At the start of last season, we had potentially six big money attacking players with two years left on their deals. Salah, Mane, Firmino, Origi, Keita and Ox.
The brutal reality is that we haven't managed to renegotiate any of those deals and Mane could be the only one who leaves for a fee. I know we have to be realistic with the wages we pay but is it sustainable to continually lose players on a free.
You look at the money we have banked from a truly remarkable series of runs in European competition and there is an argument that it is that revenue that has allowed us to refresh our forward line. Again is that sustainable in the long term.
Yes, it is. Because the cost to the club of long term contracts with players on that list, who want twice as much money, or who are no longer starters, or who are simply not good enough to justify another long term contract, is far greater.
It includes not only the realized cost, but also the opportunity cost of not being able to bring in a younger, potentially better player, because the existing player is taking up a slot in the squad, and eating up payroll.
You could have a strict policy of putting a player up for sale the moment they get to within 2 years of contract end. But that would probably be self-defeating. The player might be crucial to the team’s style, the buying clubs would game it, dressing room morale, etc
The only practical solution is to be sensible about transfer fees paid for the incoming player. To wait for players to run down their contracts. That is basically what clubs are doing. You don’t see those 150million, 200 million transfers anymore.
That's why we only got 30 million or so for Sadio, and it is why we will get far less than people think or perhaps expect to get, for Salah.
