As ever at times like this, it is worth stepping out of your old supporters' shoes and joining Ferret in trying to see it through the eyes of Mr 10 Per Cent.
What's Mr Davies' man thinking right now as he follows his client on a three-stop tour of the Championship – to Hull City on Tuesday night, to Norwich yesterday and all, of course, with a chat to Southampton squeezed in between.
Well, much like Billy Sharp's man as he hawked his boy to Norwich, to Wolves and back to Sheffield again in the summer, the first thing you're thinking is: 'Kerrching… here comes Christmas…'
To be talking to the boy means that the simple part has already been done – agreeing both a loan and permanent fee with Middlesbrough, all to go through once the January transfer window opens for business. And picking up his wages in the meantime… Natch…
That's the easy bit. Once you've made the decision to shop at Harrod's, then the Middlesbrough bit is what is on the price tag. Give or take.
What's next, of course, is what the boy and his agent will want to make the step down and out of the Premiership and into the nether reaches of the Championship.
And with three clubs beating such a big and noisy path to his door, what would you be wanting to look for?
Big, Premiership-style bucks. Clearly. ?Andrew's not moving for less than X…' would be your opening line.
And then, of course, how long is the deal going to be?
This is where it gets interesting. Because if you're working on the basis that this is a short-term fix to Boro's selections problems – that you're just 'parking' your boy back in the Championship until a Wigan or a Reading come a-calling next summer, then you don't want anything too long.
That way, the clubs get to hold too many of the cards. 'Nah, nah, nah…. not having that…'
Got to be able to duck and dive, haven't I? How's an honest man going to make a living if you've tied my lad down to a four-year deal? Oh, by paying Andy that a week… which at 10%, that's…OK, well four years would give him a bit of security….
Or if you aren't about to offer young Andrew that amount to sign a four-year gig, what do you look for instead?
An easy get-out. Either, of course, literally with the kind of deal that Earnie and Dickson prised out of Norwich, or else you look for a nice little short contract that takes you nto agent heaven – free transfer time.
Davies in 22; at 24 he can walk away from a club on a Bosman free and with no transfer fee to be paid, all your Christmas' come at once. Whether you're a player or an agent.
That, old Ferret suspects, will be some of the conversations that are being had as we speak; they weren't too different to those that people had with Sharp, would have had with Fitz Hall, etc, etc…
That's the nature of the beast; them the rules of the game. Players rule, OK….
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