24 Mar 2013

Man Utd hero insists: £10m LFC target is one of the 'best in the world'. Agree...?

Reports this week claim that Liverpool are back in the hunt for Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama, and although it's clear that the Kenyan is a very good player with huge potential, former Manchester United goalkeeper Gary Bailey believes that the 21-year old is much better than most people think.

Speaking to Reporters recently in Nairobi, Bailey - who played almost 300 games for Liverpool's bitter rivals - enthused:

“Wanyama is one of the best midfielders in the world at the moment.

"He has already proven himself in Scotland and also won titles.

"In all fairness, the SPL standards are poor at the moment He needs another challenge, possibly in England where I am sure a host of clubs have been following his displays".


Wanyama is a good player, but one of the 'best midfielders in the world'? That's arguably a gross exaggeration, especially given the fact the Kenyan plays in one of Europe's poorest leagues.

According to the Daily Mail this week:

"Liverpool have joined the chase for Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama. Brendan Rodgers has had the 21-year-old watched extensively and is ready to make a move in the summer window. He has one year left on his contract and Celtic would want around £10million"

£10m is a reasonable figure, but according to Celtic boss Neil Lennon, Wanyama is worth a shedload more than that. He told The Daily Mail:

"He is worth £25m so they can start the bidding at that. I think Victor can play in any company. He is very consistent and you have to look at what he could develop into as well. He has been a great performer for us, and there is a lot of speculation and interest in him"

£25m is as big an exaggeration as Bailey's contention that Wanyama is one of the best in the world. In the entire history of the Scottish football, no player has ever left the SPL for more than £10-£12m (I'm pretty sure that's correct, though I'm happy to be proven wrong).

With that in mind, why would any club pay more than £10m for Wanyama? He may be worth more, but clubs will not (IMO) pay more.



NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


60 comments:

  1. Celtic should take £10 million for victor from Liverpool but install a sell on clause the potential he has is huge and could land up at barca or Real Madrid for huge sums of cash

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  2. i think a lot of clubs will be interested, and that would drive the price up. Whats more, Celtic will know that and so would be less likely to accept a low fee. A team like united chelsea city would happily pay £20 million

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  3. I think the highest fee was 9.5m for Mcgeady. But I'm almost certain Man Utd put had a 15m bid for Larsson rejected over 10 years ago. Which is probably the equivalent of 35m in todays over-inflated transfer prices.

    Wanyama is something really special, and (as much as I hate to say it) needs to leave Celtic this summer if he's to reach his full potential. I think he has what it takes to become a world class midfielder.

    £15m would be a fair price (his contracts up in a year), if he had to go longer I would want 20-25. But I think we'll only get 10m.

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  4. Liverpool should at least offer some second-hand hub caps.

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  5. Celtic rightly would expect Liverpool to pay for Wanyama at least what they spent on Allen or Henderson.
    This 21 year old powerhouse is now attracting serious interest from Barcelona and Italy and it would be no surprise if he ended up at Barca.
    I've seen him regularly and he has outlived the SPL; he would slot into any top team in England no problem.
    Liverpool need to rebuild (again) and with Wanyama in midfield and Williams from Swansea (as a start), you might see LFC improving on present position.
    Bids of £10,£12 million are a waste of time and insulting.Proper bids £18-£22m are what will buy Victor.

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  6. danandkay@live.co.uk12:59 pm, March 24, 2013

    thats a fair comment but if how about liverpool put a clause in the contract to say if he cant handle the fast life of the prem celtic give liverpool back some money to? if celtic think they have got such a great player and he is gonna be a massive player they wont mind doing this.

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  7. We need to prioritize a second choice left back, second keeper, ball playing centre half, a third choice centre half and pacy right sided winger, if there is any money left over after all that a commanding central midfielder like Wanyama would be a good addition however it would seem more likely that we will have just enough left over to pick up Iturra or Diame for that position. That is unless we decide to cash in on one from Henderson, Allen or Shelvey. Personally I would cash in on Shelvey and promote Dunn to his position.

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  8. Appearance related bonuses effectively operate as the type of 'money back' clause 'danandkay' suggests. I would like to see Suso sent up to Celtic for a year as part of the deal. He would get regular game time and a chance to play in Europe. I rate him far more highly than any other of the young attacking players who have come through this season and think he would take the SPL by storm just as Arteta, a very similar player, did when at Rangers. Liverpool could then negotiate a reduction on the transfer as well as increasing Suso's experience, profile and value.

