Aquilani - stay or go?

[Buzzo]

For God's sake man, what more do you want?

It's a sad day when the authority of 'some dude on Twitter' is questioned.

[Mostar]

There is no guarantee we can find a better buyer

Equally there is no guarantee that keeping an unhappy player here and playing him will increase his value

Its a calculated gamble imo and to be honest even if Fiorentina didn't take up the option we imo will probably be no worse off (in terms of potential fee)

The major problem we have is the player desperately wanting to go back to Italy

If that wasn't the case then I could see the sense in holding and selling in a years time

The decision what to do with Aquilani should be about the club first and foremost and loaning him with a possibility of a permanent deal imo is not in our best interest.

I get that he wants to leave and if that is the case then he and his agent should do whatever it takes to make that possible but only in the way that suits all parties involved and loaning him to me is just not workable solution.

We tried that once and that failed miserably.

If it is true that Fiorentina really wants him they should pay for his services upfront.

Sorry but any other deal makes us look like a patsy regardless if he wants to leave or not.

Cesc wants to leave, Modric wants to leave etc and I don't see Gunners or Spurs giving an inch yet.

Why should we?

[Tee]

The decision what to do Aquilani should be about the club first and foremost and loaning him with a possibility of the permanent deal is not in our best interest.

I get that he want to leave and if that is the case then he and his agent should do whatever it takes to make that possible but only in the way that suits all parties involved and loaning him to me is just not workable solution.

We tried that once and that failed miserably.

If it is true that Fiorentina really wants him they should pay for his services upfront.

Sorry but any other deal makes us look like a patsy regardless if he wants to leave or not.

Cesc wants to leave, Modric wants to leave etc and I don't see Gunners or Spurs giving an inch yet.

Why should we?

[elrichio86]

If it is true that Fiorentina really wants him they should pay for his services upfront.

Sorry but any other deal makes us look like a patsy regardless if he wants to leave or not.

Cesc wants to leave, Modric wants to leave etc and I don't see Gunners or Spurs giving an inch yet.

Why should we?

Too right

[Lecter]

The decision what to do with Aquilani should be about the club first and foremost and loaning him with a possibility of a permanent deal imo is not in our best interest.

I get that he wants to leave and if that is the case then he and his agent should do whatever it takes to make that possible but only in the way that suits all parties involved and loaning him to me is just not workable solution.

We tried that once and that failed miserably.

If it is true that Fiorentina really wants him they should pay for his services upfront.

Sorry but any other deal makes us look like a patsy regardless if he wants to leave or not.

Cesc wants to leave, Modric wants to leave etc and I don't see Gunners or Spurs giving an inch yet.

Why should we?

I knew someone would bring Cesc & Modric up

Their stock is high they are wanted by teams and their values are likely to remain steady

We dont have that luxury with Aquilani - clearly some peoples opinion of him on here is greater than most if not all the clubs in Italy

We bought Aquilani for £17-20 million we agreed to sell last year to Juventus for circa £15 million but they reneged

The best buyer now on a permanent deal is £6 million (Juve)

Or we can potentially gamble and get £9 million from Fiorentina provided we loan him

Again to me this seems an absolute no brainer because even if Fiorentina decline the permanent deal I can still see us realising a £6 million transfer next summer

Arsenal have hung on to Cesc for a long time and even his value has decreased somewhat but so have his performances on the pitch

Modric remains to be seen but I'd bet if hes forced to stay his form will dip

People are too emotional about Aquilani, its hard business. The player wants to go, we are getting his wages off our books for a season and are getting a deal that might be worth 50% than the best permanent deal on offer today

[Lecter]

Also do the numbers and see the cost benefits of this to LFC

Loan fee £900K plus £4.16 million in wages off the books for 1 season
Cost saving just over £5 million
Potential sale value £9 million
Total benefit of this deal to LFC (IF is goes through) £14 million

Cost of keeping player and selling next summer for £6 million
£4.16 million in wages
Sale Value £6 million
Total benefit of this deal to LFC = £1.84 million

Cost saving of loaning him and Fiorentina deal falling through £900K plus £4.16 million in wages is still £5 million

[Cormack74]

TBF once he was fully fit he proved he was up to performing in the PL (in Rafa's team).

I wouldn't necessarily disagree with you that the portents were good but I think a whole season with a (guaranteed?) start would prove a shade more conclusive.

[Mostar]

I knew someone would bring Cesc & Modric up

Their stock is high they are wanted by teams and their values are likely to remain steady

We dont have that luxury with Aquilani - clearly some peoples opinion of him on here is greater than most if not all the clubs in Italy

We bought Aquilani for £17-20 million we agreed to sell last year to Juventus for circa £15 million but they reneged

The best buyer now on a permanent deal is £6 million (Juve)

Or we can potentially gamble and get £9 million from Fiorentina provided we loan him

Again to me this seems an absolute no brainer because even if Fiorentina decline the permanent deal I can still see us realising a £6 million transfer next summer

Arsenal have hung on to Cesc for a long time and even his value has decreased somewhat but so have his performances on the pitch

Modric remains to be seen but I'd bet if hes forced to stay his form will dip

People are too emotional about Aquilani, its hard business. The player wants to go, we are getting his wages off our books for a season and are getting a deal that might be worth 50% than the best permanent deal on offer today

The problem with Aquilani is not that there is no interest in his footballing skills but there are so few clubs in Italy that are in position to afford his wages.

