Summer Silly Season Transfer Thread 2024

[sarnian]

Interesting posts above about the what players true worth are and how negotiations are conducted but at the end of the day still nobody confirmed as signed. Oh well probably another 20 pages to go.

[FFC1987]

Interesting posts above about the what players true worth are and how negotiations are conducted but at the end of the day still nobody confirmed as signed. Oh well probably another 20 pages to go.

It'll come mate. No point in getting our blood pressures up. Its been a grand few days on the rumour front and getting some of the bigger social media platforms reporting on some really exciting talent.   

[Hugh Janus]

I still can't quite get my head around the fact last season we wouldn't pay £7m for Hudson Odoi but 12 months later we will spend £35m or there abouts on ESR.

Still, well done the club for taking the gamble and showing ambition.

[Marcel_Gecov]

I still can't quite get my head around the fact last season we wouldn't pay £7m for Hudson Odoi but 12 months later we will spend £35m or there abouts on ESR.

Still, well done the club for taking the gamble and showing ambition.

Chelsea wanted a honking sell-on clause for that low money so Forest wont get much even if they were to sell for £30m+. ESR will be expensive (although 27m with addons seems to be the agreed amount) but when we sell him most of the monies will be ours to reinvest.

[jayffc]

For those that are worried/annoyed about lack of business, see below quote from spurs man.
Ange Postecoglou on Tottenham's transfer business:
"At this time of year it's pretty hard for supporters because they don't have all the information and it's fair to say there's plenty of misinformation out there.
"We're working hard to bring players in and it's a process that you sometimes have to be patient with. But in terms of what we set out to do, that's still the plan and you have to stay disciplined with that.
"Sometimes the timings don't work out and it doesn't happen as quickly as you want and you don't get them (players) in at the right time but I think it's really important you stay disciplined and not run off and chase other things.
"So, what we started with at the start of summer is still there, and I wouldn't want to put timelines on it. A lot of that is out of our control and we just need to be patient.
"From where I sit, at the moment, we're still in that phase where what we identified is still what we're after."

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone really at this point.

It's not, but its the same argument everytime isn't it. People acknowledge its tough, others like me will say 'well, thats why CFO's and agents etc are paid the big bucks' to navigate and work in these ropey waters, but some will just stick up for the club no matter what.

As always there's a balance of reasonable criticism and some not allowing for any. For what its worth, im content currently but I do find the notion from some posters that criticism, even in tough circumstances, isn't valid.

There's critique, and then there's over the top toxicity, vitriol and name calling. I will add-  It's been much better this year generally speaking, most seemingly accepting the words of such managers these days...and presumably more inclined to trust the process given the decent windows of late. So that's a positive.

One can acknowledge we tend to do things a little later (albeit to this point, transfers outside of the circlejerk young player PSR dodging teams haven't exactly been wildly rife so far either tbf) and also understand that so many CFO's and Managers say the same thing about the window as Ange above and ultimately they know far more than any of us here do about it, given they're the ones that actually have experience of it first hand.

Recruitment teams are more paid the big bucks to see the bigger long term picture, identify wider transfer strategy and secure the best talent, not just the most available early on.  Ange directly makes that clear in his statement above - that often you have to be patient and stick to your plans for getting the right players for the clubs in the long term - a small part of justifying ones wage as a CFO/recruitment team might be doing so as timely as possible, but I'd hazard a guess (as mirrored bu Anges comments) not over the preferance for carefully negotiating and balancing the over arching budget and transfer plans to try and get the players most wanted come the end od the window. we've just seen it again recently with Jota Silva (wether were in for him or not still) - His club were trying to push someone to pay £17m, now its reported they've given up and are allegedly willing to look more at £10-12m.... that's the game. Sometimes it works out in your favour, sometimes perhaps it doesn't but it's a game of cat and mouse but saving 5-7m on a number of transfers can transform your plans - bring in more players, or allow for bigger bids and wages elsewhere. The nuanced balancing act is what people are paid for.

Yep, don't disagree with any of that. Glad the place feels way less toxic than other windows but I guess its still relatively early days! 

