The Official Silly Season Summer Transfer Thread 2018/19

[FFC1987]

You don't know what's going on behind the scenes, or what efforts the club is making to bring in players.

Never said I did. I just look at the facts. We are the most desperate team in terms of squad size and need to strengthen in the EPL currently and we have signed no players as pre season starts whereas other teams with bigger squads have already made signings.

[SuffolkWhite]

You don't know what's going on behind the scenes, or what efforts the club is making to bring in players.

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Can't be pessimistic yet, we have no idea what is going on and can only guess. Two weeks time and no signings fair play to anyone who wants moan.

COYW

[FFC1987]

You don't know what's going on behind the scenes, or what efforts the club is making to bring in players.

0001.jpeg

Can't be pessimistic yet, we have no idea what is going on and can only guess. Two weeks time and no signings fair play to anyone who wants moan.

COYW

I don't 'want' to moan. I just think its a poor show to our current manager starting off pre season with half a squad and a weaker squad than we ended last year with too after a very successful promotion season. I'd of thought loan players would of at least been signed by now .

[toshes mate]

@FFC1987

I share your thoughts.  For sure we know nothing because nothing is what has happened and it is not as if our recruitment team has gone fishing and successfully landed prize catches whenever the need has arisen.  I worry these bods inadvertently scare the fish away and are not, for obvious as well as not so obvious factors, aware of the reasons why. 

I also worry that our preparatory work behind the scenes causes a very important lag to the important work our coaching staffs must do to achieve the best start they can to a season.

However it is what it is and one can only hope that, four thousand miles away, Mr Khan has stopped drinking Champagne and started to get a little anxious too.  He may wish to consider what one early and major signing in a window would do for everybody's confidence in what happens at FFC.

[WhiteJC]

 
Fulham closing in on £20m signing of Aleksandar Mitrovic


Aleksandr Mitrovic's Serbia were eliminated at the World Cup group stage CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

Fulham expect to be able to complete the signing of Newcastle United striker Aleksandar Mitrovic when the Serbia international returns from holiday.

Telegraph Sport understands that the London club believe they have agreed a fee in principle with the Magpies hierarchy, although there are still details to thrash out over the terms of the payment. Mitrovic has gone away for a short break after Serbia were knocked out of the World Cup at the end of the group stage, but Fulham have already held talks with Newcastle about signing him this summer.

That deal is likely to go through before the end of the month, with Fulham set to break their transfer record to land the 23-year-old. Newcastle have been asking for around £20 million for the striker, which would dwarf the £12.4m Fulham paid Olymipacos for Greece international Konstantinos Mitroglou back in 2014.

Mitrovic scored 12 goals in just 17 games for the Cottagers as they secure promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs during a successful loan spell last season.

The money from the sale of Mitrovic should aid Newcastle in their own recruitment plans, although it is not thought there will be any more signings made before the start of pre-season training on Thursday.

Newcastle have had a bid rejected for Nice striker Alassane Plea, who is valued at around £27m, with West Ham also in the hunt to sign the 25-year-old. The Magpies have been told to raise their offer or lose out on the player, who is keen to play for manager Rafael Benitez at St James' Park.

West Ham, though, have offered a more preferable deal to his French club at this stage, which puts the pressure on Newcastle's managing director, Lee Charnley, to come up with a better offer for the former France Under-21  international.

Newcastle are also trying to land Chelsea winger Kenedy for around £20m and the player is keen to sign for the club permanently after spending the second-half of last season on loan on Tyneside. However, a potential stumbling block in those negotiations is that Chelsea will insist on a buy back clause in his contract.

Those talks are being slowed, though, by the managerial confusion at  Stamford Bridge, with Antonie Conte still officially in charge even though former Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri has been lined up to replace him before the start of the season.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/07/03/fulham-closing-20m-signing-aleksandar-mitrovic/

[bill taylors apprentice]

You don't know what's going on behind the scenes, or what efforts the club is making to bring in players.

Quite right, we don't know!

But you would expect any well run club would have had a plan in place before the Final for if we went up or stayed in the Championship.

I accept you can't always get what you want but in the case of all the loan players, any we are keen on should be signed up ASAP.

As for brand new recruits (of whom we need plenty) ideally everything needs to be in place with a couple of weeks to spare before the big kick off.

All that's pretty obvious but some positive action by the Lyon game would be a good sign.

[FFC1987]

Bennett signs contract extension at Cardiff. - Skysports

[twang]

Bennett signs contract extension at Cardiff. - Skysports

Best news of the window so far for us!

[FFC1987]

haha agreed. Really don't rate the guy tbh......

[Tabby]

Bennett signs contract extension at Cardiff. - Skysports

Best news of the window so far for us!

Yeah, Bennett is a player I don't get the hype for. Bang average championship player.

[Arthur]

In previous years, as I recall, among those who believed the Club to be tardy in its transfer business, having all our players in by the start of the season always seemed to be the rule of thumb for good preparation. Now the transfer window closes earlier, it seems this is no longer good enough.

