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

[Bent Neilsens Screamer]

I take it a big signing on fee and reduced wages wouldn’t be a way around any financial restrictions?

[paul_e]

Don’t think we’re allowed to spend the money for his wages.

That’s our issue, more than transfer fee with scr.
Need to get some big earners out before we can plan that, Sancho going would help.

This isn't really true, the SCR calculation still includes amortised fees so we still need to consider transfer costs. The simplest way to do that now that incoming fees are also spread over 3 years is to keep net spend down to a minimum. This is why moving on Malen, Guessand, Barrenechea, Iling-Junior, Nedeljkovic and Dobbin (all players we own but are out on loan and should generate decent fees between them) is important because we remove the amortisation of their incoming fees and remove their wages without any impact on the squad.

Add in the savings on Elliott, Sancho and Luiz and we're left with, realistically, 2 useful players gone from the squad, more than half a million a week in wages freed up and a big chunk of amortised fees gone without really weakening us beyond losing a bit of cover.

Fair dos’s, the sale of above will help a lot also. Point I badly made was that scr puts more emphasis on the wages as % of turnover which we have been getting in loans and free signings on higher wages, which is now not such an attractive option as before.

I don't think it makes that big a difference for free transfers. Loans I agree, we really should try to avoid unless they're Rashford/Asensio level impact. With wages and fees as they are every extra 10k on the weekly wage (assuming 5 year contracts) is the equivalent of £2.6m on the fee and given the level we're shopping at means fees in the 25-30m range the wage demands need to be huge to work out as the same costs for SCR.

[Demitri_C]

We wouldn't get the wages down. That's why he's available for a fraction of his actual value.

Wont happen then unfortunately

We aint gonna destroy our wage budget  to fuck  ourselves for years on  rashford

[Dante Lavelli]

The loan/delayed sales is smart business.  A chunk more of the fee is amortised and their fees covered. The down side is the loan club get to ‘try before they buy’ but on a human level I think that makes sense too.

[PeterWithesShin]

I take it a big signing on fee and reduced wages wouldn’t be a way around any financial restrictions?

A lot don't know this about signing on fees.

https://www.tiktok.com/@benfcyclinggk/video/7274955738399657248

[Dave]

We wouldn't get the wages down. That's why he's available for a fraction of his actual value.

Wont happen then unfortunately

We aint gonna destroy our wage budget  to fuck  ourselves for years on  rashford

I still think it's more likely that we don't sign him than we do, but there's quite obviously a set of circumstances where we are prepared to offer him what he wants to join us permanently, because last January we did just that.

Had we decided our finances were in a suitable place to sign him, then it was all agreed with both Rashford and Man Utd that he would join us. Quite obviously the thing that stopped our finances being in a suitable place was finishing outside the Champions League places.

So assuming we don't screw up the next six weeks, if we still want him and he's happy with us, logic would suggest that there's a way to make the finances work, because it would have worked last season.

I imagine that the main barrier is likely to be someone potentially shinier (Bayern? Atletico?) thinking they might be getting a bit of a bargain.

[Dante Lavelli]

Rashford might factor in his 25% pay rise into any newly negotiated deal. Carrick has suggested the door is open for him to stay.

I suspect this is all a game of bluff at the moment, including Barca pulling out.

[PeterWithe]

I suspect this is all a game of bluff at the moment, including Barca pulling out.

Yup, me too. I reckon it’s a tactic for Utd to sweeten the deal a little and he’ll be back at Barca.

[Baldy]

Rashford will be 29 this year and we already have an aging squad. For this reason, I reckon we won't go for him.

Whatever limited money we can spend will be concentrated on younger players who Unai can develop over the next two or three years.

Otherwise, in two or three years time we will be f*ucked with a capital F.

[Russ aka Big Nose]

How long has Rashford got left on his contract at Manure?

Rather than buying him, if we lose Sancho, Bailey, Elliott, and maybe Digne off the wage bill, it could be a good option to get him on a season long loan if his wages are not crazy.

At his age and on big wages, I wouldn’t want to offer him a contract of 3 years or more. UTV

[Londonvilla]

Aston Villa plan ‘concrete move’ for Liverpool midfielder who’s ready to ‘leave’

Curtis Jones is preparing to leave  Liverpool this summer, with TEAMtalk understanding that  Aston Villa are ready to step up their interest in the midfielder.

The 25-year-old, a product of Liverpool’s academy, is entering the final stages of his current deal, with just over 12 months remaining.

https://www.teamtalk.com/liverpool/aston-villa-plan-concrete-move-for-liverpool-midfielder-whos-ready-to-leave

12 months left on his contract could be the JJ replacement?

[Mellin]

Rasford's contract expires in 2028. He'll be 30/31. He was very good for us, but with SCR and how things are for us, I'd say it's too costly for what is essentially a short term fix. I'd actually be disappointed if we signed him for those reasons.

Don't think I've ever watched Curtis Jones and thought "player".

[Dave]

Aston Villa plan ‘concrete move’ for Liverpool midfielder who’s ready to ‘leave’

Curtis Jones is preparing to leave  Liverpool this summer, with TEAMtalk understanding that  Aston Villa are ready to step up their interest in the midfielder.

The 25-year-old, a product of Liverpool’s academy, is entering the final stages of his current deal, with just over 12 months remaining.

https://www.teamtalk.com/liverpool/aston-villa-plan-concrete-move-for-liverpool-midfielder-whos-ready-to-leave

12 months left on his contract could be the JJ replacement?

Wonder if they'd be prepared to enter into a convoluted loan-with-an-option/obligation-to-buy mechanism to help us sign him?