He could help himself (and us if he wants to go back so desparately) by cutting his wages more than 8m spread over 3 years (instead of over 2 with us).

Otherwise he (or his agent) should shut up, leave his heart on the training pitch, do whatever he can to make it into first team (I tend to think that he has skills to do so) and make himself more marketable asset and in the end achieve what he wants, which seems to be going back to Italy.

In terms of selling him vs loaning as much as there are some benefits I think we are gambling too much as I think Fiorentina will do "Juve" on us and we really shouldn't fall for that.

Also do the numbers and see the cost benefits of this to LFC

Loan fee £900K plus £4.16 million in wages off the books for 1 season
Cost saving just over £5 million
Potential sale value £9 million
Total benefit of this deal to LFC (IF is goes through) £14 million

Cost of keeping player and selling next summer for £6 million
£4.16 million in wages
Sale Value £6 million
Total benefit of this deal to LFC = £1.84 million

Cost saving of loaning him and Fiorentina deal falling through £900K plus £4.16 million in wages is still £5 million

Good post but it depends heavily on the notion that will sell him next year and I personally don't think that will happen (not to Fiorentina).

I also think that we may be able to sell him outright this summer (if he takes the wage cut) if he continues to impress during pre-season and personally that would be the only way I'd let him go.

[Lecter]

Good post but it depends heavily on the notion that will sell him next year and I personally don't think that will happen (not to Fiorentina).

I also think that we may be able to sell him outright this summer (if he takes the wage cut) if he continues to impress during pre-season and personally that would be the only way I'd let him go.

No it doesnt depend on selling him to Fiorentina

Whether we sell or not next summer there is a cost saving in loaning him out. The club would clearly consider which option earns the biggest cost benefit and how that would effect any potential fee that could come in if you considered retaining him or the deal went sour

IF the rumours are to be believed hes offerred to take a wages cut from £77k per week down to £52k per week

Thats about a 33% odd drop

Seems to me hes putting a decent amount of effort in trying to push through a deal

You have to ask yourself how many more opportunities is he going to get?

I would expect as preseason goes on the players who want to be part of this club will be given more game time than those who dont

[Cormack74]

Was idly watching Milan v Bayern last night and heard the commentator saying something about Bayern rumoured to be signing a midfielder from Fiorentina (wasn't listening to the name given).

Anyone else know anything about this and whether we could assume AA is a possible replacement?

[Lecter]

In terms of selling him vs loaning as much as there are some benefits I think we are gambling too much as I think Fiorentina will do "Juve" on us and we really shouldn't fall for that.

Even IF Fiorentina do a Juve on us we will still have a cost saving

Transfers and loans like these arent just about the headline figures (transfer fees), they will be analysed to see which combination gives the biggest financial or potential financial benefit to LFC

Just looking at the numbers I've presented it seems a decent enough risk for LFC to take

[Mostar]

No it doesnt depend on selling him to Fiorentina

Whether we sell or not next summer there is a cost saving in loaning him out. The club would clearly consider which option earns the biggest cost benefit and how that would effect any potential fee that could come in if you considered retaining him or the deal went sour

IF the rumours are to be believed hes offerred to take a wages cut from £77k per week down to £52k per week

Thats about a 33% odd drop

Seems to me hes putting a decent amount of effort in trying to push through a deal

You have to ask yourself how many more opportunities is he going to get?

I would expect as preseason goes on the players who want to be part of this club will be given more game time than those who dont

We'll have to wait and see.

I can see where you coming from (high wage bill cannot be taken lightly) but we tried that same approach last year and it didn't work.

Personally he is one of the few that we have in our squad that I'd like to keep cause he has something to offer but if he really wants to leave then I wouldn't stand in the way but I wouldn't go with a loan option unless we get guaranteed pre-agreed amount next year.

[kris90210]

There is no guarantee we can find a better buyer

Equally there is no guarantee that keeping an unhappy player here and playing him will increase his value

Its a calculated gamble imo and to be honest even if Fiorentina didnt take up the option we imo will probably be no worse off (in terms of potential fee)

The major problem we have is the player desperately wanting to go back to Italy

If that wasnt the case then I could see the sense in holding and selling in a years time

Players become unhappy at lots of clubs and are forced to stay against their will. It hasn't done Arsenal any harm with Fabregas the past 2 years. Vidic wanted to leave a couple of years ago. Evra came out recently and said the same thing.

As soon as one of our players is unhappy, the club seems to willingly bend over. If Aquilani is unhappy, fine. Make him available, but ****s sake... he's worth more to us here and unhappy than 900 ****ing thousand.

And if he goes there and plays well? Well we STILL don't see any benefit because we're locked into a 9 million pound agreement.

Crazy.

[kris90210]

Also do the numbers and see the cost benefits of this to LFC

Loan fee £900K plus £4.16 million in wages off the books for 1 season
Cost saving just over £5 million
Potential sale value £9 million
Total benefit of this deal to LFC (IF is goes through) £14 million

Cost of keeping player and selling next summer for £6 million
£4.16 million in wages
Sale Value £6 million
Total benefit of this deal to LFC = £1.84 million

Cost saving of loaning him and Fiorentina deal falling through £900K plus £4.16 million in wages is still £5 million

And if he stays, plays to his potential and helps us qualify for the champions league... priceless

[BrooklynRed]

I'll be pissed if this loan happens. It also means Raul is going nowhere, IMO.