January Silly Season Transfer thread 2024/25

[WolverineFFC]

We all have subjective opinions on players and on who to retain and who to let go or sell. Inevitably we don't all agree.

For my mind there are some players we should try to keep but who for their own reasons might wish to move. Tete might fall into that category. If he wants to go home to the Netherlands and thinks his chance of regaining his international place is better at Ajax I suspect we can all understand that.

Unlike some I regard Pereira as an asset but if he wishes to go home and we get a proper fee I would sell him. Raul is a fine player but probably slowly declining. I would take an offer if possible. Reed who has been a fine servant of the club appears surplus to requirements and in his own interests should move on if possible. Traore IMO is not good enough for FFC. If an offer comes in it should be accepted and Nelson would be a significant upgrade. TC is still a class player and should have a year's extension.

All in all the summer will be important to refresh this squad. King and Godo give hope for the future.

A good summation of where the club stands. Get in a new RB and keep the back 6 intact otherwise, then devote most of the other summer resources to the attacking front 4.

Obviously if Antonee leaves it changes everything, but it's probably 50/50 on which way that ends at this point.

[Craven Mad]

If Kenny is leaving, I'd be tempted to see if cash-strapped Lyon would let Maitland-Niles go for cheap.

He's turned into a fairly tidy RB and can fill in at CM and LB too. He knows the ex-Arsenal boys already, and is a London lad, so you'd like to think he could be tempted by an opportunity to join us and compete for a place with Castagne.

[SerbianLad]

https://mozzartsport.com/fudbal/vesti/nekad-mitrovic-a-sutra-fulam-zove-dusana-jovanovica-u-premijer-ligu-partizanu-i-procenti/503282

Fulham is interested in Partizan Belgrade young striker Dušan Jovanović. He and Mitro are from the same hometown Smederevo btw.

He hasn't played much yet, so it's difficult to give an estimation on how good he'll become, but I'll still try to give you some insight.

He does seems quite similar to Mitro in many ways, and his best attributes are his finishing, both with his stronger foot and with the head (his weak foot finishing needs some improvement still). He's very strong, has great movement and anticipation, decent pace, great workrate. He should improve his passing. Obviously very inexperienced and I can't imagine he'd be bought to be a 1st or 2nd option in our first team.

Here are some clips of his goals:
https://twitter.com/SerbFootyScout/status/1730199414629601492

P. S. That's one of, if not the most reliable source you can get in Serbia, so I believe the interest is genuine.

[Drewry66]

Ta SL....was eagerly awaiting your report!

Only a tiny peak but got a bit of a Mitro look about him. Certainly at 18 looks like he could be a bit of a beast in a few years as well. 

I wouldn't be surprised at all if we made a signing or two like this and kept Raul for another year to then see if said new signings or Muniz can stake a claim. I had a feeling we may do that rather than splurge a huge fee on someone scoring a lot in another country already. May not make the fan base happy but just a guess as we all know how much Marco loves Raul and Muniz. Was expecting someone a bit more proven however, but perhaps we are doing what many have been asking for and scouting who we believe is a young gem. See what happens then.

Sounds like we may have had an offer accepted for Dair for Scotland as well:

https://x.com/FulhamTransfer/status/1884232144035405907

Fingers crossed a few more King level players coming through.

[Jims Dentist]

If looking at right backs we could do worse than Walker Peters at Saints.
Can play LB also, contract runs out in the summer.

[Whitestone]

https://mozzartsport.com/fudbal/vesti/nekad-mitrovic-a-sutra-fulam-zove-dusana-jovanovica-u-premijer-ligu-partizanu-i-procenti/503282

Fulham is interested in Partizan Belgrade young striker Dušan Jovanović. He and Mitro are from the same hometown Smederevo btw.

He hasn't played much yet, so it's difficult to give an estimation on how good he'll become, but I'll still try to give you some insight.

He does seems quite similar to Mitro in many ways, and his best attributes are his finishing, both with his stronger foot and with the head (his weak foot finishing needs some improvement still). He's very strong, has great movement and anticipation, decent pace, great workrate. He should improve his passing. Obviously very inexperienced and I can't imagine he'd be bought to be a 1st or 2nd option in our first team.

Here are some clips of his goals:
https://twitter.com/SerbFootyScout/status/1730199414629601492

P. S. That's one of, if not the most reliable source you can get in Serbia, so I believe the interest is genuine.

If we're looking at Serbian forwards should we be looking closer to home ?.  Mihailo Ivanovic plays for Milwall, is only 20 and has already played for the national team. He scored a decent goal against Luton at the weekend. How does this guy shape up SL ?

[Rightwhite]

Please, please, please bring us a proper no.9 Fulham.

[SerbianLad]

If we're looking at Serbian forwards should we be looking closer to home ?.  Mihailo Ivanovic plays for Milwall, is only 20 and has already played for the national team. He scored a decent goal against Luton at the weekend. How does this guy shape up SL ?

