Whenever a football agent is quoted in the press, you have to take it with a pinch of salt, a large pinch of salt usually, and that’s because agents usually have ulterior motives, and are only interested in generating interest for their client, so they can sell him and make some money.
Vurnon Anita – worth €9M?
Vurnon Anita’s agent Harry Lulofs has been interviewed by GOAL.com, and he says that it’s true that Newcastle have bid for the Ajax midfielder, who can also play full-back.
Here’s what Harry said yesterday:
“It’s not correct that Vurnon asked Ajax for a transfer” “It’s correct that Newcastle made an offer for him, but I don’t know how high this was.”
“They never tell me. Ajax did tell me that he can only leave when Newcastle pays an exceptional fee. They didn’t say how high that fee should be.”
“I think €9m is a decent fee,””If my information’s right, that’s what Tottenham paid for Vertonghen. Vurnon is a midfielder, so I think a fee around the €9m seems fair.”
“But it’s a strange market. Is Ola John who joined Benfica from FC Tent worth £3.9m or £11.75? Rafael van der Vaart, to me one of the best Dutch players of the last decade, left Ajax for Hamburger SV for not more than £3.1M.”
“Newcastle is a nice club,” “They play for the top five places in the Premier League and they want to join the Champions League.”
“Besides, that it’s a nice city. Vurnon is ready for a new step. He lives for his sport and is a real warrior. He’s also very good in one-touch football.”
Tottenham overpaid big time for center-back Jan Vertonghen, who has only one year left on his contract at Ajax, and yet they paid over £7M for him – that’s not a good deal.
And of course the bigger the fee the more Harry Lulofs will make on the Anita deal, so he’s all for a big fee, in fact the bigger the better.
Some of the deals being made by some clubs this summer are hardly good deals, and PSG seem to have more money than sense, and they paid a huge fee for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who will be 31 in early October, and reportedly are paying him £220K/week on his three year contract.
Well after all, he did score one great goal at the Euro 2012 Championships.
The Paris club join Chelsea and Manchester City as clubs who are willing to pay way over the odds for their players, and pay them ridiculous wages, and we really wonder what happens when the UEFA Financial Fair Play Rules kick into effect in a couple of years time.
We hope they don’t turn out to be a paper tiger.
Newcastle will continue along their thrifty ways in the transfer market, that seems very clear, but there’s no way they would pay €9M (about £7M) for Anita.
However, we’d still love to see this lad on Tyneside, we think he could be a big success at Newcastle, and of course he can play in a number of positions, and if he does arrive on Tyneside, we could see Debuchy and Anita as Newcastle’s two new full-backs next season.
That’s not beyond the realm of possibility.
Comments welcome.
23 comments so far
Mark29Hungary
Jul 20, 2012 at 8:53 AM
Comment #1€9m is a bit high…
pieceofpapiss
Jul 20, 2012 at 8:54 AM
Comment #2£8m max i would have said. Shame though. He would have been a great addition to the squad. Bloody agents!! lol
Valci
Jul 20, 2012 at 8:56 AM
Comment #3pieceofpapiss – really?? you would have gone up to 8mil pounds?? that seems a lot to me for a player that young who has yet to confirm. I would say around 5mil pounds, 6 if i was being exceedingly generous.
newcastle29
Jul 20, 2012 at 8:57 AM
Comment #4@pop
Why pay even more?
Lets have it right!
€9m = £7.5m
Toon Tang
Jul 20, 2012 at 8:57 AM
Comment #5agents bust my chops man !!
Eyeball81
Jul 20, 2012 at 8:59 AM
Comment #6£7m…he has a couple of years left on his contract so fair enough for trying to squeeze a bit more out of any team wanting to buy him…just dont think we’ll pay it…the way i see it…we would pay any fee in cash upfront therefore ajax can swoop for a replacement straight away or just keep the profit…reckon £5.5m
Tsunki
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:00 AM
Comment #7Can we somehow make this about Carroll again. I think there may be a record to break here.
Tsunki
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:02 AM
Comment #8@6 – that’s a point many are missing when talking about our negotiating power – we are fairly unique in offering cash on the day, a lot of fees are geared like credit with a loading for extended payment times.
