🌞Summer Silly Season Transfer thread 2026

[C Block]

Diop needs replacing. A back up to Andersen is necessary and preferably a younger better back up than Diop. Andersen is IMO the lynch pin of our defence. 

You must surely be joking, right ?
Arbeloa has brought three in so far and he will consider them all as starters (As do I)
Why would he now sign a centre back that's not as good as Andersen, it just won't happen, the centre back we sign will start.
The business that Arbeloa does this summer will be a huge upgrade on the business that Marco Silva conducted.

[BarryP]

Point is that Diop should have been a starter ahead of Andersen last season. He proved his capability and didn't put a foot wrong but was always dropped unfairly by Silva. Then he had a solid world cup for Morocco. We've sold the wrong centre back. Now he has gone and the club are left with 2 LCBs. Luc DF needs a championship loan and we will have to suffer Andersen again after his suspension this time playing in Arbeloa's high line with his lack of pace.

I get the window is still open but its too late for the first couple of games at least now. This situation should have been sorted.

You're entitled to your opinion and I liked Diop in Marco's system; however, Silva disagreed with you and it didn't take long for Arbeloa to decide Diop was expendable and agree to allow him to be shipped out. It's not ideal that we are short a RCB to start the season but it is what it is and I hope in the long run we get someone Arbeloa finds suitable as a replacement.

[C Block]

Point is that Diop should have been a starter ahead of Andersen last season. He proved his capability and didn't put a foot wrong but was always dropped unfairly by Silva. Then he had a solid world cup for Morocco. We've sold the wrong centre back. Now he has gone and the club are left with 2 LCBs. Luc DF needs a championship loan and we will have to suffer Andersen again after his suspension this time playing in Arbeloa's high line with his lack of pace.

I get the window is still open but its too late for the first couple of games at least now. This situation should have been sorted.

You're entitled to your opinion and I liked Diop in Marco's system; however, Silva disagreed with you and it didn't take long for Arbeloa to decide Diop was expendable and agree to allow him to be shipped out. It's not ideal that we are short a RCB to start the season but it is what it is and I hope in the long run we get someone Arbeloa finds suitable as a replacement.

Diop was about to enter the final year of his contract and we were offered money for him, whereas Andersen is on an horrendously lucrative 5 year contract and is unsellable, nobody would take that contract on,
The contracts given to Andersen and Tete are shameful.

[hongkongfulham]

Point is that Diop should have been a starter ahead of Andersen last season. He proved his capability and didn't put a foot wrong but was always dropped unfairly by Silva. Then he had a solid world cup for Morocco. We've sold the wrong centre back. Now he has gone and the club are left with 2 LCBs. Luc DF needs a championship loan and we will have to suffer Andersen again after his suspension this time playing in Arbeloa's high line with his lack of pace.

I get the window is still open but its too late for the first couple of games at least now. This situation should have been sorted.

You're entitled to your opinion and I liked Diop in Marco's system; however, Silva disagreed with you and it didn't take long for Arbeloa to decide Diop was expendable and agree to allow him to be shipped out. It's not ideal that we are short a RCB to start the season but it is what it is and I hope in the long run we get someone Arbeloa finds suitable as a replacement.

Diop was about to enter the final year of his contract and we were offered money for him, whereas Andersen is on an horrendously lucrative 5 year contract and is unsellable, nobody would take that contract on,
The contracts given to Andersen and Tete are shameful.

Andersen fully agree, he was good for us but the finances around his resigning were way over the top. I understand why, Silvas system required a QB who can play a good diagonal, Joa looked pretty good when we went down but hes probably been our most expensive error of recent times. Tete disagree, the guy never really has a bad game (also has locked down lesgues best for us) but understand his recent injury history is poor.

Diop was clearly unhappy not starting, keeping him would not be happy for anyone, so taking the money whilst it was available was smart. If we waited until a replacement its a big risk the deal would still be on the table.

I would be shocked if another CB doesn't arrive this window

[Arthur]

Diop was about to enter the final year of his contract and we were offered money for him, whereas Andersen is on an horrendously lucrative 5 year contract and is unsellable, nobody would take that contract on,
The contracts given to Andersen and Tete are shameful.

The Club didn't buy Andersen with the intention of trying to turn a profit on him. The Club bought him to back Silva in his plan to establish us in the P.L. A 5-year contract - as opposed to a 3-year contract - even now, has two potential advantages:

Firstly, it spreads the amortisation out over a longer period (which is giving us more headroom to sign other players for the first three years of the contract).

Secondly, were Andersen merely on a 3-year contract, he would be able to leave on a free transfer next summer. If an incoming centre-back ousts him from the starting XI this season, the Club, if need be, can recoup at least some smaller part of his fee if we part ways. (The one circumstance in which the Club would be disadvantaged is if Andersen were no longer part of Arbeloa's plans yet opted to pick up his salary here rather than move elsewhere for the opportunity to play first-team football.)

