Read that this morning, That Al Habsi will be sold in the summer. To be honest if we do stay up i think his value would be around the 3-5m mark and Whelan wont pay that for a keeper i don’t think if the stories are anything to go by whom we have been linked with. Can see Al Habsi going abroad to be honest, Spain or Germany would probably suit him.
I think Keiren Westwood is the favourite for us from Coventry, 1.5m mark i think. But if it was me and i was going to the lower leagues i’d go for Alex Smithies from Huddersfield.
I think if we stay up we would sign Ali definately he’s a bit of a latics hero atm and he loves it here, I couldn’t see him not staying permanently
Did you bother to read anything that Yosser wrote?
He offers sensible financial reasons why we probably will NOT sign him, yet you label him a “Latics hero” and on that simple basis, declare his signing as nailed on? :confusion-shrug:
Yes i did thanks but were getting rid of n’zogbia, probably a few others, you really think we couldn’t afford around 4 million for ali?
Yosser didn’t say we couldn’t afford it, though did he? He said that Whelan won’t spend that kind of money on a keeper… not even if you think he is a Latics hero.
And besides, the lad will probably rather play elsewhere.
Whether Whelan would authorise the signing of Al Habsi for a figure which has been plucked out of thin air of £3-£5mill (which as Arky points out is a cloud cuckoo figure for Bolton’s 3rd choice keeper) or whether Al Habsi would want to stay at Latics could be debated till the cows come home
BUT
for those who say Whelan wouldn’t spend that sort of money on a keeper. He already has. On Kirkland. Whilst I realise that was back in the days when he was a little looser with the old purse strings, if this season should have taught Whelan owt compared to last season its that a quality keeper is imperative to surviving in this division
Whether Whelan would authorise the signing of Al Habsi for a fugure which has been plucked out of thin air of £3-£5mill (which as Arky points out is a cloud cuckoo figure for Bolton’s 3rd choice keeper) or whether Al Habsi would want to stay at Latics could be debated till the cows come home
BUT
for those who say Whelan wouldn’t spend that sort of money on a keeper. He already has. On Kirkland. Whilst I realise that was back in the days when he was a little looser with the old purse strings, if this season should have taught Whelan owt compared to last season its that a quality keeper is imperative to surviving in this division
I think Keiren Westwood is the favourite for us from Coventry, 1.5m mark i think. But if it was me and i was going to the lower leagues i’d go for Alex Smithies from Huddersfield
Is Westwood not out of contract at the end of the season so he would be available on a free?
Whether Whelan would authorise the signing of Al Habsi for a figure which has been plucked out of thin air of £3-£5mill (which as Arky points out is a cloud cuckoo figure for Bolton’s 3rd choice keeper) or whether Al Habsi would want to stay at Latics could be debated till the cows come home
BUT
for those who say Whelan wouldn’t spend that sort of money on a keeper. He already has. On Kirkland. Whilst I realise that was back in the days when he was a little looser with the old purse strings, if this season should have taught Whelan owt compared to last season its that a quality keeper is imperative to surviving in this division
Thin air? That is what Owen Coyle said in January, No thin air about it. He has generated a lot of interest and they can more or less name their price. Plus Kirkland was signed for about 2m, he was very cut price. Maybe he does not want to spend over 2m+ on a keeper again because they turn out crap. Martinez has never showed any interest in signing Al-Habsi full time.
From my knowledge Owen Coyle has never stated an actual fee.
When he first signed on loan Coyle said that it wouldn’t lead to a permanent deal
In October Coyle said that “The only way they can keep him for good is by paying our club a large transfer fee – if indeed that’s acceptable to us.”
In December Coyle said that “If a bid comes in we’ll sit down with Ali and his advisors and look at it. We can’t really talk about it until it happens”
I don’t ever recall him saying that “Al Habsi will cost a team between £3-£5mill” although I am more than prepared to accept I missed it being reported. Its not something I’d expect to hear a manager say either coz the bidding club are obviously going to come in at the lowest price
Whether Whelan would pay a transfer fee for Al Habsi I don’t know without knowing what that fee would be & to be honest neither do you
As for Bobby showing no interest in signing him. When we’re fighting relegation, have very little budget to play around with & have the guy contracted with us until the end of the season I’d say that it makes very good business sense not to splash out millions on a transfer fee & committ to 3 or more years of a contract & premier league wages when there’s every chance that next season the budget will be slashed if we go down.
As for what Kirkland cost Latics, I can’t find any record of a fee being mentioned on line although I’m sure I remember figures of more than £2mill being mentioned when he joined permanently