Summer Silly Season Transfer Thread 2024

[Somerset Fulham]

Nope.  Where the team is playing has nothing to do with transfer negotiations.

[jayffc]

Do people feel now we'll be back in the UK transfers will pick up more?

Appreciate we signed two players whilst on tour, but hoping it may focus the minds of those responsible more and help simplify the logistics.

Gotta be honest I find it hard to understand where such comments come from, and perhaps find them even, condescending, towards our transfer team.

How simple-minded or incompetent do we really think the people handling our transfers are that they would require our first team or even staff to be in the country to "focus their minds" on their job. That as you say already made no difference in us signing 2 players already. There is little to no logistical difference to signing players where the rest of our squad is, or even, in the modern age of communications, where the manager is.

These are professional people working at a top football club who have had some impressively high hit rates in the transfer market for years now. It's not a matter of them needing to "focus" more, they aren't kids. They will have plans in place that are parts of ongoing plans that started before the window opened.
We are clearly negotiating on several fronts and going back and forth trying to play the negotiation game and get good deals to balance our overall transfer plans. We don't have any hard evidence to suggest that they're sat about not focussed whatsoever, so where does such speculation come from and what does it serve?

The likelihood the issue in not signing more than the 3 players we already have is down to a lack of focus is probably in reality, miniscule.

We clearly have targets, we are clearly negotiating for some of those targets and keeping an eye on what comes available in the last few weeks from here. And by the end of the window there's no doubt we will have pulled the trigger on some of those negotiations. Not because we suddenly woke up or stared focusing more- but because we will have tactically, and no doubt deliberately, have held out out and therefore got the deals we wanted or eventually decided to offer what was being asked. That's it.

[jayffc]

Just adding this from another topic as think it's relevant.

For anyone stressed about our squad currently.

We are, I'm sure, all accepting that we are almost certainly going to sign more players...So the maximum amount of games we will have this current squad for, without any more additions, will be for 3 games. 2 of which are against Ipswich and Leicester.

Sure, IF they are all signed on the last day of the window, a couple of those might take some time to bed in perhaps- but even then they have 14 days until the next league game at West Ham on the 14th of September. So 2 weeks of training with the new team before we take on West Ham (and presumably a carabao cup fixture once that draw takes place should we want to give them minutes)

We're in a good position, we have players capable of picking up points against those teams, it'll be on them to go out and do that.

Please try therefore to enjoy the last weeks of the summer rather than winding oneself up too much. Looking forward to the start of the new season! COYW

[ElRay]

No doubt more players will be coming in, but I think we shouldn't be underestimating Leicester & Ipswich.

Even if we had all players in place, we would probably approach the United game in the same way looking to play on the counter. Without a proper defensive midfielder I think we could get overrun by Leicester & Ipswich on the break, I'm really surprised we haven't got one in by this stage

[ffc_forever]

"I think we shouldn't be underestimating Leicester" "I think we could get overrun by Leicester & Ipswich on the break"

To the poster above that said this about Leicester I wouldn't be too concerned their fans are already calling for Cooper to be sacked as they've lost 3 of their 4 friendlies and failed to score in 3 of them. Commenting that although pre-season is about fitness and gelling and laying some tactical groundwork that they have no idea what Coopers plan is lol they also desperately need a striker 

[Whitestone]

I'd say we lost three regular starters in Tosin, Palhinha and Willian. To date of the new signings I reckon only Smith-Rowe will be a regular starter. I don't expect all new signings to be in place for the first game but I do believe the club could do better.

[Tabby]

I'd say we lost three regular starters in Tosin, Palhinha and Willian. To date of the new signings I reckon only Smith-Rowe will be a regular starter. I don't expect all new signings to be in place for the first game but I do believe the club could do better.

