Throughout the transfer window, Saido Berahino and John Stones were heavily sought-after by Tottenham and Chelsea respectively. This huge in their services propelled both players to reportedly hand in transfer requests that were rejected by their clubs.
As you may have anticipated, because of the interest in their services from major European sides, huge price-tags were placed on them which eventually warded off their suitors. The question is: Are they deserving of their massive price-tag?
John Stones
Let’s start with John Stones, apparently Chelsea had four bids rejected with the most recent supposedly close to £40million. £40 MILLION!! This for a player that has shown some promise. Not a lot of promise. I have to say, that I am not against John Stones or think he is a bad player but he is not worth £40million. Defenders aren’t worth that generally so this is crazy from both clubs.
In the under-21 world cup there was one player who stood out for me in the England squad. That was Carl Jenkinson, he didn’t have the best tournament but it was clear, to me anyway, that he was, in general, a little better than the players around him. John Stones didn’t stand out in the same way. So this whole saga is crazy. That’s just my opinion.
In this day and age we all know that prices have risen drastically but what can Stones actually gain from Chelsea. Why would he want to go? Well, I don’t think he will go straight into the first team, despite his price tag (look at Cuardrado). I think he would be fourth choice but I think he could have been a possible back up for Nemanja Matic in the defensive midfield position too which will offer him more minutes across the season.
He would play alongside John Terry and under Jose Mourinho plus a substantial amount of money and in the future would be expected to succeed John Terry as Chelsea’s first choice centre-back. It may take some time, but it could’ve ultimately proven to be a good move for him.
This is why he handed in a transfer request. For Everton it should’ve been a total no-brainer: Sell him for £40 million. It’s so ridiculous I don’t even want to talk about it.
Saido Berahino
Again a few bids were rejected by West Bromwhich Albion from Tottenham Hotspur for Berahino believed to be in the region of £20million. Similarly, he has shown a bit of promise but not a lot. He isn’t where Messi, Rooney, Ronaldo are so while we’re not talking up in the £50m bracket it seems a lot of money or at the very least extremely reasonable.
For Saido Berahino I don’t think there is too much appeal to go to Spurs apart from the allure of better money, slightly better players and the offer of a European stage to showcase his talents. That may sound like quite a lot of benefits but it’s not as if he is linked with a Champions League club challenging for titles. However, it is still a step up and maybe a step in the right direction for Berahino, so it was understandable that he wanted to leave.
If he did go to Spurs, he would likely have formed an exciting partnership with Harry Kane which will hopefully be good for England. He could potentially play second fiddle to Kane, but the likelihood is he will play along side him and perhaps that is what is really motivating him for a move.
West Brom have purchased a replacement in Rondon and even Ricky Lambert so it is surprising they were so furious about these bids. There is no telling if he would go to West Brom but it seemed easy enough to accept a bid of say £22million of Berahino and pay £15million for Charlie Austin in which they make themselves £7million and get themselves a striker who scored more goals than Berahino last season.
What planet are they on?
The reality is that Everton and West Brom do not have divine right to keep these players if they are unhappy. Yes they are contracted, but what’s the use of an unhappy player? And what use is a huge amount of money? A lot.
I can’t believe these clubs think they are being bullied when it comes down to it, Chelsea and Spurs are the better clubs and have earned the right to attract players from lower clubs. Everton and West Brom have the right to put a price tag on those players that benefit them.
For Chelsea, I would have stopped at £25 for Stones and if they said no I would revisit it in January or go searching elsewhere. For Tottenham, I would have gone the Charlie Austin route as well for probably around £15 million. One good season from Austin and he will be bought by a bigger club for a huge profit, just like Berahino might in the near future.
From the get-go, Everton and West Brom were acting like moody, stubborn teenagers and no one was really benefiting. I think they will realise how huge their mistakes were in time.
This piece was first published at the excellent The Players Only Club here.
Written by Jonny Troy
Follow Jonny on Twitter @Jonny_Troy
Check out his excellent football blog, where this piece was originally published: The Players Only Club
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