reputation as a club that stands in the way of ambitious players.

That'll be part of the reason Ben White won't be unhappy about returning. He knows he'll get his chance here and if he's good enough, he'll get a similar chance.

 

[Mancgull]

If Dunk does go I don't think it reflects a lack of ambition on our part. Three things seem to be driving it.

We have stood in Dunk's way of a move before and if he now gets the chance to join his boyhood team, then we won't stand in his way now. Look what doing that consistently has done to Palace and Zaha. A demotivated player who now they can't get rid of.

Secondly, Chelsea have met our asking price ( if all this is true that is). £40m - £45m for a player who is 29 soon and quite possibly has now peaked is good business. We can spend that on other players. AMN would take a big wedge to get and this money is the only way we could afford someone like that.

Finally we have a good succession plan in place with Veltman, Clarke and White, the latter being a player that could be even better than Dunk himself. Also in terms of leadership we have Lallana on board.

If he's going to go, now is the time. I'll still be sad though if he does depart.

 

[Simster]

It seems to me that the club has a policy of NOT selling their important players regardless of the offer on the table. Remember the saga of Dale Stephens at the start of 2016/17 season when he asked to leave. Tony Bloom/the club dug their heels in and said no - Stephens got his shit together, knuckled down and got over it.

As for Lewis Dunk? Probably the same applies. We are in the process of building a strong squad with the aim of being a PL top ten side. Why on earth would you then want to get rid of your most valuable players who would be instrumental in achieving that aim?

The club I identify in doing the exact opposite to us is Southampton. The number of superb players they’ve let go in the last few years who could easily have made the Saints a powerhouse side is baffling - even more so when you consider who they replaced them with.

I mean no disrespect but think this is backward thinking. Southampton are a club similar in size to us, but have been hugely successful for most of the past 40 years. In the modern era, they have either bought or developed some world class players, notably Bale, Mane and VVD but have had several others who went on to much bigger clubs (Theo Walcott, Luke Shaw, the Ox, Alderweild etc). How many of those players do you think would have joined in the first place if they had a reputation of blocking transfers that those players dreamed about?