Transfer Rumours Summer Transfer window

[Roppa]

Really? That was never, ever going to be the case

Really? serious question here m8, how do u know that was never ever going to be the case? Insider info? Or just your honest opinion?

 

[SourPatch2]

I don't think two CBs of the calibre of Disasi and Lucumi is the route we'll take. I imagine it'll be one or the other. I wouldn't be against one of them and then a cheaper, younger CB coming in but that would mean needing to get Seelt, Alese and Hjelde out playing games.

We have so many players we need to get out the door, both loans and permanents. I'm starting to fear that we may not be able to do it.

Blondy, Huggins, Pembele, Seelt, Hjelde, Alese, Anderson, Matete, Rusyn, Browne, Aleksic, Ba, Hemir, Abdullahi, Poveda. Then if another winger comes in i'd want to see Roberts going. Plus, Cirkin and Neil are they going to sign new deals? If not then we really need to be maximising their value this summer. I haven't even mentioned u21s either.

That's a lot of business to get done in under a week.

 

[LD19SAFC]

Really? serious question here m8, how do u know that was never ever going to be the case? Insider info? Or just your honest opinion?

Just the way we operate. It was never going to be a case of signing from the championship, especially 4 or 5

 

[Pure River Slut]

Coming into the last chance saloon I think Ballard's injury will focus the mind....not what we were expecting. That said,it's a goalscorer I'm hoping for!
That,Neil and Cirkin to sign extended contracts,and half a dozen to leave will leave me delighted with this window and where we are now.

I think Neil’s gone. There may be a delay on Cirkin because of injury but wouldn’t surprise me if he leaves. Getting slightly twitchy about Rigg.

I would still be happy to just sign one CB and one winger

Same. As long as they’re good enough and have a history of being resilient.

 

[Nads]

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Our squad value likely doubles with a half decent season/survival.

 

[CR17]

According to Il Resto del Carlino, Bologna are wary of a legal battle over FIFA’s Article 17 clause. Lucumí did not inform his club within the required 15-day window after the final game of last season, which would have been necessary to trigger unilateral termination. That potential “can of worms” is one both sides seem keen to avoid.

Instead, the pressure is mounting on Bologna to agree a deal. La Gazzetta dello Sport confirm that Sunderland’s €30m bid remains on the table and that Bologna are already intensifying contacts with Union Berlin defender Diogo Leite as a ready-made replacement. That move could unlock Lucumí’s exit within days.

For Sunderland, this represents a statement signing. Having consolidated their Premier League status, the Black Cats are signalling ambition to strengthen their defensive core. Could this be the turning point in their summer window?

The Rossoblù remain reluctant sellers. Lucumí has been central to their defensive structure since arriving from Genk in 2022. But with the player keen to move, Bologna are under pressure to avoid unrest in the dressing room.

Their pursuit of Union Berlin’s Diogo Leite suggests contingency planning is well underway. Once a replacement is secured, Bologna may have little choice but to sanction the deal with Sunderland before the transfer window slams shut.

 

[Robertson]

It’s basic logic. Our spend is limited by our size and our revenue. Aston Villa got into serious trouble with higher revenues than were capable of. We’ve got a perfect storm this summer built on the frugal way we operated in the champ plus a couple of chunky sales. Yet we’ve now locked ourselves into circa £40m and counting of annual transfer charges on the books. We can’t keep adding to that number indefinitely. It’s unsustainable - particularly as wage costs increase year on year. And we can’t plan to rely on sales. They might not happen to the scale or timescale that we need. This summer is a one off and we need to maximise it. More and more centre halves isnt maximising it.

It's a fine balancing act. You make excellent points but it's also imperative that we assemble a very strong defence.

