It’s the sort of story you can’t take at face value this, isn’t it?
Club in desperate need of cash, how massively fortunate our most saleable asset forces our hand to sell him on the deadline day.
I’m not really arsed about the circumstances anyway, if he did want to leave I find it hard to blame him. You stop being a fan when you’re on the payroll, that’s the reality. Everything about us then (and now in many ways, improvement on the pitch and amazing stadium stuff aside) screamed ‘bad news’ for a young player at a critical point in his career and development.
I thought he was brilliant season before last, woeful last season (Although his early season contributions proved vital come the end), and as said above, the deal made sense for all parties. Move on, better than him have left and we’ve been sound, same is happening this time.