Summer Silly Season Transfer Thread 2024

[jayffc]

Have to be honest, looked at his transfrmarkt page, saw his stats, the teams he's played against, and time time he's spent in each league, and feel this is us selling ourselves short in a key position. We've sold a player for £50m, who had previously played champions league football and became one of the top DM's in europe, for a player who's hardly done anything beyond the championship of note.

I appreciate that's harsh, but the two times he's played in the PL the teams he's played in have been relegated, whilst he's meant to have played the DM role, shielding the back four.

I'm not convinced he has the ability or pace to compete at a PL level and feel he may be a squad player long term at best, which for £20m, isn't what we should be looking for.. Perhaps the Man Utd links were agent talk to get us to pay up..

He's unproven and 26 years old. Obviously if marco believes in him then I trust Marco,.. sometimes though I wish we'd just be able to sign the likes of Andre.

Interestingly for me at least, those years we got promoted under Slavisa and Parker and then relegated, really did make a huge difference to our ability to compete as FFP/PSR rules have come in since then... we wouldn't have had any issues back then signing Andre, McTominay, Andersen etc back then and building... frustrating, as it was clear the ownership and transfer team under TK were finding their feet and making mistakes with hires, whether they were players (our defence under Slavisa), or our Manager in Parker (Anguissa, Lookman, Andersen, Areola etc)..

Bit deflated by this news and Berge being our next signing tbh..

His stats seem average at best and largely untested in any good way..

Hope I'm proven wrong..

Perhaps take a look at what the people who watch him week in and week out are saying rather than empty stats and who he's played for so far. Doesnt really tell the full picture

https://www.uptheclarets.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=75463&p=2321594&hilit=berge#p2321594

Here's a Thread on Sander Berge from April on the Burnley forums for you or anyone interested in their thoughts on him
He's universally rated...not a single voice against him..

"An absolute rolls Royce of a footballer. If we keep him for next season it's probably the only way we would walk the league. Hes magnificent"

"Would almost feel sorry for the lad playing in the championship again next season. But certainly won't complain if he is. Far too good."

"at the age he's at and after his performances in the Premier League this season.
Fulham, Brighton, Wolves and West Ham should all be looking at him."

"He's the best we've had since Defour,"

"Berge is absolute class. Think he's massively underrated - I also thought he was average when he was at Sheffield. Now I realise he's a classy modern day centre midfielder."

"time for him to go to a team that plays in Europe before it passes him by"

They're complimenting him on a thread when Burnley beat Berge's old team Sheffield Utd, who got relegated, 4-1..

That's hardly a ringing endorsement given both clubs got relegated and hardly won a match all season in the PL.

Come on man, I know ya playing devils advocate, but that's spilling overboard now a bit I think-  these are clearly general comments about how he's been for them in the premier league not just related to that game. You can search multiple threads with glowing reports on him I just picked out one of the more recent ones.

https://www.uptheclarets.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=73159&p=2227691&hilit=berge#p2227691

https://www.uptheclarets.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=76542&p=2374810&hilit=berge#p2374810

https://www.uptheclarets.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=73037&p=2223903&hilit=berge#p2223903


"I wonder when the last time was we had one player so much better than his team mates over a whole season?"

Every thread where he's brought up it's the same thing - they love him and think he's top quality and deserves to be at a bigger club. I don't see why one would work so hard to discredit the opinions of those who've watched him way more than you and I in the premier league and are saying it in unison seemingly. I understand you wanted Andre (me too), but the club and marco have liked this guy for a while, his current clubs fans unilaterally seem to adore him, so why not air on the side of positive here? He was the best player playing in a crap team I think it's pretty clear he wasn't the reason Burnley got relegated according to all their fans, and being in a poor team will no doubt have affected things like stats. Look forward to seeing how he does in a clearly much better side with a much better manager.

Might he end up being crap here? Maybe, all transfers have risk but there's plenty to be encouraged by here IMO so personally look forward to seeing him in action should he sign....most intruged to see what system Marco is opting for

[General]

I was merely answering your initial question, good players can be relegated and more than once too. Mitrovic went three times in total with two different clubs.

And he has spent longer in the Premier League than he has the Championship too.

I am not going to argue with you, I have learnt that it is pretty pointless most of the time because the goalposts always move, but I thought I would highlight those particular points.

