Damocles said:
Haha, all these people saying "Well, I wouldn't pay any more than £20m for Milner!!". Yeah, because it's YOUR money that they are using to pay for him, and paying an extra £5m will hugely effect our ticket prices and ability to spend long term!
It doesn't matter if we pay £100m for him. Some people don't seem to understand the whole 'money no object' thing. They also seem to struggle with simple economic concepts such as "the value of an item is the price that will be paid for it".
I think theres a few issues at hand here.
There seems to be this presumption that our owners don't have a budget, or spending limits in mind. They do, otherwise we would havbe Kaka, and Terry, and Eto'o etc already. So if we overpay for someone like Milner, thats money we don't spend on someone who is better value for that money.
Secondly, if we just spend more and more and moreit will increase pressure on the authorities to stop us. FIFA and UEFA are already looking for an excuse.
Thirdly, if we let one club rip us off, every club will rip us off. It will happen to some extent as a matter of course, but we shouldn't be encouraging it to happen every time.
Fourthly, why should we prop up our competitors by giving them more money to improve their squad. It's madness to suggest that we shouldn't worry about the prices we pay, and try to minimise. Otherwise, lets bid £700m for Rooney, I'm sure the Glazers will accept.
Finally, it comes down to respect as a club. I don't want to be a club that isn't capable of doing quality deals, or getting good value for money.
