Summer Silly Season Transfer Thread 2025

[bencher]

An upgrade on Reed is a must. If Lukic gets injured, and when he probably gets a ban later on in the season for yellow cards accumulating, we need someone who has a bit of bite and steel in there.

We need someone dynamic in the midfield. Neither Lukic nor Berge threaten to run with the ball at pace, or to break into the box or take a shot. It's far too pedestrian and there is more attacking threat from Bassey than either of them. I just watched Diarra from Sunderland and Reinders from Man City really taking the game to the opposition. We are desperate for someone with that energy and dynamism in the centre.

[Twig]

An upgrade on Reed is a must. If Lukic gets injured, and when he probably gets a ban later on in the season for yellow cards accumulating, we need someone who has a bit of bite and steel in there.

We need someone dynamic in the midfield. Neither Lukic nor Berge threaten to run with the ball at pace, or to break into the box or take a shot. It's far too pedestrian and there is more attacking threat from Bassey than either of them. I just watched Diarra from Sunderland and Reinders from Man City really taking the game to the opposition. We are desperate for someone with that energy and dynamism in the centre.

Fully agree.

[hopper]

They're still a terribly run club, everyone loves the idea of their owner overpaying for everything, breaking the rules, etc.

Don't think this could be further from the truth IMO. They hedged their bets when they came up four years ago (yes some signings a bit scattergun and a marginal rule breach) but the team coming up in 3rd hardly ever stays up (as we know) so it was understandable. Since then, they've generally just signed good young players, and found/stuck with a good manager. People will say they've overpaid on Hutchinson but conversely Igor Jesus is being tipped as one of the bargains of the summer. Don't think overall they get any worse value than we did on our big signings last summer, and by buying young they at least get lower wages and resale optionality.

Igor Jesus got bought at mates rates in order to extort Lyon though. So while it is a bargain, it's not a fee anyone else would have been able to pay.

Textor at Lyon bought 'economic rights' for Jesus at around £40m, taking a 'loan' from Botafogo and then sold him to his mate Marinakis for £10m. Meanwhile Textor has left Lyon and charging interest on that loan.

Supposedly Marinakis is going to try and help Textor buy out Botafogo from Eagle Group.

Long winded answer, but absolutely bonkers.

[jayffc]

They're still a terribly run club, everyone loves the idea of their owner overpaying for everything, breaking the rules, etc.

Don't think this could be further from the truth IMO. They hedged their bets when they came up four years ago (yes some signings a bit scattergun and a marginal rule breach) but the team coming up in 3rd hardly ever stays up (as we know) so it was understandable. Since then, they've generally just signed good young players, and found/stuck with a good manager. People will say they've overpaid on Hutchinson but conversely Igor Jesus is being tipped as one of the bargains of the summer. Don't think overall they get any worse value than we did on our big signings last summer, and by buying young they at least get lower wages and resale optionality.

Igor Jesus got bought at mates rates in order to extort Lyon though. So while it is a bargain, it's not a fee anyone else would have been able to pay.

Textor at Lyon bought 'economic rights' for Jesus at around £40m, taking a 'loan' from Botafogo and then sold him to his mate Marinakis for £10m. Meanwhile Textor has left Lyon and charging interest on that loan.

Supposedly Marinakis is going to try and help Textor buy out Botafogo from Eagle Group.

Long winded answer, but absolutely bonkers.

This is in part what I refer to regarding slimy and shady owner.

Hope he gets caught out at some point from one of his suspect business practices

[S.F.Sorrow]

An upgrade on Reed is a must. If Lukic gets injured, and when he probably gets a ban later on in the season for yellow cards accumulating, we need someone who has a bit of bite and steel in there.

We need someone dynamic in the midfield. Neither Lukic nor Berge threaten to run with the ball at pace, or to break into the box or take a shot. It's far too pedestrian and there is more attacking threat from Bassey than either of them. I just watched Diarra from Sunderland and Reinders from Man City really taking the game to the opposition. We are desperate for someone with that energy and dynamism in the centre.

I'm not saying I disagree with you on this, but at least in the case of Berge I think he is probably just playing the role Marco is telling him to play. Berge's long runs carrying the ball forward, even shooting and scoring the odd goal, used to be a big part of his game. With Marco's tactics he is clearly the most defensive minded of our midfielders, and is probably instructed to hold back a bit. Which of course means that anyone else we might get for this role will probably get the same instructions. I might be wrong of course, but I think this is more about Marco's tactics than Berge (and to some extent maybe also Lukic) as a player.

[bencher]

An upgrade on Reed is a must. If Lukic gets injured, and when he probably gets a ban later on in the season for yellow cards accumulating, we need someone who has a bit of bite and steel in there.

We need someone dynamic in the midfield. Neither Lukic nor Berge threaten to run with the ball at pace, or to break into the box or take a shot. It's far too pedestrian and there is more attacking threat from Bassey than either of them. I just watched Diarra from Sunderland and Reinders from Man City really taking the game to the opposition. We are desperate for someone with that energy and dynamism in the centre.

