I'm in several minds about Azaz.
On his day, his attacking creativity can be very good indeed and he has a skill set that not many other players have. On full form, he is a first 11 starter.
He also scored 12 goals from midfield last season which is an excellent return.
He is not an obvious disruptor off the park and seems a decent sort.
The debit side is that he has little obvious defensive capacity and doesn't always feel a part of the core team. He is a first rate add on though I'd suggest but that is for the club, as much as him, to fix.
If, having been at the club a short time only, he wants to go, well tough. He is under contract and it's upto him to knuckle down more than the club to pander to a player who'd rather be elsewhere. He has relatively little equity here and still needs to prove himself in the Championship, so it's in his interests to keep playing well.
What really grates though is the fee. £12 million plus another three mill if Southampton go up (and maybe at our expense) is not much. He is 24-years-old with good game time with Boro and is an Irish international.
Any player with even a whiff of PL playing time, or coming from a PL club that he hasn't turned out for, seems to command an additional premium of £20 or 30 million and there is a huge disparity.
Unless you're Marcus Tavernier. A £10 million fee seemed reckless at the time and Tav has played 84 PL games in the three seasons since leaving and without obviously upping his game. A good deal for Bournemouth only.
Then you get the weird ones like Falorin Balogan who was pants for us but flourished for one season in France and then went to Monaco for a free of 40 million euros inc add-ons (where unsurprisingly he has flopped). Then there's Leny Yoro, just 40 odds game in France, a teenager and Man Utd shell out £50 million for him.
Any player sold by Brighton is not worth the money paid, they have a brilliant sales team/model clearly and this is what we need to emulate. Moises Caicedo, £115 million for a defensive midlfielder was surreal as has been summer talk of similar money for Carlos Baleba, 62 games for Brighton in midfield.
I'm not remotely suggesting Azaz is in this fee bracket but there is a general disparity and we're at the bum end of the scale.
I don't like the idea of selling any good player to another Championship club and as well as losing a player, it can undermine our self perception and belief. Sell him to a PL club or abroad and that concern goes away.
if, however, Hansen and Nypan front up quickly, then we can cover his loss. But we'll still be short in the pocket.
@pedro no. I didn't know that. To be honest, I had not even heard of Paris FC until this media chatter about Sène.
Good to hear from you again and I hope your treatment has helped with your illness - take care and I'm sure a long break in Turkey will assist with your recuperation!
@rich-llewelyn-evans Jorgen Strand Larsen, remember us battling to sign him a few years, think it was around a million pounds that pipped us to his signature when he moved to Celta Vigo for £10m.
Now talk of a £60m move to Newcastle from Wolves.
He could have been another Scott masterstroke.
@malcolm Good to see you back. Been missing you.
I hope all are OK for you now. And have a safe trip to your beloved Turkey. I hope it is not TOO hot down there. 🙃
Up the Boro!
@rich-llewelyn-evans That is a really good post and could be a Headliner in its own right.
I do agree though that the transfer market at the top end is crazy. 40 million for Fernandes at Southampton. And as you said, Brighton laughing all the way to the bank with another Caicedo waiting in the wings.
Possibly during the International break, after we have paused our current “love in” of Boro or we are crying over our first defeat at home, we could come up with examples of win-wins or loss-losses in the transfer market.
Alves could be a start for MFC
@malcolm. Sorry to hear that you have had a prostate cancer diagnosis. My brother and I have gone through the same experience over the last twelve months so you have our thoughts and best wishes.
Hopefully the treatment has been successful and you are able to enjoy your break in Turkey.
All the best and hope to see you posting soon.😎
Malcolm, great to have you back. Your contributions have been greatly missed, particularly on the Scottish scene. Best wishes for your recuperation.
Best wishes to you, too, KP. I hope that both you and your brother come through this difficult period well. Seeing a large number of patients during my own extended period in hospital it became clear how important personal motivation was in whether people recovered well. It's obviously not the case for the most severely ill patients, but it seemed to be an important pull factor for many. Hence the importance of this blog. The kindness of people I only know online was of enormous encouragement to me to get back on my feet. Having the support of so many virtual friends really helped.I hope it does too for both you, your brother and Malcolm
@k-p-in-spain Thanks KP. I do hope you are well recovered now. After Radio Therapy, I suffered badly with after effects, which they told me might happen.
Thank you everyone for your nice and comforting words.
@malcolm. I am very well thank you Malcolm.
I was fortunate that it was caught at stage 2 so was able to opt for robotic laparoscopic surgery which went well; out of hospital in two days and back on the golf course within two months.
My brother had to go the radiotherapy route as he had previously had bowel surgery and an operation was not an option.
He also struggled with the after effects of radiotherapy and was catheterised for over six months and then needed a further procedure which has helped; he is now catheter free and life has resumed to a new normal.
