Sheffield United and Lenny

[FarmdogSUFC]

I'd be bothered if Lenny left for free at the end of next season.


Of course, this shows the importance of having young players. Had WA, AT and Lenny been under 24 we'd have been entitled to a fee, like we were with Bentley and Payne.

Maybe time to go younger?

I'm not so sure. Lenny is one of the most influential players I've ever seen in a Southend team. I'd be happy to have another year out of him even if it meant he left on a free.

I agree we need to find some additional source of income though, especially with our dreadful run in cups comps in the last few seasons. Lucky the Bentley and Payne deals will cover a lot of that, as well as the selling of youths who get pinched.

 

[blue pilot]

Our Chairman has form in turning down 'derisory' bids that un hindsight turn out to be what we should have accepted. Not saying £300k is fair but some people really do need to get realistic about the amount of money players at our level with 1 year on their contract are worth.
Yes, Leonard is a good player, easily capable of playing for a mid-table side in the Championship but he's not Dele Ali. From his viewpoint a doubling or even trebling of wages and playing at a higher level will be too much to turn down. I'd hate to have an unsettled player here in August who then pushes for a move (remember Nicky Bailey) and we have to take a lower bid when clubs know how keen he is to move on. Personally, I think that a bid closer to 500K would be good business and allow Brown something in the budget for replacements.

 

[kentblues]

Our Chairman has form in turning down 'derisory' bids that un hindsight turn out to be what we should have accepted. Not saying £300k is fair but some people really do need to get realistic about the amount of money players at our level with 1 year on their contract are worth.
Yes, Leonard is a good player, easily capable of playing for a mid-table side in the Championship but he's not Dele Ali. From his viewpoint a doubling or even trebling of wages and playing at a higher level will be too much to turn down. I'd hate to have an unsettled player here in August who then pushes for a move (remember Nicky Bailey) and we have to take a lower bid when clubs know how keen he is to move on. Personally, I think that a bid closer to 500K would be good business and allow Brown something in the budget for replacements.

Someone went for was it £1.5m and it was the 43rd highest fee in the Championship- we were paying £300k when we last went up to the Championship for players like Clarke and Paynter. £300k won't be accepted and as with Bentley RM will take the risk and keep him for another year whilst trying to get him to sign a new contract.

Whether or not you, or indeed I or anyone else, would accept £300k or £500k is irrelevant because the person that matters won't.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

£300k is an insult to be honest. Double that and you might get RM to think about it, but that would still be cheap IMO

 

[flangejackrabbit]

Of course, this shows the importance of having young players. Had WA, AT and Lenny been under 24 we'd have been entitled to a fee, like we were with Bentley and Payne.

Maybe time to go younger?

Problem is you generally have to lay out more and face greater competition to get such players specifically due to their higher resale value. If you can pick up a 19 or 20 year old cheap, great but it's a bit of a lottery. Anyone decent in the 21-23 bracket usually has a bit of buzz about them and anyway by the time they reach 24 they'll be able to go off for free anyway so that's 3 years max.

 

[united we stand]

Our Chairman has form in turning down 'derisory' bids that un hindsight turn out to be what we should have accepted. Not saying £300k is fair but some people really do need to get realistic about the amount of money players at our level with 1 year on their contract are worth.
Yes, Leonard is a good player, easily capable of playing for a mid-table side in the Championship but he's not Dele Ali. From his viewpoint a doubling or even trebling of wages and playing at a higher level will be too much to turn down. I'd hate to have an unsettled player here in August who then pushes for a move (remember Nicky Bailey) and we have to take a lower bid when clubs know how keen he is to move on. Personally, I think that a bid closer to 500K would be good business and allow Brown something in the budget for replacements.

he has also turned down 'derisory ' bids and it has turned out that he did the right thing ! its very easy to pick and choose an example to meet an agenda. Its a gamble , at one extreme we don't accept any offer , he has a stellar season and we get promoted and he re-signs and we then sell him at some point as a proven championship player for far more money. At the other end of the spectrum we don't sell him, he has a poor season and/or gets injured , other players get injured and we don't have the funds to bring in more players resulting in a missed opportunity to gain promotion.

Personally I would be happy with us turning down bids unless they are too good too be true . If the bid is £300,000 I would rather we took the gamble and kept him. Having said that the sell ons are going to be key. it could be argued that the sooner we sell him, the sooner his 'next' move will happen gaining us a nice pot as he gets sold for millions (we can all dream)

 

[Jam_Man]

Cant imagine Leonard is ever going to be sold for millions, I doubt sell ons are that big a deal with him.

Lets say we sold him for £500k and he then got sold for a million in a couple of years, we would get about £125,000 on a 25% sell on fee (based on profit not the whole fee). I dont think that would even happen though so Id rather we tried to get a little more for him now.

Goalkeepers and strikers are a different kettle of fish though.

If we got offered 500k+ for him I wouldnt be surprised to see him go.

 

[kentblues]

Cant imagine Leonard is ever going to be sold for millions, I doubt sell ons are that big a deal with him.

Lets say we sold him for £500k and he then got sold for a million in a couple of years, we would get about £125,000 on a 25% sell on fee (based on profit not the whole fee). I dont think that would even happen though so Id rather we tried to get a little more for him now.

Goalkeepers and strikers are a different kettle of fish though.

If we got offered 500k+ for him I wouldnt be surprised to see him go.

