With this january transfer dealings being kept to minimum so far, it would seem that the summer is going to be a pivotal time for us. Regardless of the league position we finish in there is potentially going to be a major upheaval of the squad. I think as of now we have a 26 man first team squad. Of that 26 , 12 are going to be out of contract in the summer: Somoygi Etheridge Schwarzer Brede Senderos Baird Diarra Karagounis Duff Davies Petric Reither ( loan deal expires ) Kasami is included in our 26 man squad, I can only assume he will go in january or the summer. Worse case scenario all the players leave we have a first team squad of 13 players, 1 goal keeper, 3 defenders, 5 midfielders, 4 strikers. Add to that Jol has not signed a new contract and the situation gets even more interesting. I think Jol will sign a new contract and that Reither will join on a permanent deal. Hopefully we can sign up Brede and Duffers, but the others I am not sure about. That potentially leaves 10 players leaving. Big moment for the club this next 6 months, secure premiership status, secure managers signature and radically overall the squad. Come on you whites
Froggie very interesting and has been mentioned a few times. My feeling is that Baird, Petric and Senderos will stay if the fit the budget as they are squad players. Probably one of the two young keepers as 3rd keeper. That's in addition to Brede, Riether and Duff. Karagounis, Diarra and Davies will depend on their wages and potential new signings. Especially Diarra and Davies as they are both quite injury prone depends on the contract the club is willing to offer.
Quite agree froggie with what you are saying,but i think the first priority is to secure our premiership status. It does not, at this point in time, look as if we will sign anyone of note,so we should be looking for some quality loan signings till the seasons end. Then analyse, take stock, and plan for the coming season.
I think a few of the older players have a clause in their contracts that mean if they make enough appearances they activate a year extension on their contracts.
I agree that the first priority is getting the points we need this season. I think it's still a little too early to write off this transfer window. People were saying the same thing at this stage of the last window, and then we pulled Berbatov out of the bag.
Jol mentioned this a few weeks ago, so most of those 12 will be staying, most likely as fringe players.