 

[Brainy Dose]

https://www.skysports.com/football/...enals-hale-end-academy-is-their-biggest-asset

Max Dowman joins Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly in showing Arsenal's Hale End academy is their biggest asset

The Emirates Stadium crackled with anticipation every time the ball arrived at the feet of Max Dowman. As in Arsenal's pre-season games, his team-mates made a concerted effort to put it there. It is easy to understand why. The 15-year-old is a special talent. Dowman became the second-youngest player in Premier League history with his introduction against Leeds, a huge achievement in itself. But most remarkable is that, as well as being Arsenal's youngest player, he once again looked their most dangerous. Leeds could not contain him. The drop of the shoulder to win Arsenal's late penalty capped a thrilling debut. On a day of theatre, of unveilings, injuries and first goals, it was Dowman, a schoolboy still four months shy of his 16th birthday, who stole the show.

"This is what we see every single day in training," smiled Mikel Arteta afterwards. It is something else, though, to do it on this stage. "He is so convinced that he can go at 15 and deliver that, which I never witnessed in my life," added the Arsenal manager.

Dowman might be Arsenal's most exciting academy product yet. He certainly looks uniquely ready for the step up at his age. But he is just the latest player off the club's production line in recent years. Hale End continues to deliver.

In the closing stages of Saturday's game, Dowman was one of three teenaged academy graduates on the pitch for Arsenal along with Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, both of whom are already established at senior level, relative veterans at 18. Bukayo Saka, an inspiration to all three having become a talismanic figure for the club and its youth set-up, had earlier scored the second goal before being forced off injured. In new signing Eberechi Eze, there was another former Hale Ender watching on. Eze is different, of course, in that he had to leave, aged 13, to make it at senior level. But his connected past makes his return all the more intoxicating to the club's supporters. He was greeted on Saturday as a boyhood fan as well as a former academy player.

In the matchday programme, Arsenal's co-chair Josh Kroenke had spoken about the importance of tying Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri to new contracts. "They know what it means to be Arsenal," he said. So does Eze. The club is woven into his DNA too.

"It brings joy, it brings emotion," said Arteta afterwards. He was referencing Dowman's emergence but the same can be applied to any one of the club's academy products.

Their instant bond with the club and its supporters is of course only one part of their offering. Saka, Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly and Dowman, carefully nurtured by Arsenal since childhood, have added immense quality to the squad at no cost in transfer fees. At only 15, Dowman is too young for a valuation. A player cannot command a transfer fee until he has signed his first professional contract after turning 16. All that can wait for him.

But it is dizzying to ponder the heights he might reach, and just how much he might bring to a squad already rated as the world's second-most valuable after that of



Real Madrid. Arsenal have assembled a group of players worth £1.14bn for transfer fees totalling £826m. No other Premier League even comes close in terms of squad value generated compared to cost.

Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly have some way to go to reach Saka's heights but their trajectories, at 18, are not dissimilar. The former is valued at £48m; the latter £39m. The hope is that they will continue to grow and develop, and that Dowman will be next. The players and their families are of course the key drivers in their success. Together, they also reflect the excellent work of academy director Per Mertesacker and the various coaches who oversaw their progress through the age groups at Hale End.

But they also require a manager willing to trust them and they have that in Arteta, whose close relationship with Mertesacker has helped ensure alignment between the academy and the senior side, opening a clear pathway into the first-team. It is largely thanks to their blossoming academy products. Saka is now valued at £129.3m by Transfermarkt, reflecting his status as one of the world's best players. Still only 23, he remains the academy's jewel, his peak years still to come.
Since the start of last season, Arsenal have given more minutes to players aged 18 or under than any other Premier League side. Even academy players who have moved on, such as Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah, have generated value through their sales.

Unusually for a first-team manager, Arteta has taken an active role in meetings with players such as Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly from a young age, long before they joined the senior squad. But it is since their promotions that their progress has really accelerated. It is partly down to the exposure but Arteta's coaching has helped too. Saka was playing at full-back when Arteta arrived at the club but has flourished as a right-sided forward. Lewis-Skelly, previously a central midfielder, has been reinvented as a left-back.