If Sheff think he is good enough to start regularly in the Championship then at his age anything under £1m is cheap (look at what Jack Payne went for and he played a fraction of the games Lenny has and had only just become a regular starter).

 

[rigsby]

Harsh facts are he is in his last year so what people value him at has no relevance. We saw what happened with Simpson at Orient last year and we would do the same if it was the other way round this time. He is not under 24 so there wont be all the add on some of you are hoping for.

Of course we want more than £300,000 but even turning that down would make Lenny the highest played player by a mile for next season. Can Ron afford not to take the money now and possible sign 2 decent players with it.

 

[SeaSideDoughnut]

No he won't. If he is persuaded to stay, he's being offered a vastly improved contract. That will be a contract that will suit him and suit the club in case of selling at a later date.

I think Bentley and Payne are both examples that money can't persuade an ambitious player. The only difference with those players is, we had a safety need. I thought the same about Bentley though, why not throw in a release clause, and when we receive that £1.5m bid it's a win win. But it doesn't happen because they have no guarantee the interest will be there and their agents will be clear on that - the opportunity is now for them. It's a tight rope for Ron.

Coming back to the fee, I saw Nicky Bailey's name in a post and I think there could be some vague parallels. He was a different type of midfielder but, wasn't in his final year, scored goals which always increases a players value and Championship worthy. £400k plus add-ons that could've taken it to £750k?. We hate Bailey because he forced a move so we feel we got a great deal to see the back of him. Just because we love Lenny, doesn't mean his value increases.

 

[Jam_Man]

If Sheff think he is good enough to start regularly in the Championship then at his age anything under £1m is cheap (look at what Jack Payne went for and he played a fraction of the games Lenny has and had only just become a regular starter).

He is a league one player, being good enough for the Championship is questionable until he plays there.

Payne went for 600k I believe, and had far more potential than Leonard and already showed he could win games, I wouldnt say Leonard was worth any more just because he had more game under his belt.

Dont see us getting a million for him even if he had more than a year on his contract.

 

[SeaSideDoughnut]

If Sheff think he is good enough to start regularly in the Championship then at his age anything under £1m is cheap (look at what Jack Payne went for and he played a fraction of the games Lenny has and had only just become a regular starter).

I think the fact that Payne played less football helped increase he value. In the time his was our top goalscorer after promotion, you take that concentration and project it like it was a business model and his potential looks great.

 

[tallboyblue]

We have already lost Thompson and Atkinson . To lose another midfielder may be too much for Ron to bear.

 

[Jam_Man]

Just trying to check values I see Sam Winnall, a striker with a decent goal record went from one CCC club to another in January for £500k.

His contract was up this summer, but he only had 6 months less than Leonard and strikers always go for more.

 

[blue pilot]

Some of the numbers being thrown around on here as to what people think other clubs should be bidding for Leonard are dreamland. Take a reality check, take a look at what players in league 1 change hands for. All this talk of 'at least £1 million' is fantasy, people really need to look at where the market is these days. As I said earlier, close to £500k will be a good deal for all parties.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

Some of the numbers being thrown around on here as to what people think other clubs should be bidding for Leonard are dreamland. Take a reality check, take a look at what players in league 1 change hands for. All this talk of 'at least £1 million' is fantasy, people really need to look at where the market is these days. As I said earlier, close to £500k will be a good deal for all parties.

You forgot to add "Fact. End of. You bell-ends." at the end of your post ............ that way we know that you are not just stating an opinion or putting a point of view. :unsure::unsure:

 

[kentblues]

Sheff U and Millwall may think £300k is fair- as a result the only time their fans will see him play next season is if we play them in the cup or on telly. What he is worth is as much about what we say he is worth as they do.

I am happy for him to stay and go for nothing if necessary as he will in my view materially improve the chances that we go up. Clearly RM agrees. If he signs a new vastly improved contract even better.

 

[RHB]

This feels as if it's all part of the big transfer game to me. I genuinely believe that Ron would be happy if Lenny stayed, but maybe, at this stage, we will see just how determined Wilder is to get him. Sheffield are a 'big' club so if they really to want Lenny then £500k could be enough of a tempter, the question is are they prepared to bid higher than the current bid? There is no mention anywhere of their interest cooling so this week should decide it one way or another.

 

[jaffa1]

"Property Magnate" :hilarious:


Sheffield United’s pursuit of Ryan Leonard, the in-demand Southend midfielder, has been dealt a blow after Shrimpers chairman Ron Martin insisted: He’s not for sale. Blades boss Chris Wilder has identified Leonard as a target after he won Southend’s Player of the Year award for the last two seasons. Last term, as United won the League One title with 100 points, Phil Brown’s side finished seventh - one point outside the play-offs. Martin has already rejected one bid from United and another from a rival club, thought to be fellow promotion winners Millwall. And the property magnate said: “I’ve met Lenny and told him we don’t want to sell him. “We’ve rejected offers from two clubs for him. “Our ambition is to get promoted from this league and to get into the Championship so it makes no sense to sell our best players. We will be offering him a substantially improved contract and he will receive that offer this week.”Leonard is out of contract in June 2018, after Southend took up the option to extend his deal by a further year.He made 48 appearances for Southend last season, scoring three goals. Wilder, who missed out on Ryan Bennett last week with the out-of-contract Norwich City defender electing to join Wolves instead, is also keen on Charlton’ Athletic’s Ricky Holmes.

 

[Tommy2holes]

According to Sheffield United forum and some Twitter feeds their end, Lenny has submitted a transfer request.