I think we need another rcb, but I don't understand why Tosin is ranked so much higher than Diop to a lot of people. I think they are fairly even and Silva has tended to pick who starts based on form. If Diop hadn't been injured for 15 games he'd likely have played more minutes last season. If we are counting Tosin as a regular starter we might as well add BDR to the list.

[hovewhite]

Every is painting a gloomy picture are you like that with everything.today is a new day be happy ,be positive.always look on the. Btight side of life..

[AshfordFFC]

personally, I dont think Willian is a great loss (which may ignite some opinion I know) however, whilst he was quality in season 1 and the start of season 2 in our new PL session, he tailed off and I have seen every match we played last season and suffice to say, IMHO he was more a hinderence to us.    Rethink / rewatch any of the last quater of matches and you can clearly see he lost his mojo.    I can recall one game where he miss passed it so many times to the opponents I couldn't count.    it was inevitable that it was time to plan ahead so be that AE or RS or any one else we will see but in MARCO i trust.

[IloveFFC]

https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1822536428431307035

Keep pushing

[ffcthereligion]

I'd say we lost three regular starters in Tosin, Palhinha and Willian. To date of the new signings I reckon only Smith-Rowe will be a regular starter. I don't expect all new signings to be in place for the first game but I do believe the club could do better.

However you dress it up, this is the objective reality.

Add mitro into this and it's 4 starters gone in the last 12 months (palhinha, mitro and Willian also probably our best players), 1 replacement.

Circa 100m in, 30m out. And probably some of the biggest earners off the wage bill.

I understand we're taking a view on Muniz after his 8 game run, and that trusting marco to get the best out of his potential may well end up being a better option than spending 40m on a mitro replacement which has no guarantees of working out.

I've also read stats posters have put out about our record with/without palhinha last season in an attempt to say we don't have to replace him. Personally I don't believe they are a large enough data set to make firm conclusions.

With all that in mind, I'll be disappointed and a bit concerned if we don't see a quality central/defensive midfielder and right centre back come through the door as a minimum

[bencher]

Just reading about Chelsea's squad size (which probably ought to be described as a platoon or a company rather than a squad...), and the BBC reckon David Datro Fofana is available for transfer. He would be a good pickup if true. He looked handy at Burnley on loan, young enough to improve, would give Muniz some good competition.

[Somerset Fulham]

This news should please people them. A possible signing!

https://twitter.com/Fulham_Focus/status/1822545544981454965?t=cwSVEEH7SPYrCVgp-whWjQ&s=19

[Drewry66]

I don't bet so know little about it but seems we are favourites for Kalvin Phillip's destination:

https://x.com/FulhamTransfer/status/1822546906842603806

I will always trust in Marco to work his magic and he was brilliant for Leeds and England for a good few years but a big turnaround needed if it happens. Doesn't seem to be any recent rumours so wonder where the odds come from. If it's him and Andre fair enough but if he's instead of I'd be gutted.

[Deuce]

Just reading about Chelsea's squad size (which probably ought to be described as a platoon or a company rather than a squad...), and the BBC reckon David Datro Fofana is available for transfer. He would be a good pickup if true. He looked handy at Burnley on loan, young enough to improve, would give Muniz some good competition.

Wouldnt mind the player but with him having 5 years left on his (likely lucratice) contract, and Chelseas youth-and transferpolicy, we will likely be paying 15-20 plus a sell on from them (unless we're talking about a straight loan, which personally for me thats out of the question).

I just dony think we need to spend that on attacking positions right now.

[hopper]

I'd say we lost three regular starters in Tosin, Palhinha and Willian. To date of the new signings I reckon only Smith-Rowe will be a regular starter. I don't expect all new signings to be in place for the first game but I do believe the club could do better.

However you dress it up, this is the objective reality.

Add mitro into this and it's 4 starters gone in the last 12 months (palhinha, mitro and Willian also probably our best players), 1 replacement.

Circa 100m in, 30m out. And probably some of the biggest earners off the wage bill.
 

