Five overpriced Englishmen available this summer

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (35 million English pounds)
‘Liverpool are refusing to be put off by Liverpool’s £35m valuation of Oxlade-Chamberlain’ it says in the Daily Mirror. But they really bloody should be. How can a player who has started only 12 Premier League games for the team in sixth be considered worthy of a £35m outlay to the team in third?

We suspect a lot of managers look at Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and believe there is a magnificent player there, if only they could somehow harness his potential and fix his confidence. But £35m? For a player who has never started more than 17 Premier League games in a season?

 

Danny Rose (50 million English pounds)
Undoubtedly the best left-back in the Premier League right now, but worthy of joining David Luiz on top of a list titled ‘most expensive defenders of all time’? Sorry, but we cannot buy a ticket for that particular crazy train. Manchester City might be desperate for a left-back but they could probably tempt Borussia Dortmund to sell
Raphaël Guerreiro for less money…and he’s still only 23.

 

Ben Gibson (35 million English pounds)
A reported £25m for Michael Keane makes sense – especially after he excelled for England – but £35m for an uncapped defender about to be relegated to the Championship? There will always be those that chime in with ‘well if John Stones is worth £50m…’ at this juncture, but the point is that John Stones is NOT worth £50m and Gibson (impressive in a defensive Middlesbrough side) is NOT worth £35m.

Talk of interest from Chelsea (who already have Kurt Zouma, Nathan Ake and Andreas Christensen) is bizarre, but talk of interest from Manchester City is surely fantastical. If Pep Guardiola’s challenge is to pull City into the European elite, the answer is emphatically not Ben Gibson.

 

Daniel Sturridge (30 million English pounds)
‘Liverpool will demand around £30million for the 27-year-old,’ said the Daily Telegraph in February and we spat our coffee. £30m, you say? Suddenly it makes sense that Liverpool are not put off by the £35m price tag on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain; they have lost any grasp on reality.

Now Sturridge is a genuinely excellent striker but he has started 23 Premier League games in the last three seasons. Even West Ham would surely see that record as a reason to be wary. Scratch that, West Ham will clearly not see that as a reason to be wary.

 

Troy Deeney (20 million English pounds)
Watford turned down £25m last summer for Troy Deeney. We repeat: Watford turned down £25m last summer for Troy Deeney. They absolutely would not turn down £25m for Troy Deeney now after reported tensions mean he was dropped to the bench for Saturday’s defeat at Tottenham.

But reports suggest that West Brom are ready to break their transfer record and match a £20m price tag. For a soon-to-be-29-year-old striker who has never been capped by his country, that sounds like an awful lot. For context, Southampton bought Manolo Gabbiadini for £14m.

Sarah Winterburn