Summer Transfer Gossip.

[Mince n Tatties]

According to a report in the Sun, Fulham have set their sights on signing Chelsea's center back Michael Hector this summer

Been on loan at Aberdeen, Reading and Wednesday last few seasons,Weds want to sign him as well,think he right back not centre back as stated.

[simplyfulham]

According to a report in the Sun, Fulham have set their sights on signing Chelsea's center back Michael Hector this summer

Been on loan at Aberdeen, Reading and Wednesday last few seasons,Weds want to sign him as well,think he right back not centre back as stated.

He's primarily a Centre back. Might be a Kalas situation where he's played as right back too.

[f321ffc]

Google translation from France football

Relegated with Fulham, Jean-Michaël Seri could return in L1 next season. AS Monaco is interested in the Ivorian environment.
With 32 games played on 37 under the colors of Fulham, Jean-Michael Seri tried to survive in a collective in distress. Aged 27, the Ivorian international should be one of the bargains of the next transfer window. In L1, Monaco is attentive to the situation of the former Nice. Contacts exist between the different parties. Seri has the advantage to perfectly know the Championship of France where he flamed in the colors of GYM. N.D.

[filham]

Google translation from France football

Relegated with Fulham, Jean-Michaël Seri could return in L1 next season. AS Monaco is interested in the Ivorian environment.
With 32 games played on 37 under the colors of Fulham, Jean-Michael Seri tried to survive in a collective in distress. Aged 27, the Ivorian international should be one of the bargains of the next transfer window. In L1, Monaco is attentive to the situation of the former Nice. Contacts exist between the different parties. Seri has the advantage to perfectly know the Championship of France where he flamed in the colors of GYM. N.D.

Seems as if Seri along with Mitrovic are all but certain to leave in the summer, I wonder if we will get what we paid for them or if this bad season with us will have significantly reduced their transfer value.

[We Are Premier League]

According to a report in the Sun, Fulham have set their sights on signing Chelsea's center back Michael Hector this summer

Weds Player  of the season and only 12m left on the contract, sounds like a good signing if the price is right...buy I suspect that chelski will demand some ridiculous fee

[We Are Premier League]

Gary Hooper on free transfer sounds like a good idea. Desperately need more fire power

[wheelerdeeler]

Gary Hooper on free transfer sounds like a good idea. Desperately need more fire power

1 goal in 6 appearances this season "fire power". Be big wages as well given he's on a free and a name, no thanks.

32 in January as well, with the exception of Babel we always go for players with a potential resell value.

[Facts Not Fiction]

Gary Hooper on free transfer sounds like a good idea. Desperately need more fire power

1 goal in 6 appearances this season "fire power". Be big wages as well given he's on a free and a name, no thanks.

32 in January as well, with the exception of Babel we always go for players with a potential resell value.

I think Babel could be a good example of why to take a punt.

He may be older, but we need depth. 2 year contract, not excessive wages, and can't be worse than Fonte.

[wheelerdeeler]

Gary Hooper on free transfer sounds like a good idea. Desperately need more fire power

1 goal in 6 appearances this season "fire power". Be big wages as well given he's on a free and a name, no thanks.

32 in January as well, with the exception of Babel we always go for players with a potential resell value.

I think Babel could be a good example of why to take a punt.

He may be older, but we need depth. 2 year contract, not excessive wages, and can't be worse than Fonte.

Babel was playing for the Dutch national team and Besiktas when we signed him, Gary Hooper couldn't get a game ahead of Steven Fletcher and Atdhe Nuhiu.

I'd rather try and sign players that the team we're getting them from don't want to get rid of them. We tried signing "surplus" players last summer and we ended up with Schurrle and Vietto.

[Barrett487]

 :005: https://www.hammers.news/transfer-news/insider-west-ham-weigh-up-underwhelming-loan-move-for-fulham-flop-andre-schurrle/

[aaronmcguigan]

Gary Hooper on free transfer sounds like a good idea. Desperately need more fire power

1 goal in 6 appearances this season "fire power". Be big wages as well given he's on a free and a name, no thanks.

32 in January as well, with the exception of Babel we always go for players with a potential resell value.

I think Babel could be a good example of why to take a punt.

He may be older, but we need depth. 2 year contract, not excessive wages, and can't be worse than Fonte.