At the time, a player of Andersen's profile seemingly fitted Silva's requirements and the Club were prepared to support him. He was the replacement for Tim Ream - an experienced centre-back with passing ability superior to that of most others in that position. We signed him with fair reason to believe he would be a successful player for us. (And it's subjective, moreover, as to how much so it has been.) To call his contract 'shameful' seems somewhat thoughtless to me.

[Twig]

Diop was about to enter the final year of his contract and we were offered money for him, whereas Andersen is on an horrendously lucrative 5 year contract and is unsellable, nobody would take that contract on,
The contracts given to Andersen and Tete are shameful.

The Club didn't buy Andersen with the intention of trying to turn a profit on him. The Club bought him to back Silva in his plan to establish us in the P.L. A 5-year contract - as opposed to a 3-year contract - even now, has two potential advantages:

Firstly, it spreads the amortisation out over a longer period (which is giving us more headroom to sign other players for the first three years of the contract).

Secondly, were Andersen merely on a 3-year contract, he would be able to leave on a free transfer next summer. If an incoming centre-back ousts him from the starting XI this season, the Club, if need be, can recoup at least some smaller part of his fee if we part ways. (The one circumstance in which the Club would be disadvantaged is if Andersen were no longer part of Arbeloa's plans yet opted to pick up his salary here rather than move elsewhere for the opportunity to play first-team football.)

At the time, a player of Andersen's profile seemingly fitted Silva's requirements and the Club were prepared to support him. He was the replacement for Tim Ream - an experienced centre-back with passing ability superior to that of most others in that position. We signed him with fair reason to believe he would be a successful player for us. (And it's subjective, moreover, as to how much so it has been.) To call his contract 'shameful' seems somewhat thoughtless to me.

Can you please explain to me how we could be in a position to "part ways"? Andersen has a contract which we can't walk away from so who do you see actually buying him to enable us to recoup part of his fee?

But having said that, I do agree that "shameful" is over the top.

[C Block]

Diop was about to enter the final year of his contract and we were offered money for him, whereas Andersen is on an horrendously lucrative 5 year contract and is unsellable, nobody would take that contract on,
The contracts given to Andersen and Tete are shameful.

The Club didn't buy Andersen with the intention of trying to turn a profit on him. The Club bought him to back Silva in his plan to establish us in the P.L. A 5-year contract - as opposed to a 3-year contract - even now, has two potential advantages:

Firstly, it spreads the amortisation out over a longer period (which is giving us more headroom to sign other players for the first three years of the contract).

Secondly, were Andersen merely on a 3-year contract, he would be able to leave on a free transfer next summer. If an incoming centre-back ousts him from the starting XI this season, the Club, if need be, can recoup at least some smaller part of his fee if we part ways. (The one circumstance in which the Club would be disadvantaged is if Andersen were no longer part of Arbeloa's plans yet opted to pick up his salary here rather than move elsewhere for the opportunity to play first-team football.)

At the time, a player of Andersen's profile seemingly fitted Silva's requirements and the Club were prepared to support him. He was the replacement for Tim Ream - an experienced centre-back with passing ability superior to that of most others in that position. We signed him with fair reason to believe he would be a successful player for us. (And it's subjective, moreover, as to how much so it has been.) To call his contract 'shameful' seems somewhat thoughtless to me.

If we buy a centre back in the next week or so that is better than Andersen (and hopefully that's exactly what we do) then Andersen will sit on the bench getting older and slower whilst continuing to pick up his healthy salary for the rest of his lengthy contract (as is his right)
He won't move elsewhere as you suggested (why would he) as no other Club would match his salary,
We need to hope and pray the recruitment team make a better fist of it with the next arrival
Palace replaced Andersen immediately with the much younger and much cheaper Lacroix, and then sold him to Chelsea for a vast profit, that's how we need to start doing our business.
A 5 year contract to the mostly injured Tete makes me despair, and £60 million spent on Andersen and Smith-Rowe leaves me shaking my head.
Feel free to try and change my mind if you like.

[iansthailand]

We can always be wise after the event. Andersen at the time most of us were happy to get him back, little did we realise that he was slower than before. Tete, a big risk with his prior injury record but when he's on the pitch and fit there ain't many better defensive full backs. In hindsjght and with the form of Castagne maybe a sale to Everton may have been the wisest move. Everton are still on the lookout for a right back so who knows.

[Jim©]

Palace replaced Andersen immediately with the much younger and much cheaper Lacroix, and then sold him to Chelsea for a vast profit, that's how we need to start doing our business.

