Summer 2024 Transfer Window - hopes, speculation, rumours etc.

[eamonn]

With the strain on spending for clubs whose owners have the cash but can't get past PSR/FFP, I guess top-quality out of contract players are a silver bullet of sorts.
 
It's not hard to see agents for players like Hermoso naming their signing-on fees to the likes
of us and Newcastle, ratcheting them up much higher than they would previously have got.

We've dipped in those waters with Kamara and Tielemans over the last couple of years.
The one-off (non-salary) figures we paid to Kamara and Youri were only ever speculated upon a little, I think I saw mentions of £8m-ish in both cases.

I wonder will we see ourselves being quoted double or more now, to the extent that these high-end Bosman players are being signed for effectively a not insubstantial transfer fee.
Obviously it's preferable than spending the £50m etc. it would take if they were still under contract with another club. But it's not/never free, like I see many of us boast about when we add-up how much our midfield cost.
And I wonder does it cause any disquiet amongst new teammates when they see what their new colleague has got after letting his previous contract run out.

[PaulWinch again]

There’s no way Archer comes back and stays, he’ll be sold straight on. He’d be creating a 20m FFP hole.

I agree, but realistically who’s buying him for what we need to sell him for?

[kippaxvilla2]

Probably one of the promoted clubs.

[brontebilly]

If we don't sell anyone we don't particularly want to in the summer, I don't really see us doing too much.

GK - seem pretty set with Gauci coming in.  Olsen might go and we might bring a more experienced no. 2 in, but that won't be a big outlay.

RB - is probably one of the main priorities that needs addressing, but I can see Konsa being used there regularly next season.  Cash would be fine as back up in that case, but if Konsa isn't going to play there then we will need a quality addition.

CBs - Konsa, Carlos, Torres and Mings are a good quartet and Chambers is fine as 5th choice back up if he wants to remain as that.  Lenglet has done a decent enough job on loan, but don't think we should be looking to make it permanent. 

LB - Moreno is out of sorts at the moment, but the Digne /Moreno rotation has worked fine.  Might have to look at moving Digne on if his wages are deemed too high and he would have to be replaced.

CM - think we need to add to this area.  We basically need a more athletic and dynamic version of Dendoncker who can fill in for the injured Kamara at the start of next season and can be used in games to give us a bit of energy and physicality when the game demands it.  Don't think McGinn or Tielemans are really suited to the role.

OM - called them Outside Midfielders - basically McGinn and Ramsey.  Given Bailey's return this season, we haven't always played with one on the right, but we've missed Ramsey on the left when he hasn't played.  Tielemans, McGinn, Zaniolo and Rogers have all struggled to get to grips with the position in his absence and we haven't been quite the same side.  Might be worth looking at options.

RW - Bailey, Diaby and presumably Rogers can play there if we go with that formation.

AM - where to start?  Diaby, Rogers, Tielemans, McGinn and the returning Buendia can all play there.  Don't think any additions required.

ST - Watkins to continue as first choice.  Duran has looked a handful in recent appearances so hopefully he can continue to improve and save us some money.  I suppose a back up striker with more of a track record would be preferable, but I'm not sure how likely that would be. 

So all in all, I can't see a big spend in the summer.  Potentially a RB and then some better cover in CM and the 'Ramsey' role.

I think Carlos will be moved on too. Budget wise it looks like things will be very tight unfortunately to improve the squad. Ndidi at Leicester seems to be out of contract in the summer and might be an option at CM.

[Dogtanian]

I'm not sure about the promoted clubs, because it hasn't worked out at Sheffield, so that might put some off. Admittedly, most clubs will aim to be better than Sheffield United when they come up!

[OCD]

Bit of an exaggeration to say that Kesler-Hayden, Iroegbunam and Kellyman have Premier League experience. KKH has about 5 minutes of experience and the experience of the other 2 wouldn't add up to a full game yet either.

For Mings, read Diego Carlos. He should be generally ok but might have a number of small niggles in his first season back.

I think the bigger question is Kamara. I think his return has been put at November-time but we've seen from our long-term injured players that them returning to training is a long way off them being back to their peak levels. With Mings and Buendia, Emery wrote their seasons off completely and you can see Mings has a lot of muscle atrophy in his legs. Based off their cases, and I appreciate injuries affect individuals differently, Emery may well write Kamara off until February/March. Dendoncker is surplus to requirements and Iroegbunam isn't ready to me made an integral player. That makes signing a Defensive Midfielder a priority.

[Mister E]

Bit of an exaggeration to say that Kesler-Hayden, Iroegbunam and Kellyman have Premier League experience. KKH has about 5 minutes of experience and the experience of the other 2 wouldn't add up to a full game yet either.