Doesn't mean he's better tHan Fonte, and we still have Fonte. Hooper has played 5 or 6 games recently , before that he hadn't played for a year. Seems a daft risk to take when there's bound to be better options out there. If you're looking for a championship striker, take someone like Preston's  Maguire who scored twice against us, as an example

[The Rational Fan]

Gary Hooper on free transfer sounds like a good idea. Desperately need more fire power

1 goal in 6 appearances this season "fire power". Be big wages as well given he's on a free and a name, no thanks.

32 in January as well, with the exception of Babel we always go for players with a potential resell value.

I think Babel could be a good example of why to take a punt.

He may be older, but we need depth. 2 year contract, not excessive wages, and can't be worse than Fonte.

Doesn't mean he's better tHan Fonte, and we still have Fonte. Hooper has played 5 or 6 games recently , before that he hadn't played for a year. Seems a daft risk to take when there's bound to be better options out there. If you're looking for a championship striker, take someone like Preston's  Maguire who scored twice against us, as an example

We need depth upfront and in defence, we need a squad like ManCities in the championship. In a 46 game season we need three forwards starting, two on the bench and another three in the squad. We have to avoid having no forwards on the bench like against Huddersfield away. I would be pleased if Fonte, Gary Hooper and Kebano/Markovoic can be our 6th, 7th and 8th forwards next season, especially if the top five are Mitro, Sessegnon on loan, Babel/Dwight Gayle, Kamara and Atyie.

[wheelerdeeler]

Gary Hooper on free transfer sounds like a good idea. Desperately need more fire power

1 goal in 6 appearances this season "fire power". Be big wages as well given he's on a free and a name, no thanks.

32 in January as well, with the exception of Babel we always go for players with a potential resell value.

I think Babel could be a good example of why to take a punt.

He may be older, but we need depth. 2 year contract, not excessive wages, and can't be worse than Fonte.

Doesn't mean he's better tHan Fonte, and we still have Fonte. Hooper has played 5 or 6 games recently , before that he hadn't played for a year. Seems a daft risk to take when there's bound to be better options out there. If you're looking for a championship striker, take someone like Preston's  Maguire who scored twice against us, as an example

We need depth upfront and in defence. In a 46 game season we need three forwards starting, two on the bench and another two-three in the squad. We have to avoid having no forwards on the bench like against Huddersfield away. I would be pleased if Fonte, Gary Hooper and Kait can be our 6th, 7th and 8th forwards next season.

We need to know what system we're playing before we start thinking about squad depth and where we need said depth.We don't really know what system Parker favours (assuming he gets the job). We've played 4-2-3-1, 3-4-1-2, 3-4-3 and 5-3-2 with him so far.

Personally hope we keep relatively tight squad next season, 21 or 22 players for the 18 places in the matchday squad with a few youth players on the fringes. Should help with the team chemistry and I think Jokanovic especially struggled with having too many options this season, hence him changing the back four/five every game.

[The Rational Fan]

Gary Hooper on free transfer sounds like a good idea. Desperately need more fire power

1 goal in 6 appearances this season "fire power". Be big wages as well given he's on a free and a name, no thanks.

32 in January as well, with the exception of Babel we always go for players with a potential resell value.

I think Babel could be a good example of why to take a punt.

He may be older, but we need depth. 2 year contract, not excessive wages, and can't be worse than Fonte.

Doesn't mean he's better tHan Fonte, and we still have Fonte. Hooper has played 5 or 6 games recently , before that he hadn't played for a year. Seems a daft risk to take when there's bound to be better options out there. If you're looking for a championship striker, take someone like Preston's  Maguire who scored twice against us, as an example

We need depth upfront and in defence. In a 46 game season we need three forwards starting, two on the bench and another two-three in the squad. We have to avoid having no forwards on the bench like against Huddersfield away. I would be pleased if Fonte, Gary Hooper and Kait can be our 6th, 7th and 8th forwards next season.

We need to know what system we're playing before we start thinking about squad depth and where we need said depth.We don't really know what system Parker favours (assuming he gets the job). We've played 4-2-3-1, 3-4-1-2, 3-4-3 and 5-3-2 with him so far.

Personally hope we keep relatively tight squad next season, 21 or 22 players for the 18 places in the matchday squad with a few youth players on the fringes. Should help with the team chemistry and I think Jokanovic especially struggled with having too many options this season, hence him changing the back four/five every game.

I think Tony Khan should give Scott Parker (or other Manager) a big pre-season of 25-30 squad capable of playing many formations (including 4 or 5 at the back). Scott Parker should then determine which players to release or loan out immediately, plus what extra reinforcements we need on deadline day (e.g. any injuries or players losing their legs) and then also who may leave in the winter window.

