Tete to Everton merged

[WolverineFFC]

1) Big fan of Tete. The club are undoubtedly worse off next season without him. Whether that will still be the case in yr 2 or 3 of his deal is another story.

2) With Tim C in the fold, feels like a great opportunity to bring in a younger option who can grow into a starter's role. Someone like Van Ewijk would be exciting.

3) Whoever the club bring in needs pace. Without Kenny I worry about the right side defensively against faster wingers. I'm sure the leg injury hampered Castagne, but a pairing of him and Andersen with someone like Wilson on the same wing will have defensive issues for pace.

[bill taylors apprentice]

If Tete's departure was not simply down to being a free agent how much would he be worth in the transfer market? £5 £10 million ?

Everton may not be offering much more in salary and length of contract but I expect the transfer fee they are saving will partly be going in Tete's pocket (and his agent) therefore maximizing his worth in his last big mo

Is a club like Fulham expected to pay a signing on fee to a player they want to keep when their contract ends?

[EN1 FFC]

I like Tete, and he's been a good player for us in recent years, but if he goes its not the end of the world. Let's get someone younger in with some quality. Probably to start the season and compete with Castagne for the shirt. All the best to Kenny anyway.

I like Tete a lot, watched him tame the Chelski wingers a few seasons back at the Bridge.....he was brilliant,but, he has had a few injuries since then and if he stays (at 30) he wouldn't be worth a 3 year contract imo. Shame he's going but I can see some sense in it.

At the end of the day, with any players at Fulham and there contract situation, who really knows the truth, I know I don't!

I always think that when players run down their contracts their agents have had an influence in talking them into a free move as the no transfer fee works on them getting a good lump sum signing on fee that we can't match. We had the same with Fredricks going to West Ham and we know how well that went for him.
We'll definitely miss Tete as he's up there with being one of the best right backs.

I think Castagne is a less defensive right back and teams do target his side of the pitch, most of our right sided players in front of him don't have good defensive tracking back qualities and Andersen isn't the quickest.

[JimmyConway]

I like Tete, and he's been a good player for us in recent years, but if he goes its not the end of the world. Let's get someone younger in with some quality. Probably to start the season and compete with Castagne for the shirt. All the best to Kenny anyway.

I like Tete a lot, watched him tame the Chelski wingers a few seasons back at the Bridge.....he was brilliant,but, he has had a few injuries since then and if he stays (at 30) he wouldn't be worth a 3 year contract imo. Shame he's going but I can see some sense in it.

At the end of the day, with any players at Fulham and there contract situation, who really knows the truth, I know I don't!

I always think that when players run down their contracts their agents have had an influence in talking them into a free move as the no transfer fee works on them getting a good lump sum signing on fee that we can't match. We had the same with Fredricks going to West Ham and we know how well that went for him.
We'll definitely miss Tete as he's up there with being one of the best right backs.

I think Castagne is a less defensive right back and teams do target his side of the pitch, most of our right sided players in front of him don't have good defensive tracking back qualities and Andersen isn't the quickest.

Whether it's a 30 year old right back with an injury record or an upcoming youngster out of contract or running it down it's stacked heavily in the said player and his agents favour. Clubs looking to not pay a transfer fee but will compensate with signing on fee let alone higher wages from bigger teams than Fulham. Interested team/s instruct agent/s that client should not sign any new or extension contract offered and would of already dangled the carrot in financial benefit/s. We are probably as guilty as the rest in these situations. Difficult for fans to digest but whether it's a favourite player or another Elliot - Carvalho - Roberts etc it will continue.
Tete I am surprised to the point that he might have been settled? Had he gone to Europe yes can see why but a move to Lancashire okay a bigger team but also a struggling team who are not going to turn into world beaters in the next year or two even with a good manager? We shall see but as I said earlier in this thread I don't think his got anywhere near a full season in him physically.     

[JimmyConway]

I like Tete, and he's been a good player for us in recent years, but if he goes its not the end of the world. Let's get someone younger in with some quality. Probably to start the season and compete with Castagne for the shirt. All the best to Kenny anyway.

I like Tete a lot, watched him tame the Chelski wingers a few seasons back at the Bridge.....he was brilliant,but, he has had a few injuries since then and if he stays (at 30) he wouldn't be worth a 3 year contract imo. Shame he's going but I can see some sense in it.

At the end of the day, with any players at Fulham and there contract situation, who really knows the truth, I know I don't!

I always think that when players run down their contracts their agents have had an influence in talking them into a free move as the no transfer fee works on them getting a good lump sum signing on fee that we can't match. We had the same with Fredricks going to West Ham and we know how well that went for him.
We'll definitely miss Tete as he's up there with being one of the best right backs.

