Summer 2025 Transfer Window - hopes, speculation, rumours etc.

[DB]

Malen and Onana on £140k, Maatsen on £100k Guessand straight in apparently on £90k. These are ridiculous numbers.

Roughly £24m on wages each year and transfer fee's of £130m. Those players alone will cost the club a quarter of a billion over 5 years. Monchi can't count.

And you know these wage figures, how?

[kippaxvilla2]

Yep, I'd be amazed if we got Europe this season.

If the January wages splurge is the thing the thing that tipped us over the edge I'm stunned it was sanctioned to be honest.

Most people on here were shitting themselves about us not getting deals done in January as we were on the cusp of something big.  Then it happened and we shit the bed albeit by one point.  Damned if you do.

[Dave]

Malen and Onana on £140k, Maatsen on £100k Guessand straight in apparently on £90k. These are ridiculous numbers.

Roughly £24m on wages each year and transfer fee's of £130m. Those players alone will cost the club a quarter of a billion over 5 years. Monchi can't count.

And you know these wage figures, how?

They're the numbers that various internet sites like Transfermarkt and Capology give.

So they're a mix of logic and guesswork (i.e we know that was Malen's wage at Dortmund, so how likely is it that he moves to us for a big cut in wages?).

However whether those specific figures are accurate or not, we do know that we are paying much higher wages than several of the teams around us, as we know the total amount that we, and they are paying.

So if we're not paying those figures to those particular players, we're paying them to someone else in the squad.

[Olneythelonely]

Chelsea getting £42m for Nkunku is quite a win isn’t it?

[paul_e]

Possibly, but that suggests we are in this holding pattern for 3 years?

No I don't think so. It would be meeting the requirements for year 3 this year and then they go away so long as we stay within SCR, that's how it reads to me at least.

[aev]

Possibly, but that suggests we are in this holding pattern for 3 years?

No I don't think so. It would be meeting the requirements for year 3 this year and then they go away so long as we stay within SCR, that's how it reads to me at least.

If that is indeed our strategy/approach, it is an interesting one, looking to take our medicine early and go again next season (in terms of spending).

[Des Little]

Not sure how true, but I saw something yesterday that said that when we played United in 2021/22, our back four was Cash-Mings-Konsa-Digne, as it is today.  I find this incredible, given the turnover of players since then.

[Mister E]

Yep, I'd be amazed if we got Europe this season.
If the January wages splurge is the thing the thing that tipped us over the edge I'm stunned it was sanctioned to be honest.

Most people on here were shitting themselves about us not getting deals done in January as we were on the cusp of something big.  Then it happened and we shit the bed albeit by one point.  Damned if you do.

January was done in order to maximise earnings from the ECL and in order to make the ECL this season. Part 1 was accomplished, part 2 died at Old Triffid, courtesy of Martinez and the idiot-ref.

[Dave]

Not sure how true, but I saw something yesterday that said that when we played United in 2021/22, our back four was Cash-Mings-Konsa-Digne, as it is today.  I find this incredible, given the turnover of players since then.

It is, with Emi in goal too. Emery's first game. Watkins was the only other current first-team player who started with McGinn and Kamara coming off the bench.

[paul_e]

Possibly, but that suggests we are in this holding pattern for 3 years?

No I don't think so. It would be meeting the requirements for year 3 this year and then they go away so long as we stay within SCR, that's how it reads to me at least.

If that is indeed our strategy/approach, it is an interesting one, looking to take our medicine early and go again next season (in terms of spending).

It is just speculation on my part of course, I don't claim to have any knowledge but it's the best explanation for how the summer has gone that I can come up with.

[aev]

Yep, I'd be amazed if we got Europe this season.
If the January wages splurge is the thing the thing that tipped us over the edge I'm stunned it was sanctioned to be honest.

Most people on here were shitting themselves about us not getting deals done in January as we were on the cusp of something big.  Then it happened and we shit the bed albeit by one point.  Damned if you do.

January was done in order to maximise earnings from the ECL and in order to make the ECL this season. Part 1 was accomplished, part 2 died at Old Triffid, courtesy of Martinez and the idiot-ref.

I thought the UEFA punishment and penalty was for things that had happened, not what would happen next season?

If this is the case, the transfer balancing would still have been a thing that we needed to adhere to (although perhaps we could have argued a different penalty with the CL income)?

[eamonn]

Possibly, but that suggests we are in this holding pattern for 3 years?

No I don't think so. It would be meeting the requirements for year 3 this year and then they go away so long as we stay within SCR, that's how it reads to me at least.

If that is indeed our strategy/approach, it is an interesting one, looking to take our medicine early and go again next season (in terms of spending).

Good luck selling that to the top players we have at the peak of their careers. No wonder Martínez has been talking to Yanited since January and Watkins was open to moving to Arsenal and realistically  be a regular on their subs bench by the following season.

[brontebilly]

If we never had the cash/inclination to bring in an extra right-sided centre-half, it seems pretty mad to me that we didn't spend any time in pre-season trying Mings and Torres together. Surely they must have considered the possibility that Konsa wouldn't play every single minute for the entire season?

We played Bogarde there so, unless things change in the next few days, he's clearly seen as the 4th option, and I'm not entirely opposed to that, he's looked fine at CB.

Sure, and that's fine. But he is still clearly behind Mings/Torres as a backup pairing, otherwise he would have started on Saturday. So why not try that pairing in preseason as well?

Emery moved Kamara back to RCB v Newcastle too. Never want to see Mings at RCB again.

[paul_e]

Possibly, but that suggests we are in this holding pattern for 3 years?

No I don't think so. It would be meeting the requirements for year 3 this year and then they go away so long as we stay within SCR, that's how it reads to me at least.

If that is indeed our strategy/approach, it is an interesting one, looking to take our medicine early and go again next season (in terms of spending).

Good luck selling that to the top players we have at the peak of their careers. No wonder Martínez has been talking to Yanited since January and Watkins was open to moving to Arsenal and realistically  be a regular on their subs bench by the following season.

We haven't got much choice, we either meet the restrictions or risk being banned from Europe, which would be far worse. This is just taking the worst of those restrictions and having them only impact us for 1 season instead of 3. Keeping hold of our better players so we can build again from next summer is the main reason I can see for us doing it.

[aj2k77]

Malen and Onana on £140k, Maatsen on £100k Guessand straight in apparently on £90k. These are ridiculous numbers.

Roughly £24m on wages each year and transfer fee's of £130m. Those players alone will cost the club a quarter of a billion over 5 years. Monchi can't count.

And you know these wage figures, how?

Our wage bill for the 23/24 season was £252m.