I'm not saying I disagree with you on this, but at least in the case of Berge I think he is probably just playing the role Marco is telling him to play. Berge's long driving runs carrying the ball forward, even shooting and scoring the odd goal, used to be a big part of his game. With Marco's tactics he is clearly the most defensive minded of our midfielders, and is probably instructed to hold back a bit. Which of course means that anyone else we might get for this role will probably get the same instructions. I might be wrong of course, but I think this is more about Marco's tactics than Berge (and to some extent maybe also Lukic) as a player.

I think the issue is more Lukic than Berge. Berge is usually the deeper midfielder, the direct replacement for Palhinha. When Reed was a regular, he often got in advanced positions, particularly in the inside right area, but he didn't have a lot of quality in an attacking role. Lukic seems to play much more within himself than he did for Torino and than the role requires of him. It's hard to know what is coaching and what is natural playing style, but either way, a more dynamic number 8 midfielder would add a lot.

[alfie]

https://twitter.com/fulhamtransfer/status/1956979887090065412

Also linked to Arikadore, which is interesting given he was rumoured as one we were interested in

Gotta say I don't love how public this "Kevin's agents are coming to long next week" stuff is, feels like the doors being left open for others to gazump"...keeping all fingers crossed and Silvas had a word thats got Kevin excited about our prospects here

Don't quite understand this, I was under the impression that agreement has already been made with Kevin, so why are they meeting his agents, I would have thought any meet would be with Shaktar.

[H4usuallysitting]

I'm sure this has already been mentioned.... Kevin is landing in London on Monday 18th August....with meetings scheduled for Tuesday.....as a side note - shame we can't find another signing called Perry

[bahay18]

Maybe Josh king should be the number 8 . We need someone to get beyond the strikers . Look at the city midfielders yesterday all running beyond haaland . Same as spurs , first 2 mins and bergval ( spelling ) is the furthest player forward .

Some serious cash spent by forest and Brentford this weekend . Is maybe the Muniz situation causing all our transfer problems? If he goes we probably need to spend his fee and more on a prem ready No.9 . Until that is resolved we are stuck ?

[Drewry66]

An upgrade on Reed is a must. If Lukic gets injured, and when he probably gets a ban later on in the season for yellow cards accumulating, we need someone who has a bit of bite and steel in there.

We need someone dynamic in the midfield. Neither Lukic nor Berge threaten to run with the ball at pace, or to break into the box or take a shot. It's far too pedestrian and there is more attacking threat from Bassey than either of them. I just watched Diarra from Sunderland and Reinders from Man City really taking the game to the opposition. We are desperate for someone with that energy and dynamism in the centre.

I'm not saying I disagree with you on this, but at least in the case of Berge I think he is probably just playing the role Marco is telling him to play. Berge's long driving runs carrying the ball forward, even shooting and scoring the odd goal, used to be a big part of his game. With Marco's tactics he is clearly the most defensive minded of our midfielders, and is probably instructed to hold back a bit. Which of course means that anyone else we might get for this role will probably get the same instructions. I might be wrong of course, but I think this is more about Marco's tactics than Berge (and to some extent maybe also Lukic) as a player.

I think the issue is more Lukic than Berge. Berge is usually the deeper midfielder, the direct replacement for Palhinha. When Reed was a regular, he often got in advanced positions, particularly in the inside right area, but he didn't have a lot of quality in an attacking role. Lukic seems to play much more within himself than he did for Torino and than the role requires of him. It's hard to know what is coaching and what is natural playing style, but either way, a more dynamic number 8 midfielder would add a lot.

Lukic for me just plays way better for us as a 6. I'd just rotate him and Berge in that role depending on the game/form unless we are playing a top team where you want to go defensive and play both. Then bring in a top box to box 8 as a starter and the rotation is Cairney.

The only other option on this 8 is King. He played there most of the time for the U21's I believe. On the one hand you don't want to move him from where he has played so well. On the other hand Marco said he wants King and ESR in the same team. If Kevin comes in ESR isn't playing left so only leaves 10 and King would move back. He could be brilliant at it. He has the game to play box to box. He clearly drives up the pitch well. He'd also make those runs forward and into the box and the channels where Lukic/Berge haven't. Believe he scored goals for the u21's arriving late in the box. I wouldn't be surprised with his comments of wanting both in the team if Marco is considering this and possible we already have a very good solution. If we can get ESR firing with King behind him that could be very exciting I reckon.

[legana]

From BBC transfer gossip,

Fenerbahce are set to sign Arsenal and Ukraine full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, 28.

A pity really - I was warming to the idea. We have all said Sess is better going forward than at LB and with his injury concerns and Robinson being out, another experienced option for LB that can also play in midfield to compete with Berge and Lukic would have been a sensible move in my view if only short term. It's going to be tough to qualify for Europe this year if there are only 7 places (assuming Spurs and United won't surely be as bad as last year). We need to get us into the European conversation to be able to attract the better players. Hopefully we will get some bodies in before the end of the window that will help take us forward. 

