Should we sell Son in the summer?

[Spursex]

Those figures imply we keep 100% of the income generated from the shirt sales, Ex. But isn't the figure for a football club much lower, typically 5% - 15% depending on the deal with the manufacturers and any other middlemen involved?

It will still be a tidy sum but really, the only consideration should be a playing one.

If we're successful on the field the money will follow.

I did say gross.

Shirt deals are an odd one - clubs set the sale price by demanding how much the manufacturer must guarantee them as overall payment.

So for example, a club I know said they wanted £10 mill for a shirt deal (which they get upfront) and the manufacturer will then ask for the POS data from teh club and look at any other offical outlet data and decide if they are prepared to go that far and agree an RRP with the club...

So the shirt/kit manufacturer will only make money if the net sales returns them the £10 mill or more..

 

[Niall D]

Must admit, this is a difficult one, However I would consider selling whilst he is still demanding top dollar, he depends on a turn of speed, and loss of pace seems to come virtually overnight, for me (sell) perhaps as late as next January.
It's really(sadly) just his age, and similar to HK, cashing in whilst he's worth something.

 

[Spursex]

If you have a player in your squad, who is halfway through the season and has already scored 12 goals and managed 5 assists, then the argument to sell him becomes very weak unless HE is desperate to leave.

That is before the fact that he is our Captain with massive influence over the squad, is loved by all the team and is one of the most profitable players in terms of marketing and global reach.

I may be a bit too sentimental towards Son, but he has been one of the most consistent players in our squad since he arrived. He had a bad year last year due to injury, but is exactly the right player to help start off the next phase of this club - along with Madders and Romero.

Yet how many times here has the debate been about not optimising our sales values by letting their contracts wind down or not selling them when we could get the maximum sum?

 

[SkellySpur]

Tend to agree with Matic above and do we really want to lose two of the best strikers in the Premiership in successive seasons? You are realistically talking about replacing 35 to 40 goals a season hence why I would also be supportive of bringing in Toney if it’s possible. It’s ok going for a young prospect but there’s no guarantee and we know Toney can and will score goals in the Premiership. That also gives us another season to bring Johnson on and develop his goal scoring, assists etc. and maybe bring in another quality wide man who will ultimately replace Sonny.

 

[muttley]

If you have a player in your squad, who is halfway through the season and has already scored 12 goals and managed 5 assists, then the argument to sell him becomes very weak unless HE is desperate to leave.

That is before the fact that he is our Captain with massive influence over the squad, is loved by all the team and is one of the most profitable players in terms of marketing and global reach.

I may be a bit too sentimental towards Son, but he has been one of the most consistent players in our squad since he arrived. He had a bad year last year due to injury, but is exactly the right player to help start off the next phase of this club - along with Madders and Romero.

The counter argument is that he's always scored his goals in batches and has often gone missing in big games. He's always gone missing on those wet and windy away games up north as well (lol). Including his lack of defensive smarts, I think more consistency is the one thing I've always wanted more of out of him actually.

Doesn't mean I don't love the guy to pieces though. Apart from not standing there and taking a deserved rollicking from his captain, his character is unquestionably great. Not to mention what he has brought to our football club on the pitch.

The question becomes whether Sonny is willing to accept rotation and al that goes with it over time. He will get older quickly at this point and might not have the smarts to adapt his game. He never had the smarts to adapt his defensive smarts so may struggle as his body slows down.

This is such a different conversation than the Kane one. Perhaps it should be the same i.e. transactional.

 

[SmithAndJones]

Before Richarlison's recent purple match this possibility would have been unthinkable. The possibility is therefore entirely dependent on the assumption that Richarlison will now maintain going forweard. the sort of levels that Son has achieved over several years. For me the permutation of options provided by Son, Richarlison, Werner, Kulu and Johnson puts us in a very healthy position in terms of attacking options. If Werner turns out to be a short term addition, then Gordon would be a very good option, otherwise I wouldn't want to see us change anything.

 

[Matic]

Yet how many times here has the debate been about not optimising our sales values by letting their contracts wind down or not selling them when we could get the maximum sum?

A big part of me sorted of doesn't care about that. If I was a fan who didn't explore all matters involving Spurs, including finances, then I am 100% sure my outlook would be "let the board worry about that stuff. I just want the best players for as long as possible." However, because I do, I do appreciate that point - but should we?

I can absolutely guarantee that the moment Son leaves, that entire South Korean market goes with him too. So financially he is a bit of a unique case. Then there is the romantic in me who loves the idea of our best players retiring with us. It rarely happens now, but I still like the idea.

