Here it is boys. 
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might want to look at the @ there.
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Itās rather more boring than that
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Not sure Iād go with slightly younger. Giroud was 31.5, Koscielny is a month or so away from 34, which is the exact age Mertesacker was when he retired.
Giroud was also a forward capable of scoring at the top level, he never had any injury question marks and was a January deal for a rich club desperate for some goals mid season.
A 31.5 year old Kos surely has a decent market, but Iām surprised anyone is really desperate to have this version of him. He could be completely finished before heās done 12 months at a new club. And if anyone wanted to buy him I really couldnāt see it being for any more than like Ā£2m which I still think is a stretch.
Look at the emoji.
Well, thereās demand for him. Seems like half the Ligue 1 are on him.
Rennes and Bordeaux are the only names Iāve heard, Rennes a club who from what I can see have a record of Ā£6m for defender (and something like Ā£3.5m before that), and Bordeaux with a record of Ā£3.5m for a defender.
Thereās no sniff of anyone bidding for him, only rumours of clubs taking a punt on a free. Maybe thatās because the agent has most likely been going around telling French clubs heās available for free because of his contract BS, but Iām sure any of the clubs who are going to be after him are going to want to pay anything significant for him.
Itās a real conundrum this.
Heās still our best defender, but if his headās gone then there is no point in keeping him.
We should never let him go for free though. That just makes us look like mugs. A modest fee of like Ā£1-2m would hopefully sort the situation out.
But then weāre fucked because our bank of CBs reads Mustafi / Holding / Chambers / Monreal / Mavropanos / Sokratis.
Thatās a defence that ships another 50 goals next season. We are in desperate need of an injection of quality in that position. Koscielny leaving makes the situation even worse.
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Heās our best defender when he can stay fit. Chances are heād get injured and spent most of the season on the treatment table.
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Lyon too. Marseille are long time admirers as well.
You do make a case though, far easier to attract suitors if those teams think thereās no transfer fee.
Well, Mav is injured so he aināt going. Mustafi seems to be at least kept as cover.
If shit hits the fan I reckon the club gives Cahill a call and sorts a deal till the end of the season.
Except this is a 33 year old crocked captain, not an in their prime star player.
Any of those guys would go for a big fee and thatās one of the key reasons as to why making the comparison is pointless, because clubs arenāt banging down our door to pay for Kosc.
Heās also not our best defender both Sok and Holding had better seasons.
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This is probably the case with or without him though. Heās played in plenty of games where our defence was total shit.
Many of us thought he was overplayed last season too. Is the kind of player that can be overplayed worth relying on as your 3rd choice? Especially now theyāre a year older.
If he walks off the pitch in the first game of the season holding his hamstring weāll all say we should have let him go.
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Which is a very likely scenario.
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I get that, but whatās the realistic alternative? Letting him leave for free? A nominal fee? Cahill on a 1 year deal?
Iād only really accept him going if we got a bit of money for him and bring in somebody of equal influence / ability. I seriously doubt we will find that given our budget. Itās just a fucked situation.
Which is why Iād prefer the club to get him out quick and let us move on. I just donāt think holding out for a shit fee is guaranteed or the best thing for this club right now.
I donāt see any club paying money for an extremely injury prone 33yr old. Especially since heāll be free in 12 months.
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Itās supposedly an unforeseen circumstance, so adjust the budget to accommodate an extra signing with age on their side. Our budget is a self imposed constraint on how much we want to spend to get what we need, not necessarily all the money we have. What we need is potentially changing now, so it should be possible.
Offset some / all of that with a Chambers sale, and while Mustafi appears to be completely unsellable let him be 4th choice for another year and then weāre closer to his contract running out / cutting his play time so he finds himself a move.
The reason we supposedly never chased defenders in January despite obviously needing them is we had too many on the books and no way to get rid of any. For me this is an unexpected chance to open up a spot, and if we signed a CB that was 27 or under, that could be a position thatās sorted for potentially years, even if we have to pay a bit to make it happen.
CB is a signing I think most of us agree needs making, and this is just a kick up the arse to make it a priority for now and not later.
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This whole situation could have been a blessing in disguise. Would have been able to let Kos go on a free and save face.
No one would have complained if we had let him walked but it appears the club was never looking for CB this summer and were fully expecting to rely on Kos throughout the year.
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