I think Castagne is a less defensive right back and teams do target his side of the pitch, most of our right sided players in front of him don't have good defensive tracking back qualities and Andersen isn't the quickest.

Whether it's a 30 year old right back with an injury record or an upcoming youngster out of contract or running it down it's stacked heavily in the said player and his agents favour. Clubs looking to not pay a transfer fee but will compensate with signing on fee let alone higher wages from bigger teams than Fulham. Interested team/s instruct agent/s that client should not sign any new or extension contract offered and would of already dangled the carrot in financial benefit/s. We are probably as guilty as the rest in these situations. Difficult for fans to digest but whether it's a favourite player or another Elliot - Carvalho - Roberts etc it will continue.
Tete I am surprised to the point that he might have been settled? Had he gone to Europe yes can see why but a move to Lancashire okay a bigger team but also a struggling team who are not going to turn into world beaters in the next year or two even with a good manager? We shall see but as I said earlier in this thread I don't think his got anywhere near a full season in him physically.     

Meant to add it can only be financial for Tete to leave nothing else adds up?

[Angus Telford]

I get where you're coming from, it's frustrating to see us potentially lose experienced players like Tete, Cairney, Reed, and AP with very little return. But I'd push back on the idea that Bournemouth's model is inherently better or more sustainable.

Yes, Bournemouth might bring in £150–200m this summer. But that's only because they took on significant upfront financial risk, buying young, unproven players like Kerkez, Semenyo, Zabarnyi, and billing them as "sellable assets." That model works when recruitment hits, but if it doesn't? You're left with a disconnected squad of players with resale value on paper but little cohesion or Premier League survival experience, ask Southampton how that story ends.

Fulham's approach may seem lazy, even dull at times, but it's grounded in squad continuity, dressing-room leadership, and PL stability. Keeping players like Cairney or Reed past their resale peak is a trade-off for reliability. We've avoided relegation and stayed competitive without massive squad churn every summer. That matters.

Could we do better in contract management and timing of sales? Definitely. But there's a big difference between failing to extract maximum value from loyal players and gambling your club's stability on every transfer window. Bournemouth's current profit is the result of a narrow, high-stakes strategy. If just one or two of those signings flopped, we'd be calling it reckless.

Fulham may not top the "net spend" charts, but we're a club with an identity, a spine, and a balanced wage structure. In the long run, that gives us a platform to build sustainably, not just profitably.

You aren't wrong about the relative merits of our strategy, but you've basically described the economic/transfer strategy equivalent of Parkerball.

By sticking to low risk, established, mature players, we won't get any significant ROI, but we also won't see much money thrown down the drain. A 0-0 draw, in other words.

On the pitch, we won't progress or make Europe, but we also won't regress and get relegated. Safe in 12/13th every year.

Now, if we lack the scouting talent and general competence to be more ambitious without cocking it up, I agree we should stick to this uber-safe Parker-style approach - and actually, looking at our DOF and scouting personnel, that probably is indeed the case.

I guess my argument is that I'd like to see us build a scouting/DOF team that are capable of buying the right balance of proven/unproven players and players who, more often than not, aren't flops.

[Surlyc]

Hopefully this sharpens the club up on tying down Muniz/Sessegnon/Wilson/Bassey this summer, as well as giving Josh King a new deal with (genuine) promises of minutes this season.

[Willham]

Love Tete, actually argued he's one of the best RB in the prem defensively.

I will solely miss him,

However, it looks like Marco prefers a more attacking full back which is why I thought castagne got the nod during that period. At the time it looked like he gave a bit more attacking threat. One i think wasn't evident on the pitch and the two of them are kinda par.

So this gives us a chance. Let's try and find another robinson. We know that castagne will do a job so we don't need to go all out but find someone who will progress and that's fantastic.

If we can find another RB who keeps players like salah quiet and also provides 8+ assists then we're on a 'right' winner

[The Little Dave]

I get where you're coming from, it's frustrating to see us potentially lose experienced players like Tete, Cairney, Reed, and AP with very little return. But I'd push back on the idea that Bournemouth's model is inherently better or more sustainable.

Yes, Bournemouth might bring in £150–200m this summer. But that's only because they took on significant upfront financial risk, buying young, unproven players like Kerkez, Semenyo, Zabarnyi, and billing them as "sellable assets." That model works when recruitment hits, but if it doesn't? You're left with a disconnected squad of players with resale value on paper but little cohesion or Premier League survival experience, ask Southampton how that story ends.