I have no issue with him coming to our club but as usual every transfer is a risk and ultimately we won't know if it will work until he is here. Is Silva wants him i though then at this point, I am happy with that.

That's an interesting response.. didn't expect that from you, particularly re moving the goalposts... For me I don't consider I'm moving the goalposts - the goalposts in this instance are pretty basic, which are - has he got the ability to do well, or not do well for us in the PL and make us better as a result - all the rest is just debating the nuance of what supports the argument for or against him doing so.. that's the space in the goal, not the moving of the goalposts for me.

I take your point re mitro - I'd bring up the fact that Mitro was young and hardly played for Newcastle when they got relegated, whereas Berge was a permanent fixture both times.

[Somerset Fulham]

That's an interesting response.. didn't expect that from you, particularly re moving the goalposts... For me I don't consider I'm moving the goalposts - the goalposts in this instance are pretty basic, which are - has he got the ability to do well, or not do well for us in the PL and make us better as a result - all the rest is just debating the nuance of what supports the argument for or against him doing so.. that's the space in the goal, not the moving of the goalposts for me.

I take your point re mitro - I'd bring up the fact that Mitro was young and hardly played for Newcastle when they got relegated, whereas Berge was a permanent fixture both times.

Ok, thats cool.  We have a difference of opinion here and we are both allowed to have that and also continue to respect the others point of view, which I think we both have done over the years.

I am going to hit the hay now, its late but hopefully we'll get this player in sharpish (if indeed we are about to sign him) and then we can all see if he can cut it or not.  I for one am hoping that he can!

[MickTheBeard]

I think it highly unlikely that we would get Andre he has only just got in brazils side and I would doubt he would qualify for a uk work permit and you wouldn't get it 10 days unless they applied ages ago this transfer dead ages ago.

[btffc]

I think it highly unlikely that we would get Andre he has only just got in brazils side and I would doubt he would qualify for a uk work permit and you wouldn't get it 10 days unless they applied ages ago this transfer dead ages ago.

They changed the criteria for a work permit recently and gave equal weight to the Copa Libertadores as the Champions League. Andre would automatically qualify for one.

[Matt10]

I watch replays of Burnley from last season and I see Berge playing in the same positions as where our 6 plays. Receiving passes from the center-backs, quick passes out wide or breaking lines. I watch games of Andre this season and he does none of that. He hasn't had enough practice this season in doing it. Most matches are low pressure, and even then the Fluminense goal kick routines don't involve passing to the 6. Berge experiences it at the PL level, at PL pressure levels, while Andre has none of it, at no PL pressure. The only time he's experienced that kind of pressure is when they used to invite it using Diniz's system that orchestrates relational system, where players aren't positioned by zones, but rather their familiar clusters to occupy and leave  all parts of the pitch. If we think about what Marco Silva plays, it's more of a positional system than relational. For example, we rarely see Jedi or Castagne/Tete playing their opposite flanks or Rodrigo Muniz being one of the few in the cluster near our own goal.

For me, Berge is a really solid choice because he has proven he not only positions himself in the positions that we put our 6 and 8, but he has done it at the PL level consistently. Andre would be a risk for not only being without PL experience, but he also hasn't experienced any type of pressure in the positions we require them to have in the first place.

In the end, if we sign Berge, I'm ecstatic, if we sign Andre I'm cautiously ecstatic. I think there's a romance to a player like Andre because of how stunning he orchestrated Fluminense build-up last season. It came at a price though. With Berge, it's just someone I've wanted since day 1 and have a number of posts on this forum even on why we should make him a top priority years ago. The fact that he's in the same conversation years later says something to his lasting quality.

[colinwhite]

I agree Berge would be good signing. Not many players out there that are similar to Paulina in playing style and physique, but he is definitely close. A decent player that could be excellent for us .

[junior white]

Re Andre - when we got promoted Marco said we needed a different profile in the position Seri played, then we signed JP. Seri is 1.68m (or 5ft 5in) Andre is 1.76m (or 5ft 7.5inches). JP is 1.9m (or 6ft 2inches) and Berge is 1.95m (or 6ft 4 inches) maybe this is why we are going for the taller players to keep the profile MS wanted in the position

[Bryanthebroom]

I agree Berge would be good signing. Not many players out there that are similar to Paulina in playing style and physique, but he is definitely close. A decent player that could be excellent for us .

