Arsenal to hold Ballard exit talks this week

Interesting one this - if he chooses to leave Arsenal and has bought into the Blackpool are back tag - he may see us as a viable route to further his career although sure we wont pay the highest wages he may be offered. All comes down to the lad choosing what is important to him at this stage in his career. He looked very happy at the end of the play off final and sure he sees the benefit of a few years with the Critchmeister to further hone his talent. Very hopeful this comes off
 
How much we reckon he is worth
21 , two years left , half a million , more , less 🤷

if pool had a pot of cash in buying , then put all your money on this lad , my opinion thou lol
 
NewburyOne said:
Let's be honest, our best hope of getting him back would be on a loan. If he is available on a permanent I'm sure there would be a host of Championship clubs with deeper pockets than ourselves.
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Yep, think that sadly is very much the case.
 
If he is available on a permanent deal, we really should go all out to sign him, no way he will not bring in a hefty profit a few years down the line. Premiership quality.
 
Our defence won't be as strong without him, as things stand. And the opposition will be much stronger next season. I would say that Ballard, Dougall, Yates was the axis on which our promotion season revolved, and it would be great to keep that together. We haven't spent much yet, and I think we need to bring in 2 or 3 players who will give us the strength we need. A player at the back like Ballard, wo is a leader. A midfield attacking player who can link defence to attack. And another striker, Simms ideally. In other words, the play offs team plus a really good new midfield creator, and with the likes of James and Lavery looking to break in. Gabriel or AN Other at RB.
 
I can’t imagine him leaving on a permanent for less than £1 million. Quite possibly much much more than that tbh. I
Think our only real hope is a loan.

That being said if the coaching and recruitment team have seen enough to consider it a worthwhile investment (pay £1 million now and sell for £5 million in 18 months (-35% sell on fee) the club gets a hell of a player and a likely profit down the line.

I don’t think anyone really knows how deep Sadlers pockets actually are and how much money is able to be invested in transfers based on the likely resale values.

Signing a 30 year old to a 2 year deal on 10k per week is for example a loss of over £1 million with little chance of recouping any money - few however would bat an eyelid.

Ballard however could be a £2 million pound investment with much of that (if not more) likely recouped down the line.
 
Just looked and they have let go permanently of both Zech Medley (KV Oostende) and Mark McGuinness (Cardiff City) recently whom are both young central defenders. Out of the three (all had loan spells last season) Ballard was the most successful. They have also just got rid of U23 manager Steve Bould so obviously they’re going through quite a transition with the youth set up and it would be great if we could take advantage if there is any chance of Arsenal thinking of selling. However like others have mentioned I’m sure there will be a host of clubs interested.

This is the issue with loanees, play well and they either go back to their parent clubs or get a move to a bigger/better side. Whatever happens though, Ballard will have a great career, no doubt about it.
 
LA1 Seasider said:
Signing a 30 year old to a 2 year deal on 10k per week is for example a loss of over £1 million with little chance of recouping any money - few however would bat an eyelid.

Ballard however could be a £2 million pound investment with much of that (if not more) likely recouped down the line.
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Mentioning no names. 🤓

I totally agree.
 
If he’s being sold, the club will take the best offer and the lad will go where he’s got the best chance of getting to the premiership and the best wages. If it’s a loan, we’re in with a shout.

As others have said, he’s likely to be a good investment, barring serious injury, or a complete loss of form.
 
Bob Hatton said:
Interesting one this - if he chooses to leave Arsenal and has bought into the Blackpool are back tag - he may see us as a viable route to further his career although sure we wont pay the highest wages he may be offered. All comes down to the lad choosing what is important to him at this stage in his career. He looked very happy at the end of the play off final and sure he sees the benefit of a few years with the Critchmeister to further hone his talent. Very hopeful this comes off
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Plus its a shirt flight to Belfast 🤣
 
Arsenal have Holding, Saliba, Gabriel, and Mari ahead of him and are looking to buy Ben White from Brighton. He's 6th choice CB at best, there still might be a path forward for him at Arsenal, but I think it's likely that he is already thinking of making his next permanent move.

I say we go for it, we can offer so much more than any other club in the Championship (except 15k a week salaries).

Ring Arsenal right now, offer 750,000 plus a 35% sell on fee and when we eventually sell him on for 5,000,000+ in two seasons Arsenal will have made a nifty profit and we'll have benefited greatly from his on field performances.

I'm generally skeptical of any new big money signings that aren't proven (Bez and Nuttall wasted Sadler upwards of 500,000), but with Ballard we know we are getting a quality CB who is absolutely already capable of playing in the Championship.

CB isn't the biggest need this transfer window, but when quality becomes available you have to jump at the opportunity, regardless of whether you need it or not.
 
If a club offered 4/5m for Ballard I reckon he'd be off, and it could well happen - a Fulham or a West Brom or a Bournemouth. Parachute money talks, we can't compete with those teams for players. Our best hops is that Ballard is really determined to return to us because he believes that in the long run he will benefit a lot from a a longer spell playing in our side for Critch. But money talks. Maybe a sell on clause deal could provide a solution that suits all parties.
 
voyeur said:
If a club offered 4/5m for Ballard I reckon he'd be off, and it could well happen - a Fulham or a West Brom or a Bournemouth. Parachute money talks, we can't compete with those teams for players. Our best hops is that Ballard is really determined to return to us because he believes that in the long run he will benefit a lot from a a longer spell playing in our side for Critch. But money talks. Maybe a sell on clause deal could provide a solution that suits all parties.
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Those clubs could offer that type of money, but why would they? Engage in a bidding war for a CB who probably won't be at his best for another 2-3 years.

