🌞Summer Silly Season Transfer thread 2026

[btffc]

From Rutzler just now. Not sure how accurate this is but he's usually a good source and I hope it's Pitarch if this is true.

Fulham are looking at their midfield after Garcia/Palacios arrivals and I  expect they will only do one of Shea Charles or Thiago Pitarch. Mourinho keen to keep Pitarch, Charles issue has been fee but talks, as per reports, have progressed.

Fwiw
Consensus amongst the "ITK" lot is Rutzler is likely a bit off here.

And makes logical sense cos Shea Charles and Pitarch are completely different profiles so whilst historically top tier I'm not sure if Peter is as on the ball regarding Fulham as he used to be.guess well have to see what transpires

Isn't Rutzler at the Athletic, so presumably has fingers in similar pies to David Ornstein (considered the gold standard when it comes to transfer news)? Not necessarily saying that he's 100% right, but I'd be surprised if his employers would let him report dodgy information given it's a major part of their product and reputation?

He moved to The Times a couple years ago.

[iansthailand]

If we sell Sasa it will cut down the yellow cards by 50%.

[bill taylors apprentice]

Whats the future of the old guard of TC, Reed, Lukic & Berg?

TC is part of the fabric and on around £35,000 a week he's well worth his place in the squad for this season and maybe next.

I don't dislike Lukic, in fact he stood out in a mediocre midfield last season but a fee anywhere between £5 to 10 million plus saving his £63,000 PW salary makes sense once new recruits have arrived.

As for Reed, it seems he is well thought of for his presence around the training ground but he's unlikely to play anymore than he did last season and his £50.000 PW (I believe) can be better spent.

Berg has been decent but some say not quite lived up to expectations but he's quicker and covers more ground than his reputation suggests.
He provides solid ball winning and passing but it depends on what the new HC wants?
I can see him being sold (ManU interested) and with years left on his contract he alone would fetch a decent fee, (£35 million?) if so does one of Lukic/Reed stay?

[SimonDaviesEnjoyer]

If I were AA I'd be playing Berge, selling Lukic and Reed.

There's a hell of a player in there with Berge and I think, same as Muniz, we might be seeing a different side of him this year.

If United want him, absolutely rip them off. I'm talking 70m+.

[JimmyConway]

If I were AA I'd be playing Berge, selling Lukic and Reed.

There's a hell of a player in there with Berge and I think, same as Muniz, we might be seeing a different side of him this year.

If United want him, absolutely rip them off. I'm talking 70m+.

£70m might be a tad ambitious but perhaps the reason why central defensive midfielders have shot up in price recently? The good ones are there to protect how poor some of these teams defences are.

[SimonDaviesEnjoyer]

If I were AA I'd be playing Berge, selling Lukic and Reed.

There's a hell of a player in there with Berge and I think, same as Muniz, we might be seeing a different side of him this year.

If United want him, absolutely rip them off. I'm talking 70m+.

£70m might be a tad ambitious but perhaps the reason why central defensive midfielders have shot up in price recently? The good ones are there to protect how poor some of these teams defences are.

It's intended to be an outrageous fee because I don't want to sell, and we're under no pressure to do so!

[itombomb]

Clear our transfer strategy is fundamentally different now Marco has gone. Much higher risk, but also potential for much higher reward - both in terms of performance but also generating increased revenue for the club.

Penny for Silva's thoughts, seeing us active early and putting big money into transfers. Perhaps telling that it's different now he's not here and his targets proved harder to get for the last few years

The targets thing is probably accurate. If you're getting an older player (Silva's preference) who is unlikely to have any sell on value and likely to be on much higher wages, there is more business need to penny pinch at the point of purchase.

I do think the other aspect here is selling to buy though. I reckon Silva wouldn't sanction player sales until replacements were in (or virtually guaranteed), which basically created a game of chicken between him and Khan/AliMac and therefore all the business got done at the end of the window. I don't see any way Diop would have been let go last Summer (just like Wilson and Castagne stayed).

