Following Damien Duff signing an extension to his contract and comments Jol has made post the Stoke game, there has been a fair bit of press speculation that Schwarzer and Karagounis are about to be offered new deals. And that negotiations with Hangeland are close to being finalised. Thought it therefore worth reviewing the list of players with contracts ending this summer. Goalkeepers is especially interesting with a whole wodge of them potentially out of contract: Schwarzer Etheridge Symogyi Bettinelli Joronen (?) I’m sure Schwarzer will get his wish in anticipation of the next World Cup. However, the apparent wish to sign a new keeper in January suggests that there will be bit of pruning and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Symogyi and Bettinelli released (and Stockdale, whose contract has till 2015, sold). The main squad doesn’t have age on it’s side when it comes to Club policy (in it’s simplest form, that is, over 30s limited to 1 year extension) : Riether (loan with an option) Senderos Hangeland Baird Diarra Davies Karagounis Petric Riether, Hangeland and Karagounis not only have experience but performances on their side so must surely be high on the priority signing list . Diarra, Davies and Petric unfortunately have such poor injury records that I just can’t see the merit in offering them a further year. And sad though I’d be to see him go (as with Simon Davies), I’m afraid Chris Baird has come to the end of his time with us. So that leaves Philippe. I’m sure we’ll bring in somebody new at CB in the summer and (assuming Hangeland stays) with Dan Burn pushing for a place and Aaron Hughes still around to provide cover, that would leave Senderos kind of in no man‘s land. Jol likes him though, therefore ….??? There are also an number of U21s with contracts up for renewal: Peniket Minkwitz Donegan Na Banga There’s no recent news about Mesca’s recovery from his serious injury but I suspect that’s bad news and the Club will release him. Huge shame, because he had great talent. Not sure about Richard Peniket (who is currently on loan) but both Minkwitz and Donegan are definitely players for the future and will get new 3-year contracts. Oh, and of course the status of Mr Jol's contract has yet to be clarified.
Senderos is a home grown player though, so as a squad player he has more value than a foreign player. Having said that, you are right that if we are successful at bringing in a quality CB to play alongside Hangeland (assuming he stays) there is really only room for one veteran to cover. Whether that is Senderos or Hughes remains to be seen. As sad as it would be, I expect Davies to leave in the summer. He just can't get fit and may find a better role at a Championship club. Similarly it would be sad but I expect Baird to move on, although Jol still seems to like him. He could be guaranteed a first team place in the Championship or at least a regular role in a newly promoted team. We can't (and shouldn't) be able to match that. Diarra is unlikely to get a deal elsewhere so may be worth another year on a pay as you play. Riether is going to be 30, so the contract length may be slightly longer. Karagounis is absolutely worth another year (if not just for his presence around our youth players) and Hangeland... well, we'll see I guess. I would like to see Enoh at some point, as we have the option to sign. Not sure how I feel about Petric. He just can't stay fit, and he's a type of player we could really use right now.
And the other good news today (although it is slightly less reliable than the Jol contract story since it comes from Goal.com) is -
Is Schwarz one of our top earners? Every day's a school day... Agreed in that it's not that reliable, but lets hope there's no smoke without fire in this case.
I am a fan of American Football and one of the unexpected benefits of the salary cap is that teams publish details of player contracts. In a weird way, knowledge of player salaries and team finances makes me feel alot closer to the team and more of a fan. I really wish the Premier League would consider publishing individual player salaries. I honestly think it would help curb some of the excesses of player salaries as we would know, for instance, whether castigating QPR for ridiculous salaries is actually fair. Anyways, back to point - I want Hangeland back and he deserves a pay raise. I want Schwarzer back too, but at age 41 he has to know that he will be competing with a younger player.
We have seen it before when players go off on International duty and their future gets into the press, so that may be why Hangeland's thrown in his ten-pennurth ; "Brede Hangeland's agent has confirmed a number of top clubs have made enquiries about signing the Fulham defender. The Norwegian is out of contract at the end of the season and fresh terms have yet to be agreed. The news has alerted a host of sides across Europe to Hangeland's possible availability on a free transfer this summer. Hangeland's representative, Rune Hauge, has confirmed talks are ongoing with Fulham, but admitted the longer he goes without agreeing a new deal the chances of him staying at Craven Cottage are receding. "We are still negotiating." Hauge told the Norwegian media. "But the longer it takes to reach an agreement, the chance that he will stay is decreasing." "At the same time, Brede is happy at Fulham and the club is happy with him. We will see in one or three months." Asked about interest from other clubs in Hangeland, Hauge said: "Yes, there have been some enquiries about what is going on. "That includes top clubs, but no offers. We do not have permission to negotiate with other English clubs yet." Source: http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/8581551/ Obviously, there is no restriction on negotiating with clubs abroad however !
