the club wants 20m but will take 15 when reminded that clyne's contract is running down, because they had completely forgotten about that. they feel a bit foolish for having asked for 20m in the first place.
yes, unless toby is just humouring us, and I don't see why he would bother, it seems the only reason why he should not join is that atletico are keeping him or we cannot afford to compete for him.
well obviously you don't buy players at their full potential to sit on the bench.
buying someone with potential that is higher or equal to your existing players and good enough to provide cover while they prove themselves until they either surpass the incumbent or the incumbent is sold could work.
just watched it to see what the fuss was about. i was with nige until the flexible bit. it sounds like they've goaded him into engaging with metaphors where he's out of his intellectual depth. he was on sounder footing with "waxing or waning, my arse"
the only way to reconcile this is that that point of view only stands to a certain point. it appears we were not ready to let stephens go, but he was 20 years old when we sent him out on loan. perhaps we're just against sending younger players on loan.