black mamba said:
I don't know why we moved for De Jong either to be honest , he doesn't really appear to add much to the team , very much like Dabo , although admittedly it's early days ..... and i'd have gone for a quality creative midfielder instead .
We definetely needed a top quality centre-half , but it just didn't seem to be a priority with Hughes , although it really should have been ...... half our defenders at present are better at 'ball-watching' than anything else , as both Copenhagans goals proved last night ...... not too mention at least one of Portsmouths too ...... we have no genuine height back there and it's showing!
Santa Cruz has come out today and said that there is a definite £20 million release clause in his contract from June , so that one might well not be 'dead in the water' just yet.
We shouldnt be paying £20 million for him. Prices get overinflated in Jan compared to the summer, so any fee we pay for him should be less than that. Fat Greedy Sam thinks he's been a smart arse with this clause but that figure will be meaningless in the summer anyway. In my opinion he should be around £12 million tops or they can shove it.
As for de Jong, I think he was a good buy, albeit at far too much money. Thing with him is that he is young, very fit and a player who will improve. When he beds in I think he will be a key player for us in an important position. With the flair players we have you need a grafter in that role.