It was a slightly tongue-in-cheek comment, to be fair.

[tomd2103]

If we don't sell anyone we don't particularly want to in the summer, I don't really see us doing too much.

GK - seem pretty set with Gauci coming in.  Olsen might go and we might bring a more experienced no. 2 in, but that won't be a big outlay.

RB - is probably one of the main priorities that needs addressing, but I can see Konsa being used there regularly next season.  Cash would be fine as back up in that case, but if Konsa isn't going to play there then we will need a quality addition.

CBs - Konsa, Carlos, Torres and Mings are a good quartet and Chambers is fine as 5th choice back up if he wants to remain as that.  Lenglet has done a decent enough job on loan, but don't think we should be looking to make it permanent. 

LB - Moreno is out of sorts at the moment, but the Digne /Moreno rotation has worked fine.  Might have to look at moving Digne on if his wages are deemed too high and he would have to be replaced.

CM - think we need to add to this area.  We basically need a more athletic and dynamic version of Dendoncker who can fill in for the injured Kamara at the start of next season and can be used in games to give us a bit of energy and physicality when the game demands it.  Don't think McGinn or Tielemans are really suited to the role.

OM - called them Outside Midfielders - basically McGinn and Ramsey.  Given Bailey's return this season, we haven't always played with one on the right, but we've missed Ramsey on the left when he hasn't played.  Tielemans, McGinn, Zaniolo and Rogers have all struggled to get to grips with the position in his absence and we haven't been quite the same side.  Might be worth looking at options.

RW - Bailey, Diaby and presumably Rogers can play there if we go with that formation.

AM - where to start?  Diaby, Rogers, Tielemans, McGinn and the returning Buendia can all play there.  Don't think any additions required.

ST - Watkins to continue as first choice.  Duran has looked a handful in recent appearances so hopefully he can continue to improve and save us some money.  I suppose a back up striker with more of a track record would be preferable, but I'm not sure how likely that would be. 

So all in all, I can't see a big spend in the summer.  Potentially a RB and then some better cover in CM and the 'Ramsey' role.

I think Carlos will be moved on too. Budget wise it looks like things will be very tight unfortunately to improve the squad. Ndidi at Leicester seems to be out of contract in the summer and might be an option at CM.

Think Carlos's future at club could depend on whether they shift Konsa to RB or not.  If they do move him, Carlos might stay given we will then need a CB.  If Konsa stays at CB, then I agree that Carlos could move on.

[Matt C]

I expect we’ll do much as we did last summer and strengthen through the core of the team with 2-3 players, we might just need to get a bit creative on how we do it.

The outgoings are such a question mark and whether we’ll get sufficient interest in the players we want to sell rather than having to consider those we don’t.

[Sexual Ealing]

If Carlos goes anywhere I'd imagine we'll be paying a good chunk of his wages.

[PaulWinch again]

Probably one of the promoted clubs.

But how much are we going to want? He’s hardly pulled up trees.

[Dave]

If Carlos goes anywhere I'd imagine we'll be paying a good chunk of his wages.

A lot will depend on how the second Saudi summer goes. If they are doing the same as last year and still chucking big money at "name" players, I can easily see DC being someone they'd be keen on, similar to Digne. And while I expect we'd prefer to keep both, I imagine the nerdy money stuff would look better with both being replaced.

If the Saudis aren't chucking silly money around this summer then I expect our options for incomings / outgoings will be a lot more limited as it's hard to see any other club / league giving us / them the sort of money that makes it worth our while moving them on.

[Gareth]

If Carlos goes anywhere I'd imagine we'll be paying a good chunk of his wages.

I wouldn’t say so, he’s made a good few appearances in the PL this season and looked decent mostly…plenty of teams will have an interest…could see him at a Palace / Fulham next season for 5-10m which should cover his FFP/PSR book value & easily match his wages

[Sexual Ealing]

If Carlos goes anywhere I'd imagine we'll be paying a good chunk of his wages.

A lot will depend on how the second Saudi summer goes. If they are doing the same as last year and still chucking big money at "name" players, I can easily see DC being someone they'd be keen on, similar to Digne. And while I expect we'd prefer to keep both, I imagine the nerdy money stuff would look better with both being replaced.

If the Saudis aren't chucking silly money around this summer then I expect our options for incomings / outgoings will be a lot more limited as it's hard to see any other club / league giving us / them the sort of money that makes it worth our while moving them on.

I suspect that most of the Saudi money will be funneled to Newcastle and Chelsea.

[Dave]

Yeah, that's still a conspiracy theory that I'm not willing to sign up to just yet.