Summer 26 Transfer Window - hopes, speculation, rumours etc.

[Goldie.7]

Just been looking at the expiring contracts on Transfermarkt.

Julian Brandt - maybe a Rogers alternative/replacement if we cash in

Brandt is on my extensive player watch list. I would take him if Barkley didn't have another year left. If we move him on in the summer we should be looking at Brandt as his replacement.

Benjamin Nygren at Celtic is who I hope we are in for this summer. His stats are excellent, he's young and he protects the ball very well almost McGinn esque.

[Garyth]

Bernardo was okay, but overrated.

Really?? I had a quick check and his record is 'quite good':  1 CL, 6 PL, 2 FA cup, 5 League cup. In eight of nine seasons at city he's played more than 30 games (20/21 was 26).

I think Bernado suffers in that he's tactically disciplined, so has been used in a number of different roles over the seasons - Pep has trusted him to carry out jobs for the good of the team. I don't think it's a mistake he's had such a long career at Man City, and invariable picked in big games.

In that sense he's a bit like McGinn for us - you can't really say exactly what he does, but when he's not in the team everything else looks worse.

[PaulWinch again]

Whatever we do we need to start bringing the age profile of the squad down.

[ChicagoLion]

Bernardo was okay, but overrated.

Really?? I had a quick check and his record is 'quite good':  1 CL, 6 PL, 2 FA cup, 5 League cup. In eight of nine seasons at city he's played more than 30 games (20/21 was 26).

I think Bernado suffers in that he's tactically disciplined, so has been used in a number of different roles over the seasons - Pep has trusted him to carry out jobs for the good of the team. I don't think it's a mistake he's had such a long career at Man City, and invariable picked in big games.

In that sense he's a bit like McGinn for us - you can't really say exactly what he does, but when he's not in the team everything else looks worse.

He is a bit of a water carrier but a very good one, always available to receive the ball, rarely gives it away, keeps momentum going and covers a lot of ground with and without possession.

[PeterWithe]

Just been looking at the expiring contracts on Transfermarkt.

Julian Brandt - maybe a Rogers alternative/replacement if we cash in

Brandt is on my extensive player watch list. I would take him if Barkley didn't have another year left. If we move him on in the summer we should be looking at Brandt as his replacement.

Benjamin Nygren at Celtic is who I hope we are in for this summer. His stats are excellent, he's young and he protects the ball very well almost McGinn esque.

I’ve always thought Brandt should offer far more than he does, he’s clearly got it all but whenever I’ve seen him play, he rarely dominates games in the way he could.

Nygren is a blank page to me.

[Mister E]

Bernado Silva, 31, up for grabs as well on a free in June 2026. Big wages though.

If he was going to stay in England, he'd renew with Man City.

I think he wants to go to Spain.

I’m probably alone in this but I’ve always thought he was vastly overrated. Decent enough but not as special as many think. Maybe it’s a Silva thing as I thought the same about David Silva.

Bernado is vastly overrated (although he seems to fit into Guardiola's world well), but David was an elegant and talented player.

[LeeB]

Bernardo put in one of the best individual displays I've seen from an opposition player when they beat us under Gerrard and he scored that mad volley.

[Mister E]

Hopefully our transfer department has a bit more imagination and a wider scope.

Well the media is speculating that we'll have to sell even if we're in the CL, suggesting we don't have a lot of scope.  I doubt we're going to be spending £100m+ without selling Rogers.
Free transfers like Senesi, Mingueza and Wilson are cheap(er) ways of getting good quality players to strengthen the squad for a CL campaign. 
I'm not suggesting that's all we do, but it leaves our budget for the likely big ticket transfers - like a replacement keeper, a striker and a winger.

It's exactly the way we need to go: bring in a couple of really good free transfers and then 2 or 3 really good youngsters and blend them in to the squad. The target over the next 2-3 seasons has to be to compete in the Chumps League, do well in the Premier League and slowly churn the older players out of the squad with well-blended youngsters.
The current PSG model is a good one.

[Dave]

Bernardo put in one of the best individual displays I've seen from an opposition player when they beat us under Gerrard and he scored that mad volley.

Yeah, the McGinn comparison above is a good one. There's no specific job that he is in the team to do better than anyone else, but his presence elevates everyone else around him and the team is much worse without him in it.

[paul_e]

Yep, I think he's their 2nd most important player (after Rodri).

[Skipper_The_Eyechild]

Yeah, I think some on here are really underrating Bernardo.

[TheToffnar]

I'm kind of amazed at the 'overrated' comments. He's an incredible player. The team that picks him up will easily get another two years out of him when he's not especially far off his best.

[Dante Lavelli]

The current PSG model is a good one.

I agree in concept.  Our difficulty will be that we’re not the same magnet as PSG for young (mainly) french players and we do not have the cash (we do, but…) to persuade/demand the clubs further down the food chain sell their best players.  It is the correct route but I feel we will be fishing in the championship/lesser leagues for a few seasons yet.