Very talented. In my opinion, the most talented u21 Serbian striker when it comes to his raw attributes. The problem with him is that he struggles with consistency,both in terms of his 90 minute performances and on the course of the season. He can have a series of games in which he looks like a world beater and then a series of games where he misses absolute sitters. Or even a moment of magic in a game and he does nothing right for the reminder of the game. When you look at his skill set though, he has everything. Strength, decent pace, finishing with both feet or with his head, great hold-up and link-up play, okay dribbling ability, great movement and anticipation etc. There's a reason Millwall made him their record signing. If you look at the 4 goals he scored so far this season, they've all been very different and all impressive for different reasons. I hope he can find consistency and then I think he could be our main striker in the NT in the future.

Can't see Millwall selling him under 10 million, or probably even more than that, and at the moment I think that would be too risky. Dusan Jovanovic on the other hand, would be much cheaper I'd imagine, but would have to spend some time with our youth teams/on loan before he started to contribute for our first team, I think.

[Stoneleigh Loyalist]

Ta SL....was eagerly awaiting your report!

Only a tiny peak but got a bit of a Mitro look about him. Certainly at 18 looks like he could be a bit of a beast in a few years as well. 

I wouldn't be surprised at all if we made a signing or two like this and kept Raul for another year to then see if said new signings or Muniz can stake a claim. I had a feeling we may do that rather than splurge a huge fee on someone scoring a lot in another country already. May not make the fan base happy but just a guess as we all know how much Marco loves Raul and Muniz. Was expecting someone a bit more proven however, but perhaps we are doing what many have been asking for and scouting who we believe is a young gem. See what happens then.

Sounds like we may have had an offer accepted for Dair for Scotland as well:

https://x.com/FulhamTransfer/status/1884232144035405907

Fingers crossed a few more King level players coming through.



Not the first young Scottish wonder boy to be brought South before disappearing without making the grade. We can only hope the Dair may be the genuine article.

[hopper]

This article in the Athletic cites Evan Ferguson could be allowed to leave Brighton permanently

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6094219/2025/01/28/evan-ferguson-brighton-permanent-transfer/

No mention of us being one of the clubs whou could be interested however.

[Drewry66]

If Dair doesn't work out it's £150k from the quotes...around a week and a half's wage for our highest paid players. If he doesn't make the grade nothing to worry about.

[sunburywhite]

Here to Dair

Gone tomorrow

[Craven Mad]

This article in the Athletic cites Evan Ferguson could be allowed to leave Brighton permanently

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6094219/2025/01/28/evan-ferguson-brighton-permanent-transfer/

No mention of us being one of the clubs whou could be interested however.

I honestly don't see anyone paying close to what Brighton would want for Ferguson. He had a purple patch a few years ago, but looks a shadow of that now.

I fear he's this generation's Connor Wickham...

[Drewry66]

This article in the Athletic cites Evan Ferguson could be allowed to leave Brighton permanently

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6094219/2025/01/28/evan-ferguson-brighton-permanent-transfer/

No mention of us being one of the clubs whou could be interested however.

The question is what would they let him go for? I'd be taking at punt at £25 to £30 million as did look class when he burst ion the scene but what's the betting they'll want £40 or £50 million minimum. Big risk considering his injuries and form with both Raul and Muniz with better mins per goal records this season.

[Drewry66]

This article in the Athletic cites Evan Ferguson could be allowed to leave Brighton permanently

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6094219/2025/01/28/evan-ferguson-brighton-permanent-transfer/

No mention of us being one of the clubs whou could be interested however.

I honestly don't see anyone paying close to what Brighton would want for Ferguson. He had a purple patch a few years ago, but looks a shadow of that now.

I fear he's this generation's Connor Wickham...

I wonder if Everton or West Ham might be desperate enough to go to £40/£50 million. Not sure we should as a huge risk and if they want more than that considering the last few years they are living in total dreamland you would have thought.

[Craven Mad]

This article in the Athletic cites Evan Ferguson could be allowed to leave Brighton permanently

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6094219/2025/01/28/evan-ferguson-brighton-permanent-transfer/

No mention of us being one of the clubs whou could be interested however.

I honestly don't see anyone paying close to what Brighton would want for Ferguson. He had a purple patch a few years ago, but looks a shadow of that now.

I fear he's this generation's Connor Wickham...

I wonder if Everton or West Ham might be desperate enough to go to £40/£50 million. Not sure we should as a huge risk and if they want more than that considering the last few years they are living in total dreamland you would have thought.

I think those (or a relegation candidate) are the only possible options really. Basically, a club who's desperate and might throw money at solving their critical issues.

IMO we should steer clear of this one. Even at his peak, he was a decent poacher but technically limited in the build-up. I just don't think he's what we'd need.

[Whitestone]

If we're looking at Serbian forwards should we be looking closer to home ?.  Mihailo Ivanovic plays for Milwall, is only 20 and has already played for the national team. He scored a decent goal against Luton at the weekend. How does this guy shape up SL ?

