Yep, agree with you mate; what we need right now is a set of difference makers - not just improvements over the current lot - but cornerstone players who we build around over the next half decade. Once you have the nucleus, you can add options to the squad. Mané is a good player in fairness to him, but you have to wonder what his status will be once we reach a level where we're competing in Europe (against the likes of PSG, Bayern Munich, Madrid), and for the Premier League title. If he was in the ~€20 million range, I for one would be all for it - not only would the transfer fee be lower in that case, but we'd be paying him lower wages (this point gets undermined IMO - you look at the quality of our squad relative to our wages, and it's just so underwhelming - and we struggle to move on above average players because we pay them a level of wages that almost no other club will be able to match if we do decide to offload them), and the €15-20 million range is decent value for someone who will eventually become a squad player (again, with the hypothetical understanding that we reach a high level in the near future).
The price Southampton will demand will be disproportionate to the quality of the player, and we must avoid the trap at all costs. Why not sign Sané instead of Mané, since both aren't finished articles? He'll be as good if not better in 1-2 seasons, he will cost maybe €20 million because Bundesliga clubs don't jack up the fee to extreme levels, IMO he has a higher ceiling (insert FIFA/ FM dig), and because he's German - he won't be away for the AFCON. The boner for Mané is bewildering to be honest, though it's kind of understandable since the Premier League is the most viewed league on the Caf.
Agreed. The point about a proper DoF and a revamp (is that the right word?) of our scouting setup has been brought up time and again, and for all the right reasons. Mané might not be a dud because he is definitely a good player (though playing for United - even in our current diminished state, is worlds apart from playing for Southampton), but when you see superior players (like Dybala or Mkhitaryan) change clubs for a lesser fee, you have to wonder why we weren't in for them. One of my biggest pet peeves to this day was United choosing not to sign the likes of Agüero and Silva when we had the chance. The 'no value in the market' adage rung hollow because we bought the likes of Young for £18 million, while Silva cost only £6 million more. What was that all about? Did Young's Premier League experience serve us well in the long term? Don't think so to be honest, despite his renaissance under Louis.
Exactly. The Premier League market is too inflated (and it will only get worse with mid level clubs refusing to let go of their marquee players in the wake of the new broadcast deals unless we pay over the odds), so we really need to identify equivalent players in other leagues. With English players, it's understandable to an extent, because it's always good to have top Englishmen in the squad to maintain the identity of the club, and we won't find them in other leagues. But for non-English players, acquiring them from the Bundesliga, La Liga, or Ligue 1 will be much cheaper - this is something Wenger deserves huge credit for even back in the day. He took a chance on Vieira from Milan, Henry from Juventus, RVP from Feyenoord, Pires from Marseille; or even Cazorla from Villarreal, Giroud from Montpellier, Koscielny from Lorient (who cost about £35 million combined). - and built a squad on the cheap in terms of transfer fee. Even now, there is great value in the market, we just need to look at the right places instead of plonking north of €35-40 million out of desperation.
So.... Happy New Year to everyone on the Caf...