I’m not sure if the maths is a joke or not, but we got good money for him, took him off the wage bill, and get a bigger, stronger, better version back for £10M more than we got for him? Give him a 5yr deal and that’s £6M per year against FFP, plus another £4M in wages.
Erling gets to play 60-70 mins regularly instead of flogging himself senseless, and gets a rest in the Cup games. Meanwhile, we have another big lad to throw on upfront if we are chasing the game.
We are increasingly playing a 4-4-2/4-2-4, so the only thing you have to teach them is what they (should) already know, which is who goes near post and who goes far!
Seems like a no brainer to me, and if it doesn’t work out in a year or two, he can move on and we recoup all the money as profit again!
And, not to piss on the parade, but if Erling wants the brighter lights of Spain in the near future, we might have been able to cultivate his replacement for a few years!
In 2 yrs, Pep will have rebuilt the squad and some of the top established players might be looking for the non-Pep City exit. Delap is a homegrown player who has shown he can score at this level and is cheap as chips.