[BestOfBrede]

Fulham fail with bid for Rennes centre-back Ait Boudlal
Latest from Sky Sports News reporter James Cole:
Fulham have failed with a bid for Rennes centre-back Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal.
The £20m offer did not satisfy the demands of the French club, who highly rate the 20-year-old Morocco defender.
Fulham are currently unlikely to go back in for Ait Boudlal at those figures, Sky Sports News understands.

The above on Sky

[jayffc]

From Rutzler just now. Not sure how accurate this is but he's usually a good source and I hope it's Pitarch if this is true.

Fulham are looking at their midfield after Garcia/Palacios arrivals and I  expect they will only do one of Shea Charles or Thiago Pitarch. Mourinho keen to keep Pitarch, Charles issue has been fee but talks, as per reports, have progressed.

Fwiw
Consensus amongst the "ITK" lot is Rutzler is likely a bit off here.

And makes logical sense cos Shea Charles and Pitarch are completely different profiles so whilst historically top tier I'm not sure if Peter is as on the ball regarding Fulham as he used to be.guess well have to see what transpires

Isn't Rutzler at the Athletic, so presumably has fingers in similar pies to David Ornstein (considered the gold standard when it comes to transfer news)? Not necessarily saying that he's 100% right, but I'd be surprised if his employers would let him report dodgy information given it's a major part of their product and reputation?

Still a good journalist but as someone mentioned moved to Times and was tasked with focusing more on that that lot down the road now I gather.

I'm sure he's still got some contacts but this info feels like someone not quite on the ball with the latest given Pitarch and Charles are very different profiles. As far as FFN etc had understood it it wasn't one or the other. A few conflicting reports about though so we'll have to see how it plays out.

Interesting to see Nixon suggest Jordan James was more seen as the Lukic replacement should he leave, and as he understood it Charles had been tracked and targeted regardless for a while. Would be suprised to see us for for all 3 (Charles, Pitarch, JJ) - but also doesn't seem like we'll go for only 1 of the 3.

Latest reports apparently remain the same - Shea charles fee agreed with club, couple minor details regarding sell on percentage to tie up, but personal terms close but not full agreed...This alleged agent that put leeds off with demands hopefully has learnt to be more reasonable. Agent fees do cost towards SCR I gather so will need to be considered.

[JimmyConway]

If I were AA I'd be playing Berge, selling Lukic and Reed.

There's a hell of a player in there with Berge and I think, same as Muniz, we might be seeing a different side of him this year.

If United want him, absolutely rip them off. I'm talking 70m+.

£70m might be a tad ambitious but perhaps the reason why central defensive midfielders have shot up in price recently? The good ones are there to protect how poor some of these teams defences are.

It's intended to be an outrageous fee because I don't want to sell, and we're under no pressure to do so!

I fully understand as you mentioned about ripping a team off. My point was more about how this position as risen to being of great importance nowadays might be to disguise how poor defending has become in general.

[jayffc]

Fulham fail with bid for Rennes centre-back Ait Boudlal
Latest from Sky Sports News reporter James Cole:
Fulham have failed with a bid for Rennes centre-back Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal.
The £20m offer did not satisfy the demands of the French club, who highly rate the 20-year-old Morocco defender.
Fulham are currently unlikely to go back in for Ait Boudlal at those figures, Sky Sports News understands.

The above on Sky

Yeh same as per Ornstein so it's legit info. Question is wether we manage or are willing to meet somewhere more reasonable on fee. Allegedly they've now said they want €40m (£34m) ...so you'd think it's probably a matter of wether we're willing to bid up to £10m more to meet around £30m. He does look very talented to be fair, but it's alot of money without knowing if he's quite ready to play regularly in the premier league at only 20. We were willing to hit that with add ons for Nwaiwu, wether we are for someone 2 years younger and less physically developed we'll have to see.