Very talented. In my opinion, the most talented u21 Serbian striker when it comes to his raw attributes. The problem with him is that he struggles with consistency,both in terms of his 90 minute performances and on the course of the season. He can have a series of games in which he looks like a world beater and then a series of games where he misses absolute sitters. Or even a moment of magic in a game and he does nothing right for the reminder of the game. When you look at his skill set though, he has everything. Strength, decent pace, finishing with both feet or with his head, great hold-up and link-up play, okay dribbling ability, great movement and anticipation etc. There's a reason Millwall made him their record signing. If you look at the 4 goals he scored so far this season, they've all been very different and all impressive for different reasons. I hope he can find consistency and then I think he could be our main striker in the NT in the future.

Can't see Millwall selling him under 10 million, or probably even more than that, and at the moment I think that would be too risky. Dusan Jovanovic on the other hand, would be much cheaper I'd imagine, but would have to spend some time with our youth teams/on loan before he started to contribute for our first team, I think.

Thanks for the insight. I've only seen him a couple of times and he looked promising. At £2.5 million it looks like Milwall might have grabbed a bargain.

[Drewry66]

This article in the Athletic cites Evan Ferguson could be allowed to leave Brighton permanently

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6094219/2025/01/28/evan-ferguson-brighton-permanent-transfer/

No mention of us being one of the clubs whou could be interested however.

I honestly don't see anyone paying close to what Brighton would want for Ferguson. He had a purple patch a few years ago, but looks a shadow of that now.

I fear he's this generation's Connor Wickham...

I wonder if Everton or West Ham might be desperate enough to go to £40/£50 million. Not sure we should as a huge risk and if they want more than that considering the last few years they are living in total dreamland you would have thought.

I think those (or a relegation candidate) are the only possible options really. Basically, a club who's desperate and might throw money at solving their critical issues.

IMO we should steer clear of this one. Even at his peak, he was a decent poacher but technically limited in the build-up. I just don't think he's what we'd need.

Agreed for that kind of money. I did really like the look of him when he burst on the scene and he could be great but the injuries alone at that kind of fee are too big a risk.

If we're going to drop that much I'd be looking at Santiago Giminez in the summer. As I've said in here before still a huge risk buying from Holland and no guarantee he'd score more than the 15 or 16 Raul is on course for but very young still and a fantastic record albeit in the Eredivise. Whether Marco/the club agrees on dropping £40 to £50 million on a striker is another matter of course.

[Craven Mad]

This article in the Athletic cites Evan Ferguson could be allowed to leave Brighton permanently

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6094219/2025/01/28/evan-ferguson-brighton-permanent-transfer/

No mention of us being one of the clubs whou could be interested however.

I honestly don't see anyone paying close to what Brighton would want for Ferguson. He had a purple patch a few years ago, but looks a shadow of that now.

I fear he's this generation's Connor Wickham...

I wonder if Everton or West Ham might be desperate enough to go to £40/£50 million. Not sure we should as a huge risk and if they want more than that considering the last few years they are living in total dreamland you would have thought.

I think those (or a relegation candidate) are the only possible options really. Basically, a club who's desperate and might throw money at solving their critical issues.

IMO we should steer clear of this one. Even at his peak, he was a decent poacher but technically limited in the build-up. I just don't think he's what we'd need.

Agreed for that kind of money. I did really like the look of him when he burst on the scene and he could be great but the injuries alone at that kind of fee are too big a risk.

If we're going to drop that much I'd be looking at Santiago Giminez in the summer. As I've said in here before still a huge risk buying from Holland and no guarantee he'd score more than the 15 or 16 Raul is on course for but very young still and a fantastic record albeit in the Eredivise. Whether Marco/the club agrees on dropping £40 to £50 million on a striker is another matter of course.

Tbh I'm not entirely convinced that Gimenez is the right striker for a Marco Silva side, even though he is clearly an elite finisher right now, but for the price I couldn't agree more that he would represent very decent value compared to current Evan Ferguson!

One is a top level goalscorer, with 4 CL goals in 4 CL appearances. The other barely makes the Brighton bench and hasn't looked even half decent for two years...

Everything can change, of course, but Brighton will probably have to accept that any current sale of Ferguson would be heavily contingent on performance-based fees, and not up front cash.

[Drewry66]

Honestly everyone keeps saying why don't we just sign a striker and no one yet has suggested one for the money that seems any better than what we have got.

I'm not sure about Giminez either to be honest but prob the most promising out of very limited options if we are going to spend big. That's if he'd even come to us of course. Since no one went for him last year when he was on fire think there is a decent chance however. Could see us as a stepping stone to a massive club as still young enough. Believe he plays as a loan 9 doesn't he so would have thought he'd fit?

Been the same every window since Mitro left and why so many of us said he's completely irreplaceable. Pretty much all the ones mentioned have gone to other clubs for £25m+ and have been complete flops doing much worse than Raul/Muniz currently are. Watch us scratch around for another year and then just take Mitro back on a free the year after.