The bigger clubs in the division are only interested in short term success and a trip back to the Prem so if they have money to spend, they'll spend it on more seasoned players.

The clubs we'll be competing with will be the mid-table clubs like Blackburn, who aren't necessarily trying to get promoted now, but have a short medium term plan to and won't mind spending a few million on a player like Ballard who will grow into their side.
 
NewburyOne said:
Let's be honest, our best hope of getting him back would be on a loan. If he is available on a permanent I'm sure there would be a host of Championship clubs with deeper pockets than ourselves.
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This is true. It will be a loan or nothing.
Unless we can arrange a reasonable price with a massive sell on clause like 40%
 
Would bloody love him to sign, no idea really how feasible/likely that is, do we have the ability to pay 3-5 million for a player?, "I don't have the wherewithal to buy us out of this league" to me suggests not but if there was ever a time.
 
PdxTangerine said:
Would bloody love him to sign, no idea really how feasible/likely that is, do we have the ability to pay 3-5 million for a player?, "I don't have the wherewithal to buy us out of this league" to me suggests not but if there was ever a time.
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Dan wouldn't cost 3 - 5 million though and if he continues to develop its money well invested - we need to speculate to accumulate and Simon is not adverse to risk versus profit scenario. It could come down to the lads own choice
 
Nearly every season we have a loan star in the team.
They usually move on and then this is repeated the following season.
Who had heard of Ballard just 12 months ago?

We have to accept it if a bigger club moves in.
 
AmericanTangerine said:
Those clubs could offer that type of money, but why would they? Engage in a bidding war for a CB who probably won't be at his best for another 2-3 years.

The bigger clubs in the division are only interested in short term success and a trip back to the Prem so if they have money to spend, they'll spend it on more seasoned players.

The clubs we'll be competing with will be the mid-table clubs like Blackburn, who aren't necessarily trying to get promoted now, but have a short medium term plan to and won't mind spending a few million on a player like Ballard who will grow into their side.
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You might be right, but those clubs spend 15m on a player sometimes, and Ballard is a very good player at a very young age who is already a regular for NI and would be well worth a punt at 4/5m for one of those clubs. There won't be many better CBs in the Championship next season. This time next year he will be worth a lot more than 5m. He has a higher ceiling than Yates, IMO.
 
Arsenal have had a bid of £40 million for White turned down by Brighton. Ballard will be nowhere near the first team and won't cost anything like 4 or 5 million is my thoughts on this thread.
 
Wizaard said:
Arsenal have had a bid of £40 million for White turned down by Brighton. Ballard will be nowhere near the first team and won't cost anything like 4 or 5 million is my thoughts on this thread.
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How much, Wiz?

Anyway, if the price is lower, the wages will be the bidding war.
 
Wizaard said:
Not much more than £1 million. He's an untested centre half. Why would he cost as much as what we want for Jerry Yates?
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I really disagree. He's tested as much as Jerry is, he younger than Jerry, he's a leader, he's an international at a very young age in a key position, he's got 12-15 years ahead of him, and I suspect has the potential to play higher than Jerry.
 
Arsenal would want £2-3M plus a decent sell-on percentage I'd guess. That is probably out of our range but the bigger issue would be those also interested and the wages they could offer.
 
Realistically, we (lol) spent a chunk bringing The Army in and have Epo as well who cost money. Can you really see SS paying circa 500k for Dan Yar Mon as well?

I would say if he's available on loan, then yes, but I'm not sure he is essential- even though he may be better than what we have already.
 
Out come the derisory remarks. Centre half is a position where young players rarely break in to any international or Premier League side, it requires trusted players to play against the type of players you will come up against. He's a lad with a bright future and oven ready for the Championship.
 
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We will not see Ballard (and/or Simms again in tangerine) .Job done ! I think Fulham or QPR. He’s done his time well away from home, and gave us what we were craving a few weeks ago, but it’s over.
 
If Arsenal let him go permanently I wouldn't be surprised if another, slightly lower, Premier league team comes in for him and then loans him out again
 
NewburyOne said:
Let's be honest, our best hope of getting him back would be on a loan. If he is available on a permanent I'm sure there would be a host of Championship clubs with deeper pockets than ourselves.
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But does anyone know how deep SS pockets are! Would we have been the only team that had Casey watched?
No would be my answer.
 
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I think we have to be realistic and admit his development as a player has put him at a different level. He could well be used as a bargaining chip for Ben White at Brighton. The fact that Arsenal are after White puts him even further down the pecking order. His family are based in Hertfordshire so if he did make a permanent move it would more likely be to a QPR, Fulham or Reading as already mentioned.
 
No doubt about it, we might not have got promoted without him.
He had a great season, I don't think he had a bad game.
Would be great to have him back but, unfortunately, I can't see it happening.
 
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