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£2m bid, you can have him for £20m!

2 min read
Birmingham City are living in fantasy land, that can be the only explanation for the ridiculous figure they are suggesting it would take to secure Demarai Gray.

£2m bid, you can have him for £20m!


Tottenham have been watching his progress for years as have all the top Premier League clubs. Lee Clarke gave him his senior debut last term and new boss Gary Rowett has made him a regular for the championship stragglers.

Bournemouth have made a second bid of £2 million for him but Gary Rowett suggests he'd listen to a Premier League club offering £20 million for him. You have to laugh. Why should a Premier League club sign an English youngster when they can go abroad and get a better player for a tenth of the price? It's no surprise why there are a dwindling number of English players in the Premier League. There should be more link-ups like the one Tottenham had with Swindon Town last season between Premier League clubs and sides outside of it.

The England Under-19 winger has a contract until June and has scored 4 goals in 29 Championship games with no assists. Wilfred Zaha stood out in the Championship but has struggled to make any sort of impact at Premier League level, Tom Ince was raved about and has similarly failed to live up to the hype.

The difference in standard is marked and players are simply not worth the value these clubs place on them. They are in danger of pricing themselves out of the market and forcing youngsters into the position of simply running down their contracts to leave on free transfers. Like it or not it's the way the world works.

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Rowett's remarks to the Birmingham Mail are a come and get him for big money invitation, managers know how to use the press and know exactly what they are saying and why.

“When you have got an 18-year-old playing as well as he’s playing you can’t stop speculation, you can’t stop people being interested. 
“If we have got players playing that well that lots of big clubs are interested, then fantastic it shows we are doing our jobs properly. 
“What we can’t stop is if someone comes and bids £20m for him in the transfer window, then I think most clubs would be interested to listen to those offers. 
“I think it’s nice that the club are certainly not jumping at these offers and saying we need to sell. We are pretty strongly convinced he is a big part of us going forward.”

24 comments

  1. well said by the first post, the world doesn't revolve around Spurs. as for £20m being ridiculous, think about the £6m spurs paid for Bale and the £90m you sold him for. who's ridiculous? the Birmingham youngster is exceptional in the same way Bale was at the same age. why should they sell a player for peanuts when in 2 or 3 years time he will be worth £50m or more?
    • Be quiet
    • touched a nerve?
  2. Nothing constructive to say? Be quiet, shut up
  3. Yes the previous messages have a nerve, I didn't write them just read them
  4. Nobody has suggested the world does reveolve around Spurs but if clubs want to hold back a players development that is up to them, no player remaining in the Championship ifor 2 r 3 years more s going to turn into a £50m player playing that standard, so the issue doesn't arise. Now I'm not suggesting Birmingham should sell but what is best for a player? Being retained too long in the Championship thus stunting a players development, potentially depriving him a chance of ever representing his country. If people like the first one want to ruil English football by holding talent back that's up to them but it's not something any supporter of a successful England can subscribe to. For young players there is a bigger picture, stifling talent is a road to ruin. This particular player is too young but the issue is about young players in general, not this particular one.

    The fact that a fellow Championship value him at £2m proves without a shadow of doubt that £20m is in this case though is just plain daft.
    • Sorry I missed the memo stating the sole purpose of a Championship team is to provide Premiership teams with talented young players on the cheap. Now noted
    • So why do prem teams loan to championship sides ? and why do players like Maguire, Bostock, Zaha, Butland (the list goes on) all go to bigger clubs then sit on benches only to go back out on loan? Too many young players aren't getting games as premier league sides buy them all up just in case they miss out on the next Bale ... that's why England suffer not because they are getting games in lower leagues try and broaden your footballing horizons outside of White Hart lane and London
  5. So when a championship club has a promising young player instead of bettering the team and pushing to become a premiership team they should sell. After all it is the best for the player and the National team? Do you mean sell us your promising players cheap? A little arrogant.
  6. How is playing in the reserves and subsequently being loaned out to a championship club going to help develop a player??? Seen it time and time again ... best to give a player a chance to develop in the championship rather than be a Spurs bench warmer. Spurs are notorious for getting top dollar for their best players ... whats the difference here??? Just the fact you are suggesting they should get one of the best young prospects for peanuts. Article is floored in so many ways.
    • Very well said
  7. When at Spurs , Bale was played out of position and couldn't get a regular place. He was going to be loaned to Birmingham with view to a permanent transfer.