Personally, I do think the 'balance' of this is still strong on the 'nothing the club can do better' camp, than the 'the club can do no right' side but that's anecdotal and subjective. My post above wasn't really relating to you though, despite the quote post, this was probably more of a follow up to a post recently claiming the club couldn't give out starting lineups for a friendly for reasons beyond our comprehension. I'm all for some balance but this followed by that and a number of other posts really do just feel like the club can't possibly do anything wrong. 

'Recruitment teams are more paid the big bucks to see the bigger long term picture, identify wider transfer strategy and secure the best talent, not just the most available early on.' I think we can agree, they;re paid to do both? Get deals over the line as quickly as possible, at the best price, with the right players giving management the best chance to achieve goals. So I do think its relevant still.

I think getting Andre, Sess and Rowe perhaps over the line soon will really take the heat off though. We already have a competitive squad, and we do have competitive replacements for players that have left. But we know theres still a lot of work to do with loans etc so Im excited and not fussed on criticising anyone yet. Just think its important to allow others post and vent a bit, like Drewry mentioned above. Seems fine to me   

Yeh I'd agree our recent relative successes in the markets and staying in the league etc has clearly bought some deserved patience. I agree critique is reasonable where deserved and it's ok to ask a question, no issue there, it's the extra and sometimes personal stuff around it that goes overboard. I'm not overly fussed about who featured in a behind-closed-doors friendly, but appreciate others might feel differently and fair enough. I can see some people think its a wider comms thing. Again not too worried personally about such a thing but appreciate everyone's right to feel differently on it

As per my message I think it's fair there may indeed be some* element of justifying ones wages by getting transfers in a timely fashion - just that I don't think it's the dominant thing they'd be judged on.

Ultimately I would hazard a guess from a business owners perspective, given the context managers like Ange and other COF's often provide, there's probably a greater understanding of the nature of markets by club owners and boards than is found on here...and therefore I'm inclined to say speed wouldn't usurp the wider importance of balancing the transfer budget and getting the best and most out of owners money by the end of the window.
 
So whilst I agree they're paid to do both- I'd hazard a guess overall quality > timing is far more likely the main point for them- as supported by the insinuation of Ange in his comments above.

Agree getting some in the door will I'm sure hopefully alleviate some peoples tensions wether I think it worthy of getting wound up about or not, I too would like the 3 mentioned secured to get excited about.

A Team of

Leno
Castagane Diop Bassey Robinson
Andre Lukic
Traore/Iwobi Andreas ESR
Muniz

would be plenty good enough to have in hand with weeks to go till the start the season, and knowing that they will be joined by more recruitments too. So hopefully indeed people will feel more comfortable to let the club work from there.

[jayffc]

I still can't quite get my head around the fact last season we wouldn't pay £7m for Hudson Odoi but 12 months later we will spend £35m or there abouts on ESR.

Still, well done the club for taking the gamble and showing ambition.

We re-signed Willian for another year,
And reportedly we didn't have as much cash to throw about then. Now we're looking at a player who appears far more talented.

Fwiw one of my best mates a forest fan and said whilst he scored a few last year that sugar-coated general performances  CHO was largely very meh and anonymous a lot of the time. So perhaps we got the better deal. (and I wanted CHO)

[Deeping_white]

I hadn't really considered ESR as the starting LW because I've always considered him a #10, but watching this shows he's got a lot of the aura we saw with Willian over the last two seasons in terms of ball retention and beating a man: https://youtu.be/pV5-DxL_LKs?si=bd6hskgPvvlxe0BT

[FFC1987]

I still can't quite get my head around the fact last season we wouldn't pay £7m for Hudson Odoi but 12 months later we will spend £35m or there abouts on ESR.

Still, well done the club for taking the gamble and showing ambition.

We re-signed Willian for another year,
And reportedly we didn't have as much cash to throw about then. Now we're looking at a player who appears far more talented.

Fwiw one of my best mates a forest fan and said whilst he scored a few last year that sugar-coated general performances  CHO was largely very meh and anonymous a lot of the time. So perhaps we got the better deal. (and I wanted CHO)

I watched him a few times and got that impression too by the way. He was often really hyped up by pundits as well which felt strange.

