🌞Summer Silly Season Transfer thread 2026

[jayffc]

I'd be interested to know the scouting history for Nwaiwu considering he was available 6 months ago for about £25m less than we're now going to pay for him

Agree there, and how much better his stats, if there were much available, were in Austria compared to his short time in Turkey.

To be honest I wonder how much we deep dive leagues outside the top 20 in the world at all given the level is so poor generally. I imagine alot of premier league clubs probably wait till such players hit at least a slightly better league to see how they fair there. Someone might have killer stats and scout reports playing in a league outside of that but perhaps hard to gauge how they'll step up as the gap from Turkey to prem is big enough let alone Austria to Prem - especially in teams outside of the top 1-2. For every gem ya probably get a ton of dross.

For what it's worth there have been very few noteable moves of players direct from Austrian league to premier leagie - and almost all of them came from RB Salzburg (2 actually standout ones tbh - Takumi Minamino and Mane)

[AJW48361]

So it seems Nwaiwu is on his way in but knowing how our club does business that could mean another 10 days at least before he's on the training pitch!

As for any other new recruits, (and we do need several) do you think we will be surprised by 2 or 3 incoming's out of the blue  and soon or will it be the usual late late arrivals?

Hopefully with C Bass & Alex he will settle in smoothly.

[Dammy]

I'd be interested to know the scouting history for Nwaiwu considering he was available 6 months ago for about £25m less than we're now going to pay for him

Agree there, and how much better his stats, if there were much available, were in Austria compared to his short time in Turkey.

To be honest I wonder how much we deep dive leagues outside the top 20 in the world at all given the level is so poor generally. I imagine alot of premier league clubs probably wait till such players hit at least a slightly better league to see how they fair there. Someone might have killer stats and scout reports playing in a league outside of that but perhaps hard to gauge how they'll step up as the gap from Turkey to prem is big enough let alone Austria to Prem. For every gem ya probably get a ton of dross.

For what it's worth there have been very few noteable moves of players direct from Austrian league to premier leagie - and almost all of them came from RB Salzburg (2 actually standout ones tbh - Takumi Minamino and Mane)

There was a lot to interest in Nwaiwu in January notably from PSG, Marseille, Lille, Lens and Bayer Leverkusen but I guess they hesitated to take the plunge because he was playing in Austria which is ranked 21 in Europe by UEFA.
Trabzonspor took the chance on him and he moved to the Turkish league which is ranked 9 in Europe, and excelled. So I agree with you that teams that had him on their radar waited to see how he would fare in a higher level league. Sometimes it's good to take a risk as the cost of not taking that risk is 30 million euros instead of 5.5 million euros

[AJW48361]

Obviously Issa not included in this Question.Is there a player at the club at present that you wouldn't be surprised left the club before September 1st? (Permanently)
 

[FFC1987]

Obviously Issa not included in this Question.Is there a player at the club at present that you wouldn't be surprised left the club before September 1st? (Permanently)
 

If the right offer came.....Muniz. Berge as well perhaps. Castagne an obvious one as well.

[Bronaldinho]

Obviously Issa not included in this Question.Is there a player at the club at present that you wouldn't be surprised left the club before September 1st? (Permanently)
 

If the right offer came.....Muniz. Berge as well perhaps. Castagne an obvious one as well.

Would probably agree with the first two names if a 40m+ offer came in. Probably those are the only big sellers outside of C Bass, and we can't afford to lose him.

[demeant0r]

With all the players we're rumoured to be buying and selling, I'm getting the feeling it will take weeks or even months for the team to gel. Let's hope AA is up to the task!

[jayffc]

I'd be interested to know the scouting history for Nwaiwu considering he was available 6 months ago for about £25m less than we're now going to pay for him

Agree there, and how much better his stats, if there were much available, were in Austria compared to his short time in Turkey.

To be honest I wonder how much we deep dive leagues outside the top 20 in the world at all given the level is so poor generally. I imagine alot of premier league clubs probably wait till such players hit at least a slightly better league to see how they fair there. Someone might have killer stats and scout reports playing in a league outside of that but perhaps hard to gauge how they'll step up as the gap from Turkey to prem is big enough let alone Austria to Prem. For every gem ya probably get a ton of dross.

