David Stockdale’s future is certainly turning in to a long drawn out saga. It was a surprise when it was revealed earlier this summer that we were prepared to let him leave, but since then there has been very little movement.
Leeds had a bid rejected for the 32-year-old earlier this month, and it is now believed that they want to sign him on a season-long loan, with a purchase option.
On the face of it, that seems like a very bad deal. If we were having to pay some or all of our no.13’s salary, it would defeat the object of trying to get him off our wage bill.
Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Phil Hay has tweeted though that a loan deal may see Leeds paying his wages. From the outside looking in, it looks as though Leeds don’t have enough money to pay a transfer fee and the keeper’s salary.
Reports earlier this month indicated that the Whites were struggling to match Stockdale’s wage demands, although the claims that he is on a high wage were vehemently denied by the goalkeeper on social media.
We are caught in a bit of a difficult situation here. The club shouldn’t let the player go on the cheap, but at the same time, we have to consider how many other offers we will get for him this summer.
Considering we signed a player that was named in the Championship’s Team of the Year for 2016/17, the player shouldn’t be short of suitors, but the player’s salary no doubt puts people off, even if it is less than the £35k a week claimed.
With the player not returning for pre-season training yet, it seems we are determined to offload him as soon as possible. If we can get him off the books, the greater flexibility it would give us in our wage budget could help us secure other signings.
As the summer has begun slowly in terms of recruits, it could be that Stockdale’s departure would trigger more incoming transfers. If that is the case, we need to carefully consider Leeds’ offer. The club may want to see the player leave permanently, but if we get the player off the wage bill, at least temporarily, isn’t that the next best thing?