Not to quote a load more, but on your previous message, I'd agree that quality and economics > speed, I just don't think its completely irrelevant (as you acknowledged). If we start badly, the manager gets it in the neck, but if the feedback is that we could of started better, with key players in earlier for pre season, embedding period etc. it probably does factor in more. Something I still think we've been fortunate with starts to the previous seasons.

Its been highlighted but, for people looking at how important quick transfers and this window are, we're not in the same position we were two seasons ago. Our squad is already competitive whereas in previous windows, I felt we had a lot more to do, and some really important roles to fill so our urgency now, isn't the same as Ipswich's is currently. The fact the general mood is more positive despite no activity yet, is likely testament to this. So its also why I think, previous windows, more criticism was probably more valid even if it did work out ok in the end.

[Tabby]

I hadn't really considered ESR as the starting LW because I've always considered him a #10, but watching this shows he's got a lot of the aura we saw with Willian over the last two seasons in terms of ball retention and beating a man: https://youtu.be/pV5-DxL_LKs?si=bd6hskgPvvlxe0BT

He was the one that pushed Willian out of the LW position at Arsenal after all.

[btffc]

I hadn't really considered ESR as the starting LW because I've always considered him a #10, but watching this shows he's got a lot of the aura we saw with Willian over the last two seasons in terms of ball retention and beating a man: https://youtu.be/pV5-DxL_LKs?si=bd6hskgPvvlxe0BT

It does seem that is Marco's preference for wingers as a lot of our build up is through the wings rather than the middle so ball retaining playmakers on the wings makes sense. With ESR and Iwobi we'll have one on each wing. I'd prefer at least one match winning style winger but Marco is smarter than I am.

[Deeping_white]

I hadn't really considered ESR as the starting LW because I've always considered him a #10, but watching this shows he's got a lot of the aura we saw with Willian over the last two seasons in terms of ball retention and beating a man: https://youtu.be/pV5-DxL_LKs?si=bd6hskgPvvlxe0BT

It does seem that is Marco's preference for wingers as a lot of our build up is through the wings rather than the middle so ball retaining playmakers on the wings makes sense. With ESR and Iwobi we'll have one on each wing. I'd prefer at least one match winning style winger but Marco is smarter than I am.

Well hopefully with a fully fit Adama this season and a QB style DM in Andre, it will allow us to mix things up with a bit more direct football on occcasion with him spraying balls in over the top!

[itombomb]

I still can't quite get my head around the fact last season we wouldn't pay £7m for Hudson Odoi but 12 months later we will spend £35m or there abouts on ESR.

Still, well done the club for taking the gamble and showing ambition.

We re-signed Willian for another year,
And reportedly we didn't have as much cash to throw about then. Now we're looking at a player who appears far more talented.

Fwiw one of my best mates a forest fan and said whilst he scored a few last year that sugar-coated general performances  CHO was largely very meh and anonymous a lot of the time. So perhaps we got the better deal. (and I wanted CHO)

He seemed to come good later in the season, scored a few cracking goals. But also worth acknowledging his wages were considerable - he took a pay cut to leave Chelsea, where he was on 150K a week.

[StuinSalop]

I hadn't really considered ESR as the starting LW because I've always considered him a #10, but watching this shows he's got a lot of the aura we saw with Willian over the last two seasons in terms of ball retention and beating a man: https://youtu.be/pV5-DxL_LKs?si=bd6hskgPvvlxe0BT

It does seem that is Marco's preference for wingers as a lot of our build up is through the wings rather than the middle so ball retaining playmakers on the wings makes sense. With ESR and Iwobi we'll have one on each wing. I'd prefer at least one match winning style winger but Marco is smarter than I am.

Well hopefully with a fully fit Adama this season and a QB style DM in Andre, it will allow us to mix things up with a bit more direct football on occcasion with him spraying balls in over the top!

A fit Adama is like a new signing. Wilson Iwobi Adama ESR are great wide options. We are good at full back. Leno is class. Bassey excellent and Diop adequate central midfield is strong enough if we sign another we probably have too many. As long as Muniz and Raul keep playing well.  Add in some quality young players and we are in pretty good shape hence no need to panick.