It remains to be seen where Dowman's long-term future lies. He has so far been used in Saka's role, cutting inside from the right, onto his left foot. But he can also play centrally, either as a No 8 or a No 10.The possibilities are tantalising. He will of course need to be protected given his age. Dowman is still a year away from sitting his GCSEs. But clearly he has a role to play even in the short-term. Events at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday were a reminder that Arsenal's academy is key to their present as well as their future.

Thanks for posting mate.....excellent article,which will not have been lost on KLD and KS,who,I'm certain,will have a very similar project occupying their minds.

 

[Roppa]

Just the way we operate. It was never going to be a case of signing from the championship, especially 4 or 5

No still lost m8. I said what I expected on promotion, and as we’d never been in the premier league I told you what I expected, as we’d never ever operated in that environment before, I also expected them to give a core number from the promotion team a go, hence that’s what my opinion of our operating strategy. So you’re saying with hindsight it’s not how we do business?

 

[CR17]

I don't think two CBs of the calibre of Disasi and Lucumi is the route we'll take. I imagine it'll be one or the other. I wouldn't be against one of them and then a cheaper, younger CB coming in but that would mean needing to get Seelt, Alese and Hjelde out playing games.

We have so many players we need to get out the door, both loans and permanents. I'm starting to fear that we may not be able to do it.

Blondy, Huggins, Pembele, Seelt, Hjelde, Alese, Anderson, Matete, Rusyn, Browne, Aleksic, Ba, Hemir, Abdullahi, Poveda. Then if another winger comes in i'd want to see Roberts going. Plus, Cirkin and Neil are they going to sign new deals? If not then we really need to be maximising their value this summer. I haven't even mentioned u21s either.

That's a lot of business to get done in under a week.

Btw, Tom White mentioned on the RR podcast that even if we didn't manage to shift them, they don't train with the squad, they likely aren't registered, and their wages barely dent the structure

 

[LD19SAFC]

No still lost m8. I said what I expected on promotion, and as we’d never been in the premier league I told you what I expected, as we’d never ever operated in that environment before, I also expected them to give a core number from the promotion team a go, hence that’s what my opinion of our operating strategy. So you’re saying with hindsight it’s not how we do business?

Why? The club clearly didn’t think they were good enough.

 

[SourPatch2]

Btw, Tom White mentioned on the RR podcast that even if we didn't manage to shift them, they don't train with the squad, they likely aren't registered, and their wages barely dent the structure

It's more to do with maximising value though. Even if most of them leave for £1m or less this summer, that would give us so much headroom with PSR that it would theoretically allow us to sign a £40m player on a 4 year deal. I've named 18 players there that could/should be moved on, whether Tom White says it or not they are definitely taking a large portion of our wages to barely play. Only Seelt and Roberts out of that 18 have played a PL minute in the opening 2 games.

 

[Roppa]

Why? The club clearly didn’t think they were good enough.

So you thought they weren’t good enough at the point of promotion? And you thought we’d spend £150m on replacing them? Well done m8, you’re clearly more tuned in than I am, anyway got to tee off in 10 so have a good one.

 

[LD19SAFC]

So you thought they weren’t good enough at the point of promotion? And you thought we’d spend £150m on replacing them? Well done m8, you’re clearly more tuned in than I am, anyway got to tee off in 10 so have a good one.

I knew the squad needed serious investment if we were to have any chance of survival. The club agreed, thankfully

 

[SourPatch2]

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Mid table clubs dropping €50m on a single player.

 

[TopCat.]

I don't think two CBs of the calibre of Disasi and Lucumi is the route we'll take. I imagine it'll be one or the other. I wouldn't be against one of them and then a cheaper, younger CB coming in but that would mean needing to get Seelt, Alese and Hjelde out playing games.

We have so many players we need to get out the door, both loans and permanents. I'm starting to fear that we may not be able to do it.