[Steven Ageroad]

Just to remind people of the FST Notes of the June meeting with FFC;

TRANSFER DEALINGS AND RECRUITMENT.

AM said the club were making good progress with regards to acquiring targets in the transfer market for the coming season. The system for recruiting would remain the same as in January, although he expected that the completion of deals may well be delayed by the World Cup. The club were actively looking to sign the right players as soon as possible, especially given the earlier end date of the summer transfer window this season.

HAVE FAITH.

[Marcel_Gecov]

Jordy clasie is still a Southampton player. I wondered if anybody would go for him as backup to our midfielders. International player, good on the ball, he'd certainly fit the way we play.

Any idea why it hasn't worked for him at Southampton?

[Marcel_Gecov]

'Deal in principle' agreed for Mitrovic according to Football.london

What does that even mean?

[Madman Maddle]

Being slower than the rest and being careful in the crazy transfer window isn't a bad thing. But being as lethargic as we are really hurts our preseason preparation. It showed last season and I fear it will show this season again. We are in a new league, arguably the best league in the world, and a good preperation is crucial to stand a chance.

I was at last year's summer camp in Austria, watching most of our training sessions. If it wasn't for our plethora of goalkeepers and many youth players - some of them I've never seen or heard of again - team training wouldn't have been possible at all. The quality level was dreadful. The likes of Cairney and McDonald having to do passing drills with our goalkeepers, duping youth players and our defenders battling Woodrow as the only striker available. Somehow Jokane worked his magic to overcome it, but you could tell he wasn't happy. If he has to go through the same circus again this season, it won't end well.

[hovewhite]

'Deal in principle' agreed for Mitrovic according to Football.london

What does that even mean?

no idea??

[Bassey the warrior]

'Deal in principle' agreed for Mitrovic according to Football.london

What does that even mean?

Contract agreed maybe. Though isn't that against the rules?

[Deeping_white]

'Deal in principle' agreed for Mitrovic according to Football.london

What does that even mean?

They've agreed on a price but not how it's going to be paid. Just because you sign someone in a deal worth £20m doesn't necessarily mean there will be an up front payment of the whole thing, as I understand it they're working through how to structure the payments as it gives us more wiggle room to spend more money this summer if you pay a lower up front price owing to how the books will look when we submit finances next year.

[Fulham Tup North]

Somehow Jokane worked his magic to overcome it, but you could tell he wasn't happy. If he has to go through the same circus again this season, it won't end well.

Of course the Club may have had a few players 'lined up' ready to sign and Joka has said 'No-thanks'?
It is all guesswork.
We all want new players / a bigger squad.  No-one can really believe that FFC are happy to drift along not buying after the four years of waiting to get back into the top flight.
I would rather we wait and get the right people rather than rush out and spend stupid money on just about anyone, or no-bodies, who will not benefit the club.
If we had signed 4 or 5 players, people would be on here slagging them off and saying we have bought rubbish / Championship at best / over the hill / unproven --- etc etc  players.
It is in no-ones interests to half a thread bare squad, but people are very quick to assume that the club are simply bumbling along doing nothing.
Have a little faith and enjoy the world Cup!!
COYW

[cmg]

Being slower than the rest and being careful in the crazy transfer window isn't a bad thing. But being as lethargic as we are really hurts our preseason preparation. It showed last season and I fear it will show this season again. We are in a new league, arguably the best league in the world, and a good preperation is crucial to stand a chance.

I was at last year's summer camp in Austria, watching most of our training sessions. If it wasn't for our plethora of goalkeepers and many youth players - some of them I've never seen or heard of again - team training wouldn't have been possible at all. The quality level was dreadful. The likes of Cairney and McDonald having to do passing drills with our goalkeepers, duping youth players and our defenders battling Woodrow as the only striker available. Somehow Jokane worked his magic to overcome it, but you could tell he wasn't happy. If he has to go through the same circus again this season, it won't end well.

I recognize that fans are entitled to their belief that they know better than those employed to do the job, but I do find highly amusing the picture this post paints of a casual observer tearing his hair on the touchline at the gross incompetence being displayed beyond.

The party that was taken to Austria (which included almost all those involved in getting promotion - presumably the ultimate objective at the time these training shananigans were taking place) was: Betts, Button, Rodak, Freddo, Djalo, Ream, McDonald, Cairney, Cisse, Johansen, Piazon, Aluko, Woodrow, Ayite, Sigurdsson. The 'many' youth players were : Opoku (who was injured in the Checkatrade match v Pompey in August and was not seen out again), O'Riley (who made a first team debut in a season curtailed by injury), Edun (who also made a first team debut and was in and around the squad most of the season, and R. Sessegnon (not sure what became of him, but I'm sure he derived some benefit from the fiasco).

Just to show that appearances can be deceptive I append a photo of the manager doing his best to hide his unhappiness in Austria: