What Odds Sidibe Stays?
Monday, 11th Feb 2002 00:00

Sidibe In Talks With Swans - What Odds Him Staying

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Let's remember that Sidibe looked likely to join Barnsley before Christmas and was also the reported target of a £400,000 bid from Leicester City. The talks with Barnsley were supposed to have broken down when they were unable to agree personal terms with his agent. Ah, a football agent, the bain of many a football chairman and manager's lives but a necessary evil in today's game I am afraid.
Sidibe's agent is on 30% of any deal that he can cut for Big Mama, not a bad income for a player worth anywhere between £200k and £1m if you believe all reports. But we do wonder what Barnsley would have offered him. Barnsley are a first division club not completely minted but not short of the odd penny here and there. You would assume that the Tykes would have offered him in excess of £2000 per week, possibly nearer the £3,000 mark.
So we look at around that figure, if not more as Sidibe's target wage. This club was nearly crippled two years ago by contracts like that which were handed out by Ninth Floor and we can do without it happening again. Sidibe is a decent enough player but is he really worth that amount of money? You tell me.
I would love Sidibe to stay at this club but not at the expense of our future. You give one player that amount of money, it almost sets a benchmark for others to ask for the same and so the precedent is set. So we are left back in the middle of the other dilemma. Should he stay or should he go?
On the assumption that we may not be able to meet his wage demands we would then have to face the fact that Sidibe will be gone within six months. So do we market him now and hope that he goes before the transfer deadline or do we wait until the end of the season when we may get a few peanuts for him? A very tough call, he is the most likely source of goals but if an offer came in for anything that was over six figures, are we in a position to say no?
I don't know the answer, I really don't. The head says "take the money if it was offered" but the heart says "We need this man until we are completely safe from the drop" - you make the call and voice your opinion on the Would you like to submit your story or become a regular columnist on JackArmy.net? If so, contact us here