Slavisa was quite clear that he wanted a bigger squad, particularly another centre forward to cover Mitrovoic (and Slavisa proved correct 90 mins x 38 games is too much for Mitro). A lot of Fulhams problems last year was due to too smaller a squad, hence causing players to rush back from injury (Mawson, Ream, Bryan and Sessegnon) and players playing multiple positions (including MLM, Chambers, Sessegnon, Odoi, Cairney and Vietto).

If we had Targett, Kalas, Norwood, Ojo and Piazon this season, players would have specialised in their position (eg MLM at CB) and fully recovered from injury. I think Kalas would have been super useful this season, allowing Chambers to avoid playing three days after arriving at the club, allowing Odoi to be available for RB, LB or bench, allowing Mawson and Ream to recover more before playing and lastly allowing managers to play three at the back more often.

[wheelerdeeler]

Gary Hooper on free transfer sounds like a good idea. Desperately need more fire power

1 goal in 6 appearances this season "fire power". Be big wages as well given he's on a free and a name, no thanks.

32 in January as well, with the exception of Babel we always go for players with a potential resell value.

I think Babel could be a good example of why to take a punt.

He may be older, but we need depth. 2 year contract, not excessive wages, and can't be worse than Fonte.

Doesn't mean he's better tHan Fonte, and we still have Fonte. Hooper has played 5 or 6 games recently , before that he hadn't played for a year. Seems a daft risk to take when there's bound to be better options out there. If you're looking for a championship striker, take someone like Preston's  Maguire who scored twice against us, as an example

We need depth upfront and in defence. In a 46 game season we need three forwards starting, two on the bench and another two-three in the squad. We have to avoid having no forwards on the bench like against Huddersfield away. I would be pleased if Fonte, Gary Hooper and Kait can be our 6th, 7th and 8th forwards next season.

We need to know what system we're playing before we start thinking about squad depth and where we need said depth.We don't really know what system Parker favours (assuming he gets the job). We've played 4-2-3-1, 3-4-1-2, 3-4-3 and 5-3-2 with him so far.

Personally hope we keep relatively tight squad next season, 21 or 22 players for the 18 places in the matchday squad with a few youth players on the fringes. Should help with the team chemistry and I think Jokanovic especially struggled with having too many options this season, hence him changing the back four/five every game.

I think Tony Khan should give Scott Parker (or other Manager) a big pre-season of 25-30 squad capable of playing many formations (including 4 or 5 at the back). Scott Parker should then determine which players to release or loan out immediately, plus what extra reinforcements we need on deadline day (e.g. any injuries or players losing their legs) and then also who may leave in the winter window.

Slavisa was quite clear that he wanted a bigger squad, particularly another centre forward to cover Mitrovoic (and Slavisa proved correct 90 mins x 38 games is too much for Mitro). A lot of Fulhams problems last year was due to too smaller a squad, hence causing players to rush back from injury (Mawson, Ream, Bryan and Sessegnon) and players playing multiple positions (including MLM, Chambers, Sessegnon, Odoi, Cairney and Vietto).

If we had Targett, Kalas, Norwood, Ojo and Piazon this season, players would have specialised in their position (eg MLM at CB) and fully recovered from injury. I think Kalas would have been super useful this season, allowing Chambers to avoid playing three days after arriving at the club, allowing Odoi to be available for RB, LB or bench, allowing Mawson and Ream to recover more before playing and lastly allowing managers to play three at the back more often.

If the 25-30 includes players like Fossey, Drameh, S. Sessegnon, O'Riley etc. then fair enough, but I don't want us to have a bloated squad next season. Especially for players like Hooper who will be on decent wages and have no re-sell value. It's what's caused (ironically) Sheffield Wednesday FFP problems over the last couple of years and will most likely cause Stoke (and others) problems in the next year or two when they can't shift the players they want to.

I'd personally worked my "ideal" squad out (given who's likely to leave/who I want to leave)
GK: Bettinelli, Rodak
CB: Mawson, Le Marchand, New Signing (right-sided), Ream, S. Sessegnon
RB: New Signing, Drameh/Fossey (loan the other one out)
LB: Bryan, New Signing
DM: Zambo, New Signing, McDonald, New Signing (or just keep Cisse as 4th choice)
#10: Cairney, O'Riley (would even give Fonte a go in a couple of Pre-Season games just to see how he goes there)
Forwards: New Target Man, New Pressing Forward, New Winger, Ayite, Kebano

That would be the core squad I'd look to have (22 players, maybe Fonte makes it 23), and that doesn't include players like de la Torre, Elliott etc. who I'd have on the fringes/in for Cup games. 