Fulham's approach may seem lazy, even dull at times, but it's grounded in squad continuity, dressing-room leadership, and PL stability. Keeping players like Cairney or Reed past their resale peak is a trade-off for reliability. We've avoided relegation and stayed competitive without massive squad churn every summer. That matters.

Could we do better in contract management and timing of sales? Definitely. But there's a big difference between failing to extract maximum value from loyal players and gambling your club's stability on every transfer window. Bournemouth's current profit is the result of a narrow, high-stakes strategy. If just one or two of those signings flopped, we'd be calling it reckless.

Fulham may not top the "net spend" charts, but we're a club with an identity, a spine, and a balanced wage structure. In the long run, that gives us a platform to build sustainably, not just profitably.

You aren't wrong about the relative merits of our strategy, but you've basically described the economic/transfer strategy equivalent of Parkerball.

By sticking to low risk, established, mature players, we won't get any significant ROI, but we also won't see much money thrown down the drain. A 0-0 draw, in other words.

On the pitch, we won't progress or make Europe, but we also won't regress and get relegated. Safe in 12/13th every year.

Now, if we lack the scouting talent and general competence to be more ambitious without cocking it up, I agree we should stick to this uber-safe Parker-style approach - and actually, looking at our DOF and scouting personnel, that probably is indeed the case.

I guess my argument is that I'd like to see us build a scouting/DOF team that are capable of buying the right balance of proven/unproven players and players who, more often than not, aren't flops.

That's actually a really sharp way to put it, I like the "Parkerball" analogy applied to our transfer strategy. You're right it is been about risk limitation above all else.

And to be honest, given where we've been post-promotion, yo-yoing for years, burning cash, a period of consolidation and stability wasn't a bad outcome. In fact, it might have saved us from becoming another West Brom or Sunderland. But I completely agree that this should not be the long-term ceiling, which it may very well become if we don't move the needle on our scouting/transfers bizz.

The question now is, how do we evolve from this safe strategy without abandoning the foundations? Because you nailed it, it's not just about being "better" in the market; it's about having the infrastructure and personnel to back it up. You can't copy Bournemouth or Brighton without the scouting horsepower and internal clarity to make it work. Otherwise, you end up with a bloated squad of flops and another "rebuild" every 18 months.

We don't need to throw the whole thing out. But we do need a more modern sporting structure that lets us take calculated risks. 1–2 younger, high-upside players each summer alongside the established pros. That way, we build squad value and keep the floor high.

[H4usuallysitting]

I've just had a look....Tete has been injured for around 72 games since his arrival with us

[perry geyton]

But that is what I mean H.  We don't know that they didn't have these conversations last year. Or at least try to?

We just don't know.

This is the thing...we may well have done but if only a year left it is in a players interest to let his contract run down so that may well have been the case. If they do they know they go on a free and can demand a huge salary with no fee for the new club to pay. And to be fair to Tete if that has happened it's paid off with noises coming out that Everton are paying him double our offer at £130k a week! If we offered him a small bump to £65k a week last year he may well have thought no I'll just see what offer comes in next year for this reason.

There is also the point for someone like Tete with all the injury probs that we may have wanted to see how that went this year before committing.

Finally from what I remember he wasn't even first choice 23/24 so may not have been as keen to offer a longer deal at that point.

I think the early conversation is far more powerful two years or more before contract expiry (doubt we would have done that with Tete's injury risks). Think we sorted Robinsons extension with a longer time left and lucky we did. Why for me we desperately have to try and extend Muniz this summer. Big incentive for him to sign with two years left and a huge bump from what he's on. If we try next year he'll prob just wait a year and get a massive salary on a free at a big club. By all accounts we are trying with him now so fingers crossed. Think it all depends on the individual situation then.

Absolutely
and 130K  that's mental if true for a semi sick note

[perry geyton]

I've just had a look....Tete has been injured for around 72 games since his arrival with us

That's almost 2 seasons worth of games, consistency has always been his issue,
He's getting older too so maybe was time to move on

[The Little Dave]

Fulham have gone back in with an improved offer.

 June 24, 2025

[Southcoastffc]

If Kenny goes (and I'd prefer him not to) we really should not overlook what great work Castagne did for us last season whilst carrying significant injury.  From memory, Marco suggested Castagne would not be ready for pre season and that is a concern.

[Bassey the warrior]

Fulham have gone back in with an improved offer.

 June 24, 2025

Fingers crossed he re-signs

[Twig]

If Kenny goes (and I'd prefer him not to) we really should not overlook what great work Castagne did for us last season whilst carrying significant injury.  From memory, Marco suggested Castagne would not be ready for pre season and that is a concern.

I've been saying this same thing. And before Timmy picked up a niggling injury he was in excellent form. Frankly, much as I like Kenny, there has to be a limit on what we pay for an injury prone 30 year old. Especially when his time lost to injury may get worse as he gets older.

