Summer Silly Season Transfer Thread 2024

[General]

The next 24 hours will tell us if Andre is on his way or not,tonight has always been rumoured as being his last game for Fluminese,
The press conference after the game should be very interesting.

It will likely be his last game if they lose since the financial impact of being knocked out of the copa libertadores will mean they'll have to fire sale their best assset, and likely would be our chance to pick him up at a discount

Wouldn't take him if free. 

Very odd thing to say tbh

He's having a moment and seems to be in a fun and relaxed mood, let's not ruin it..

Looks in a carefree and jovial mood.

[Marcel_Gecov]

After Berge signs, how much headroom do we have in terms of further transfers?

[Eton White]

It's a sneaky move by TK & MS
Don't go after McT but the guy that Man Utd were going to replace him with.
Very smart of FFC

It is quite amusing, but that's what Man Utd deserve for messing us about.

I saw the following post on Burnley's forum today so it looks like they're of the same opinion! 

Theres some folk within Utd that are annoyed their interest in Berge got out.

The feeling is that they've been made to look like idiots that Fulham have got fed up with their unrealistic asking price for McTominay and so have just targeted his replacement with what they would have happily paid for McT.

Quite amusing bit of manoeuvring from Fulham really 8-)

[hopper]

The fact we were all universally excited with ESR and I think 50/50 on Berge says a lot.

Berge just isn't the player to take us to the next level and I think we were all hoping this year for several really exciting quality starting players to push us forward to towards the top 10, even Europe especially with the transfer budget and the lack of financial constraints we have.

This signing just suggests we are happy with lower mid table

This is kind of where my heads at tbh.. I'm happy to suspend judgement re berge and would also happily be proven my opinion on him wrong..

I think for me, when compared to the potential signings of André and Mctominay, and the initial buzz around getting one or both of them, I just can't help but feel a bit underwhelmed by us going for Berge out of everyone that's out there.

That's me though and I'm happy to be proven wrong.

I'd rather we spread big signings over two windows to flesh out the squad and get higher profile players in, then try and spread the money out over less high profile players who may or may not improve us and our position in the league, which is what I'd like us to do.

Many people seem to think Berge is a better footballer than McTominay. Let's wait and see. I'm confident he'll be a good signing for us, but it's clearly not a supernova signing that takes us to the next level as we would all have been delighted to see - considering the big sales we've made. I'm not a European expert but would have loved someone from say Benfica or Porto with a really high ceiling.

Feels like we are operating in a strict budget, but I'm optimistic he could impress as he tore us apart at the cottage.

[Lighthouse]

Heard that he hasn't played for a bit. Not sure if fitness will be a problem or how quickly he can be put into the squad. However he seems to be a player that would fit our present side and tactics. No he isn't a Palhinha replacement or is in that class. But personally I am happy we haven't over spent on a United reserve with no ambition but to stay in the reserves.

[hopper]

After Berge signs, how much headroom do we have in terms of further transfers?

No one really knows but it was reported we could probably spend over £100m before the Joao sale, so I guess quite a lot. Wages are a factor too of course, but we've lost two very high earners.

So at a guess we should still have £100m budget after Berge - as our net spend will be around even after he's come in.

[jayffc]

After Berge signs, how much headroom do we have in terms of further transfers?

No one really knows but it was reported we could probably spend over £100m before the Joao sale, so I guess quite a lot. Wages are a factor too of course, but we've lost two very high earners.

So at a guess we should still have £100m budget after Berge - as our net spend will be around even after he's come in.

if it were 100m

We've spent:

27m ESR
6m Cuenca
Free Sess
20m Berge

Add to that probably 25m  for Anderson or another CB like Gomez (more like 30m)

78m spent.

so you're looking at around 22m under that 100m mark for anything else on top.

So probably the 20-30m range for an attacking option? Can't see us signing Andre too unless we're looking to spend up to 120m

[Deeping_white]

After Berge signs, how much headroom do we have in terms of further transfers?

