From all I have read since my initial post, I see that there many flavors of "the truth" concerning the current Manny loan deal and in particular, his contract with Valencia.
I feel that we really need to sign him but who knows what combination of cash it is going to take to dislodge him from his club, his agent, his 3rd party ownership that he may or may not have, his new manager, etc. It's a value proposition with no clarity.
That being said, it is my opinion that we need to sort his true contract status, assess the cost benefit and make a purchase, no-purchase decision, and move on. IMO, continuing to borrow him is becoming too short-sighted. I like Manny and what he adds to the squad but I worry that another loan is just another stop-gap solution that fits an immediate need but would put us in the same position in 6-months to a year. I fear that we are just developing what we hope to be a "building block" players for another, larger club. We need to get on with building our own enhanced, future XI.
Once the club has seen enough of a player on loan (say 12 month max) I feel that we should continue borrowing the player only if he is perceived not to be part of the building block XI. Building blocks should be purchased for the future or we should move on.
Locking down calling card players will benefit the club by signaling that EFC is not content with being the best of the rest. Yes, I know we have do purchase wisely, watch the pennies, and I support that. But continued borrowing of key players sends the wrong signal to the kind of players in which the club should be interested… Hey, [player X] come play for us. Oh by the way, you know that incredible talent that will be playing next to you… don’t get too attached.
So my follow-up questions for understanding the Manny market better....
1. What current players can you think of that are of similar quality and skill to Manny? Raw but talented, flair players, an eye for the through ball, avg. defense, etc.
2. What are the estimated transfer and wage fees for these comparison players?