I'm also looking at like this, surprised we haven't got deals over the line considering the money looks like it should be there. Can't draw conclusions yet but feels we are operating thriftily, no sign of a transfer war chest now that we should have a large amount available on PSR with that increased too for 3 consecutive PL seasons.

[General]

Just adding this from another topic as think it's relevant.

For anyone stressed about our squad currently.

We are, I'm sure, all accepting that we are almost certainly going to sign more players...So the maximum amount of games we will have this current squad for, without any more additions, will be for 3 games. 2 of which are against Ipswich and Leicester.

Sure, IF they are all signed on the last day of the window, a couple of those might take some time to bed in perhaps- but even then they have 14 days until the next league game at West Ham on the 14th of September. So 2 weeks of training with the new team before we take on West Ham (and presumably a carabao cup fixture once that draw takes place should we want to give them minutes)

We're in a good position, we have players capable of picking up points against those teams, it'll be on them to go out and do that.

Please try therefore to enjoy the last weeks of the summer rather than winding oneself up too much. Looking forward to the start of the new season! COYW

Please try therefore to enjoy the last weeks of the summer rather than winding oneself up too much.

Come on at least acknowledge there is a problem rather than being patronising. Yes there are big things to be positive about like the manager, still being in PL and the new stand, but even you have to admit our transfer business is falling short. This was supposed to be the big summer where we had an FFP 'war chest' to overhaul a squad that needed to replace one third of the starting XI, had stagnated or gone slightly backwards in quality last year, underspent peers, lost its best players and become the oldest in the league. Yet the season starts in a week, we've been one of the least active clubs, done very little of what we need to do, and seen more quality going out than coming in. It's become club philosophy not to do any major transfer business in January, and we largely limit ourselves to the last days of the summer window too. We consistently write-off both pre-season and even the first few games, as you've done above. We've some negotiations running well over a year long. These things can't be dismissed as 'normal' or inconsequential - they're neither.

No the owners aren't villains and no one should be carrying the frustration into their real/personsal lives,  but FFC can and should be doing better in this facet of our operations.

It's his default Angus it seems. He can't help it. Never just addresses the points, always adds a personal thing to it. Fascinating to witness it though. Happens a lot.

[Fulham Tup North]

 
Of all the rumours, counter-rumours and general nonsense.... the biggest shock to me is that we are about to pass 200 pages of this madness and we have about two new players in     
COYW

[jayffc]

Please try therefore to enjoy the last weeks of the summer rather than winding oneself up too much.

Come on at least acknowledge there is a problem rather than being patronising. Yes there are big things to be positive about like the manager, still being in PL and the new stand, but even you have to admit our transfer business is falling short. This was supposed to be the big summer where we had an FFP 'war chest' to overhaul a squad that needed to replace one third of the starting XI, had stagnated or gone slightly backwards in quality last year, underspent peers, lost its best players and become the oldest in the league. Yet the season starts in a week, we've been one of the least active clubs, done very little of what we need to do, and seen more quality going out than coming in. It's become club philosophy not to do any major transfer business in January, and we largely limit ourselves to the last days of the summer window too. We consistently write-off both pre-season and even the first few games, as you've done above. We've some negotiations running well over a year long. These things can't be dismissed as 'normal' or inconsequential - they're neither.

No the owners aren't villains and no one should be carrying the frustration into their real/personsal lives,  but FFC can and should be doing better in this facet of our operations.

I wouldn't believe our transfer business is "falling short" unless the window was already closed and importantly - if we didn't have the players we have already, Because part of the reason we're able to take our time even more here is because we have a very good squad that's already been assembled in previous windows and fixtures they are more than capable of picking up points in. No ones writing off the first few games because I feel we have enough to compete in them already. The point is we have a squad already that's been doing plenty well in pre-season against good teams. The only half we lost was our reserves and we kept multiple clean sheets.

