• 2 Jul 2025, 11:03 p.m.

    Value principles are always buy low, sell high....on that basis you might think pretty much every first team starter is currently at peak value (I think it unlikely that many of them will have as good a season next time out, never mind better). So there's a case for selling them all, and getting new ones*. From a players perspective they will also be thinking that this is their moment (improved contract, new gig)...so they either cost you more money, and/or get worse, or fuck off. It's just the way of the world.

    Elanga has done his time, dropped down to show his value (us), now it's seize the moment time. I shall miss him, but I shall also wish him well. He put in a right fucking shift for us, and things would have been a lot different without him flogging himself half to death for our benefit. Everybody wins here....potentially. You have to be realistic about where we are in the pecking order...and a players career is short enough that he can't afford a couple more years with us if he's shooting for the top.

    * Not suggesting this as an actually appealing strategic plan. I like team building in order to exceed the sum of parts.

  • 3 Jul 2025, 3:19 a.m.

    There have been mentions of a 20% sell-on clause to United, which makes me want to add that on top. So if we make 50M profit, it immediately turns into 40M which feels a bit flat, tbqh.

  • 3 Jul 2025, 7:28 a.m.

    £40m profit on a £15m outlay isn’t bad though. Do that every year and your club will do ok.

  • 3 Jul 2025, 7:53 a.m.

    He showed he was a decent enough championship striker. And that he didn’t have the attributes to be a PL player.

    And his dad, who often posted conspiracy theories about chem trials etc will no doubt embrace the American way.

    I’m really not sure why you’d think I’d have any bitterness to Sam Surridge and his dad.

  • 3 Jul 2025, 8:05 a.m.

    Not even for dropping the 't' and spelling their name wrong?

  • 3 Jul 2025, 8:06 a.m.

    Was never given a proper chance in a team that creates chances IMO. Put him upfront for a more possession based team and I bet he gets north of ten goals in the PL. He has that "Johnny on the spot" skill and we all know he can finish.

  • 3 Jul 2025, 8:56 a.m.

    “If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you’d have invented Facebook”

    I feel like if he was capable of regularly scoring double figures in the premier league, someone would be giving him the opportunity to do so.

    Maybe Chris Wood, as a reasonable comparison, got luckier by getting a chance at Burnley at the right age, in the right team, when he had the right amount of experience. But I feel that Wood is a bit stronger, a bit more capable in build up, a bit better in the air and has a bit more variety in the finishes he’s able to produce. And that was probably all true in his mid 20s.

  • 3 Jul 2025, 8:57 a.m.

    Elanga was always the most likely sale in my view - high value, easier to replace than MGW or Murillo. We got away without having to sell a prized asset last season, & it’s highly unlikely that we will do so again. Fans have talked for years about “the Brighton model”; this is the Brighton model.

    As with Brennan, it’s just a question of getting the best price for him, & in recent years we have shown that we’re pretty good at that. I wish him well if he wants to go; take the money, reinvest wisely, job’s a good ‘un. Better than holding into everyone & thus making a PSR sale pre-30 June 26 unavoidable. [No knowledge of Forest’s books, but seems likely]

  • 3 Jul 2025, 9:03 a.m.

    Whilst I agree it seems that Elanga would go - you would presume this £60m figure is coming from somewhere - I would think Murillo would be easier to replace - clearly not with someone as good, but with someone who can do a job and wouldn't impact the team as much.

  • 3 Jul 2025, 9:09 a.m.

    Romano’s latest Forest related stab is Leicester’s god awful left back Kristiansen.

  • 3 Jul 2025, 9:14 a.m.

    Murillo is perhaps an example of a player that should be worth more after another season. The impact on how we play would be big (particularly as we tried to evolve things with MGW coming deeper and getting his foot on the ball - his position meant that a Murillo surge, or raking pass was often what broke the shape of the opposition). If you forget the defensive bits (best cover tackler since Sir Des), there are not many centre-halves with the range of passing or threat of a run. Never mind both.

  • 3 Jul 2025, 9:21 a.m.

    I agree with his skill set, but I would assume the money we got we would reinvest in a better midfield that could do that role too.

    But I can see the point that he may well be worth more next year - I worry about replacing Elanga - I can't see anyone we could afford who could provide his direct threat - but I suppose the Murillo point applies too, that we would get a couple of players in that could change the way we play and provide different threats. Maybe we need that as now more teams will sit back

  • 3 Jul 2025, 9:34 a.m.

    I think that underestimates how central Murillo is to our way of playing. Many teams have a midfield player who drops deep to take the ball off the centre backs & initiates things from there - Anderson did it to excellent effect for the Unders in recent weeks. But few have a defender with the skill on the ball to bring it out & initiate things themselves. Plus, as Tricky says, he’s an excellent defender.

    Look I’m not saying I want Elanga to go. If the club reckons they can keep the books in order & keep him, then bring it on. I’m just saying that if any of the top value assets (MGW, Murillo, Anderson, Elanga) has to be sold, for me the least damaging is Elanga.

  • 3 Jul 2025, 9:41 a.m.

    For me he's the most damaging. But hey. Opinions.

  • 3 Jul 2025, 9:49 a.m.

    Yeah, but you’d have kept S(t)am S(t)urridge….