No, on the face of it, that looks shit.
But if he then goes on to hit 20 PL goals in the next season for whoever paid that fee, that would represent reasonable business.
But bringing unfounded predictions into it renders any discussion pointless. You have to judge on past, present and reasonable predictions. It's no good saying, 'Yeah, but if Borini suddenly becomes a really good player it'll change everything'. It's hugely unlikely he will. It's like saying, 'Hey, Carroll might get over his injuries, find some pace, reinvent himself as a modern striker and then he'll look value for money'.
This 'besides it doesn't matter to them' gambit seems to be standard now in case the basic argument doesn't work.
I don't know if they got a good deal.
I rate him, but at 50m you're in and around the area where you can buy a world class player.
Sterling is not at that level, but he could end up there. I do think his shooting and attitude are the two things that make it less likely that he'll reach that level.
They've overpaid for a very good player in my mind, gambling that he'll become borderline world class
I'm not sure who got the best deal.
The way to think of it is this.
£49m fee.
£5m will stay in Man City's bank account
£10m will go to QPR.
£32.5m will go to Aston Villa.
Whatever remains will probably go to Benteke & his agent.
Great deal
I'd compare it to the Rooney deal. Similar amount of goals in their previous two seasons(despite Rooney being more of a striker and Sterling a winger), same age give or take a few months, England's biggest star, moving to the biggest spenders in the country at the time. Also Rooney was ten years before, and transfer fees have obviously gone up a lot since(Rooney's was close to the transfer record for a British player, Sterling is a good deal behind).
I think it's a fair deal for both. Obviously there's a risk on their end, he's still young and anything can happen, but generally most players at his age that go for this kind of money tend to pay off.
I wouldn't be surprised to see it turn out to be a great deal for them, but if not, they have taken a decent calculated gamble.
I can't see how we're going to do to well out of this, we waste money as much as City do, but we can't afford to do it. We had no choice in the end, but I'm definitely not celebrating this like some.
I think the Rooney deal is a better comparison than Shaw (who I think is a totally unjustified fee)
And the Rooney deal was a reach at the time, but subsequently looks pretty shrewd - it being ten seasons, 340 games and 170 goals down the line.
I just struggle to see Sterling having that kind of longevity never mind productivity.
Very few wingers do though, the ones that last are usually the greats.
We've yet to see Raheem prove he's capable of a full season of top flight football. He's strong but he's slight, and I think he's not quite there yet with the physical demands of 40+ games a season.
I suppose in the end I agree it's a decent calculated gamble, but from our point of view selling him for 49m was a no brained given the risks associated with his development in general and the fact he clearly wanted out.
yay selling club yay.
I dont think it was a great deal; unfortunately it was the best we could get for a wantaway little shit.
I don't know if they got a good deal.
I rate him, but at 50m you're in and around the area where you can buy a world class player.
Sterling is not at that level, but he could end up there. I do think his shooting and attitude are the two things that make it less likely that he'll reach that level.
They've overpaid for a very good player in my mind, gambling that he'll become borderline world class
Apart from the fact that almost every football fan outside of Liverpool thinks its bonkers money for a 20 year is has done sweet f*ck all so far in his career.Yeah, I think they got a pretty fair deal. I think people are underrating him on here.
If they paid any less for him, I'd be very angry about this.
Now, I'll save that anger for when we overspend what we got for him on someone else.
It's hard to justify these sort of add ons, because they, in effect, mean we have to be unsuccessful for them to be activated.
They're pointless- the only one that should count is a percentage of a future transfer fee.
But it's ok though, because addons are important1.5M for every champions league City win.
We'll not be seeing that then.