TRon

I don't think we can really lose with Wilson. If we can get a decent fee it will go towards signing a replacement as I don't think we can afford to give him another contract with his fitness issues. If he stays...well he is still a top marksman if he's in good health.

We won't be spending £70m on a CB.

I think you should mate, scandalous misnaming of a beloved local area.

Exactly. While I agreed in principle that you could argue no one offered us more for Maximin, those parameters don't seem to apply to the cartel clubs.

Why didn't anyone else offer £40m for a 29 year old Fabinho to Liverpool?

I still don't understand that approach since Liverpool and Chelsea sold players for huge amounts which they could never have commanded from clubs outside of Saudi.

Well that's the whole issue. Not so much Arsenal or Man U, but clubs like Chelsea and Man City have been able to fast track their way to the elite by owner investment. Since FFP and PSR have been brought in, the drawbridge has been pulled up, effectively creating a cartel of premier clubs who have locked in their advantage which just compounds year on year. It's now almost impossible to break into that top tier without outside investment.

Doesn't he only have a year left on his contract after the summer? He could just run it down and leave for nothing.

I think for most of us it was just great to have a coach who knew how to set out a team with an identity. A lot of people criticise him in hindsight but for me it was fascinating to see us play to a plan with a man who clearly studied the game meticulously. I can't stand Liverpool, but pretty sure even after all their recent glory they will still have a healthy respect among the fanbase for what he did there.

I'd be happy enough with that tbf.

I think the argument made was that if Wilson's workload is managed then he would be less prone to injury. Where do we get a third striker who is going to score goals without spending a shitload of cash? The only way we buy another striker is if we sell Wilson, and for that we'd need a buyer who will pay enough to fund a replacement. I'm struggling to think of one for the £10-15m we might get for Wilson.

I think they'll be very pleased they didn't sign him in the long run. I doubt he'd have made any difference to this season, and by next season they'd have paid £12m for a 34 year old. While I'm still very happy to have him here for another season, I don't really see the point in giving him a contract beyond that at this point.

I think a lot of fans views have been skewed by this season's terrible injury list compounded by Tonali's ban. With a lot of these players back next season our squad doesn't look half bad at all, we might just need cover in a few areas and some cherries on top in a couple of others.

If it's going to cost us £40m to buy a replacement and we can't sell Wilson for enough money to cover that, then there might be a scenario where we just use him like @TRC says until his contract runs down.

This is one of those few games where the timing seems to have worked in our favour. We get a 10 day rest beforehand, and they have got their shock win capability out of their system against Liverpool. They'll be ripe for a comedown loss against us at home.