Brian Brobbey’s Here To Stay: Our Writers React

I have to say this caught me by surprise, especially given the state of our season.

On the face of it, this is obviously fantastic news.

Brobbey has been one of our best signings of the Premier League era, scoring big goals in big matches. Given he doesn't score a lot of goals, I feel he doesn't always get the credit he deserves. He offers so much with his hold-up play and strength and is so much more than just a striker. Let's hope he plays a significant role in keeping us in the league and progressing in Europe.

However, if we were to get relegated, I can't see Brobbey staying.

Yes, this contract ties him down for five years but I would expect him to leave for a sizable fee next summer if things don't go to plan. Let's hope he's focused on the job at hand and can fire us up the table.

All in all, it's great business and the positive news we need in a difficult time.

Panic over — I thought he was injured or had asked to leave!

Great news. It shows he's happy and wants to stay. A deserved reward financially for him and it us some security too that a would-be buying club will need to pay top dollar for him.

If he become more clinical — for example, taking chances like the one he skewed wide against Coventry — he could be worth £100+ million, given all his other qualities. It looks like a deal where club and player both win — now let's see him get back to terrorising Premier League defences and scoring regularly.

Brobbey is so very important to us when holding the ball up and usually occupying at least two defenders. It's up to us to get the best out of that — something we aren't necessarily doing at the moment.

He's missed a few chances a lesser striker would be disappointed with. Will it come? I hope so. Either way, this suggests he's happy at the club — something I'm sure even he thought might not happen when he arrived so unhappy and out of sorts generally.

The issues he had in his private life in Holland are surely behind him now and I see nothing but improvement from him going forward. And if he does ever want to go, think of all that lovely money we'll get.

This is a great piece of news for fans and for the club alike and to get this across the line right now is a welcome injection of positivity too.

When clubs start to struggle a bit, key players can get jittery and vultures from so-called bigger clubs can circle more intensely. Convincing Brobbey this is the place to be for the next five years is no mean feat given the dilemma we find in ourselves right now.

He's had periods of injury and that's probably been part of the reason for his conversion of chances being less clinical than last season. I'm sure that sharpness will increase with time, and even if he just sucks in two or three players for the rest of the season, this will massively help us to succeed with those around him grabbing goals and valuable points.

Well done to the club hierarchy for what's as a minimum a huge insurance policy on a player that could be worth well north of £50 million already, and more if this season works out well for him and for us all.