Yeah, with Tierney I'd almost be happy just to get our money back - I don't think expecting £40m for someone who - however much we value him - has been on the bench most of the season is realistic. Not to say it won't happen, I just don't think we should expect it.

    RocktheCasbah but do you think part of that is based on our reputation we have as being poor sellers? Whether Edu is able to achieve it or not is a different matter but I'm really struggling to accept that Tierney hasn't increased in value at all in his time here.

        Tierney definitely going. I think Artera doesn’t forgive him for missing the business ends of seasons 21 and 22. Ironically when he was fit in 23 Arteta didn’t use him.

        Edit: think Tierney also missed 20

        Problem with Tierney is he doesn't really excel at anything. He's decent defensively but I've seen tricky players turn him inside out and in attack he is again decent but very predictable. Then you also need to consider he's only managed 30+ league games once in his career.

        It is a shame to see him go but I think we should easily be getting our money back. £40m might be pushing it but £30m+ should be realistic.

        RocktheCasbah yeah, that's fair but I'd be expecting us to get in the £30m+ range. He's now proven at PL level so that has to add incremental value (although I do remember most of us thinking we overpaid for him - we did).

          The way I see it, when we paid 25m or whatever, we paid for the player he currently was + the potential upside because he was a young talent.

          Fast forward to now, I don't think he's evolved, and the potential upside isn't there any longer. However, prices have gone up. So maybe around what we paid for him.

          I agree with Mirth, £25m is fine but Petro-Toon can pay a big premium, just call it the doping tax.

          I thought we had sold him?!

          Wonder when Tomi will be back?

            JazzG Loaned him out but he couldn't buy a start at Fulham. 2 apps or something only

              I'd stay and "fight" for 100k a week too. He's not getting that much anywhere else. Even if the 100k is incentivised he's still going to be on 70-80.

                He basically wants a pay out.

                Understandable. He's done at the top level, I wouldn't end my 100k-a-week contract either in his position.

                4 days later

                I think this is why we're not seeing any links to Maddison - Arteta sees him as the main alternative to Odegaard. I suspect the stories about him training as an 8 for the Xhaka role are to help ensure he's versatile enough to play enough games to keep him happy.