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

[chrisw1]

Bissouma leaves Spurs on a free.

Remarkable how far he has fallen. I thought he was an outstanding player at Brighton and I'm not sure why it didn't work at Spurs.

I'm not suggesting we sign him, but any club that can get him back to his best would have a decent player.

I think he was cleared of the assault charges, but it still leaves a bit of a cloud over him for me.

[Behind Bluenose Lines]

Reports of Martinez agreeing a 3 year deal in principle with Juventus;

https://sportwitness.co.uk/aston-villa-player-agrees-deal-for-transfer-emerys-side-arent-putting-up-wall-for-his-exit/

Report says we are asking for 10-15m EUR, but Juventus would like him for free. 

Nooooooooooo!

I thought we were meant to be flogging Morgan Rogers to a Scum 6 club as this summer's sacrificial lamb!

[Dogtanian]

I dont see how we can end up better off finanically from selling Emi and buying someone new - unless we have bargain thats CL ready.

And if letting him go and replacing will stop us investing where we really need then it would be crazy. 

I am sure that the club wouldnt do anything that stupid - however the last couple of summer windows dont fill me with confidence

It all depends on how they structure the deal.  Martinez originally signed on a four year contract, so that was up in 2024, meaning he has zero value on the books. Any fee we get for him will be pure profit.

If we sign a replacement, the cost will be spread over the five year contract. So if we sold him for £10m and signed a replacement for £30m, we'd end up with a profit of £4m this year and a cost of £6m for the next four years.

[Dave]

I dont see how we can end up better off finanically from selling Emi and buying someone new - unless we have bargain thats CL ready.

And if letting him go and replacing will stop us investing where we really need then it would be crazy. 

I am sure that the club wouldnt do anything that stupid - however the last couple of summer windows dont fill me with confidence

The problem is that we have about five crucial players who would cost too much money to replace with better (for age reasons we'd probably end up spending much more on an inferior replacement than we'd get for the current version), but we still need to work out how we transition from them to the next version of them over the next 3 years or so.

Him, McGinn, Ollie, Cash, Pau, maybe Youri - none of them should be starting for us in the 2029-2030 season. So when do you replace them and how?

With Emi, we can realistically:

(a) stick as we are, he sees out his contrat and hope that a youth keeper comes through. That would mean probably a decent loan next season and the kid replacing Bizot the following season and playing plenty of matches. High risk though that the kid (I assume Proctor over Zych or Wright?) keeps developing and is okay to be thrown in as first-choice at 22-23 years old. Our record in this area (Oakes / Enckleman / Guzan etc. Bosnich as the positive outlier) isn't great though.

(b) get rid of Emi, and just buy the above - Verbruggen, Trafford, Atubolu, Risser, Chevalier. Fine, if we accept the immediate downgrade. As this thread shows the consensus appears to be "Trafford is rubbish compared to Emi, so just stick with Emi". But there will come a summer when we have to accept the thing that isn't as good as Emi and maybe it's just best to get on with it, accept the short-term drop in quality and hope it works better if the right player is available now. 

(c) get rid of Emi and buy a cheaper stop-gap while waiting for (a) to happen. Fine, if we accept the immediate downgrade as per (b). A bit like Forest picked Sels out even though he'd failed at Newcastle. Or if you could get a slightly younger Bizot. Or just Bizot.

We're not going to go out and buy a better goalkeeper than we currently have - the question is how much of a downgrade we accept and when we do so.

[Dante Lavelli]

Ultimately Juventus can’t afford him.

Are they skint?  I'm aware they've not secured CL football.

Is a sneaky Yildiz bid viable?  I keep reading he is the next big thing but curious why, given Juve's poor form.

[cdbearsfan]

There don't seem to be many good goalkeepers around. Martinez is contracted until 2029. I would be in no rush whatsoever to get rid.

[KevinGage]

Juventus are such a positive force for good in football that I'd like to help them out, if at all possible.

But in this situation they can do one.

[cdbearsfan]

Juventus are such a positive force for good in football that I'd like us to help them out, if at all possible.

Not sure if serious...

[SaddVillan]

Robin Roefs at Sunderland has done well this season.

23 yrs old. Signed by Sunderland for £9.5m plus add-ons last summer.
£30k a week wages
6'4"
In the Dutch Workd Cup Squad.

Not sure what he'd cost, or if he fits the bill as a replacement.

[Dogtanian]

Robin Roefs at Sunderland has done well this season.

23 yrs old. Signed by Sunderland for £9.5m plus add-ons last summer.
£30k a week wages
6'4"
In the Dutch Workd Cup Squad.

Not sure what he'd cost, or if he fits the bill as a replacement.

We do have previous when it comes to signing Sunderland keepers. And this chap used to play for NEC, so he should know where Birmingham is!

[rooboy316]

(Snipped)

(b) get rid of Emi, and just buy the above - Verbruggen, Trafford, Atubolu, Risser, Chevalier. Fine, if we accept the immediate downgrade. As this thread shows the consensus appears to be "Trafford is rubbish compared to Emi, so just stick with Emi". But there will come a summer when we have to accept the thing that isn't as good as Emi and maybe it's just best to get on with it, accept the short-term drop in quality and hope it works better if the right player is available now. 

(Snipped)

We're not going to go out and buy a better goalkeeper than we currently have - the question is how much of a downgrade we accept and when we do so.

This is where I’m at, and it’s helped me come around to the idea of selling him if the right offer comes in. We’ve got another couple of years of him at his peak, which is perfect for the push to the next level which we are well placed for. However, we will have to replace him or at least start succession planning at some point soon.

Given we hold the power and don’t need to sell him, I trust we will only do so because it’s a combination of the right offer coming in and the right replacement lined up.

[Hookeysmith]

If we are to sell him then lets hope they have a great world cup (Argentina) as that will bump up the fee.

If he goes then he goes for a fee we agree - not the purchasers as GK is not the priority for me this season

If he is to go then anyone outside of the prem will be ok (although i have always thought he would be ideal for Chelsea)

[Stu]

Robin Roefs at Sunderland has done well this season.

23 yrs old. Signed by Sunderland for £9.5m plus add-ons last summer.
£30k a week wages
6'4"
In the Dutch Workd Cup Squad.

Not sure what he'd cost, or if he fits the bill as a replacement.

Bought for £10m, contracted to Sunderland until 2030, they appear highly rate him, broken into Dutch team…would cost a shitload of money.

[Smithy]

Yep, if we're going to replace Emi (and I hope we don't have to), and avoid having the drop in quality be noticeable, we either have to be lucky in the risk we take, or spend £30m+.  And I'm not sure I see us doing the latter given our financial situation.

[PeterWithesShin]

He's on 150k a week. Unless he's very much wanting to leave it makes no sense to move him on when we'd spend more on a replacement in fee and wages and have other squad places that absolutely need strengthening.