[The Rational Fan]

Gary Hooper on free transfer sounds like a good idea. Desperately need more fire power

1 goal in 6 appearances this season "fire power". Be big wages as well given he's on a free and a name, no thanks.

32 in January as well, with the exception of Babel we always go for players with a potential resell value.

I think Babel could be a good example of why to take a punt.

He may be older, but we need depth. 2 year contract, not excessive wages, and can't be worse than Fonte.

Doesn't mean he's better tHan Fonte, and we still have Fonte. Hooper has played 5 or 6 games recently , before that he hadn't played for a year. Seems a daft risk to take when there's bound to be better options out there. If you're looking for a championship striker, take someone like Preston's  Maguire who scored twice against us, as an example

We need depth upfront and in defence. In a 46 game season we need three forwards starting, two on the bench and another two-three in the squad. We have to avoid having no forwards on the bench like against Huddersfield away. I would be pleased if Fonte, Gary Hooper and Kait can be our 6th, 7th and 8th forwards next season.

We need to know what system we're playing before we start thinking about squad depth and where we need said depth.We don't really know what system Parker favours (assuming he gets the job). We've played 4-2-3-1, 3-4-1-2, 3-4-3 and 5-3-2 with him so far.

Personally hope we keep relatively tight squad next season, 21 or 22 players for the 18 places in the matchday squad with a few youth players on the fringes. Should help with the team chemistry and I think Jokanovic especially struggled with having too many options this season, hence him changing the back four/five every game.

I think Tony Khan should give Scott Parker (or other Manager) a big pre-season of 25-30 squad capable of playing many formations (including 4 or 5 at the back). Scott Parker should then determine which players to release or loan out immediately, plus what extra reinforcements we need on deadline day (e.g. any injuries or players losing their legs) and then also who may leave in the winter window.

Slavisa was quite clear that he wanted a bigger squad, particularly another centre forward to cover Mitrovoic (and Slavisa proved correct 90 mins x 38 games is too much for Mitro). A lot of Fulhams problems last year was due to too smaller a squad, hence causing players to rush back from injury (Mawson, Ream, Bryan and Sessegnon) and players playing multiple positions (including MLM, Chambers, Sessegnon, Odoi, Cairney and Vietto).

If we had Targett, Kalas, Norwood, Ojo and Piazon this season, players would have specialised in their position (eg MLM at CB) and fully recovered from injury. I think Kalas would have been super useful this season, allowing Chambers to avoid playing three days after arriving at the club, allowing Odoi to be available for RB, LB or bench, allowing Mawson and Ream to recover more before playing and lastly allowing managers to play three at the back more often.

If the 25-30 includes players like Fossey, Drameh, S. Sessegnon, O'Riley etc. then fair enough, but I don't want us to have a bloated squad next season. Especially for players like Hooper who will be on decent wages and have no re-sell value. It's what's caused (ironically) Sheffield Wednesday FFP problems over the last couple of years and will most likely cause Stoke (and others) problems in the next year or two when they can't shift the players they want to.

I'd personally worked my "ideal" squad out (given who's likely to leave/who I want to leave)
GK: Bettinelli, Rodak
CB: Mawson, Le Marchand, New Signing (right-sided), Ream, S. Sessegnon
RB: New Signing, Drameh/Fossey (loan the other one out)
LB: Bryan, New Signing
DM: Zambo, New Signing, McDonald, New Signing (or just keep Cisse as 4th choice)
#10: Cairney, O'Riley (would even give Fonte a go in a couple of Pre-Season games just to see how he goes there)
Forwards: New Target Man, New Pressing Forward, New Winger, Ayite, Kebano

That would be the core squad I'd look to have (22 players, maybe Fonte makes it 23), and that doesn't include players like de la Torre, Elliott etc. who I'd have on the fringes/in for Cup games.

I see your suggesting keeping Betts, Fossey, Mawson, MLM, Bryan, Zambo, McDonald, Cairney, Atyie, Fonte and Kebano, so the whole plan is based on the assumption that the DoF signing a RB, RCB, LB, DM, RW, CF and LW wisely. That's a Big Assumption!

I would prefer that DoF keeps the players and buys a big squad too; and Parker trims down the squad as required during pre-season. My assumption is half the players that the DoF gets fit into the current team and the rest with good stats have resale and loan value.