Hopefully you are now over the worst and looking to get back to normality and a return to your second home. Take care and enjoy. 😎
@lenmasterman. Thank you Len for your best wishes and I agree that the support and best wishes from virtual friends has been of enormous encouragement and motivation for both myself and my brother.
We are both very grateful for all the support of family and friends (in person or on line) and will be eternally grateful to the doctors and nurses who cared for us so well. 😎
Yes on his day Azaz looked a world beater and he had that 12-game spell in Nov-Dec in 2024 where he scored 8 and made 7 assists. Unfortunately, when he's not in the zone games often pass him by - his first 10 games of 2024-25 saw no goals and 2 assists and his last 23 games of that season was a more modest 4 goals and 2 assists. Plus in his first season at the club scored 4 and made 5 assists in 20 games - of which 2 goals and 5 assists were over a 5-game spell.
Hard to tell what player Southampton are getting - he has the ability but not the consistency - which I guess is true of many Championship players! A £10m profit in 18 months is a decent return and if it means Hackney didn't need to be sold and stays (who knows?) then it will be an even better deal.
Azaz excitedly told Southampton on arriving: "I'm really happy to be here and I'm really, really excited to prove I can play for a Premier League club."
Albeit a PL club that only managed 12 points last season! Before adding...
"I know we're in the Championship now, but we're trying to operate at Premier League level to ultimately get promoted, win the league and get back to the Premier League."
I think there are probably at least half-a-dozen clubs with that idea - the hard part it achieving it...
@werdermouth Of course Azaz has to say these things for consumption by his new fan base. Lets just see how they get on. Not famously so far, and as I posted earlier when this news broke, let Boro make him regret all of this with Boro being the Premier League club next season, and with Southampton languishing still, in the EFL.
Welcome back Malcolm, I hope your treatment has been 100% successful and the break in Turkey does you the power of good.
Thanks also to Andy R for an excellent opener to this match.
Come on BORO.
Welcome back, Malcolm. Very sorry to hear of your health concerns but very pleased to have you back amongst us.
All the best.
Andy
Welcome back Malcolm. We missed you.
Great Post and I must admit I did wonder if we had made the right decision selling Azaz.
i then thought back to those games under Carrick when Boro had been leading games and the team needed to knuckle down and fight to retain the points. Azaz would just let his opponents pass by and slowly amble back to the Boro half and be a lost man to the team.
I think this management team have the right idea in which if a player loses the ball his first concern is to win it back and regain possession.
This is a trait that all good teams have and it will be interesting to see if Azaz is a hit at Southampton.
A good price for an average player in my opinion. But that’s why we love this blog isn’t it ? We can all differ in our thoughts but we never fall out and respect the views of others.
UP DIASBORO !
OFB
@original-fat-bob just new to this forum / blog and have to say i am so impressed with the positive nature of it, quite clearly it is full of genuine boro supporters who, let's be honest, aren't always going to agree, however, the respect amongst everybody is a joy.
Very impressed in my early days, why didn't I find this 5 years ago instead of spending my time on the Teesside Live forums where its a free for all fight day after day, sad to say I found myself getting involved in it too but eventually it wore me down.
@presidentjump Welcome also from me. I used to read your posts on the Gazette and the NE. Always respectful.
One could say President that you have jumped ship.
@malcolm Malcolm, enjoy the sun on your face, but don’t forget the factor 50. 😎
@Malcolm Good luck and I wish you well and a speedy recovery. It's not an easy battle to fight, even with that important item support you feel very alone at when you wake up at three o'clock in the morning. Enjoy Turkey, that fabulous food and the sunshine but above all keep feeling positive and enjoy yourself.
Best wishes and UTB,
John
It is being reported that DJed Spence call up to the England squad has initiated a £2.5m add on for Boro, probably one that maybe even Spurs didn’t see happening in the early days after his transfer, probably the biggest add on in the whole deal.
Come on BORO.
Welcome back Malcolm. We missed you.
Finn Azaz says he has joined a ‘Premier League club’ after completing his move from Middlesbrough to Southampton.
The Ireland international signed a four-year deal with the Championship promotion favourites after Boro reluctantly accepted a deal that could eventually rise to £15 million with add-ons. Boro are guaranteed £12m of that, making a strong profit on a player they paid £2.5m for just 18 months ago.
Boro did not want to lose the 24-year-old this summer after 17 goals and 17 assists since joining the club from Aston Villa in January 2024. However, Azaz was unsettled on Teesside and made his desire to leave the club known. Much like Rav van den Berg’s sale earlier this summer, the club were keen not to have players at the club who are uncommitted to the cause after such a strong start to the season under the new boss Rob Edwards.
Speaking after his move was confirmed, Azaz said: “It feels amazing. Obviously it’s been talked about for a little while, and I’m really happy to be here. I’m really, really excited to prove I can play for a Premier League club. I know we’re in the Championship now, but we’re trying to operate at Premier League level to ultimately get promoted, win the league and get back to the Premier League.”