I’m guessing the $20 million is more of a preventative value (like some buyout clauses). But also like some buyout clauses, it can unexpectedly be triggered. Especially in the crazy world of English football.
Cauley Woodrow, Barnsley's current striker, has been having a good season (9 goals in 19 appearances), and may be hard to unseat unless they're planning on going with 2 strikers or putting Dike on the wing or something.
Feels like it was a loan that came together quickly with an option that wasn't negotiated in detail. I'd imagine Orlando would be open to less, but wasn't willing to commit to an automatic buyout at lower levels.
I'm just puzzled why there's an option in there in the first place if nobody's expecting them to exercise it. They could have just done what DC reportedly did with Arriola's loan and not included an option to buy, while signaling they would be willing to sell at the right price at the end of the loan depending on how things go.
I got the feeling he was too excited on his USMNT to do much of anything. It definitely seemed like everything he did was rushed; hopefully once he gets used to the stage he'll show some really positive things. I'd say his chance of being a smash hit and being a complete bust are about equal
Yes, although in Arriola's case ... the owners are the same people. I do wonder if it has something to do with the work permit. Dike turns 21 near the end of the loan, and it gets harder to get one. I don't know exactly what that would be but it came to mind.
I thought he was pressing, and trying to do too much. I'm not writing him off until I see a lot more of him, and he gives good reason to write him off.
Unless he has the pace of that rugby player from Wolves, a guy the size of Dike ain't playing wing. He'll be a backup for their current striker, methinks.
So does Dike have to quarantine before he can practice and, if so, how long does that last in the UK?
What the ********!? I admit I saw zero minutes of his MLS play. My reaction to his USMNT appearance was “horrible, but I hope to God he develops.” This is one of the most bizarre, interesting, and exciting YA develops since Weston to Juve.
He had 8 goals and 4 assists in just over 1200 minutes. That's a great rate, especially considering his age (19-20). And he was a hold-up monster, w/ significant deftness/flair. Brugge were reportedly willing to pay 8 million Euros for an outright sale already. That's not crazy considering FCD got almost that much fore Reynolds off a similar sample while playing a much less sexy position. He's obviously played against far superior comp than T&T in MLS. So it was likely playing it safe to preserve the transfer or debut nerves. He did struggle mightily his first couple bench appearances in MLS before getting a start and taking off. He has the potential, if he realizes it, to net a transfer fee well above 20 million Euros. Chances are on the low side he'd get to the threshold already off this loan for Barnsley. But if he adjusts quickly to help Barnsley get shockingly promoted or they look at him as an asset to flip quick, it's not out of the realm of reason. There's a couple strikers per season from the Championship who end up going for about $20m or more. And they were all older than Dike is. So we'll see.
I don’t know if he’s worth 20 million (yet), but a striker with the upside of becoming the next Romelu Lukaku, or Christian Benteke, -I don’t know if he’s as dominant in the air like a Jan Koller (but still in the same family of striker) i.e. someone who can just bully teams... I can see teams wanted to take a swing at him.
I think Dike can be really good. Not sure if he'll be Lukaku/Benteke good but if he's, say, half as good, he'd still be a pretty expensive player. In 2015 Liverpool bought Benteke for $51 million. A year later, he was sold to Palace for $34 mill. In 2014, Lukaku was sold to Everton from Chelsea for $39 million. In 2017, Everton sold him to Man United for $93 million and two years later they sold him to Inter for $81 million. Again, I'm not saying Dike is as good, or as valuable, as Benteke and Lukaku, But, he is built similarly and plays the same position. And there is obviously a premium on strikers who are built like that. So $20 million for a 21-yo (Dike's age this summer) player who is half as good as Lukaku or Benteke still seems like a bargain. So, if Dike scores a few goals for Barnsley, teams will be interested. And 20 mill will not seem unreasonable, even if it is unprecedented for an American MLS player. Of course, all of this is just pie-in-the-sky until Dike shows he can perform in the Championship. But if he does...
With the emphasis on high pressing that has changed football tactics, a classic center forward who can hold the ball up is suddenly a hot commodity. If he can hold the ball up while chipping in a goal every 4-500 minutes, that's helpful, because if the defenders are under pressure they always have the option of just hucking it up to him.
I find it funny you are so surprised and excited based on seeing him play a total of 25 minutes (and all of that in a rec league game that was over long before he came in).
Pay attention to what's happening at @BarnsleyFC.https://t.co/7B62klGcc2— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) February 2, 2021
Why? It looks like the player who previously held it left a month or so ago. Probably the lowest number available. The 10 shirt in the English game really doesn't mean much
Dane Murphy, the American who is CEO at Barnsley, provided more insight on the move: https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/spo...murphy-clarifies-daryl-dike-situation-3122334 Murphy told The Yorkshire Post: “It came up pretty late. The immigration policy has changed. Basically, he needed to enter the field for the US national team, so he could get in through immigration and he did that on Sunday night against Trinidad and Tobago. It was something (a move) we looked into, but did not really know if it was going to come off. “He (Dike) is making his way here now and will do his immigration process at the border and then have a test and once that test comes back negative, he can be included in the group as he is going from bubble to bubble from the US national team bubble to the Barnsley Football Club bubble. “Once he has a negative test and clears all immigration, he should be available.” Murphy also confirmed that the club do have an option to buy the player permanently, but said that some social media talk about him having an astronomical buy-out - there have been some references to $20million - is way off the mark. He said: “I will not go into detail. Some of the numbers bring thrown around are just silly season. There is a buy option and Orlando wanted a recall option in there."
We don't know that either. Some people on twitter are taking a comment -- that $20M is too high and that Barnsley's history is not that high -- and turning it into "Barnsley won't go above $2M". But I have yet to see a quote that says the option is actually within Barnsley's previous range. Just like $20M didn't make sense, $2M doesn't make sense (unless there's a big sell on).
It sounds like someone from the local paper at Barnsley spoke to their CEO and based on that conversation he believes the buy option is in line with Barnsley's previous transfers. But the only direct quote I'm seeing on that is this one below, which leaves a bit of wiggle room in my mind. On reports of Dike fee being the best part of 20 million dollars, Barnsley CEO Dane Murphy said: "The club’s history with transfers and how high we’ve gone in the past is well-known. You just laugh at some of the numbers being thrown around. It’s silly season." #barnsleyfc— Doug O'Kane (@dougokane88) February 3, 2021