Well you don't know that they really did this apart from using timings to come to a conclusion. It could be that they'd agreed to sign Lacroix and wanted Andersen gone, not that we wanted Andersen and they had to go to the market to find a replacement.
We always seem to herald the ability of other clubs to bring players in, but take Palace for instance, they'd also signed that summer a centre back Riad from Real Betis for £15m. He's played way less games than Diop ever did.
They signed Canvot there for £23m, only had a run of games at the back end of last season. They signed Chalobah (loan) and Holding there too the season before, again, barely any appearances. That's on top of Guehi who was a nailed on starter and Chris Richards (both cracking signings) from a year or two before.
We'd signed Bassey, Andersen, Cuenca and Diop for a combined £60m , so a decent 4 x CB bunch.

On the basis of "that's how we need to do our business", that's exactly what we're doing now. Bobb, Kevin, Garcia, Palacios, Asare and you can add King, are all going to be worth a few £s if they progress. Look at Godo, bought from Margate for £100k, sold for £7m. Stansfield bought for £1m sold for £15m. This bunch should eclipse those numbers.

We're genuinely not as bad as many think in the transfer market, it was just that Silva wanted experienced players which clearly worked out to establish us in the league, now it's a change of direction to become better at buying players with a future upside.

 

[I Ronic]

With the arrival of AA who favours younger players. Our transfer pattern seems to have altered as well.
It's riskier than Marco's approach but football is always evolving.

[Neutral Zone Ultra]

With the arrival of AA who favours younger players. Our transfer pattern seems to have altered as well.
It's riskier than Marco's approach but football is always evolving.

I think the main benefit to buying young players in this day and age is that it's more financially sustainable - the issue with buying older players generally is that they're on more expensive contracts with little to no resale value. Even if young players flop they're usually able to be resold for some money, even if not the initial outlay.

[Sting of the North]

I think the initial outlay for Andersen and ESR was closer to 50 million (52, from my search). Tete signed a 3-year contract, not 5.

Maybe you can feel a little better knowing that.

[Bronaldinho]

Good website worth tracking here: https://psrwatch.com/

Does highlight how the big 6 stay ahead financially, the game is geared up for them.

But worth tracking over the next few weeks as I know it's of interest here.

[Rambler]

Good website worth tracking here: https://psrwatch.com/

Does highlight how the big 6 stay ahead financially, the game is geared up for them.

But worth tracking over the next few weeks as I know it's of interest here.

If this is correct we really don't have any money to spend. We either need to get rid of some big earners or make some big sales.

[Neutral Zone Ultra]

Good website worth tracking here: https://psrwatch.com/

Does highlight how the big 6 stay ahead financially, the game is geared up for them.

But worth tracking over the next few weeks as I know it's of interest here.

If this is correct we really don't have any money to spend. We either need to get rid of some big earners or make some big sales.

Which makes me feel like Man United may test our resolve with respect to Berge the longer the window goes on...

[Lordedmundo]

Andersen is likely to play a lot of games this season - even if he eventually becomes 2nd choice at RCB.  The likely outcome is that he will stay at the club and see out his contract, but will steadily play less and games over the 3 remaining years.  I hope De Fougerolles becomes our 2nd or even 1st choice RCB next season.

I don't think the club should pay much over £15m for a centre half. Get a younger player who can be sold on for a profit at some point.

[Volz]

Andersen is likely to play a lot of games this season - even if he eventually becomes 2nd choice at RCB.  The likely outcome is that he will stay at the club and see out his contract, but will steadily play less and games over the 3 remaining years.  I hope De Fougerolles becomes our 2nd or even 1st choice RCB next season.

I don't think the club should pay much over £15m for a centre half. Get a younger player who can be sold on for a profit at some point.

Or, he adapts, and strengthens his positioning game to fit new system.
We tend to evaluate players as if their full set of attributes are carved in stone like they are chess pieces and they either fit or don't.
They are human beings with sentience and a will.
If they are happy to take on a new challenge we might just see some individual changes coming with a new way of playing and setting up.

[Deeping_white]

Good website worth tracking here: https://psrwatch.com/

Does highlight how the big 6 stay ahead financially, the game is geared up for them.

But worth tracking over the next few weeks as I know it's of interest here.

If this is correct we really don't have any money to spend. We either need to get rid of some big earners or make some big sales.

It takes the data from the last set of accounts we published & doesn't take into account we've dropped about £350k a week in wages and sold two players

EDIT: the data is a big steaming pile of poo - they've assumed we're paying GG about £120k a week and Charles about £100k a week which is clearly not accurate, so that 6% in the green figure is probably miles away from the truth. Also amortising GG's contract a year short too which will also make the numbers worse. On further review it reckons we're paying a transfer fee for Tete (fully amortised), Sess (free transfer), King (academy), Jedi (fully amortised) so strip that nonsense out and the view is even better. Also suggests we're paying JKA £70k a week so it looks like a kids summer project more and more

[FFC007]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DcOJnUVjRWr/

Araujo to Burton on a permanent....

[SimonDaviesEnjoyer]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DcOJnUVjRWr/

Araujo to Burton on a permanent....

Are we saying his Fulham career has... gone for a Burton?