The Times are reporting that we will listen to offers for Mile Jedinak, Glenn Whelan and Ahmed Elmohamady this summer.
Both Mile and Elmo started the playoff final and were key parts of Steve Bruce’s squad, but the club’s finances mean there is pressure to offload a number of senior players.
Fans on Twitter don’t believe the trio will give us much back in terms of transfer fees:
Can’t see the sale of these helping much ????
— ᒍᗩᑎEYO (@janeyo_jane) 7 June 2018
Money off the wage bill at least so a bit will be saved. Every little helps
— Kev (@Kevavfc1993) 7 June 2018
Would keep elmo
— The number 78???????????????? (@TheNumber78_) 7 June 2018
Honestly, Elmo isn’t a bad player. His wages would be the issue. Maybe find someone on lesser wages. Also, we have Richards…
— ????♂️ (@K_E_I_T_H_1_2_3) 7 June 2018
they will be difficult to shift
— Liam (@LiamC1985) 7 June 2018
Frightening the number of people who appear to think this is with a view to generating fees from transfers.
— Simon Smith (@mistersimons) 7 June 2018
But what are we going to do with £5??? Sorry….. I’m trying to laugh through the tears! #avfc
— Chriss82 (@chrissim82) 7 June 2018
Between them they earn £10m a year. It's not about the transfer fee it's about bringing our annual losses under the FFP threshold.
— Edeolus (@edeolus) 7 June 2018
There's 50 quid in the coffers
— Mark Joyce (@holteender00) 7 June 2018
Yes and £100k off wage bill each week
— james ashbourne (@jamesashbourne7) 7 June 2018
Verdict:
With Whelan and Mile being 34 and 33 respectively, and having contracts until 2019, it’s unlikely that we’ll get a substantial offer for either player. In Elmohamady’s case, the Egyptian still has two years to run on his deal, and at 30 years of age probably has three seasons at least left at the top level. There is a chance of recouping the £1m we paid for him last summer.
The main targets for other clubs will be Jack Grealish and James Chester though, and we will have to wait and see in the coming weeks what the future holds in store for the pair.