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  9. danandkay@live.co.uk1:11 pm, March 24, 2013

    good shout! jack robinson, john jo could go for a strait swap plus they could loan suso of us for a season. no team in scotland could handle suso and would do well for celtic

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  10. Jaimie, with all due respect, have you ever actually seen Victor Wanyama play? There is not a single better player in England right now.

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  11. Why would they 'happily pay 20m'? In over 100 years of history, no player from the SPL has gone for over 10m, so the probability is that's not going to change now. There's a ceiling on transfer fees in the SPL, and it doesn't matter how good the player is.

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  12. Yes, I've see Wanyama play (I'm Scottish, so I've seen him play live too), and he is not (IMO) the best player in the UK (which is what you're suggesting). My point is that no matter how good he is, no club will pay more than £10m. History is against it.

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  13. Liverpool should have to pay in the event of them selling him on to a big club like United,Barca or RM

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  14. Is this bell-end still airing his opinions in public as if they actually matter?!

    To call him a pseudo-sports journalist is an insult to pseudo-sports journalists.

    These opinions pieces are hardly going to have ladies running to your door with their knickers in their handbags, Kanwar.

    Get a life.

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  15. He can do an awful lot better than a mediocre mid table English team, good enough to play anywhere and certainly for a big club in the champions league who play in a strong league, go to Liverpool and achievebnothing go to Man U Madrid Juve barca man city Milan, can understand that liverpool don't make me laugh, their only decent player will be away in the summer

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  16. funny i thought we had a post about this player on friday lol,come on suarez take a dive jaimie has run out of things to post about,still its better than signiling out our players for special treatment

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  17. £25m PMSL its good to see that living in Scotland for so long that Lennon hasnt lost his Irish sense of hupour

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  18. Wanyama best in the game3:26 pm, March 24, 2013

    You know nothing about him for he has 2years left and shut down inter milanand baraca(making messi inesta xavi and the rest look like regular players and not anything special) he isand will be the next super star and will be one of the best in the game. Qpr bid 10 mill last year and Celtic diet except, 25 mill is a proper bid and will be worth double that if he goes to epl. Just look at what some of the legends in the game say about him, the arrogence of epl ppl can't see his talent and price matching just cause he is in spl is a joke!! Talent is talent and he will make a new record for transfer in spl, around 15mill proper get him but a sell on clause is a must for he will play at the top and very best club(barca real Madrid Manu) in years to come and will be the best and a beast in the game

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  19. As poor as the SPL has become, Wanyama has proven himself in the best league in the world, the champions league, a league far superior to the over rated EPL and a level higher than Liverpool have or will be playing for the next while. Don't insult Celtic or their fans with derisory bids or comments. Same was prob said when they where linked with a certain Kenneth dalgliesh many moons ago and he turned out to be their greatest player ever having learned his trade in the Scottish league.

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  20. His contract expires in the summer of 2015. If any club wants to buy him this summer, they will have to pay in excess of £12m.

    Given the interest in the player, I would suggest that £15-18m is more likely.

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  21. history?did not kenny sign from a scottish club for a british transfer record,if hes good enough you have to pay the going rate ,he will not come to anfield because fsg will probably only rate him at 7to9 million because he plays in scotland,

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  22. i marked your post down because you refered to manure lol;-)

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  23. if he was half as good as kenny was for lfc we should rip celtics arm off at 20 million

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  24. And that valuation will be correct. KD was 25 years ago - that was then, this is now.

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  25. if that valuation is correct please do not lead with headlines such as fantastic and worlds best because you do not normaly get that for 7million imo

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  26. good player, worth at least 15milion

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  27. whats then and now got to do with it ,its about the player and if you think thats the offer fsg will make celtic ,they could save even more money and not waste money on a phone call because the answer will be no,a bit like blackpool they will not answer the phone ,them stupid yanks on the phone again ,they have been drinking again with there silly bids

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  28. we have rodgers m8 what do you have;-)

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  29. jaimie what is your scottish team if you have one,i reckon your a jam tart or a heebeejeebe

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  30. We're using all of the hub caps and car stereos we've been robbing over the years to build a 60ft robot capable of crushing stereotypes.

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  31. Jamie K, Scotland's transfer history has no effect on the price of wanyama. He can become a great player and has a lot of potential but he is a 15 million player and no more. It was fun having him at Celtic but I think we should take a 12 to 15 million bid, he would be perfect for Liverpool and would provide stability in defence and link attacks together well.

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  32. then you should be happy with Ngoo and Wilson at hearts !!
    how is he actually doing, what do you think jamie? will ngoo come back and play for us as a plan B ?

