One of the most entertaining mangers in the Premiership this year is Ian Holloway. He is outspoken, brash, and not scared to disagree with people, or offend them. One of the battle grounds he has been fighting on recently is the value of his best player. Just how much is Charlie Adam worth?
As Sir Alex Ferguson said this week, there is no value in the market, but that has not meant that transfers have not taken place. I heard a little witticism that I think is accurate in transfers; a player is worth as much as someone is willing to pay for them.
So, in this financial climate, I ask firstly, how much should Holloway demand for Charlie Adam? And secondly, how much should someone be willing to offer for him?
I don’t think you can really be sure either way as to how Blackpool would manage without him. This year he has scored 4 goals and got 5 assists. In the two games he has not played they have won away at Sunderland, and lost away at Villa. So how good they are without him is yet to be determined.
What is certain though is that when he does play he is influential. He is a fantastic passer of a football, seems able to dictate the pace of a game, and he is willing to put himself about in the midfield. If Adam kept Blackpool afloat he could be said to earn the club as much as £20 million.
However, I don’t think him staying at Blackpool will keep them up. They are only 6 points above the relegation zone at the moment, and their game in hand is against Manchester United. While they have been unlucky in recent weeks, they are frail in defence and are unable to close out a game. At 7/2, Blackpool to be relegated could be a decent bet.
Teams now do not underestimate Blackpool, and they know what to expect from the Tangerines. I would not be surprised if we see them coming unstuck more and more. With Charlie Adam or not.
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So, Holloway should be willing to sell Adam for the largest possible fee. That is now, while Blackpool are still in the Premiership and not in the summer when they could be playing Championship football. Blackpool would more than likely go down if they sold Charlie Adam, but I think they are on their way out anyway.
So, how much should someone be willing to pay for him?
On the one hand, If Liverpool bought him and he helped them finish in the top 6, then he could arguably cause Fernando Torres and others to stay at the club for another season, a decision he may not follow through with should his side miss out on any kind of European football.
On the other hand, I don’t think he would have a massive impact. Rather than improving the squad with 7 million pound players, Liverpool should invest in a superstar (but that is another matter). Liverpool’s main problem is their lack of strikers and their over reliance on Torres. Not, the lack of an ‘Alonso-esque’ type midfielder that Adam has been recognised as. Liverpool should keep their money and spend it elsewhere. Adam is not the solution to Liverpool, so he is worth only a bargain offer for them. If they can get him on the cheap then it would be a great signing. But as he is likely not to be cheap they should give up.
With the current size of the club and ground, Blackpool desperately needs some investment. The answer has to be that he should be sold for the right offer; I believe that to be around £6-7 million. Not the £15 million that Holloway wants. If Holloway is more realistic, he will get more respect.
There is no way that Blackpool could turn down 6 million pounds. Holloway’s apparent wish for his player to play for one of the ‘biggest clubs in the world’ should come after the club’s desire for some cash. And I don’t think that cash should be Liverpool’s.
The article was written by Joe Austin for FootballFancast.com. Make sure to check out the latest news, blogs and podcasts at FFC – ed.
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Adam is a very good player, he ran the show when we lost to Blackpool, but not quite Alonso
I’d be happy at around 5.5M – 6M,,, any more does not deliver the value required. One thing I would certainly say is we do not have to choose either or for midfielders and upfront players. I am certain we will get both before the weeks out,,, and with the luck of the gods a cheeky lightening fast winger. With Jovanovic and Babel out surely we can splash out 35-40M on three players!
Regarding the games that Adam didn’t play in: When they beat Sunderland away, it was one of the most bizarre results in Prem history, with Sunderland completely dominating throughout the game.
This should be classed as an anomaly, and I truly believe Adam is the only chance they have of staying up.
If Holloway sees this, and I think he does, this would genuinely push Adam’s value up no end. What’s the value of staying in the Premier League? $40million?
As a neutral here, I think it would be crazy if Blackpool let him leave.
7mil should be enough,and can we just spend the cash and bring in Surez for 25mil but no higher?
I don’t think Holloway has handled the Adam situation very well. Ok, so his priorities may be to maximise the amount of money he gets for him and if he feels so inclined to make sure that he goes to one of the top clubs, in which he has included Liverpool. But why did he so publicly discourage other clubs from bidding for him if when the big club came in he was going to turn them down anyway? Effectively what he has done, by dissuading the ‘smaller’ clubs from entering a bidding war by declaring he wouldn’t allow Adam to go to them, is to make sure that Liverpool are the only bidder which means that Liverpool are under less pressure with regard to prices.
Bluefieldscom, you quote the Sunderland match as one of the most bizarre results in Prem history! Hardly likely, true it may well have been fortunate but hardly way up there with Barnsley beating Liverpool at Anfield. Furthermore they were unlucky at Villa with a “squad team”. I’ve heard Holloway lax lyrical about Adam for a while now and some have fallen foul of this, so let’s look at his record. He so far has had 1 good season for Rangers in the SPL 2006/07, he was okay in 2007/08 but then disapeared off the radar. He resurfaced in 2009 at Blackpool doing okay for them on loan before enjoying a very good season at Championship level after he made his loan move permament. He so far has played 5 months of Premiership football, and while he’s done well anything over £5 million for him would be a huge gamble. This is shown by his international record of 6 caps since his debut in 2007, and that’s for Scotland who aren’t brilliant (Sorry to all Scots but it’s true I should know I’m Welsh and we’re even worse). So given everything and it being January I think if Blackpool want more than £6.5 million they are being avaricious.
I think Charlie could contribute a lot to keeping Blackpool up so Ians valuation is correct for Blackpool FC. However, Liverpool would get some value out of Charlie but probably not as much as Blackpool so have every right to bid what they think fit for the player, if its not accepted then so be it – thats Blackpools perogative, but why the song and dance?
Yes! we need more pure passers in the team! people who are comfortable on the ball. Only then will we return to the Liverpool way! PASS & MOVE.
Everybody keeps comparing this lad to Alonso! Why?
Personally I think he’s more Jan Molby than Alonso.
That’ll do me and anyone else who watched Molby play.
Do you guys really think this guy Charlie Adam can replace Xabi Alonso? He’s 25 and it’s his first year in the top flight for goodness sake! He’s a good player but some fans are really overrating him, thinking he’s as good a passer as Alonso. Adam is probably more important to Blackpool than Gerrard is to Liverpool. Whether Blackpool stay up or not will largely depend on Adam and I’m sure Ian will not want to lose his captain and most influential player in the middle of the season. Even if he loses him, he’ll make sure he’ll get at least 10 million for the guy. If we can get him on the cheap, such as 4 to 5 mil then it might be a good signing but it’s becoming more of a joke if you’re telling me Liverpool are going to pay 10 million for this guy. Adam is good and will be important for teams like Sunderland, Blackburn and Fulham but not Liverpool. He is not Liverpool quality and the most I’m willing to pay for him is 6 million. If Ian wants more than 6 million for him then he can keep him.