The appointment of Mario Husillos could be one of the most important arrivals we have made if we want to reach the ânext step.â
We finally have a person in charge of transfers who is capable of negotiating and getting transfers over the line.
In the last few years, a player like Fornals would have taken all summer or ended up somewhere else. The reason why this is important for the future is less to do with incomings and more to do with outgoings.
Turning down the offer of ÂŁ45m and Phil Jones for Issa Diop by countering with a ridiculous offer is something we havenât been doing enough. Itâs not about getting a huge sum of money for the Frenchman, itâs us saying âhe isnât for sale.â
We shouldnât be in the business of selling, or underselling, our best players. Selling our dead wood on the cheap canât be helped, but we canât all be Liverpool and sell average players for ÂŁ20m. In time, that may change, but for now we must trust in Husillos and Manuel Pellegrini.
With younger players coming through and older players on high wages leaving, the future has a solid foundation. It wonât happen overnight, but the seeds have been planted.
We have the makings of a very good squad and if the club trusts Husillos to get the right players in over the next few years we could improve drastically. We wonât win the league, but we could eventually stop having seasons where we look down instead of up. We might even stop bottling seventh place!
By Stephen Barrows (@StephenBarrows)
[Featured image from whufc.com]
What a difference it makes to have other clubs actually wanting our players again after years of signing players coming to the end of their careers on huge contracts that we can’t shift when we want to, certainly a good sign that after only one year of the new DOF set up things are heading in the right direction!