Everyone likes to be paid on the nail, will even take a bit less too.
NUFCWill1986
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:04 AM
Comment #9check this out on the BBC website, it was when Shearer visited my home town with the queen. All my mates and I were shouting for Shearer 🙂 disrespectful to the Queen but he is my hero!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18871059
pieceofpapiss
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:06 AM
Comment #10Just to be pedantic @newcastle29
9,000,000 euro = 7,036,832.15 GBP
😉
I’ve been watching the Dutch League for a while, got a pal who moved here from Den Haag a few year ago and he got me into it. From what ive seen of Anita he’s a great holding midfielder but has a lot to learn. £8m would be the going rate for a player like him. Not quite there in terms of the Premier League but a stand out player in the Cup teams.
Valci
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:09 AM
Comment #11Jesper – replying to your comment from the previous thread again lol. I’ve said this before, and ill say it again…with our squad and the type of players we have i believe 4-2-3-1 is the way to go rather then 4-3-3. If we buy Anita for instance, he can play with Tiote in front of the back 4 with HBA – Cabs – Marv in the line of 3 and a lone striker be that Cisse, Ba or Carroll (if we do get him) which imho would fit brilliantly into this kind of system having HBA and Marv who can cut inside and threaten goal as well as play wide and cross, and with Cabaye playing behind him in the midfield maestro role. It’s just an opinion though…
Valci
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:11 AM
Comment #12Tsunki – haha…sorry about that…posted my comment before i read your remark…but there you go…made it about AC haha.
Bloomin Marveaux-lous
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:13 AM
Comment #13He would be a great addition but for 9 million euros you have to contemplate better value and abilit elsewhere perhaps.
Tommyy
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:23 AM
Comment #14I’ve said it before and got immediately shot down by the bandwagon morons on here…
I’m getting worried about our lack of any breakthroughs now, I thought we’d have had a CB done and dusted at least 2 weeks ago now. We need to step up a gear and get the three we need in.
Tommyy
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:23 AM
Comment #15I’ve said it before and got immediately shot down by the bandwagon morons on here…
I’m getting worried about our lack of any breakthroughs now, I thought we’d have had a CB done and dusted at least 2 weeks ago now. Need to step up a gear and get the three we need in.
naptoon
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:25 AM
Comment #16not the only one tommyy. on anita good addition to the squad but wouldnt wanna see him replace santon as ed suggests.
Nick 69
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:28 AM
Comment #17‘Tottenham overpaid big time for center-back Jan Vertonghen’ – No they didnt, he’s worth every single penny fo what they paid for him.
jesperfuglsang
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:33 AM
Comment #18I’ll be back shortly; maybe nor on this thread but then on the next depending on how fast Ed moves 😉
…and by the looks of it he moves very fast this morning 😉 lol
jesperfuglsang
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:33 AM
Comment #19I’ll be back shortly; maybe not on this thread but then on the next depending on how fast Ed moves 😉
…and by the looks of it he moves very fast this morning 😉 lol
check the toastie
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:47 AM
Comment #20Is he worth half of Jordan Henderson or Stewart Downing, i would say so.
toonincheek
Jul 20, 2012 at 12:30 PM
Comment #21Vertonghen is a very good player – better IMO than Anita, but his value will be lower as he only has one year left on his contract.
I reckon Anita is worth about £5 million, absolute max. £6 million (which is, I think, about the first time I’ve agreed with Valci!!)
Double Demba
Jul 20, 2012 at 2:39 PM
Comment #22£7 million is just about woth it. Just….
Liverpool are reportably looking to buy Joe Allen from Swansea and it could be a deal worth £15million.
Similar player but with PL experience.
Anita seems a good fit to what the team needs now, can play MC, DM and FB.
Don’t forget, we should be getting £3million back for Simpson and we’ve just got £3million for Best.
Those two should cover Debucy, then spend £7M + £4M on Douglas and Anita. Thats and outlay of £11M.
The squad is then stronger and more versitile.
Toonarmy123
Jul 20, 2012 at 5:05 PM
Comment #23Shouldn’t get Anita, too much money. We should get Sissisko from Toulsoue. He would only cost about 9 million as he is into the final year of his contract but is much better than Anita.