 

[muttley]

A big part of me sorted of doesn't care about that. If I was a fan who didn't explore all matters involving Spurs, including finances, then I am 100% sure my outlook would be "let the board worry about that stuff. I just want the best players for as long as possible." However, because I do, I do appreciate that point - but should we?

I can absolutely guarantee that the moment Son leaves, that entire South Korean market goes with him too. So financially he is a bit of a unique case. Then there is the romantic in me who loves the idea of our best players retiring with us. It rarely happens now, but I still like the idea.

An easier way of thinking about that is keeping Kane, but not having VDV, Madds and Venom. Then when Kane walks on a freebie at the end of this season you still don't get those 3 as you didn't pick up a transfer fee.

I've not got much time for the fantasy fans that don't get the bigger picture.

As I was saying above, thinking about this transactionally is not a bad way.

 

[Matic]

The counter argument is that he's always scored his goals in batches and has often gone missing in big games. He's always gone missing on those wet and windy away games up north as well (lol). Including his lack of defensive smarts, I think more consistency is the one thing I've always wanted more of out of him actually.

Doesn't mean I don't love the guy to pieces though. Apart from not standing there and taking a deserved rollicking from his captain, his character is unquestionably great. Not to mention what he has brought to our football club on the pitch.

The question becomes whether Sonny is willing to accept rotation and al that goes with it over time. He will get older quickly at this point and might not have the smarts to adapt his game. He never had the smarts to adapt his defensive smarts so may struggle as his body slows down.

This is such a different conversation than the Kane one. Perhaps it should be the same i.e. transactional.

But has he only ever assisted in patches? The funny thing about Son is he is has always been a bit of an old school Defoe or Owen type striker who was made to adapt into a winger. He's never been good defensively, but that's not to say he doesn't try or work hard with pressing.

Until Son does start to really struggle for goals or assists, I don't see logic in being transactional. Even before he left for Asia he was putting in some very ropey performances but somehow kept coming out of the games with an assist or a goal. That's just how he has always been for us in spells.

I really struggle with this question. I do understand the transactional argument, and I am aware of Son's shortcomings, but my head and heart are aligned in thinking we should stick by him for as long as we can.

 

[Matic]

An easier way of thinking about that is keeping Kane, but not having VDV, Madds and Venom. Then when Kane walks on a freebie at the end of this season you still don't get those 3 as you didn't pick up a transfer fee.

I've not got much time for the fantasy fans that don't get the bigger picture.

As I was saying above, thinking about this transactionally is not a bad way.

But Kane didn't want to be here and in a paradoxical way was holding us back. You can also argue that VdV, Madds and Venom would have been covered by selling the players we didn't shift.

Bigger picture for me is that we start seeing a lot less of the Ndombele situation and we start being able to buy-sell-reinvest more economically so we don't have to sell our best, early, in the name of being transactionally logical.

I'd use Royal as a good example of this now. If we were to sell him now, we'd make a decent profit and we'd be able to reinvest in a new backup RB who could potentially challenge Porro as a starter. I'm not saying we should sell Royal, but the hope is that from now on the players who maybe don't quite work out exactly as we hoped still do well enough to make profit.

 

[spurs1954]

When reading Mutt’s post above for some reason it got me thinking ‘What would Sonny want?’ Does he take the oil money and play in front of minimal crowds or does he stay with us or accept playing part matches for very good money retaining a meaningful (to the South Korean public) career with a top flight club. I think he loves Tottenham and also loves being the Asian Ronaldo. Ronaldo has effectively retired there, we hear nothing of him although he is much older. All in all why would Son want to go ro a non-descript league in a country with no football pedigree. It would I suppose be for money. Does that do his South Korea image harm? I think it might.

 

[muttley]

But has he only ever assisted in patches? The funny thing about Son is he is has always been a bit of an old school Defoe or Owen type striker who was made to adapt into a winger. He's never been good defensively, but that's not to say he doesn't try or work hard with pressing.

Until Son does start to really struggle for goals or assists, I don't see logic in being transactional. Even before he left for Asia he was putting in some very ropey performances but somehow kept coming out of the games with an assist or a goal. That's just how he has always been for us in spells.

I really struggle with this question. I do understand the transactional argument, and I am aware of Son's shortcomings, but my head and heart are aligned in thinking we should stick by him for as long as we can.

So if I offered you £250m for Sonny, would you take it?

