[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

If he has evolved into a Prem-quality player then fair enough, some players do bloom later in the careers; but my original point stands. If we'd spent the last four or five years loaning him out to one Championship club or another while retaining his contract, there's every chance he'd despise us for it by now. Look at George Thorne: we only did it with him for a year or two, and he had enough of it.

There comes a point when players deserve to build a career of their own.