Thing is

If we bring in Kevin AND Nelson...Sess could struggle to get gametime on the wings at all.i liked the fact he can play cm or lb but more I've thought about it. Sess best chance at minutes is there really.

That's a valid point although, as much as I'd like to see Sess succeed, if there are better options keeping him out of the team, it means the squad has improved from last year, which is crucial for progress.

I think our barrier in competing at the next level is not being able to offer European games. It will be difficult to achieve that without a strong squad but without being in Europe it is tough to attract players happy to miss out - so a bit of a vicious circle really. It seems for us we have to hope our players aren't injured long term as we need everyone fit and available to compete (for example, the Muniz injury last year was a significant factor in us fading away at the end, despite the European places being within our grasp at one stage.

[Jims Dentist]

I'm sure this has already been mentioned.... Kevin is landing in London on Monday 18th August....with meetings scheduled for Tuesday.....as a side note - shame we can't find another signing called Perry

They share an agent called Mrs Patterson.

[Angus Telford]

They're still a terribly run club, everyone loves the idea of their owner overpaying for everything, breaking the rules, etc.

Don't think this could be further from the truth IMO. They hedged their bets when they came up four years ago (yes some signings a bit scattergun and a marginal rule breach) but the team coming up in 3rd hardly ever stays up (as we know) so it was understandable. Since then, they've generally just signed good young players, and found/stuck with a good manager. People will say they've overpaid on Hutchinson but conversely Igor Jesus is being tipped as one of the bargains of the summer. Don't think overall they get any worse value than we did on our big signings last summer, and by buying young they at least get lower wages and resale optionality.

Igor Jesus got bought at mates rates in order to extort Lyon though. So while it is a bargain, it's not a fee anyone else would have been able to pay.

Textor at Lyon bought 'economic rights' for Jesus at around £40m, taking a 'loan' from Botafogo and then sold him to his mate Marinakis for £10m. Meanwhile Textor has left Lyon and charging interest on that loan.

Supposedly Marinakis is going to try and help Textor buy out Botafogo from Eagle Group.

Long winded answer, but absolutely bonkers.

Most of that is speculative/rumoured, isn't it? Don't get me wrong, think you're probably right, but the net result in simple terms i expect is Lyon and/or Textor have just retained some of those "economic rights" ie are due a percentage in the event of resale. Which is relevant sure, maybe not so much of a bargain as it seems, but I don't think we'd be complaining if for example we got Kevin for £20m but had to agree to give Shakhtar 40% on resale.

It's just them playing the game a bit more dynamically than we do, and I still think they've enough value in that squad to say they're overall in a better economic position than us. Given that we have a bigger wage bill and much less capacity to raise funds from player sales if we needed too.

[Surlyc]

Given that we have a bigger wage bill and much less capacity to raise funds from player sales if we needed too.

Why do you think we have a bigger wage bill? Based on their statutory accounts (rather than the speculative nonsense of things like capology.com), they had a bigger wage bill than us in both 22/23 & 23/24. I can't see that it would have gone down with their recent moves.

[LC]

I hope we bring in a central midfielder

[Angus Telford]

Given that we have a bigger wage bill and much less capacity to raise funds from player sales if we needed too.

Why do you think we have a bigger wage bill? Based on their statutory accounts (rather than the speculative nonsense of things like capology.com), they had a bigger wage bill than us in both 22/23 & 23/24. I can't see that it would have gone down with their recent moves.

Going on the Kieron Maguire Twitter breakdown someone else a few pages back. What do the accounts say then? Will admit I never checked

https://x.com/KieranMaguire/status/1905890675918336494

[Surlyc]

Given that we have a bigger wage bill and much less capacity to raise funds from player sales if we needed too.

Why do you think we have a bigger wage bill? Based on their statutory accounts (rather than the speculative nonsense of things like capology.com), they had a bigger wage bill than us in both 22/23 & 23/24. I can't see that it would have gone down with their recent moves.

Going on the Kieron Maguire Twitter breakdown someone else a few pages back. What do the accounts say then? Will admit I never checked

Kieron is being somewhat disingenuous there. Any line with (2024) next to it reflects 23/24 costs, whereas the others reflect 22/23. Forest's wages increased by £21.5m between those seasons.

By the way, I don't disagree with your overall point. We have much lower "saleable" assets due to our policy of signing older players and if I was an accountant (which I am!) I would be quite concerned about our medium/long term plan.

[Deuce]

Højlund not in the match day squad today. Fjørtoft implying he isnt going to play for United anymore.

Dont think we will be the ones getting him tho, as Muniz is staying (which is the preferred option)

[Tabby]

Højlund not in the match day squad today. Fjørtoft implying he isnt going to play for United anymore.

Dont think we will be the ones getting him tho, as Muniz is staying (which is the preferred option)

United have been trying to flog him all summer, so pretty expected.

[v]

I'm sure this has already been mentioned.... Kevin is landing in London on Monday 18th August....with meetings scheduled for Tuesday.....as a side note - shame we can't find another signing called Perry

Didn't we used to have a player called Frank Large ?