by muirinho »
23 Dec 2020 11:21
Stranded SCIAG None of this “what if we lose him for nothing” nonsense. You people would have sold Sidwell. A fit Richards makes a huge difference to the side. Keep him until the summer and gamble on promotion or if we miss out then he might not be so popular. Length of the contract is irrelevant frankly, the issue is the damage that losing him would do to our squad and £2m isn’t going to cover it. Even £5m isn’t going to cover it. I’d start being tempted at £7m.
Ironically I’d probably be more tempted to sell cheaply if we got an offer we couldn’t refuse for Olise. We’d then have wiggle room to actually sign a replacement. £2m is basically £0 for all the good it would do.
You would hope that the club have a decent sized list of targets for every position that they feel would replace any player - Sidwell was the engine room of the team so keeping him made sense - if the whole structure of our team falls down because we can't adequately replace a left back then we are probably more screwed that we realise.
The academy exists to get player to the 1st team but at this level it also exists to sell those who show they are very good to clubs at a higher level to allow us to use the proceeds to make the squad stronger. If Richards goes for 2m we could and should be able to fill a couple of holes in the squad including his replaecment.
Showing that we can get players to our 1st team, and that they are good enough to go-on to bigger clubs, and the club has helped that rather than hindered, is actually a big selling point for the academy when it comes to local lads too. We want them to stay in Reading, not head to Chelsea or Man city or wherever.
I'd rather we sold players on who want to go, rather than hanging onto them to the last possible minute. it may grate that some will see us as a stepping stone, but in the long-run it's good for the club. Better lose these players at 21, with them having contributed to the team, and for a transfer fee, then have them leave at 16 because they think they can do better elsewhere.