I believe strongly we have a team more than capable on paper of getting points from our first 3 games. This team *should* be more than capable of beating Leicester and Ipswich and even literally beat Man Utd before...Therefore I personally find it a bit trivial and unnecessary to spend time being negative about the current transfer business at this stage because It should be judged when the window closes given the context. Obviously, the squad still needs work generally but doesn't mean I feel the need to frame it as "failure" in the meantime... there's 3 more weeks left to improve, with reports of an additional RCB upgrade on the way very soon.

As I say - even IF we signed more players only on the very last day of the window (looks likely well have a quality RCB shortly though) they'd have 2 weeks with the squad before West Ham and a possible cup game if we want to give them minutes.

It's not intended to be patronising to encourage people to enjoy the rest of their summer rather than dwelling on negativity when we have a good squad already and 2 fixtures against promoted teams before the end of the window. Could we lose those games? Of course we could, you could have a team full of new signings and still lose those games, that's football. But we did fine without Palhinha and Willian plenty of times last year and now we have ESR who looks like he could end up being a top player + a fit Adama looking brilliant and ready to start for us and a RCB on the way.

Diop as good as Tosin but we're about to upgrade to Diego Carlos seemingly.

ESR I believe will be better than Willian last year

So starters only 'downgraded' at DM IMO currently and again we picked up a load of points without him last year, so again, that's the reason to permit patience for me as I've said all window. Albeit you feel differently, that's absolutely fine,

[jayffc]

Just adding this from another topic as think it's relevant.

For anyone stressed about our squad currently.

We are, I'm sure, all accepting that we are almost certainly going to sign more players...So the maximum amount of games we will have this current squad for, without any more additions, will be for 3 games. 2 of which are against Ipswich and Leicester.

Sure, IF they are all signed on the last day of the window, a couple of those might take some time to bed in perhaps- but even then they have 14 days until the next league game at West Ham on the 14th of September. So 2 weeks of training with the new team before we take on West Ham (and presumably a carabao cup fixture once that draw takes place should we want to give them minutes)

We're in a good position, we have players capable of picking up points against those teams, it'll be on them to go out and do that.

Please try therefore to enjoy the last weeks of the summer rather than winding oneself up too much. Looking forward to the start of the new season! COYW

Please try therefore to enjoy the last weeks of the summer rather than winding oneself up too much.

Come on at least acknowledge there is a problem rather than being patronising. Yes there are big things to be positive about like the manager, still being in PL and the new stand, but even you have to admit our transfer business is falling short. This was supposed to be the big summer where we had an FFP 'war chest' to overhaul a squad that needed to replace one third of the starting XI, had stagnated or gone slightly backwards in quality last year, underspent peers, lost its best players and become the oldest in the league. Yet the season starts in a week, we've been one of the least active clubs, done very little of what we need to do, and seen more quality going out than coming in. It's become club philosophy not to do any major transfer business in January, and we largely limit ourselves to the last days of the summer window too. We consistently write-off both pre-season and even the first few games, as you've done above. We've some negotiations running well over a year long. These things can't be dismissed as 'normal' or inconsequential - they're neither.

No the owners aren't villains and no one should be carrying the frustration into their real/personsal lives,  but FFC can and should be doing better in this facet of our operations.

It's his default Angus it seems. He can't help it. Never just addresses the points, always adds a personal thing to it. Fascinating to witness it though. Happens a lot.

Nothing personal in it remotely, imagine turning a post written openly to anyone generally feeling that way and suggesting people try to have a good summer (and explaining exactly why) rather than worry-  into someone being personally mean. Projection.

Considering your recent actual personal and rude tirade on here , perhaps we shouldn't throw stones ay. Additionally - I wasn't addressing any specific points because I wasn't responding to anyone, was making a general point and said literally in the message why I feel people shouldn't over worry. As an extra point - most of the time when I do respond, I literally bullet point the points of response directly so the idea I don't is way off if you look through my post history.

But keep on by all means taking actual personal shots