Dan James

[jdrobbo]

Clearly a talent. He looked good in the lead up to Christmas, when Leeds looked to have all but signed him. Since the turn of the year, he looks to have quickly found the next level. We need pace and we need to lower the average age of the starting eleven. I’d hate to think that a side like Bournemouth, could just go in there and grab him from Swansea without us showing big interest in him. They’ve done it with Brooks and several others. I wouldn’t rule it out. Having said that, I wouldn’t be surprised if he went to Leeds. Keep your eyes on him.

Dan James and Che Adams would be excellent additions to our squad, should we stay up. Here’s hoping!!

[FactualFrank]

I have a horrible feeling that us not pushing the boat out and paying a premium for Che Adams is going to come back and bite us on the backside. From what I've seen of him, he's a similar ilk to Andre Gray, and I feel he'd have been more than worth his transfer fee.

[Royboyclaret]

Adams was unhappy with the salary on offer at Burnley and was therefore was reluctant to come here even if we had agreed a fee with Birmingham.

In terms of Dan James, if we were in direct competition with Bournemouth for his signature, we would miss out on him for the same reason.

[ksrclaret]

Not with Dyche in charge I’m afraid, we’ll probably be looking to bring Matthew Etherington out of retirement.

[Damo]

Yes, its Dyches fault that we cant afford to compete with an oligarch

[Royboyclaret]

Yes, its Dyches fault that we cant afford to compete with an oligarch

We can more than afford to compete with Bournemouth in terms of wages. But we simply choose not to.

[Damo]

We can more than afford to compete with Bournemouth in terms of wages. But we simply choose not to.

I'm not going to argue with you, given your clear understanding of football finances, but I'm surprised we can compete with Bournemouth given each teams financial backing

[Spijed]

We can more than afford to compete with Bournemouth in terms of wages. But we simply choose not to.

Hasn't it come back to bite Swansea in that respect? Similar size club to us and they started to pay higher wages.

[Royboyclaret]

I'm not going to argue with you, given your clear understanding of football finances, but I'm surprised we can compete with Bournemouth given each teams financial backing

It's simple really, Damo.

When our accounts are revealed in under two weeks time, our Income will be greater than Bournemouth's, but our Wage bill will be considerably less. Not saying that's right or wrong, but it's a policy of our choosing and the reason we would miss out on signing Dan James.

[SGr]

Adams was unhappy with the salary on offer at Burnley and was therefore was reluctant to come here even if we had agreed a fee with Birmingham.

This isn’t true. This is the line Birmingham pushed to try and avoid EFL punishment. Rejection of bids is one of the reasons they were handed the points deduction.

[SGr]

We can afford Dan James and the signing makes sense and he’s a young player in a position we could do with and hes very very quick.

Which is why I’m convinced we won’t even lodge a bid this summer.

[FactualFrank]

This isn’t true. This is the line Birmingham pushed to try and avoid EFL punishment. Rejection of bids is one of the reasons they were handed the points deduction.

I've heard the same thing too, from several sources.

[Royboyclaret]

This isn’t true. This is the line Birmingham pushed to try and avoid EFL punishment. Rejection of bids is one of the reasons they were handed the points deduction.

Clearly Birmingham did reject our bid (in fact, probably several of our bids) but it was also widely reported that Adams was not happy with the salary we were offering.

[SGr]

Clearly Birmingham did reject our bid (in fact, probably several of our bids) but it was also widely reported that Adams was not happy with the salary we were offering.

Haven’t seen personally but got to question exactly where the information is coming from.

For the record though, it wouldn’t surprise me either way.

[Royboyclaret]

Haven’t seen personally but got to question exactly where the information is coming from.

For the record though, it wouldn’t surprise me either way.

It shouldn't surprise anyone, because he's probably earning as much at Birmingham as his basic salary would be at Burnley.

[Quickenthetempo]

It shouldn't surprise anyone, because he's probably earning as much at Birmingham as his basic salary would be at Burnley.

If Harry sorted his contract he might have to take a pay cut to come here.

[Royboyclaret]

If Harry sorted his contract he might have to take a pay cut to come here.

The local Birmingham press were keen to stress that Adams was overjoyed to sign a revised contract at St. Andrews which tied him to the club until 2022.

[Tricky Trevor]

Not sure where, the above, Bournemouth connection has come from. With them having Brooks and Fraser playing wide and very well I doubt he’d get much game time and that’s what he needs.

[SGr]

Fantastic goal for Swansea last night, and drew not one but two red cards.

Based on his recent performances I’d say I’m sold. Get the deal done.

[jdrobbo]

Sadly, as with Adams, we probably won’t go in-prices our.

James, Adams and Bowen would be my picks tho.

[Vegas Claret]

Zero chance, half the premier league will be in for him.

[FactualFrank]

I think we've definitely missed the chance with Che Adams. And as mentioned above, I can't see us getting James either. Which is probably why we've been rumoured to be watching players overseas, with that being our best options.

[SGr]

Does depend who else is in. Half the Premier League will be “linked” but only a couple will be serious about it. Depends who they are.

Agree that overseas should be our focus also.

[Tricky Trevor]

James has looked good recently. I’ve just googled him and he comes from Beverley. There is every chance he’s a Leeds fan. That would swing it for them.
Although older a player, who is rumoured to be available, that would fit perfectly into our system is Matt Ritchie. Goal scoring winger who did an excellent job at LB when Newcastle were here in the Autumn.

[claretspice]

Saw a bit of Dan James the other night for Swansea, and he looked to have a great deal of potential, although (admittedly on a short viewing, and without knowing if he always plays off the left) I did wonder if his game might need a bit more variation in the Premier League (he looked to drop the shoulder and come inside off the left with a view to shooting an awful lot). If we were to be interested in him as a player who could add more pace to our wing play, then fair play.

I did though notice that this thread put a bit of a downer on our ability to attract talent from the Championship. Our record is admittedly a little hit and miss, but we've not done too badly in that regard and the most recent accounts show that we can certainly compete in the transfer market for wages. I'm particularly surprised to see it suggested it was "widely reported" that we couldn't agree personal terms with Adams - I've just googled and can't find anything suggesting that, and indeed I can see a number of credible reports suggesting that we and Southampton had both agreed wages with him. The specific numbers quoted suggested that he'd be getting 30-35k a week, doubling his existing 17k wages, which would seem to rather undermine the surprising suggestion that we might not be able to meet his salary at Birmingham.

Not saying that those reports didn't exist - but I can't find them, so if someone else can from a credible source, I'd be interested to read it.