[jayffc]

I hadn't really considered ESR as the starting LW because I've always considered him a #10, but watching this shows he's got a lot of the aura we saw with Willian over the last two seasons in terms of ball retention and beating a man: https://youtu.be/pV5-DxL_LKs?si=bd6hskgPvvlxe0BT

It does seem that is Marco's preference for wingers as a lot of our build up is through the wings rather than the middle so ball retaining playmakers on the wings makes sense. With ESR and Iwobi we'll have one on each wing. I'd prefer at least one match winning style winger but Marco is smarter than I am.

Well hopefully with a fully fit Adama this season and a QB style DM in Andre, it will allow us to mix things up with a bit more direct football on occcasion with him spraying balls in over the top!

A fit Adama is like a new signing. Wilson Iwobi Adama ESR are great wide options. We are good at full back. Leno is class. Bassey excellent and Diop adequate central midfield is strong enough if we sign another we probably have too many. As long as Muniz and Raul keep playing well.  Add in some quality young players and we are in pretty good shape hence no need to panick.

Here here. If we tie up the 3 rumoured to be close we're in very good shape already. Diop for me is on par with Tosin, both had their lapses occasionally, (as many CB's can) We can and should look to try and improve CB position but Diops been plenty good enough for a midtable prem club so far.

[FFC1987]

I hadn't really considered ESR as the starting LW because I've always considered him a #10, but watching this shows he's got a lot of the aura we saw with Willian over the last two seasons in terms of ball retention and beating a man: https://youtu.be/pV5-DxL_LKs?si=bd6hskgPvvlxe0BT

It does seem that is Marco's preference for wingers as a lot of our build up is through the wings rather than the middle so ball retaining playmakers on the wings makes sense. With ESR and Iwobi we'll have one on each wing. I'd prefer at least one match winning style winger but Marco is smarter than I am.

Well hopefully with a fully fit Adama this season and a QB style DM in Andre, it will allow us to mix things up with a bit more direct football on occcasion with him spraying balls in over the top!

A fit Adama is like a new signing. Wilson Iwobi Adama ESR are great wide options. We are good at full back. Leno is class. Bassey excellent and Diop adequate central midfield is strong enough if we sign another we probably have too many. As long as Muniz and Raul keep playing well.  Add in some quality young players and we are in pretty good shape hence no need to panick.

Here here. If we tie up the 3 rumoured to be close we're in very good shape already. Diop for me is on par with Tosin, both had their lapses occasionally, (as many CB's can) We can and should look to try and improve CB position but Diops been plenty good enough for a midtable prem club so far.

Its so strange, as everyone outside of my Fulham areas think Traore hype is misguided, but I'm really excited to see him if he stays fit next season!

[LC]

Our midfield is the weakest part of the team- in my opinion anyway. I also think back to the midfield partnership of Parker and Sidwell, we got absolutely killed. Both good players in their day but they were coming towards the end of their careers and they didn't compliment each other at all. And I think that's the area that got us regulated that season- I don't want to see a repeat of that.

I think we need two new starting midfielders. I personally don't rate Lukic, Cairney I like a lot but he's another year older, and Reed didn't play much last year. So I think it's an area we need two new players.

[Tabby]

Traore is one of those players that has it all when it comes to physical attributes and technique, just needs that last little bit. Has become a bit of a meme player as he doesn't make the most of the areas he can get himself into.

Think he did fairly well last season when he featured for us though.

[Jeroen]

[/quote]

Here here. If we tie up the 3 rumoured to be close we're in very good shape already. Diop for me is on par with Tosin, both had their lapses occasionally, (as many CB's can) We can and should look to try and improve CB position but Diops been plenty good enough for a midtable prem club so far.
[/quote]

Yep! With those players we can than wait untill deadline day for bargain buys haha
In all seriousness it does give us money in the kitty to move if a CB gets injured or our strikers don't perform.
It will also give youngsters more of a chance to prove themselves

[hovewhite]

Had a butchers at arsenal fans MBs and they are saying he's on his way to the cottage it's still not signed off but we'll on his way.

[sarnian]

Latest rumour is that Andre is nowhere being done and Fulham have not increased their original offer.

Most stories are just figments of imagination by people with nothing better to do. Ah well just hope some truth in RS and ESR stories.