afford to hold out for better fees for our 'wantaways' at times, Owen, Keane and Adam being great examples, but underneath the transfer fee is always a significant wage bill which requires managing too; at times it's better to 'cut your losses'. Anyone that plays football manager will understand this! Plus, you have put out a two sided story -- Torres and Alonso we got inflated fees for, plus we've frequently bought players at under-value such as Suarez, Skrtel, Torres, Mascherano to name a few. We won't mention Babel, Aquilani, Keane or Carroll. . . . But it doesn't factor in any wage issues. I must admit, if we did our business in good time rather than last minute during transfer window deadline day, we'd significantly improve the likelihood of getting better prices for our outbounds and potentially paying better prices for the inbounds -- I can't help but feel the financial management and negotiation of the transfers is managed 'moderately' at best. I would have liked to have seen Sturridge or Walcott come into the squad as I think they fit nicely into the transfer policy and could have been captured at decent prices given both of their respective circumstances, but we should now look at how they deal with the, as you rightly put 'temporary problem' and move forward. I'm encouraged by the fact that they've been open with communication and not been afraid to take a gamble on the squad for the sake of financial security i.e.