In the interest of full disclosure when I first mentioned this idea to a friend it was met by a dismissive laugh and put down as one of my notions.
Much like Warner Brothers after the early reviews of Batman v Superman, I am still going to put my idea out there for better or worse. Now admittedly they had hundreds of millions of dollars worth of reasons to persist where as I just have the belief that what I am about to say is right.
You see my idea is based on another Hollywood movie, Moneyball. To most Moneyball is a movie about statistics and a sport that many over here only went to on their J1 for the beer and food. While that is all true Moneyball is also a study in how to get the same sporting results for a cheaper price.
During the summer I couldn’t help but, think Leicester city on the back of their stunning Premiership success should have taken a page out of the Oakland Athletics playbook. I may have been in he minority but, when I heard Jamie Vardy linked to Arsenal I thought they should have sold him, the same applies to Maherz and Kante and replace them with cheaper players.
That sounds like madness on paper and may have been why my friend laughed at my proposal. However, if you look at the landscape of the league now, with the two Manchester clubs reloading, a Klopp lead Liverpool and Tottenham emerging as a strong team and Roman always willing to splash the cash at Chelsea it’s hard to see a team of Leisters stature achieve what they did last season.
So with that been said aren’t Leicester better off cashing in their chips at the table and walk away after beating the casino?
Selling Kante was the right thing to do but, to me keeping Vardy and Maherz made no sense. You’re either going for it or not, half measures don’t work.
Jamie Vardy had a tremendous last year scoring goals for fun and giving the world plenty of Vardy party blue wicked memes. Vardy is also twenty nine and at the peak of his value now was the time to cash in. The same applies to Maherz.
You sell those players because you have trust in the scouts who identified them in the first place. Yes it’s a gamble that they will but, it’s a gamble you have to take. Leisters ambition should be to transform themselves into a sustainable Premiership club. They won the Lotto last year but, now is the time for them to make smart long term investments so they can enjoy their wealth for a long time not just a short period.
The most successful team of the Premiership era has been the Manchester Utd teams of the 90’s culmating it their treble win in 1999. The foundation of that team was built on a strong youth academy. The class of 92 been the most famous example of that system.
To me that’s what Leicester city should try and replicate by cashing in on Vardy and Maherz and with the champions league money they will receive this year also they should take that new found wealth and invest heavily in a youth system to produce top class home grown players. You build a world class facility and academy. You go get world class coaches and develop players to play in the Leicester city way so that hopefully they can step in when need to help and improve the senior squad. Easier said than done I know and there is no guarantee that it would work but, in a football world in which Jon Stones is worth £50 million is that not a much smarter investment?