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  33. Good to see that living in Liverpool for so long didn't affect kingkenny's either, £36m for Andy Carroll. A joke that never stops being funny...

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  34. f"ck sake you have more clubs than tiger woods ;-)

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  35. its sad but we cant compete with utd and co and what they offer....whats funny is one year in and 40m gone we seem to need an entire team of players to compete next year...and we are making progress ?....the message im getting is IF we sign another striker a couple of fullbacks and center backs with a goalie and midfielder thrown in we can challenge next year thats a lot of IFS and sounds like a new team all for the alleged 20m transfer Kitty ....dream on campers

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  36. Victor is a fantastic player and if Celtic want 20+ for him, Liverpool should just hurry d fook up and get d land on board,... Deffo add some much needed strength to our midfield!!!! YNWA

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  37. Bailey is a has been with nothing between his ears. But he is right for once. Wanyama is among the best there is, and will get even better. Celtic have an uncanny knack of finding potentially great players where no-one else thought to look. The best part is that they don't have to be corrupt in the process, unlike some other clubs, one no longer in existence.
    It would be wrong to stand in Victors way. Clearly Celtic will not get his true worth from English clubs, but they should not accept a penny under twelve million quid, and add-ons, plus a sell-on cause. Every team in england has too much cash but knows Victor is worth at least twice this amount.

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  38. Yes, both are doing pretty well so far, though Ngoo has tailed off a bit after a promising start, and hasn't scored for 7 games now. I think he could definitely be another option for LFC, but I don't think he'll get the chance.

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  39. what are you doin here comment on yer own team ye troll

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  40. vinoceltic@gmail.com10:52 pm, March 24, 2013

    Well I think the mighty Celtic will get around 20.m for Wanyama and why not?.
    He is a great player,very strong,scores great goals.HAIL HAIL CELTIC

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  41. We also have Jason 'Dose' Carr who spells words incorrectly for a living.

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  42. Wanyama was good player when we met the celtic. Barcelona would be better team to get this player, we all talk about him.

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  43. I believe the bid should start from 30£ million and over! Why not he's even better than Messi! : / lol

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  44. Yes they can't wait for the transfer window to open!

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  45. He actually has 3 years left on his contract. And celtic are in a position where we don't have to sell. After pocketing at least 25million from selling ki and champions league. He won't go for anything less than 15 million.

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  46. Anyone who wants to judge Wanyama should watch the Celtic v Barca match at Celtic Park. Wanyama was playing directly against Song and Song was substituted early in the second half because he couldn't handle Wanyama and was one foul away from being sent off. Wanyama is better than Jon Obi Mikel and will develop into being up there with Essien at his peak.
    Celtic should simply sell to the highest bidder. £12m with a 20% sell on clause should do the trick.
    IMO he'd fit in better at Arsenal than he would Liverpool. Soz lads ! :-)

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  47. Why quote that was then and this is now , and then say never in 100 years , odd

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  48. Very, very good player. If we're willing to put up around fifteen million for Allen and Henderson, it shouldn't be a problem doing the same for him.

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  49. stepping up from a pub standard league to the EPL is no mean feat.
    scottish football is about as good as our first division at best, anyone decent has to leave to prove if they arte top class or not, because doing well there means nothing (to me at least).
    ngoo and wilson now have some value in scotland, hopefully we'll use them in any deal.

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  50. Wrong. United are a big bully club. I am with JC on this one.

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  51. Yes he will. away on holiday in some exotic beach resort. Meanwhile you may need to go back to summer school to work on your punctuation.

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  52. For the asking price, No. Anything less than 10mil. yes

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  53. it was mainly just a dig at those teams because they can afford to pay anything they like.

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  54. He'll be at Utd next season no doubt, especially considering he's a Utd fan and will be guaranteed CL football. No-brainer.

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  55. http://sportwitness.ning.com/forum/topics/midfield-target-wanyama-says-manchester-united-are-easily-his-fav

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  56. Did something in the article upset you Joe? It must have if you were so angry you couldn't even use a full stop. Why Liverpool we're a club on the up, as the saying goes next season will be our season...

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  57. 'One of the poorest leagues in Europe'? How do you justify that comment? What about Switzerland, Serbia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Slovakia, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Croatia, Bosnia, Moldova, Lithuania, Albania, Latvia, Macedonia, Slovenia, Kosova, Estonia, Montenegro, Malta, Luxemburg, Iceland, Andorra, Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, San Marino. The SPL has had teams in the group stages of the champions league more often than not, not the case with these other leagues. The fact is that because of our close proximity and political ties to England, we are unfairly compared to the gout-ridden cash cow that is the EPL.

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