Do they tho'?
The truth is; we don't know and have no reason to question his loyalty but let's pretend Phil wants to leave.
FSG do not have to sell. They paid a (relative) pittance for the kid and they pay him £75k a week. The 'hit' would not be that big if... if... they decided to be honest in their desire not to be seen to be 'held to ransom' and keep the lad.
After all; FSG have made it clear that they "will not overpay for players" nor will they "waste resources on inflated transfer fees and unrealistic wages" as a matter of principle. Surely those high moral "principles" [i.e. no player dictating to them] can extend to keeping Phillippe at Liverpool.
Put it another way: if Phil really wants away and if Phil really does hold most of the cards - do you believe FSG would accept £7m for him if that was the only offer?
Personally I hope he stays; just like I hoped Sterling and Suarez, before him stayed... because, in my opinion, you can't become one of the best by selling your best.... [especially when Policy dictates that they are replaced by potential ]. Think about it: without keeping your best, you are in a state of constant transition; always looking to find the "new" Suarez, the "new" Coutinho.
If I didn't accept that before; why the f**k should I accept it now?
Anyhows... welcome to the forum Robby.
I get why you feel the way you do. It's hard to look at the Torres, Suarez, and Sterling sales and think we are serious about keeping our best players. However, in each of those scenarios the players wanted to leave
and we received generous offers for them. In hindsight you could argue Suarez was worth more, but his taste for Italian cuisine meant we lost a few bargaining chips during those negotiations....
I guess it's easy to overlook the fact that when City came calling for Agger a few years ago (20M in hand if memory serves correctly), we tied him down to a new deal to keep him at the club. If the owners were only interested in financial gain, wouldn't they have sold him and turned a tidy profit
I believe we did the same with Lucas when Inter were after him a few years back as well.
Then there's the argument that we only replace our players with young, cheap, easy to pay, potential. Where do Carroll, Lovren, Lallana, Sakho, and Benteke fit into your theory
Sure, we sign young players with the talent and potential to grow into better, more valuable assets, but so does every other top team in Europe....
You're entitled to your opinion mate. My opinion is that Jürgen is no muppet and he wouldn't have signed for us if he wasn't happy with the level of control he'd be given over the ins and outs. That said, if Philippe (or anyone else) is sold it will be because Jürgen sanctioned it. And if we replace players with young lads we've never heard of, it will be because they are who Jürgen wanted.
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