No one really knows but it was reported we could probably spend over £100m before the Joao sale, so I guess quite a lot. Wages are a factor too of course, but we've lost two very high earners.

So at a guess we should still have £100m budget after Berge - as our net spend will be around even after he's come in.

if it were 100m

We've spent:

27m ESR
6m Cuenca
Free Sess
20m Berge

Add to that probably 25m  for Anderson or another CB like Gomez (more like 30m)

78m spent.

so you're looking at around 22m under that 100m mark for anything else on top.

So probably the 20-30m range for an attacking option? Can't see us signing Andre too unless we're looking to spend up to 120m

That's not strictly true since the wages will be included as well for this year on all players signed, for which I wouldn't expect the incoming players' wages to have currently exceeded the outgoings (since Willian and Palhinha were top earners), and the fees split over a number of years for amortisation purposes so we probably have realistically spent about £11m this year on ESR (assuming he's on circa £100k p/w), £3m on Cuenca (assumed he's on circa £40k but not a major player so maybe less?), Sess I have no idea based on a signing on fee & wages but lets say circa £2.5m as well, and if Berge is on a 4+1 year deal we can amortise that over 4 years and adjust it if we trigger the extension, so you're looking at £7.5m there, so the actual spend isn't huge so far and I would say conservatively we've spent somewhere between £20-25m in committed fees & salaries and probably have headroom for 3 big signings (I.E someone costing £20-30m sort of range) and some loans for good measure as well considering previous sales, revenue and likely higher income from the Riverside being fully operational this season

[AJW48361]

The Fact is we should've signed him when Burnley did he looks a good match up for us and being 6ft 5in will help with set pieces at each end. Thought we struggled at United with balls into our box.

[jayffc]

Come on, let's have a reality check here a bit.. We all thought Ream, ... were fantastic for us.

Yeah, he was absolutely brilliant for us. Captained US in the recent World Cup, not sure how having a pop at him makes your point any more valid?
We'll see how Berge looks in a decent side- I'd guess he looks better than in a struggling one.

It's not having a pop, it's acknowledging that he did very well for us and was a fan favourite, similar to how Burnley fans view Berge, but the reality is that you can be a fan favourite and highly thought of by fans of a team that oscillate between the championship and premiership, but making the step up is still making the step up, and when you double down on what's needed to compete in the PL, despite doing well for us and being a fan favourite, it's not a guarantee of a players ability to turn that into being a consistent and reliable performer at the PL level. Can't you see that?

Ream, loved by fans, a stalwart for the club, but hardly played in the PL because he wasn't necessarily at the level to be relied on for the club to be competitive at this level and to enable us to push on.

It's not a pop, it's not disrespectful, it's just the truth.. backed up by his lack of playing time for us in the league under Marco and moving to the U.S to play.

They can both be true.

Reams issue ended up being that he found his best form at a later age (and under a better manager). He was absolutely reliably prem quality in the end and a great CB for USA too, was only pushed out because it was time for us to move to youth in Bassey, but he was coveted by the likes of Pep after all, where it's a known fact he said if he was younger he'd be someone he would sign. Thats one of the most successful managers in history saying he was a big fan. Marco also still wanted him this year but he left of his own volition in the end.

The difference between the majority of the players you listed though originally is that they absolutely weren't being spoken about to the same degree as Burnley fans are talking about Berge. It's not just about being a fan favourite -They're specifically saying he was head and shoulders, levels above their club at the time, that he didn't deserve to be in a relegation team...and that he should be at a European club or at very least someone challenging for those spots. And they're basing this specifically off of his performances for them in the Prem.

No one was claiming Callum Chambers should be playing in Europe or was levels above us, he was just half decent at CDM when the rest were crap. No one suggested Kevin Macdonald or Johansen should be playing for top clubs, they were just very good for us (much more so in the championship). But we knew their limitations in the prem.

Areola is one of the only ones mentioned who many of us said was top drawer and probably European level (and even then that was weirdly contentious to some)...and low and behold, he is West Hams starting keeper now (as was always the plan for him to takeover from the aging Fabianski) and was a massive part of their European cup win.