There must be a tipping point even for you, where the offer on the table has more value than Son on the pitch. That's assuming we trust ourselves to spend it wisely. I guess, if we don't then we shouldn't be in this business.

Your point is well made in the other post about optimising elsewhere first though. I talk about that a lot. Having that lean squad, where the only loanees are youngsters and every first teamer has value on the pitch during a season. There's always an argument to optimise around Davies, Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Rodon etc and someone like Emerson isn't exempt. We nowhere near optimal yet, and optimising releases the case for other investment.

 

[Spursex]

So if I offered you £250m for Sonny, would you take it?

There must be a tipping point even for you, where the offer on the table has more value than Son on the pitch. That's assuming we trust ourselves to spend it wisely. I guess, if we don't then we shouldn't be in this business.

Your point is well made in the other post about optimising elsewhere first though. I talk about that a lot. Having that lean squad, where the only loanees are youngsters and every first teamer has value on the pitch during a season. There's always an argument to optimise around Davies, Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Rodon etc and someone like Emerson isn't exempt. We nowhere near optimal yet, and optimising releases the case for other investment.

We have finally 'gone back to the future' but with a twist; Lange has stated that we'll now compete with the best in Europe to buy the most promising youngsters, just we once tried to do with the lower English leagues.

On that basis, as our strategic aim is to be the academy of choice, we must consistently build pathways, and that means selling to optimise our investment in the squad, sentiment cannot be part of that decision making process.

 

[Geofspurs]

Should we sell Son in the summer? NO
Should we sell Maddi or VDV or our rising-star GK in the summer?

We can hang any astronomical figure on selling any player .... but why bother?

Keep em while we need em.

 

[meee93]

This summer? Sell only if offered stupid money.
Next Summer? Then it's more of a question of his performance levels.

But the general original underlying point is a fair one. We need to start looking beyond Son. However I don't think it's impossible to do that while keeping Son. Provided Son isn't going to be guaranteed to play every minute of every game, then we should be able to bring in a capable replacement, especially with European football back on the horizon.

If Richarlison's current scoring form is just a flash in the pan, then the summer conversations could be about replacing him instead.

 

[Spur1882]

Get someone in now to replace him on that right side and transition Son to the middle to play with Richi, and give the new guy on the right time to bed in before selling Son in the Summer. Must capitalise on his value before his contract winds down into the final 12mths.

 

[Barnsleyspur]

With the financial position we're in, unless a big offer comes in, we shouldn't consider it.

I know he can be inconsistent but there are huge intangibles. He's the senior pro and leader. He has an infectious, happy and professional attitude which rubs off on everyone around him. You can't buy this.

 

[Walthamstow wanderer]

Sell now …. No
Sell next summer…… No
Sell ever ….. No

He is our captain , he is a role model .

He is worth more to us than money .

He has just come back from international duty and is pissed off because he thinks he has let his country down , the fans down .

He feels he didn’t fulfil his captaincy obligations .

This is the sort of person we need at the club .

He has publicly said , many times , he could have gone elsewhere , but it’s not about money .

Get him to study for his coaching badges
and give him a place in the club for as long as he wants to be here .

Eventually make him a Club Ambassador .

Do anything to keep him , although I don’t think it will need much .
He is Spurs through and through .

I am amazed anybody would want to sell him .

Some people are worth more than money .

Even when he was going through a bad patch .

 

[Walthamstow wanderer]

Oh , and there should be a plain No vote in the poll box , without any rider .

 

[SheringhamNo10]

This really is a difficult one for me.

On the one hand, I love Son for all the reasons already mentioned on here.

On the other hand though, I do see the logic in selling this summer (for the right price)

In the era of FFP/PSR it’s becoming even more important not to hold on to players whose performances will naturally dip over the course of a new contract. Son’s contract is up in 2025 meaning he signs a new contact before next season or is sold. He currently earns approximately £10m pa. A new contact would probably cost us £15m pa for the next 3 years. I struggle to see the logic in the financial outlay ‘if’ Son is to naturally become more of a ‘bit part’ player over the next few seasons.

We appear to have turned the corner ‘as a club’ who are now making more right decisions than wrong ones. This is another test of that for me.

Bottom line.

If we are offered anything in the region of £75m+ for Son this summer, I’d be happy to let him go because that would mean that we can continue to target more young talent at a time when other clubs are struggling financially. These young players are the ones that will bring success to our club over the next 5-10 years.

We were wrote off after Kane left. We’ve kicked on. The same can be true here.

That said, that only works IF Son himself is happy to leave. There is nothing stopping him from sitting on his contract and leaving on a free.