For what it's worth there have been very few noteable moves of players direct from Austrian league to premier leagie - and almost all of them came from RB Salzburg (2 actually standout ones tbh - Takumi Minamino and Mane)

There was a lot to interest in Nwaiwu in January notably from PSG, Marseille, Lille, Lens and Bayer Leverkusen but I guess they hesitated to take the plunge because he was playing in Austria which is ranked 21 in Europe by UEFA.
Trabzonspor took the chance on him and he moved to the Turkish league which is ranked 9 in Europe, and excelled. So I agree with you that teams that had him on their radar waited to see how he would fare in a higher level league. Sometimes it's good to take a risk as the cost of not taking that risk is 30 million euros instead of 5.5 million euros

Seems the Germans and Italians are more likely to take a risk on Austrian league from what I can assertain...but again it's almost always players from RB Salzburg than any other team - an RB Salburg pipeline rather than an Austrian league one.... I guess cos thats mostly where the good players can pop up on the their radar and have seen how they perform in European games.

Thing is, even if not huge, taking the risk is still a fee, squad place, wage that could go elsewhere... and playing them in games where, at our level, stakes are usually high. A balance to ponder for sure, but the fact very few players have ever been signed from Austria outside of mostly 1 club, says consensus is most clubs don't consider it worthwhile for whatever reason.

[jayffc]

Obviously Issa not included in this Question.Is there a player at the club at present that you wouldn't be surprised left the club before September 1st? (Permanently)
 

Castagne I think is likely. Given his will to move on before and the links to Norton Cuffey and multiple other RBs

Then:
Berge
and Outside bet Muniz - only because they are the 2 who've been linked with interest. (though I personally would rather not sell them unless a ridiculous offer)

[JimmyConway]

Obviously Issa not included in this Question.Is there a player at the club at present that you wouldn't be surprised left the club before September 1st? (Permanently)
 

If the right offer came.....Muniz. Berge as well perhaps. Castagne an obvious one as well.

Yes I can see that with those three though if Muniz goes that means we are looking at bringing two centre forwards in which is worrying and risky. Robinson possibly as left backs seem to be the in thing and talk of Villa & Man U looking to strengthen in that area plus both CL? Slight outsider but not sure I would be surprised if ESR left purely based on whether he can adapt to rumoured press style of manager as don't think it would suit him personally. Then again if double sessions are taking place and they can get an extra yard into his pace then we could see a much improved player as technically he is very good.

[KentFulham]

Obviously Issa not included in this Question.Is there a player at the club at present that you wouldn't be surprised left the club before September 1st? (Permanently)
 

Castagne I think is likely. Given his will to move on before and the links to Norton Cuffey and multiple other RBs

Then:
Berge
and Outside bet Muniz - only because they are the 2 who've been linked with interest. (though I personally would rather not sell them unless a ridiculous offer)

But whats a ridiculous offer for Muniz, I would say £10m - £15m is tops given his performance, I would bit someones hand off for that

[FFC1987]

Obviously Issa not included in this Question.Is there a player at the club at present that you wouldn't be surprised left the club before September 1st? (Permanently)
 

Castagne I think is likely. Given his will to move on before and the links to Norton Cuffey and multiple other RBs

Then:
Berge
and Outside bet Muniz - only because they are the 2 who've been linked with interest. (though I personally would rather not sell them unless a ridiculous offer)

But whats a ridiculous offer for Muniz, I would say £10m - £15m is tops given his performance, I would bit someones hand off for that

I'm just glad you have no influence over our transfer business with a take like that 

[jayffc]

Obviously Issa not included in this Question.Is there a player at the club at present that you wouldn't be surprised left the club before September 1st? (Permanently)
 

Castagne I think is likely. Given his will to move on before and the links to Norton Cuffey and multiple other RBs

Then:
Berge
and Outside bet Muniz - only because they are the 2 who've been linked with interest. (though I personally would rather not sell them unless a ridiculous offer)

But whats a ridiculous offer for Muniz, I would say £10m - £15m is tops given his performance, I would bit someones hand off for that

No a chance at that price. I think we'd be foolish to let him walk for that. Might as well keep him rather than replace our entire starting strike force in 1 window.