No one was saying Callum Chambers was our best DM since Bouba Diop...or Cairney liked as he is, isn't universally seen as the best CM since Dembele in the way that Burnley fans are claiming Berge is undoubtedly their best CM since Defour, and some saying on the level with (probably the best CM in their history)...
So it's a bit of a false equivalence to use these examples. They aren't just saying they like him, they are specifically saying he is good enough for a top club and/or a club playing in Europe and deserved to be at a bigger club.
Now might they be wrong? absolutely, but that's what they're saying.

[AJW48361]

After Berge signs, how much headroom do we have in terms of further transfers?

I think Gomez asking price is obscene.

No one really knows but it was reported we could probably spend over £100m before the Joao sale, so I guess quite a lot. Wages are a factor too of course, but we've lost two very high earners.

So at a guess we should still have £100m budget after Berge - as our net spend will be around even after he's come in.

if it were 100m

We've spent:

27m ESR
6m Cuenca
Free Sess
20m Berge

Add to that probably 25m  for Anderson or another CB like Gomez (more like 30m)

78m spent.

so you're looking at around 22m under that 100m mark for anything else on top.

So probably the 20-30m range for an attacking option? Can't see us signing Andre too unless we're looking to spend up to 120m

That's not strictly true since the wages will be included as well for this year on all players signed, for which I wouldn't expect the incoming players' wages to have currently exceeded the outgoings (since Willian and Palhinha were top earners), and the fees split over a number of years for amortisation purposes so we probably have realistically spent about £11m this year on ESR (assuming he's on circa £100k p/w), £3m on Cuenca (assumed he's on circa £40k but not a major player so maybe less?), Sess I have no idea based on a signing on fee & wages but lets say circa £2.5m as well, and if Berge is on a 4+1 year deal we can amortise that over 4 years and adjust it if we trigger the extension, so you're looking at £7.5m there, so the actual spend isn't huge so far and I would say conservatively we've spent somewhere between £20-25m in committed fees & salaries and probably have headroom for 3 big signings (I.E someone costing £20-30m sort of range) and some loans for good measure as well considering previous sales, revenue and likely higher income from the Riverside being fully operational this season

[Deuce]

Don't get all the complaining /worrying . I trust Marcos judgement, not the people thinking they know better than him.
Berge will give us height and strength in the middle and he also wins the ball . Hes not Palhinha but as close as I can see us getting and Silva has already stated that he wants players to fit the way he wants to play.

he will fill the physical gap left by Palinha . he doesn't have the Portuguese legs and stamina I would guess but then again who has ?

Marcos is not the one making the calls on the transfers tho. Thats why he every summer he has been here has spoken in press conferences about the needs for new players. 

I dont know how the structure works, but I can imagine the recruitment team and TK, hopefully, along with Marco sets up a list of either targets and/or positions/roles that Marco wants and then the recruitment team go through that list sounding out who is available and at what price (like with our bids for Ricci and Souza).

It could very well be that Marco wants McTominay, but TK and the recruitment team, who handle the negotiations and finances, basically says "United wont go down in price and we wont pay what they demand, so we are going for someone else". Or, vice versa. But given how we havent been linked with Berge this summer, and had two bids for McT rejected. Id say a safe bet would be that McT was our first option, seeing also as how they have similarities (tall, physical). Im sure that Fulham isnt run like other clubs where managers basically gets handed players they didnt ask for - but it is a very recurring theme in football and among elite level club- but I doubt Marco is the overarching autocrat and that everything always goes according to his plan and will. He is likely to have to make compromises Id imagine

[Fulham Tup North]

After Berge signs, how much headroom do we have in terms of further transfers?

Well Berge is 6' 5" ... so not a lot of headroom I would expect... our dressing room has quite a low ceiling...
 

