Top Claret wrote: ↑Sat Apr 10, 2021 11:59 am
If we can't find a suitable replacement this summer then let him run his contract down and walk for free
It must be our priority this next transfer window to find a young up and coming centre half that can be blooded in, the way that he and Keane were
Tarks /Mee partnership is the bed rock of our Premier league survival and to break it up without a suitable replacement would be crazy
Can we really afford to let Tarks walk on a free, we've already seen Hendrick who we forked out over £10m for leave for nowt, and Brady is likely to do the same in a couple of months, and his transfer fee was around £13m.
I understand where you are coming from regarding the importance of the Tarks/Mee partnership to the whole squad, but equally if Tarks is set on a move away then all we can do is get the best price for him and recruit a replacement this summer, I'd have hoped the club were already making preparations for such an eventuality as it's hardly a state secret that Tarks, or more likely his agent have been looking for a big money move since last summer.
If we could I'd love us to tie Tarks down to a long term deal, but alas this looks unlikely, so we have to react the best we can in the circumstances, and if we can get say £20m that should give us that extra finance to attract a younger partner for Ben Mee, I assume Gibson will also be leaving for Norwich in the summer, so that will probably mean 2 new centre-backs incoming, I don't mind Kev Long filling in for the odd game in an emergency, but I'd be wary about relying on him over the course of a tough PL campaign, therefore we definitely need a like for like replacement for Tarks who can slot straight in, and also a younger model who we can develop, unless we're considering promoting someone such as Bobby Thomas from the academy, but as promising as he is, it's a mighty big leap from playing youth team/League 2 footy, to facing some of the best attackers in world football week after week in the PL.
Whatever we need to get this situation clarified early in the window, because the last thing we can risk is Tarks leaving at the 11th hour and us being up the creek without a paddle regarding a replacement, plus the sooner we get his successor in the building the sooner he and Ben can start developing an understanding akin to the one Tarks and Mee enjoy currently.