He is nothing like Palhinha really. His defensive stats are far more comparable to Lukic, but offensively he shines, comparable to a younger TC.

I've had a look at his playing style on smarterscout.com and Berge is a lot more like Mctominary/Andre than Palhinha or Lukic in his playing style. Lukic is more of an all-rounder where Berge really excels at dribbling and ball retention. He doesn't pass forward or get in the box much (preferring lots of shorter passes), and his ball recoveries are lower than the average player in his position but he is amazing aerially.

[IloveFFC]

https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1825782819974688988

[southwest6]

Berge is a good player and is a monster physically. I was surprised how big he was when I saw him play at the cottage last season.

All in all a great signing 

[hovewhite]

Berge is a good player and is a monster physically. I was surprised how big he was when I saw him play at the cottage last season.

All in all a great signing 

Physically a big unit and scores important goals,as he did at the cottage last season.

[bencher]

I was hoping to find some clarity on how to pronounce his name and it turns out even the player is not sure...
https://youtube.com/shorts/czKeB0GbbLk?si=95gP4vta5RUpAH17

[SG]

Getting piss off with these 4 6 8 10.Midfielders Robson, Keane,Souness,had no numbers they were  just complete Football players.

Agree - no idea what they talking about 👍
You can add to that - double pivot 🤷

[Rambler]

The fact we were all universally excited with ESR and I think 50/50 on Berge says a lot.

Berge just isn't the player to take us to the next level and I think we were all hoping this year for several really exciting quality starting players to push us forward to towards the top 10, even Europe especially with the transfer budget and the lack of financial constraints we have.

This signing just suggests we are happy with lower mid table

[bencher]

The fact we were all universally excited with ESR and I think 50/50 on Berge says a lot.

Berge just isn't the player to take us to the next level and I think we were all hoping this year for several really exciting quality starting players to push us forward to towards the top 10, even Europe especially with the transfer budget and the lack of financial constraints we have.

This signing just suggests we are happy with lower mid table

Perhaps we have all forgotten that not everyone is a secret Fulham fan and some players just aren't excited about joining us. Our more exciting signings tends to be less successful, and players that seemed meh at other clubs have shone at Fulham. I'm ok with us signing Berge, the question is whether we also go for another midfielder, and another attacker.

[Bassey the warrior]

The fact we were all universally excited with ESR and I think 50/50 on Berge says a lot.

Berge just isn't the player to take us to the next level and I think we were all hoping this year for several really exciting quality starting players to push us forward to towards the top 10, even Europe especially with the transfer budget and the lack of financial constraints we have.

This signing just suggests we are happy with lower mid table

Berge is a good player, there's a reason Man Utd bid for him. He also adds height, which Andre wouldn't. My main concern is whether he has the defensive awareness to replace Palhinha as he's mostly played as an 8 in the Premier League. I can't see us starting him alongside Pereira.

[Kingjay81]

Talk of Berge not being a good player or a good signing because he's been in relegated teams is very short sighted if you ask me.

Tete was relegated in his first season with us.
Castagne relegated with Leicester and was arguably one of our best performers last season and is first choice right back for the Belgians.
Robinson relegated with us and was our player of the season last year and constant rumours of him attracting big club interest.
Anguissa relegated with us TWICE and gone on to win an Italian league title and Champions league football.

There's no doubt a load more examples.

And Burnley may well have stayed up if it wasn't for Kompanys ridiculous playing style last year.

I've always rated this fella whenever I've seen him play and think he'll be a very solid signing and much prefer him to MacTominay.

[Bracken White]

Do believe the negativity re Berge is unjustified. The guy has class & with Silva's renowned coaching abilities, he just may surprise the doubters .... if it happens. Besides, always good to have a Norwegian in the side - isn't it!!

[ElRay]

I'm happy with the Berge signing, A player I really like and hoped we would've signed a long time ago.

The only concern is our first bid for him was in Jan 23, but the Lukic deal got done instead. Things could've changed since then, but it indicates to me we see him as a similar option to Lukic, I still hope we go out looking for a profile of player who is more combative, similar profile to Reed.