David Gill Quotes

Transfer fees don't show which player is better. It's only a number necessary for a club to get a player.

I can no longer understand what the parameters are for valuing a player. It's all too random and in the hands of whoever has more money.

My view is that the signing of players should be a simple process. The chief scout identifies them, the manager decides who he wants, and the chief executive is dispatched to do the deal. It really is as simple as that.

Some players have got their price, but, to be honest, that's not the way I look at the game.

For several years, I have had my eye on second baseman Del Pratt of St. Louis. I cannot say that he is a better player than our own Joe Gedeon, but he has played better ball, and we wanted him. Well, how did I get him? I paid $15,000 in cash and gave away a number of good players for him. But what can you do?

I wouldn't want to go out six nights a week and watch somebody's reserves playing to check out a footballer to see if we're going to buy him.

I've always thought that having an attractive free agent is better than a guy who was picked in the seventh round.

If a better player comes along, I will try to persuade the club to get him in. Sometimes, you can do your business and all of a sudden something appears that you never expected to appear.

Every team in the league is always looking to upgrade its talent.

£25million or £30m or £20m - whether you are expensive or not, players are just players.

Sometimes you have to manage, and you have to sell two or three players who aren't playing many games.

Maybe it's old-fashioned, but I've always preferred to see players with my own eyes than on a video or going on somebody else's recommendation. If that means getting up early and taking a flight, then so be it. Our success at Everton came from having a great recruitment team who I made sure were out watching the players.

In the face of a big offer, no player is not for sale.

Some players are bought by other clubs with an eye to them developing into something special in a few years' time. Whereas there's a bit more pressure on some of the other clubs to bring in players who are going to be hitting the ground running and top players verging on world class almost immediately.

When I was at Liverpool, I asked about Van Dijk when he was at Groningen and then at Celtic. But I was told he wouldn't be for us at the time. Van Dijk could have jumped from Celtic to a Liverpool.

You have expectations always when you buy players. Mostly, you have positive expectations.

PSG - I think they had a money problem and they couldn't buy players. This is the main reason I didn't go there.

You can't think you can find a top scorer for free.

For a club to come and get you, they are going to use you at some stage.

I'm not a genius. I need other people to get the perfect information. When we have this, we will decide to sign or sell a player.

My job is to bring in players I think can help this team, regardless of where they're playing.

If we don't need the players who are available to sign, then why are we going to sign?

Whether it's drafting or player development, the ultimate is putting a team together.

It is very difficult in the transfer market for the teams that need to improve their squads.

You cannot bring in two or three top-class players if you don't have the money. You have to sell.