[Woolly Mammoth]

Does anyone know what positions we have been rumoured to bid on? As players rumoured will change during the summer, I'm more interested in positions.

Positions Rumoured
2. Right Back (Matthias Zimmermann)
3. Left Back (Milad Mohammadi)
4. Centre Back (Domagoj Vida)
9. Backup Striker (Matell Taylor-Crossdale)
11. Left Winger (Ryan Kent)

You can forget about Vida. He's Premier League bound.

I doubt we will buy any of these players, but they are good positions to get.

like to think we could get these players,but TK stats department will find other players no doubt!

You are of course right hovewhite, the stats recruitment dudes will continue to misfire because stats is fools gold.
Stats are wrong, and the managers are right.

"Managers are Right" means Rafa Bentitz selling Mitro was right and Gary Bowyer selling Cairney was right. Before we had DoFs, most deals were agreed by two managers, one was normally right and one was normally wrong.

Statistics prove that Stats are always wrong. 

[Sting of the North]

I see your suggesting keeping Betts, Fossey, Mawson, MLM, Bryan, Zambo, McDonald, Cairney, Atyie, Fonte and Kebano, so the whole plan is based on the assumption that the DoF signing a RB, RCB, LB, DM, RW, CF and LW wisely. That's a Big Assumption!

I would prefer that DoF keeps the players and buys a big squad too; and Parker trims down the squad as required during pre-season. My assumption is half the players that the DoF gets fit into the current team and the rest with good stats have resale and loan value.

I am not sure I am following. Do you want us to try to buy as many players as possible early on in the summer, and then get rid of a good chunk of those same players later on in the same transfer window after SP has assessed them? Or do you only want to take on trialists? The former case seem difficult since either you have to sell it to the players (and why would anyone join if you tell them that you may want to get rid of them in 6 weeks, unless you pay them an absolute fortune), and the latter case wouldn't be likely to bring in much quality (since proven quality players would not want to join on a trial). By the way, can a player even be subject to two permanent transfers during the same window, or would we be completely reliant on the loan system?

Or do you mean that we should keep a huge squad with a chunk of players being kept from playing at all?

Do you care to elaborate?

[The Rational Fan]

I see your suggesting keeping Betts, Fossey, Mawson, MLM, Bryan, Zambo, McDonald, Cairney, Atyie, Fonte and Kebano, so the whole plan is based on the assumption that the DoF signing a RB, RCB, LB, DM, RW, CF and LW wisely. That's a Big Assumption!

I would prefer that DoF keeps the players and buys a big squad too; and Parker trims down the squad as required during pre-season. My assumption is half the players that the DoF gets fit into the current team and the rest with good stats have resale and loan value.

I am not sure I am following. Do you want us to try to buy as many players as possible early on in the summer, and then get rid of a good chunk of those same players later on in the same transfer window after SP has assessed them? Or do you only want to take on trialists? The former case seem difficult since either you have to sell it to the players (and why would anyone join if you tell them that you may want to get rid of them in 6 weeks, unless you pay them an absolute fortune), and the latter case wouldn't be likely to bring in much quality (since proven quality players would not want to join on a trial). By the way, can a player even be subject to two permanent transfers during the same window, or would we be completely reliant on the loan system?

Or do you mean that we should keep a huge squad with a chunk of players being kept from playing at all?

Do you care to elaborate?

Well, a sensible mix of both, firstly a lot of the squad depth won't cost a lot because a championship bench warmer (like Cisse or Edun) is not super expensive especially if you loan them out again. For starters we don't need get anyone in for goalkeeper or left centre back, but we probably would be wise to have a decent pre-season squad.

I think our ideal squad size for pre-season should be at least Manchester City size plus three players, then release the weakest three on loan to the championship or league one. We are better off buying 5 x £2m signings (like McDonald, Norwood and Johasen) then loaning those that don't cut it, than getting one big name £10m signing.

I am suggesting keeping players like Cisse, Edun, Riley, McDonald, Johasen, Seri, Zambo and Cairney, plus maybe an addition until we finalise the starting XI and have proven reserves. I think we have one chance to go up and don't believe in selling players now, but also adding at the same time. We obviously have to do what is financial possible, but too big a squad is a problem Parker can live with now and solve after 2, 6 or 12 months in the Championship.

The reason I say this is I can almost guarantee the pre-season and first few games leads to some players being sub-par what Parker expects, the last two seasons we were desperate for reinforcement by the winter transfer window, it's good to have a few players extra in the squad especially in a new league with 46 games per season.

[hovewhite]

So no actual gossip on players!!