Devisive Wanyama

TRANSFER TALK

A trawl through a Southampton forum finds the usual comments of mercenary about Victor Wanyama which really shouts that those fans don't understand players want to play Champions League football and use clubs as stepping stones to get to bigger clubs.

Then there are the set who say £11-million is too cheap, these fans clearly don't understand a player is only at full value when he has a long contract and the nearer he becomes to being a free agent the cheaper his market value and thus price becomes. With just a year left it is about right and it is possible, although I have no idea if this is the case, that the fee was agreed on last summer when he was forced to stay against his will for an extra season.

That brings us onto to comments about his attitude and discipline. I predicted exactly what would happen with Saido Berahino last summer, that having expressed he didn't want to play for the club again that he would simply go through the motions at best and sure enough he has had a poor season. Listening and reading the comments of Saints fans it would not surprise me if that is exactly what Victor Wanyama did last season.

At times, they say he is brilliant and at time lacking discipline, never a problem previously, and had far too many poor games. That is the problem with trying to force a player to stay against his will, you never know exactly how they are going to react and what you are going to get. It is a gamble, some you win, some you lose.

I expect Wanyama will suddenly start producing his best on a consistent basis and that his discipline will return. Cynical maybe, but that is what it looks like. They seem to think his attitude before European games stunk and some question, as I have in the past, his passing.

There are then fans who suggest they were hoping for a bidding war, another set who don't understand how transfer work and blindly follow what our, er, ever accurate press write. The buying club has a valuation and negotiates on that, simple as that. They don't say that club offered you X so we will offer you Y. Pure day dreaming stuff, especially when a player has already decided where he is going.

Then there are the sensible fans who understand he is going to a club with Champions League football and those who question how long people seriously expect players to stay at Southampton. They are, as we were, a route to the top, perform for them and you get a bigger move, it's as simple as that. A players career is over by his mid-30's, he has got to get into a big club and achieve his ambitions by then, he can't afford to stay at a club that can't fulfill them now.

Ther are a set who like me question him on the ball, they say he is way too slow and is suited to a slow possession game. The reservations I had about him when he joined Southampton still seem to be there if some of their supporters are to be believed, we'll see when he dons our shirt. I hope he has improved areas of his game, if not, then he had better do so quickly.

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