Transfer Rumours The Summer Transfer Rumour Thread 2016

Assuming VVD stays? He's probably the most likely to leave next Summer.

 

Yes, assuming he stays. He might. Let's not mentally sell him just yet, please! We're *very* unlikely to sell all of them (unless we go down). There's still a strong core.

 

I'd take anywhere outside of the bottom 3 for a run to EL QF's or further

 

......but never hope for 17th.......unless your 18th.......

 

I'm not mentally selling him, just saying that we can't rely on him being one of the strong characters to help us through (yet) another transition when he most probably will be one of the ones we will look to cash in on, if what Vin said (which I believe has merit) is correct.

Edit- I've just seen you're edit, and yes we are very unlikely to sell all of them, but the point is that the more Summers you do this the harder it will get to find people such as Jose, Morgan etc. because they're not here long enough. Again it comes back to the team spirit thing, difficult to maintain with such a high turnover.

 

Fixed

 

I can see your point from the side that it would be exciting, but realistically the QFs and anywhere below 6th could be problematic. We can use the EL as a draw for players while we are in it but if we throw our resource at it to neglect a better league position we may not have that appeal. It's a real conundrum for me.

 

I don't think we're going to be in the top 6 regardless of how we do in the cup competitions this year.

I see it as we don't know when we'll next have this opportunity, so going as far as we can in it should be the priority imo.

 

I dunno, it's still early days but other than the usual top 4 contenders I haven't seen anyone look great personally, so there's still room for us yet.

 

My personal opinion is that we'll get more of a 'traditional' (for want of a better word) top 6 this year. Being the Manc clubs, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea & Spurs. Below that I expect to see Leicester/Everton.

 

I think the plan if you wish to operate on a budget is indeed to sign players up when they are cheap at 24 or below. Hang on to them 4 years. Then sell high--- but when they are at their peak performance and value at maybe 28. The timing doesn't always work out perfectly, of course.

We are not really succeeding at the "sell high" part. Players are leaving too early and we are not getting the fees we should. I'm not blaming the club for this necessarily, because to some extent they've been the victim of their own success with players getting good quite quickly. '

But I think we need to be seen as a place that truly develops players, and not just an easy entry point into the PL. Players that come should want to stay an extra year, because they will improve in that year and increase their value. But right now, there's still a bit too much "just get out of there ASAP." OL got 112 appearances out of Benzema (and he also came up through their academy). We got 67 out of Mane.

Of course OL was also dominating in Ligue 1 and playing in CL every year during that period, which was a strong incentive to stay a little longer.

 

I get where you're coming from, the Sky 6 I suppose? I think top 4 will be Man U, man city, Chelsea and Arsenal to return to status quo. Haven't seen quite enough of Spurs to judge but Liverpool don't look special and hugely unbalanced too. Leicester I expect to be around there but tough to judge with the CL in their agenda too. I'm not wholly convinced by Everton either. It's such early days though that it's always difficult to tell... However fun to watch it unravel!

 

The Sky6? that's an amazing name for it ... love that.

 

Agree with the sentiment LTL - but the club told us before the transfer window we are not a selling club... err... that worked out well for us - so there is no guarantee we won't sell anyone for a profit. Sorry, but am little cynical after this transfer window.

 

Maybe we won't be forced to sell anyone next summer.

We knew this time last year that Vic and Mane wanted out, & we got another season out of them both. I don't see anyone pushing for a move at this point, other than Fonte whose position is similar to Pelle's was last year, ie in the twighlight of his career.

 

Maybe we're not forced at all?

As others have said maybe it's part of our business plan to fund signings.

Also there's probably no one thinking of pushing for a move at this point but that all changes if a big club comes in.

 

Business plan or not, I doubt we'd have sold either Wanyama or Mane if they hadn't pressured us to do so. Vic wouldn't sign a new contract so he was off next summer for a free anyway; Mane you could say we cashed in on, but we know he was pushing for a move last year, similar situation to Morgan the year before.

I don't know what the business plan is; I just think that up to now we've played exceptionally well with the hands we've been dealt. Especially fiven the fact player's agents seem to hold all the aces.

Signing key players up to extended contracts is a new development. If that's part of the plan let's give it a chance and see if it works.

 

I think we would have chosen to keep some players if we could, including Wanyama and Mane. Wanyama had only a year on his contract and had to go when he wouldn't sign another. No brainer. I bet Mane was on a promise from last season. I always wanted to keep Pelle for his last season even if we lost money. However, unlike fans who don't see things coldly at all, the board will sometimes make the best of what they can't change. Most teams of our size lose players they'd prefer to keep...but the media seem to be only aware of us.

 

It's pretty clear that we're trying to offer longer contracts, whether on joining or extending early on in a player's time with us (e.g VVD after 12 months). That could well be to resolve the issue of not getting enough time out of the player as well as maximising value when a player wants to go.

Vin

 

I'm not sure about that. We haven't hit anything like 80% success in our recruitment over the past few years. I've only done it in my head, not on paper, but I reckon 50% is closer to what we've actually achieved. The duffers slip from the mind.

We don't just sell the cream. We've passed on duds as well as successes, e.g. Juanmi. We turn them over quickly and look for the next diamond.

Vin