I get you don't rate him...but he was coming back from a serious surgery last year and I think non athletes have a propensity to underestimate that journey back to fitness and confidence in a contact sport, especially at elite level. Same goes for Robinson.

We'd be selling at the worst time imo and I'd much rather see how he gets on under Arbeloa than rush him out the door cos when he's on form and in confidence he clearly has talent. 25 years old so with any luck approaching his prime years. Knows the squad so already some cohesion.

He has a contract until 2030. For me I probably wouldn't sell for less than £25m, good strikers are generally far from cheap and great ones are not easy to come by, so signing 2 (3 if you count JKA) in 1 window isn't ideal.

I'd see how he gets on this season and make a call from there. We should be aiming to bring in a starting level striker to compete with him anyway.

[@jolslover]

Obviously Issa not included in this Question.Is there a player at the club at present that you wouldn't be surprised left the club before September 1st? (Permanently)
 

I think Reed will go (not Prem level), I think Castagne will go (We've been linked with a load of RBs) and one outside of the box shout I have is Lukic. I think we can definitely upgrade at CM and I wouldn't be surprised if Arbeloa wants a more technical CM.

[Porthogs FC]

For me it's Anderson. Big wages, bigly slow, likely still attract a reasonable fee. Bring Luc through now. More likelihood that Cuenca would be heavily used as third CB. Free up funds.

Reed for obvious reasons, although he can run like the energizer bunny.

Leno is last on my list. Huge wages. Seems like he's on a downward trajectory.

[FFC007]

Arbeloa needs a good 3-4 weeks with the fully assembled squad.

At the moment the squad is paper thin in areas.

[Jim©]

For me it'd be (wanting not expecting)
Leno- underperformed for too long (whilst on a reputed £130k a week)
Tete- love the guy but he can't last a season. Get a good RB in and Castagne is a very good back up
Reed- Just doesn't possess the week in week out quality to challenge higher up the table
Andersen- only if we get at least one good CB in. Not sure after watching De Fougerol at the world cup that it's him

[jayffc]

For me it'd be (wanting not expecting)
Leno- underperformed for too long (whilst on a reputed £130k a week)
Tete- love the guy but he can't last a season. Get a good RB in and Castagne is a very good back up
Reed- Just doesn't possess the week in week out quality to challenge higher up the table
Andersen- only if we get at least one good CB in. Not sure after watching De Fougerol at the world cup that it's him

I'd keep Tete and lose Castagne. I know he has some fitness issues but Tete is one of the best defensive RB's in the league when available and on same wages as Timmy. Replace Castagne with a younger option like Norton Cuffy - pace and power.

Reed if we can get some cash in for. He's such a professional I can imagine he'll be going all out in training to stay now AA is here - hope it doesnt blind him to his pitfalls really, agree it's probably time for him to depart with a couple options coming in.

[JimmyConway]

For me it'd be (wanting not expecting)
Leno- underperformed for too long (whilst on a reputed £130k a week)
Tete- love the guy but he can't last a season. Get a good RB in and Castagne is a very good back up
Reed- Just doesn't possess the week in week out quality to challenge higher up the table
Andersen- only if we get at least one good CB in. Not sure after watching De Fougerol at the world cup that it's him

Lot to agree with there. Certainly would like to see another goalie come in to keep him on his toes as not sure Lecomte gives him stiff enough competition. Have thought for a while a touch of complacency had crept in. Andersen I think with a good summer break now we might see a better version than last season.

[Thailand Mick]

Obviously Issa not included in this Question.Is there a player at the club at present that you wouldn't be surprised left the club before September 1st? (Permanently)
 

Castagne I think is likely. Given his will to move on before and the links to Norton Cuffey and multiple other RBs

Then:
Berge
and Outside bet Muniz - only because they are the 2 who've been linked with interest. (though I personally would rather not sell them unless a ridiculous offer)

But whats a ridiculous offer for Muniz, I would say £10m - £15m is tops given his performance, I would bit someones hand off for that

we bought him for 8m and there's a 25% Sell on.