[AJW48361]

The difference between Palhinia and berge is one has  3 bad games a season and the other has 3 good games

Impressive that he won players' player and fans' player of the season on the back of 3 good games.
Wish we would listen to people that have watched him week in week out, rather than make our minds up on
1) where the teams he played for have finished
2) the one or two games v Fulham that we've seen him
3) how he compares precisely to Palhinha

I genuinely suggest that some people look at the links to other teams forums where they discuss him. May whet the appetite a bit.

Come on, let's have a reality check here a bit.. We all thought Ream, Cairney, Mitro, Johansen, Mcdonald were fantastic for us.. Calum Chambers and Alphonse Areola won our player of the season awards when we got relegated.. but, whilst those players did very well for us and many were fan favourites, the standard and difference between playing and doing well for a championship team/one that gets relegated, vs a competitive PL team is quite significant... which is why we've, over the last 3 seasons now, gradually by quite quickly shedded most of the team that got us promoted under Marco.

I think Robinson, Cairney, Reed, Tete and Wilson are the only ones left from that entire squad and only one of them has been a consistent ever present since we got promoted, with Tete having a blinding first season and then getting replaced by Castagne, and Reed losing out to Lukic when Palhinha came in.

Don't get me wrong, Reed, Cairney and Wilson can all do a job at this level, similar to BDR, but none of them are thriving in the league apart from Robinson and perhaps Tete. Cairney has a role to play, definitely, as a cultured CM who comes on to bring calm and slow down the game for us.. but he rarely starts. I think Cairney has got a lot better over the three years, but he's getting better now as his age is going against him more and more. Maybe he'll age like a fine wine though.

In the second relegation it is now widely accepted that the team shouldn't have been relegated based on the quality of the squad, the issue was that we had a PE teacher for a manager who was mostly at fault, as shown by the fact that all of the players you're saying weren't up to standard suddenly were 18 months later when we had a proper coach. Also Areola has been consistently one of the best keepers in the PL since we initially signed him by having one of the best save % rates

Don't forget Mario Lemina would've love him to stay at the Club

[wback]

What I do like about this round of signings is the age of the team is coming down. Even if we added Andersen, he's probably got 5 years in him. This team could stay together for that length of time, with just 1-2 replacements each year. It could also benefit from some judicious/bums-on-seats loans here and there.

The best way to think about teams like us is in terms of goal difference. If we can land between 0 and -10, we'll always be fine. If you can get to +10, you're probably in Europe. I think we might end up more solid this year, but scoring could be harder.

[colinwhite]

Duece ,all we know is that the club is probably signing Berge . No way we are signing him if Marco doesn't want him. Mactominay may or may not be the first choice ,but lets stop making up our own narrative and knowledge that he is a decent player and one that we have been linked to for some time.

[AJW48361]

Come on, let's have a reality check here a bit.. We all thought Ream, ... were fantastic for us.

Yeah, he was absolutely brilliant for us. Captained US in the recent World Cup, not sure how having a pop at him makes your point any more valid?
We'll see how Berge looks in a decent side- I'd guess he looks better than in a struggling one.

It's not having a pop, it's acknowledging that he did very well for us and was a fan favourite, similar to how Burnley fans view Berge, but the reality is that you can be a fan favourite and highly thought of by fans of a team that oscillate between the championship and premiership, but making the step up is still making the step up, and when you double down on what's needed to compete in the PL, despite doing well for us and being a fan favourite, it's not a guarantee of a players ability to turn that into being a consistent and reliable performer at the PL level. Can't you see that?

Ream, loved by fans, a stalwart for the club, but hardly played in the PL because he wasn't necessarily at the level to be relied on for the club to be competitive at this level and to enable us to push on.

It's not a pop, it's not disrespectful, it's just the truth.. backed up by his lack of playing time for us in the league under Marco and moving to the U.S to play.

They can both be true.

I think Berge got out of Burnley before Parker got to work on him.

[jayffc]

Don't get all the complaining /worrying . I trust Marcos judgement, not the people thinking they know better than him.
Berge will give us height and strength in the middle and he also wins the ball . Hes not Palhinha but as close as I can see us getting and Silva has already stated that he wants players to fit the way he wants to play.

he will fill the physical gap left by Palinha . he doesn't have the Portuguese legs and stamina I would guess but then again who has ?

