Transfer Rumours Summer Transfer window

We had very little realistic chance of clinging onto Stewart, Clarke, Watson or Jobe …

… we didn’t want to sell them but other clubs wanted to buy.

A selling club is one that sacrifices progress for profit, that's not what Sunderland are.

 

Wouldn't be a transfer thread without me saying selling is good

 

Anyone who is saying that clearly doesn't understand who we are these days and is struggling to detach themselves from the past.

 

I don't believe we've missed the first two on your list....this season will tell us about the others....which could well be the same.

 

It amazes me that people want to be like Brighton, Palace etc without doing the bit that allows them to be successful, selling players.

Because of the financial rules and Saudi money, I honestly don't think there's a club on the planet that isn't a 'selling club'. Some of the top end clubs might be able to hold on to their better players but if a crazy offer comes in they will sell.

 

Years gone by, our recruitment was so patchy that part of the reason fans may have been reluctant for star players to be sold was the chances of them being replaced well was slim. We're a different beast nowadays and a few of our supporters are taking a long time to realise.

 

Totally agree, it was the lack of clear strategy that was ultimately our downfall recruitment wise, buying players for a different manager every 10 months

 

We've also, lets face it, never really had many assets worth selling. That's another reason people are so uneasy about selling players. In the past we've had max 1 or 2 players that other clubs want and so selling one of them feels like a disaster. Whereas now we have literally 15+ saleable assets. Some people are still stuck in the "sale = disaster" mentality

 

Its all about balance, on pitch success cant be compromised when selling players. There is a food chain in football and we are trying to work our way up it, some clubs will always be a head of us and when they come calling then we just have to accept that a player will leave and we have to maximise the value of it. I know Dortmund doesnt have the same feel as a Bayern, or a Real Madrid or Barca, but they are one of the elite clubs in the world, they were in the CL final 12 months ago ffs, we cant do much when they come calling other than get the best deal, which is what we've done.

TBF its also a bit of a myth with us selling under this model (at least the amount we sell). Stewart had a year left and was recovering from a significant issue (still is) and we maximised that. We turned down moves for Clarke and kept him for another year, got a decent deal as he moved to the Prem whilst we had Mundle waiting in the wings to replace him. We did everything and more to keep Watson and he wouldnt sign a deal, maximised that value too and now we've done it with Jobe. Way more occasions we've kept players than sold them (clarke 2023, Roberts to Southampton 2023, Jobe to Palace 2024) and thats just the ones we've heard about without considering the likes of Hume, Neil and Rigg who will have definitely had concrete interest.

We're on the right path imo, just got to keep the balance right.

 

Haha

"Newly promoted trio" should be on the bingo cards this year. Can't remember who first called it out but I'd say 50% of the links we've had have included this line. And now I can't stop spotting it

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathal_O'Sullivan

 

Really like the Ligue 1 names we've been linked with.

Abline
Diarra
Merlin
Singo

Think all 4 would be great pickups.

 

Definitely more exciting than tofolo

 

I see that in a headline and instantly disregard it

 

Now that we’ve migrated to the Premier league section of the forum the players will be flocking to sign for us!!!

 

We linked?

 

Surely a signing for the under 21s if anything.

 

About as seriously as any other name that pops up on X at the moment.

 

True