Blondy, Huggins, Pembele, Seelt, Hjelde, Alese, Anderson, Matete, Rusyn, Browne, Aleksic, Ba, Hemir, Abdullahi, Poveda. Then if another winger comes in i'd want to see Roberts going. Plus, Cirkin and Neil are they going to sign new deals? If not then we really need to be maximising their value this summer. I haven't even mentioned u21s either.

That's a lot of business to get done in under a week.

I don't think it's a problem really if we fail to shift some of those players, not in financial terms anyway.
Would be amazed if Alese or Hjelde go anywhere seeing as they are still injured. Hemir has apparently already got a loan back to Portugal.
Don't think Cirkin, Neil, or Roberts will be going anywhere.
Huggins will have plenty suitors for a loan to the Championship. Ditto Browne. Imagine Poveda will have teams willing to take a punt too.
Anderson seems to have zero desire to move on, I assume that's money related.

Would be good to shift Ba, Pembele, Rusyn and Matete, but not going to break the bank if we don't.

 

[FellTop]

Once you're an established PL team,it's so much easier to introduce Academy players.....we're not quite there yet and Ghisolfi is running around trying to sign players to get us to that position.

Not so sure it is that cut and dried mate. Arsenal under pressure to win the league and they can find ways to give academy players meaningful time. Dowman was probably the best player on the pitch mind. Look at the goal the young lad at Liverpool scored age 16 yesterday - huge pressure moment and Liverpool trust the lad. The signal it sends through the whole academy is enormous. We have our own super talent in Rigg imo. If he is not ready to play premier league football I will eat my hat. Like Arteta said about Dowman, Mowbray said about Rigg - you have to look beyond the age and see the player. It takes bravery from coaches to play such young lads, but I would wager in Riggs case he will shine and leave some of the lads purchase this summer in his wake. Academy football is producing players ready for elite football at younger ages these days. No point accelerating their development when they are so talented, to then stall it a the finishing line for them.

 

[Jambezz]

According to Il Resto del Carlino, Bologna are wary of a legal battle over FIFA’s Article 17 clause. Lucumí did not inform his club within the required 15-day window after the final game of last season, which would have been necessary to trigger unilateral termination. That potential “can of worms” is one both sides seem keen to avoid.

Instead, the pressure is mounting on Bologna to agree a deal. La Gazzetta dello Sport confirm that Sunderland’s €30m bid remains on the table and that Bologna are already intensifying contacts with Union Berlin defender Diogo Leite as a ready-made replacement. That move could unlock Lucumí’s exit within days.

For Sunderland, this represents a statement signing. Having consolidated their Premier League status, the Black Cats are signalling ambition to strengthen their defensive core. Could this be the turning point in their summer window?

The Rossoblù remain reluctant sellers. Lucumí has been central to their defensive structure since arriving from Genk in 2022. But with the player keen to move, Bologna are under pressure to avoid unrest in the dressing room.

Their pursuit of Union Berlin’s Diogo Leite suggests contingency planning is well underway. Once a replacement is secured, Bologna may have little choice but to sanction the deal with Sunderland before the transfer window slams shut.

Groundhog day

 

[ned_werby]

Yep,might be the answer.What you're after really is a Mo Salah.

Hope not, he's been **** for ages.

 

[SourPatch2]

I don't think it's a problem really if we fail to shift some of those players, not in financial terms anyway.
Would be amazed if Alese or Hjelde go anywhere seeing as they are still injured. Hemir has apparently already got a loan back to Portugal.
Don't think Cirkin, Neil, or Roberts will be going anywhere.
Huggins will have plenty suitors for a loan to the Championship. Ditto Browne. Imagine Poveda will have teams willing to take a punt too.
Anderson seems to have zero desire to move on, I assume that's money related.

Would be good to shift Ba, Pembele, Rusyn and Matete, but not going to break the bank if we don't.

If Neil and Cirkin aren't going to sign new deals then they need to be moved on.

You're right it's not going to break the bank to keep them, but the upside of moving them on is enormous.