Marcos is not the one making the calls on the transfers tho. Thats why he every summer he has been here has spoken in press conferences about the needs for new players. 

I dont know how the structure works, but I can imagine the recruitment team and TK, hopefully, along with Marco sets up a list of either targets and/or positions/roles that Marco wants and then the recruitment team go through that list sounding out who is available and at what price (like with our bids for Ricci and Souza).

It could very well be that Marco wants McTominay, but TK and the recruitment team, who handle the negotiations and finances, basically says "United wont go down in price and we wont pay what they demand, so we are going for someone else". Or, vice versa. But given how we havent been linked with Berge this summer, and had two bids for McT rejected. Id say a safe bet would be that McT was our first option, seeing also as how they have similarities (tall, physical). Im sure that Fulham isnt run like other clubs where managers basically gets handed players they didnt ask for - but it is a very recurring theme in football and among elite level club- but I doubt Marco is the overarching autocrat and that everything always goes according to his plan and will. He is likely to have to make compromises Id imagine

TBF Marco has said numerous times that he approves all transfers that come in. Confirmed also by TK. And we know he speaks directly with players when signing them so he might have a top target on paper - speak with them and assertaint hat they aren't the right fit...we know the opposite happened with ESR where his personal chat with Emile is what made him push the board to get it done.

It's been stated they sit down and make our target list together. As seen when he stated in interviews last year up front that we wouldn't just sign a striker for the sake of it, if he wasn't completely happy with the options, they wouldn't be brought in.

Who knows what chats go on behind the scenes on the negotiation part, or what we might even have been quoted for Berge earlier in the window for all we know (they were rumoured to be hardballing Utd for 30m a couple weeks ago). What we do know is wether its numero uno on the list, or wether a person is a top target because of a balance of quality, value, their interest in the project from Macros conversations with them, there's a balance that has to be had across budget and quality with I'm sure max risks the clubs willing to take on different players, and fair enough.

Berge will almost certainly have Marcos blessing and appears a great talent so here's hoping he fulfills his potential here, he is after all 26 and supposedly heading into his prime therefore.

[Roberty]

Don't get all the complaining /worrying . I trust Marcos judgement, not the people thinking they know better than him.
Berge will give us height and strength in the middle and he also wins the ball . Hes not Palhinha but as close as I can see us getting and Silva has already stated that he wants players to fit the way he wants to play.

he will fill the physical gap left by Palinha . he doesn't have the Portuguese legs and stamina I would guess but then again who has ?

Marcos is not the one making the calls on the transfers tho. Thats why he every summer he has been here has spoken in press conferences about the needs for new players. 

I dont know how the structure works, but I can imagine the recruitment team and TK, hopefully, along with Marco sets up a list of either targets and/or positions/roles that Marco wants and then the recruitment team go through that list sounding out who is available and at what price (like with our bids for Ricci and Souza).

It could very well be that Marco wants McTominay, but TK and the recruitment team, who handle the negotiations and finances, basically says "United wont go down in price and we wont pay what they demand, so we are going for someone else". Or, vice versa. But given how we havent been linked with Berge this summer, and had two bids for McT rejected. Id say a safe bet would be that McT was our first option, seeing also as how they have similarities (tall, physical). Im sure that Fulham isnt run like other clubs where managers basically gets handed players they didnt ask for - but it is a very recurring theme in football and among elite level club- but I doubt Marco is the overarching autocrat and that everything always goes according to his plan and will. He is likely to have to make compromises Id imagine

You're behind the times!
MS has said that he decides who come in or not and recently said that ESR was MY choice.

We're also very quiet about who we're after, thus very little reliable news about us. So I doubt that Berge was a panic buy and maybe it's who MS wanted all along.

Someone reported how dominant he was when Burnley played at the cottage, maybe MS noticed?

[Deeping_white]

Memphis Depay is still a free agent btw, that's a LW/striker combo with some pedigree for no outlay