[Albion] Bissuoma

[MJsGhost]

He is an amazing player (see my avatar from when he joined us). But he is likely to go one day, perhaps this Summer. It won't be because someone held a gun to our heads though - it will be because we got a price that made it worth while for us, and our plans.

As Swiss Ramble said today, we have said that player sales will become part of our business model. Why else do you think we're investing so heavily in young talent?

[tweet]1356140192348958720[/tweet]

100% this.

There is no contradiction between aiming for top 10 status and selling the odd star player on the way to finance that journey - if the club doesn't keep a lid on the losses, there is no club in the long term (certainly not a successful one).

The ultimate execution of the plan (as I see it) is to keep the conveyor belt of talent running so there are players waiting in the wings to step up and take over from the likes of White, Lamptey or Biss if (IF) an offer of the right magnitude is received. If selling one covers the otherwise likely losses for a season, but without setting the team too far back (thanks to the strong squad), then that will happen and the journey upwards continues.
As much as we want it, we shouldn't expect a straight line of improvement year on year. There will be odd setback or treading of water, but hopefully those will be mostly due to events that are positive for financial reasons (i.e. cashing in on a player or two when appropriate) to secure the long-term financial future of the club.

 

[vagabond]

Bissouma was a liability when he first joined us, he didn't work as hard enough as he is now, positionally was fairly suss and would often be found out of position or gave the ball away far to often. Again as a young player in a new country he has found his feet and is now reaching his potential with us. Lets not re-write history that Biss was the ready made player he is now and should have been playing every game.

He frustrated the hell out of me at the time

He has improved yes of course he has, but he wouldn’t have done so if he wasn’t given more starts. And I think if Hughton was still here we’d still have Dale. Biss has clearly benefited from more playing time, good coaching, and more responsibility.

I agree the club have handled him well. My issue is more with those fans here who were incredulous at the idea Bissouma could replace Dale Stephens or Proper. That’s not rewriting history either. Potter has come in and replaced both those guys. And rightly so. I’m sorry, I never believed the hype with Dale and Proper. It’s not like there’s been queues of clubs sniffing round of them either.

Anyway Bissouma is a real talent, and I’m glad he got his chance in the end. Let’s enjoy him whilst it lasts.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

Possibly,but biss only has to look at how things have turned out for his mate Pepe at arsenal.
We joked at the time about biss getting Pepe to sign for us instead but now I wouldn't be surprised if Pepe wished he was with us now.
Times are changing, sensible players should be more wary of big money deals with the rich clubs unless of course all they are interested in is big money and not the football.

Or having confidence in your ability to perform at the very highest level, winning European trophies a la Kante, van Dijk and Mane.

 

[Pint of Ale and a Burger]

Disagree, we need to sell players this summer and Bissuma will be the first to go for big money. We'll get 40m minimum

Why would we want to get rid of our best players?
We are pushing for top 10 and biss will be a big part of that push so I doubt he would be the first person on the list of players potter and bloom want to get rid of.
But I never mentioned the need for the club to sell players my original comment was biss would not want to leave us.
All the players feel we are a club pushing for the top and it's a good club and they enjoy how they are treated here by the club and potter.
I honestly can't see biss wanting to go somewhere else.

 

[nwgull]

Potter is getting far too much credit for turning this raw talent into one of the most coveted midfielders in the Premier League. His skills are all down to the season he played under Marcelo Bielsa as a 20 year old at Lille.

 

[blue-shifted]

Player sales

The starting point should be that we shouldn't be sell our best players. Tony has no track record for doing so and I think this will continue. It doesn't matter what other clubs have done. TB says he's building us to be a top 10 club and anyone who saw last night game will see that he means it. He's not a man to throw claims around willy nilly.

However there are two other points

Firstly. We lost a huge amount of money and if TB wants to recoup some that's up to him. I strongly doubt that he will will be looking to balance to books. I think he'll absorb the loss in the short term knowing that sustainability (if not the ability to break even) is possible once covid is gone and we're not spending £60m per summer on players

Secondly. I can understand a sale if we are in a position whereby we have an exceptional player, like Yves, who gets an offer to go and play in the Champions League for one of the best clubs in the world, we can sell because it's the right thing to do by our player. However, this would only apply if, we're very confident in being able to adequately replace him and we get a colossal transfer fee, in Yves case, £50 to £55m feels about right. I have a sneaking suspicion that PSG might just be the most likely club to pay that sort of money.

 

[nwgull]

Selling your best players is not necessarily a bad thing if you get the right price. Liverpool selling Coutinho meant that they could buy VVD (for about half the price), and they won their first title for decades as a result.