    A month ago Spurs were looking to replace Kane in the January window. It proves what a clueless article you have written. Perhaps you should send Kane to Birmingham, so he can be developed properly
  8. Spurs have never been looking to replace Kane so I'm afraid you are misinformed, he signed a new contract in the summer, a clueless comment clearly. Premier League clubs loan youngster to Championship clubs with specific skills to work on, clubs such as Middlesbrough, agree with the Premier League side to address a particular issue, in Fredericks case, defensive positioning.

    It;s fortunate then that Tottenham have a history of and continue to play English youngsters.
  9. What happened to "but if clubs want to hold back a players development that is up to them, no player remaining in the Championship for 2 or 3 years more s going to turn into a £50m player playing that standard?" what you mean is we want to buy players cheap then loan them to Championship clubs to develop and then when the value increases then premiership teams have a talented player cheap instead of waiting for the player to develop and buying at the value appropriate
  10. No I don't mean sell them cheap, there is a world of difference between cheap and hugely inflated. Guarantee they can make the jump to Premier League level then they are worth a premier but nobody can guarantee that so it's throwing money at a gamble, hardly a sensible business tactic.

    Gray is too young at 17 but there comes an age where a player is being held back if he doesn't move and then that has a knock on affect for the rest of his career as he'll never recover that development time.

    Harry Kane is a prime example of someone who is developing because he is playing against the best defenders, what does a 20 year-old centre-back learn from playing against an 18-year-old striker for instance?


  11. Tbf clueless accuse a poster of comment about Kane but yet the article is more clueless. Unfortunately big club syndrome and a lack of understanding about the football league. Check facts on Grays contract!!!
  12. You raise fair points, but when a young talented player is developing his skills in the championship what's the difference if his contract is owned by a championship or premiership club???
  13. Its pretty obvious that if a club came in and offered 20m then of course Birmingham would be interested. The point he was trying to make is that they don't need to sell players on the cheap but if a silly offer came in then of course it would be considered. derrrrr!!!!!
    • Its obvious that the club would listen to offers of £20m but the post is in reply to posts that say a player being held in the championship is having his development held back however in the next text says will loan the player to the championship to aid his development how is this different
  14. Young English players are better off in the Championship where they can get games and learn the trade. Sitting in the stands at Premier clubs does nothing for them. I could list at least 20 young players who had great potential and ended up as forgotten numbers and dropping back to the Championship. Maybe more deals should be done where the players signs for the Prem club but stays on at the Championship club to develop for a couple of years. I have seen it for one year but this isn't enough for most players.
  15. Maybe big clubs that want to invest in young English talent should be offering bigger incentive like sell on clauses. I'm sure if blues and similar clubs were to be offered forty or fifty percentage sell on, then younger talent would be easier to buy
    • Sell on clause, that could work, and first option to loan back. For example when Birmingham City sold Butland and loaned him directly back
  16. What has Gray's contract got to do with anything, the matter is about players in general.
    There comes a time when you have to take development to the next level and that can't be done in the Championship.
    Developing a particular area of a game for a Premier League team is different from the general development. Having analysed and decided where a player needs to improve to take his talent to the next level he is sent out with a specific plan to work on not just sent to a club and see what they do with him, coaching wise it's completely different.

    If you offer a club 40 or 50% for doing nothing I'm sure they would take it, never going to happen but I certainly think there need to be closer ties between clubs on player development. Players will always move up the food chain, a way needs to be found that's good for all parties because the problem with English talent is getting worse, England has about 38 players to choose from, hardly surprising we don't do very well.

    Perhaps talent should be bought and the Premier League club pay for his continued development. The problem is only going to get worse and then people will start talking about an issue when it's too late and the damage to the Football League clubs has been done.
  17. Financial Fair Play will mean sell-on clauses become a thing of the past as more and more clubs swap player like Sigurdsson going to Swansea with Davies and Vorm to Spurs. Vitesse Arnham were up in arms as Vorm was part of a swap as they didn't get their sell on clause money.