Winter 25-26 Transfer Window - hopes, speculation, rumours etc.

[Somniloquism]

I can't see that what "we agreed to" would be anything other than the 70% that everyone now has to meet anyway.

Final and Intermediate Targets 
• The Club commits to the following Targets:
• In the 2025/26 season, the Club will have a maximum Football Earnings deficit of
EUR 5 million for the reporting period ending in 2026 (“2025 Target”)

So we are allowed to be £4mil over the 70% as I read that and for 26/27 and 27/28 we have to be at or below it. However the sporting punishment is applied again if we are over the target (although the wording is any deficit so probably even if we abide by the agreed target?)

It conditionally applies in the 2026/27 season, if the Club has a Football Earnings
deficit in the reporting period 2025;

[Drummond]

Why would you have Pau on the out list? He'd be the last of our centre backs I'd move on right now, in fact the only defender I'd be more reluctant to let go across the entire back 4 is Maatsen and that's purely on age.

I'd agree that we shouldn't be trying to sell him (and more importantly, I imagine Emery's only untouchables would be Kamara, Tielemans, Rogers and him so he's obviously not going anywhere), but if you could get £40m for him and bring in Senesi on a free it feels like the sort of squad management that we still need to do a bit of, to sort out our remaining financial stuff.

Not that we will though.

I would add the captain to the list of untouchables, I think this season has only further underlined that.

Yes, true. Him as well.

So, apart from Torres, Kamara, Maatsen, Tielemans, Rogers and McGinn, what did our players ever do for us?

[paul_e]

I can't see that what "we agreed to" would be anything other than the 70% that everyone now has to meet anyway.

Final and Intermediate Targets 
• The Club commits to the following Targets:
• In the 2025/26 season, the Club will have a maximum Football Earnings deficit of
EUR 5 million for the reporting period ending in 2026 (“2025 Target”)

So we are allowed to be £4mil over the 70% as I read that and for 26/27 and 27/28 we have to be at or below it. However the sporting punishment is applied again if we are over the target (although the wording is any deficit so probably even if we abide by the agreed target?)

It conditionally applies in the 2026/27 season, if the Club has a Football Earnings
deficit in the reporting period 2025;

The football earnings is a separate calculation to the scr one that has the 70% target because why have 1 financial regulation when you can have 3 (I can't remember what the 3rd bit iss off the top of my head).

[nigel]

Why would you have Pau on the out list? He'd be the last of our centre backs I'd move on right now, in fact the only defender I'd be more reluctant to let go across the entire back 4 is Maatsen and that's purely on age.

I'd agree that we shouldn't be trying to sell him (and more importantly, I imagine Emery's only untouchables would be Kamara, Tielemans, Rogers and him so he's obviously not going anywhere), but if you could get £40m for him and bring in Senesi on a free it feels like the sort of squad management that we still need to do a bit of, to sort out our remaining financial stuff.

Not that we will though.

I think SJM must/should be on that list given the impact he always seems to have.

Agreed, as I mentioned in a subsequent reply.

I guess the only difference between SJM and the others is that based on his age / profile, even though he's crucial to us I don't think he'd get that much interest (or at least not enough to mean we would consider selling - was it £18m Everton apparently had rejected in the summer?)

All the others, if we said that we entertaining moving them on, you'd be looking at a lot of big clubs chucking a lot of big money at us (probably Pau with smaller numbers than the other three), whereas McGinn probably wouldn't have that.

Sorry, mate, missed your subsequent reply.
You’re right, SJM wouldn’t attract the interest of the others, which I find quite baffling considering what he does for us.
But as you say his age would certainly go against him

[brontebilly]

Someone said yesterday that a deal for Grealish to come back in the summer is virtually done.
Personally, I think it’s bollocks but…………. !!!!

Time to bring him back was last summer. Ship has sailed now, won't exactly help bring down age profile of squad. Think he struggles to get Everton to part with big money for him this summer after his injury.

Off to join Deano in the US while Man City paying most of his wages I reckon.

[KevinGage]

Why would you have Pau on the out list? He'd be the last of our centre backs I'd move on right now, in fact the only defender I'd be more reluctant to let go across the entire back 4 is Maatsen and that's purely on age.

I'd agree that we shouldn't be trying to sell him (and more importantly, I imagine Emery's only untouchables would be Kamara, Tielemans, Rogers and him so he's obviously not going anywhere), but if you could get £40m for him and bring in Senesi on a free it feels like the sort of squad management that we still need to do a bit of, to sort out our remaining financial stuff.

Not that we will though.

The player himself might decide it's time to move home too, that could be the telling factor in all this.

Emery is supposedly like a father figure to him. But that doesn't extend to making him a guaranteed first team pick.

Three years in and he hasn't nailed that starting position down for a variety of reasons.

We face Sunderland in a few weeks and I'd much prefer Mings up against Brobbey, for example. The counter to that is we then lose Pau's progressive passes from deep.  But there's been plenty of periods for us when he's as likely to shank the ball back to the opposition as he is to hit one of these incisive passes.

As an older member of the squad and former captain of Villareal I'd have expected him to step up with McGinn, Tielemans and Kamara out during our recent sticky patch. But he (like a few others) went into his shell.

Anywhere near £40 mill and I'd bite.

[KevinGage]

Someone said yesterday that a deal for Grealish to come back in the summer is virtually done.
Personally, I think it’s bollocks but…………. !!!!

Time to bring him back was last summer. Ship has sailed now, won't exactly help bring down age profile of squad. Think he struggles to get Everton to part with big money for him this summer after his injury.

Off to join Deano in the US while Man City paying most of his wages I reckon.

If the deal was heavily weighted re actual appearances - maybe.

[Drummond]

Just no. We need better, fitter players with less baggage.

[ChicagoLion]

Just no. We need better, fitter players with less baggage.

Agreed, but this story will keep resurfacing like the odours from a contaminated landfill.
It isn’t happening, he is done.

[eamonn]

How's Pip Coutinho these days? Still on the Villa payroll til June 30th, right?

[cdbearsfan]

No, we released him last summer.

[Demitri_C]

I wonder if spurs  go down if we go for  gallagher  again? I really hope not as we look to have dodged one there

[Exeter 77]

Someone said yesterday that a deal for Grealish to come back in the summer is virtually done.
Personally, I think it’s bollocks but…………. !!!!

Time to bring him back was last summer. Ship has sailed now, won't exactly help bring down age profile of squad. Think he struggles to get Everton to part with big money for him this summer after his injury.

Off to join Deano in the US while Man City paying most of his wages I reckon.

If the deal was heavily weighted re actual appearances - maybe.

I think his Man City contract expires this summer anyway.

[Dave]

Someone said yesterday that a deal for Grealish to come back in the summer is virtually done.
Personally, I think it’s bollocks but…………. !!!!

Time to bring him back was last summer. Ship has sailed now, won't exactly help bring down age profile of squad. Think he struggles to get Everton to part with big money for him this summer after his injury.

Off to join Deano in the US while Man City paying most of his wages I reckon.

If the deal was heavily weighted re actual appearances - maybe.

I think his Man City contract expires this summer anyway.

It doesn't, he's got another year. Everton's option to buy is an amusingly optimistic £50m

[Exeter 77]

Right - I just thought he signed for 5 years in 2021.