Apparently they do need to make some sales for financial reasons - and they just signed Cresswell at RCB, so I think there's a chance here but we'll see where club drawn line on valuation. Expect Rennes to posture and play hardball.

Player apparently wants the move though according to mercato https://ift.tt/NqKSbDe

[Deeping_white]

https://x.com/santi_j_fm/status/2085308842292707375?s=46&t=iVz7dmle6zKoKlpU0KS3Cg

🚨🔴⚫️🇲🇦 #Ligue1 |

👀 Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal wants to join Fulham but...

❌ Despite the constraints related to FFP, Stade Rennais has no intention of selling the Moroccan defender this summer.

💰 Only an exceptional offer could change the Breton club's position.

[jayffc]

Possibly unavailable or not seen for any manner of reasons, but no sight of Lukic in the todays training video 👀
Zepa and Nwoko both present, but no Ali Wahid or Amissah.

[junior white]

According to g to some on X, Pitarch is in talks with us. Take that as you will, X is full of well gossip lol

[Deeping_white]

According to g to some on X, Pitarch is in talks with us. Take that as you will, X is full of well gossip lol

FFN & Jack Kelly alluded a few days ago that talks were quite advanced so I think this is one that will get done sooner rather than later, especially since no Lukic pictured in training & TC injured would infer we're going affter 2 CM's in Charles & Pitarch

[Hatch007]

As I'm sure I read in another thread, Pitarch could be left until closer to the transfer window closing (as he's injured) to save money on a
month's wages.

[cmg]

As I'm sure I read in another thread, Pitarch could be left until closer to the transfer window closing (as he's injured) to save money on a
month's wages.

If we wait until closer to the window shutting in order to save a few bob on wages, we run the risk of losing him to some less tightarsed outfit. And would deserve to do so.

[Deeping_white]

As I'm sure I read in another thread, Pitarch could be left until closer to the transfer window closing (as he's injured) to save money on a
month's wages.

If we signed him by early next week we're talking max £100k savings compared to waiting a few weeks to deadline day, and that's peanuts all things considered when he will likely be the long term TC replacement

[jayffc]

As I'm sure I read in another thread, Pitarch could be left until closer to the transfer window closing (as he's injured) to save money on a
month's wages.

If we wait until closer to the window shutting in order to save a few bob on wages, we run the risk of losing him to some less tightarsed outfit. And would deserve to do so.

I doubt it in this case tbh. Arbeloa has a close relationship with the player and the club. I doubt highly we are the only people who would have registered an interest in Pitarch already and I'm sure Real are aware of our intention with him. Reports are the player reportedly wants the move here, and the club clearly trust AA to develop talent here given the other moves.

I would imagine Pitarch is close personally to the 2 new signings having grown up with them... Some grumblings he actually might have checked out the place already, but take that as you will as it's yet unverified.

Jack has been very coy in his hints towards Pitarch for a week now. I think wether it's sooner or later, if he moves we have a very high chance of it being us. I can see the argument for not confirming any such signing till he's coming back from the injury. Would be a bit of a waste of what would presumably be around £200k (I know people think this is peanuts but it all does add up, so still makes sense to not spend it if you don't need to - the player can't train while injured, so if the club deems it not worth rushing through I can still see the reasoning of not waste money uneccesarily). It's also not like Pitarch is unfamiliar with the manager and his tactics also so that helps

Could of course backfire, but the insituation is it's looking good on this deal for us if/whenever it does happen.

[JimOG]

https://x.com/santi_j_fm/status/2085308842292707375?s=46&t=iVz7dmle6zKoKlpU0KS3Cg

🚨🔴⚫️🇲🇦 #Ligue1 |

👀 Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal wants to join Fulham but...

❌ Despite the constraints related to FFP, Stade Rennais has no intention of selling the Moroccan defender this summer.

💰 Only an exceptional offer could change the Breton club's position.

Would rather we bought Nwaiwu if that deal can be revived. He looks might impressive and 'oven ready'