For 10 to 20 mill it's buttons nowadays compared to bringing somebody in to replace him. However we seen with Gini getting the wrong side of 30 it's likely we won't renew his contract and he will leave either on a FREE or before this season starts for as much as they can get for him.
It's sad really because the club has a Logan's Run attitude to older players, Milner aside...probably because his contract is peanuts anyway. But the club's logic is that going past 30 means contract renewals for these players have little upside other than waning players and more injuries due to age and these players are looking for their last big paydays. It's rare to see an older player like this negotiate better terms for a contract renewal under this regime.
I agree Bobby deserves a new contract for his loyalty and professionalism and he does bring us something different. However I see too many similarities to the Gini situation. We also have a decent stock of attacking players for his preferred role - Nunez, Jota and Salah has played there.
Unless Bobby accepts worse terms "IF" they offer him a contract renewal, it's likely he'll be gone either this season or the next for FREE.
FSG have just given a big contract to Salah who is 30, so he is likely to stay until his mid 30's now, so I do not think it is purely an age thing, I think the club judge players individually on their fitness/injury record, I liked Wij, but he did allot of work in the CM area for us over his 5 years, so the impact on him was probably more than on the likes of Salah where he tends to play in explosive bursts, rather than constantly running in MF.
Bobby's injury record has not been great for the last few years, so I think it will depend what offers come in for him, as far as I know, he has not really been linked with a move away.