 

[vagabond]

Potter is getting far too much credit for turning this raw talent into one of the most coveted midfielders in the Premier League. His skills are all down to the season he played under Marcelo Bielsa as a 20 year old at Lille.

[emoji1787]

I’m surprised the deluded ones haven’t caught onto this yet.

 

[Pint of Ale and a Burger]

Or having confidence in your ability to perform at the very highest level, winning European trophies a la Kante, van Dijk and Mane.

Yes this is a good point.
I agree this is something biss would like to do

 

[brightn'ove]

He is quickly becoming the best player to have ever worn the stripes. He doesn't put a foot wrong at all anymore, 8/10 performances in every game. If he keeps scoring from distance he will be the real deal and it won't just be the top 6 here that will be after him, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona would kill to have a player like that.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

I think the biggest problem in terms of value will be a decline in overall player values following the economic slump post Covid. No doubt that he is turning into something world class if he keeps this progress up. If he works at his game he will have the world at his feet.

 

[blue-shifted]

I think the biggest problem in terms of value will be a decline in overall player values following the economic slump post Covid. No doubt that he is turning into something world class if he keeps this progress up. If he works at his game he will have the world at his feet.

Yes, a very small number of clubs willing to pay big money for a player. The likes of Spurs and Arsenal, probably Everton have backed away from that table.

Only those with regular Champ League income or an Arab state or oligarch in charge can pay big bucks now. Even then, the market is going to remain depressed for a while.

Plenty of fans think we have the sort of chairman who would sell when the market is low. Just because that's what they would do, that's not what TB will do

 

[dazzer6666]

Player sales

The starting point should be that we shouldn't be sell our best players. Tony has no track record for doing so and I think this will continue. It doesn't matter what other clubs have done. TB says he's building us to be a top 10 club and anyone who saw last night game will see that he means it. He's not a man to throw claims around willy nilly.

However there are two other points

Firstly. We lost a huge amount of money and if TB wants to recoup some that's up to him. I strongly doubt that he will will be looking to balance to books. I think he'll absorb the loss in the short term knowing that sustainability (if not the ability to break even) is possible once covid is gone and we're not spending £60m per summer on players

Secondly. I can understand a sale if we are in a position whereby we have an exceptional player, like Yves, who gets an offer to go and play in the Champions League for one of the best clubs in the world, we can sell because it's the right thing to do by our player. However, this would only apply if, we're very confident in being able to adequately replace him and we get a colossal transfer fee, in Yves case, £50 to £55m feels about right. I have a sneaking suspicion that PSG might just be the most likely club to pay that sort of money.

This. It'll hurt when it happens but at some point (possibly soon) we'll have a player that goes to a bigger club - and we should wish them well when it happens - what we can be pretty sure of is that it'll be for a monstrous sum of money. We seem to be pretty good at getting players on to longish term contracts, and don't need to sell so the price tag will reflect that. We'll also start to make some reasonably significant money for academy products that don't quite make it to the PL squad/team

 

[blue-shifted]

This. It'll hurt when it happens but at some point (possibly soon) we'll have a player that goes to a bigger club - and we should wish them well when it happens - what we can be pretty sure of is that it'll be for a monstrous sum of money. We seem to be pretty good at getting players on to longish term contracts, and don't need to sell so the price tag will reflect that. We'll also start to make some reasonably significant money for academy products that don't quite make it to the PL squad/team

Covid has thrown a massive spanner in those works

 

[dazzer6666]

Covid has thrown a massive spanner in those works

For while for sure, but won't affect our strategy longer term

 

[Pint of Ale and a Burger]

Potter is getting far too much credit for turning this raw talent into one of the most coveted midfielders in the Premier League. His skills are all down to the season he played under Marcelo Bielsa as a 20 year old at Lille.

Biss and bielsa don't see eye to eye on bissoumas skills.
Bielsa said to biss that he is a right back and not a central midfielder and thankfully biss disagreed.
Well done Bissouma for standing up for yourself and believing in yourself.
And bielsa,well what can I say,you were very,very wrong on that one.

 

[Sheebo]

Strangely we have pretty decent cover for Lamptey at the moment - different style but Veltman has been pretty good.

Bissouma however is a special type of player , yesterday demonstrated it, his holding and breakup work and release of the ball allowed Tross, Mac and Gross to do their thing.

Someone earlier said he was the best player on pitch but not MOTM , I understand that because the way the others actually stepped.

Agree Veltman been very good but is clearly out of position. Out of the 3, I’d rather lose White than Biss or Lamps. But we’ll see...

 

[elwheelio]

In terms of fee I'd look at Thomas Partey. He was £45m from a much bigger club, champions league experience etc. He's a bit older but is another CM. I'd guess that in normal times we'd want north of £40m. Perhaps we'll get that, maybe a bit less if Biss really wants the move.