[bill taylors apprentice]

But that is what I mean H.  We don't know that they didn't have these conversations last year. Or at least try to?

We just don't know.

This is the thing...we may well have done but if only a year left it is in a players interest to let his contract run down so that may well have been the case. If they do they know they go on a free and can demand a huge salary with no fee for the new club to pay. And to be fair to Tete if that has happened it's paid off with noises coming out that Everton are paying him double our offer at £130k a week! If we offered him a small bump to £65k a week last year he may well have thought no I'll just see what offer comes in next year for this reason.

There is also the point for someone like Tete with all the injury probs that we may have wanted to see how that went this year before committing.

Finally from what I remember he wasn't even first choice 23/24 so may not have been as keen to offer a longer deal at that point.

I think the early conversation is far more powerful two years or more before contract expiry (doubt we would have done that with Tete's injury risks). Think we sorted Robinsons extension with a longer time left and lucky we did. Why for me we desperately have to try and extend Muniz this summer. Big incentive for him to sign with two years left and a huge bump from what he's on. If we try next year he'll prob just wait a year and get a massive salary on a free at a big club. By all accounts we are trying with him now so fingers crossed. Think it all depends on the individual situation then.

Absolutely
and 130K  that's mental if true for a semi sick note

Not really if you consider him worth £10 and that's spread over the 3 years of his contract in addition to his salary.

[alfie]

But that is what I mean H.  We don't know that they didn't have these conversations last year. Or at least try to?

We just don't know.

This is the thing...we may well have done but if only a year left it is in a players interest to let his contract run down so that may well have been the case. If they do they know they go on a free and can demand a huge salary with no fee for the new club to pay. And to be fair to Tete if that has happened it's paid off with noises coming out that Everton are paying him double our offer at £130k a week! If we offered him a small bump to £65k a week last year he may well have thought no I'll just see what offer comes in next year for this reason.

There is also the point for someone like Tete with all the injury probs that we may have wanted to see how that went this year before committing.

Finally from what I remember he wasn't even first choice 23/24 so may not have been as keen to offer a longer deal at that point.

I think the early conversation is far more powerful two years or more before contract expiry (doubt we would have done that with Tete's injury risks). Think we sorted Robinsons extension with a longer time left and lucky we did. Why for me we desperately have to try and extend Muniz this summer. Big incentive for him to sign with two years left and a huge bump from what he's on. If we try next year he'll prob just wait a year and get a massive salary on a free at a big club. By all accounts we are trying with him now so fingers crossed. Think it all depends on the individual situation then.

Absolutely
and 130K  that's mental if true for a semi sick note

Not really if you consider him worth £10 and that's spread over the 3 years of his contract in addition to his salary.

£10 🤣🤣

[Colton F.C.]

Disappointing news, as Tete has been very good for us. However he was often injured and this does give us an excellent chance to get younger.

Castagne is perfectly capable of starting the season for us, while a new signing gets up to speed.

What is the prognosis of Castagne's recovery?

[Willham]

But that is what I mean H.  We don't know that they didn't have these conversations last year. Or at least try to?

We just don't know.

This is the thing...we may well have done but if only a year left it is in a players interest to let his contract run down so that may well have been the case. If they do they know they go on a free and can demand a huge salary with no fee for the new club to pay. And to be fair to Tete if that has happened it's paid off with noises coming out that Everton are paying him double our offer at £130k a week! If we offered him a small bump to £65k a week last year he may well have thought no I'll just see what offer comes in next year for this reason.

There is also the point for someone like Tete with all the injury probs that we may have wanted to see how that went this year before committing.

Finally from what I remember he wasn't even first choice 23/24 so may not have been as keen to offer a longer deal at that point.

I think the early conversation is far more powerful two years or more before contract expiry (doubt we would have done that with Tete's injury risks). Think we sorted Robinsons extension with a longer time left and lucky we did. Why for me we desperately have to try and extend Muniz this summer. Big incentive for him to sign with two years left and a huge bump from what he's on. If we try next year he'll prob just wait a year and get a massive salary on a free at a big club. By all accounts we are trying with him now so fingers crossed. Think it all depends on the individual situation then.

Absolutely
and 130K  that's mental if true for a semi sick note

Not really if you consider him worth £10 and that's spread over the 3 years of his contract in addition to his salary.

£10 🤣🤣

£10 for 3 years equals a contract of £0.0641025641 a week but seen as though tete is so loyal, I'd be happy to round it up to an even 7p a week 😆

Edit: to add, 130,000 a week for 3 years equals £20,280,000.