It sounds like he'll be going for over 7m, at least. To me that's not small change at all, when you consider that that's the asking price for Heung-min Son and Wilfried Bony - the former whom I acknowledge isn't 'prolific' so far, but at 20 yo displays a high degree of technical quality with a strong workrate from a wide position (imo the unquantifiable qualities are a better predictor of success than scoring in a league where a well-past-it Keane had a better scoring ratio), and the latter whose goalscoring prowess in a league admittedly nearly as bad as defending as the SPL at least combines with pace, technique, and no little amount of flair.
I'm not asking for Leandro or even Soldado or some other 20m+ striker, it's just that I think there are plenty of second-tier or young prospects out there with a substantially higher ceiling than Hooper, at an equal or lesser price. My worry lies in how uncreative our scouting/transfer committee is - it seems to rest on the Venn intersection of 'scores a lot' and 'favorable contractual situation'. In fact, it seems we draw up a list of "whose contract is running down?" *before* creating a list of players based on the qualities the team actually needs. Hence, our interest in Diame, yet another physical DM (average 25 passes per game...just shocking), rather than a deeplying playmaker with rapid ball circulation and vision on the break.
The more optimistic explanation is that agents whose players are negotiating contracts are naturally much more aggressive in the media with linking them to all and sundry. I still think we could do with a DOF and better scouts though.
I'm not asking for Leandro or even Soldado or some other 20m+ striker, it's just that I think there are plenty of second-tier or young prospects out there with a substantially higher ceiling than Hooper, at an equal or lesser price. My worry lies in how uncreative our scouting/transfer committee is - it seems to rest on the Venn intersection of 'scores a lot' and 'favorable contractual situation'. In fact, it seems we draw up a list of "whose contract is running down?" *before* creating a list of players based on the qualities the team actually needs. Hence, our interest in Diame, yet another physical DM (average 25 passes per game...just shocking), rather than a deeplying playmaker with rapid ball circulation and vision on the break.
The more optimistic explanation is that agents whose players are negotiating contracts are naturally much more aggressive in the media with linking them to all and sundry. I still think we could do with a DOF and better scouts though.
