30-12-2014, 20:52
Unfortunately, even acknowledging the possibility we could end up regretting it for a long time to come, my hopes that we can turn Saido into a mature and reliable goalscorer are fading, and £23m is big money to us. It's one of those horrible decisions you get in football which could backfire and make a chump of you either way, and you've got little better than educated guesswork to go on.
If we keep Saido, he might suddenly grow up with good man-management, bang in goals left right and centre for a couple of years and then go for twice his current mooted price. Then again, he might turn into a sulky misfiring mess who we'd be lucky to get rid of for a couple of million.
If we let him go, he might turn into a superstar we'd forever regret selling. Or he might hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, fail horribly and then do a runner for a foreign league, while we laughed all the way to the bank with our £23m.
We can't see the future, but I'd suggest that one of Albion's mistakes in recent seasons has been to try and keep "key" players at all costs rather than taking good money when it's offered and re-investing to keep things fresh. Part of Swansea's success story has been down to the dosh they got for the likes of Joe Allen and Scott Sinclair; players their fans were probably sorry to see go at the time, but were replaced with even better talents.
With our recruitment department's recent record, I'm not especially confident we'd re-invest the £23m wisely - that's definitely cause for concern - but in principle, I think that cashing in and trying to improve a stagnating side isn't inherently a bad idea.
If we keep Saido, he might suddenly grow up with good man-management, bang in goals left right and centre for a couple of years and then go for twice his current mooted price. Then again, he might turn into a sulky misfiring mess who we'd be lucky to get rid of for a couple of million.
If we let him go, he might turn into a superstar we'd forever regret selling. Or he might hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, fail horribly and then do a runner for a foreign league, while we laughed all the way to the bank with our £23m.
We can't see the future, but I'd suggest that one of Albion's mistakes in recent seasons has been to try and keep "key" players at all costs rather than taking good money when it's offered and re-investing to keep things fresh. Part of Swansea's success story has been down to the dosh they got for the likes of Joe Allen and Scott Sinclair; players their fans were probably sorry to see go at the time, but were replaced with even better talents.
With our recruitment department's recent record, I'm not especially confident we'd re-invest the £23m wisely - that's definitely cause for concern - but in principle, I think that cashing in and trying to improve a stagnating side isn't inherently a bad idea.
"I would rather spend a holiday in Tuscany than in the Black Country, but if I were compelled to choose between living in West Bromwich or Florence, I should make straight for West Bromwich." - J.B. Priestley