Summer Transfer Suggestion Thread 2023

[Gabby'sThighs]

30 minutes ago, Gabby'sThighs said:

https://www.transfermarkt.com/spieler/vertragslosespieler/statistik/1/plus//galerie/0?ausrichtung=alle&spielerposition_id=alle&land_id=alle&altersklasse=23-30&wettbewerb_id=alle&seit=alle&yt0=Show

https://www.transfermarkt.com/spieler/vertragslosespieler/statistik/1/plus//galerie/0?ausrichtung=alle&spielerposition_id=alle&land_id=alle&altersklasse=23-30&wettbewerb_id=alle&seit=alle&yt0=Show
 

Here you go - an up-to-date list of the free transfers still available, filtered for 23-30 year olds.
Adama Traore, Tom Davies, Maitland-Niles, Jesse Lingard, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley, Sam Byram, Tiemoué Bakayoko, Britt Assombalonga.

Bosh, done. Can someone ping it to Paul Warne please? I'll accept a 10% finder's fee - thanks.

In all seriousness, surely Matty Longstaff and Steven Sessegnon are get-able.

[Foreveram]

9 minutes ago, Gabby'sThighs said:

https://www.transfermarkt.com/spieler/vertragslosespieler/statistik/1/plus//galerie/0?ausrichtung=alle&spielerposition_id=alle&land_id=alle&altersklasse=23-30&wettbewerb_id=alle&seit=alle&yt0=Show
 

Here you go - an up-to-date list of the free transfers still available, filtered for 23-30 year olds.
Adama Traore, Tom Davies, Maitland-Niles, Jesse Lingard, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley, Sam Byram, Tiemoué Bakayoko, Britt Assombalonga.

Bosh, done. Can someone ping it to Paul Warne please? I'll accept a 10% finder's fee - thanks.

In all seriousness, surely Matty Longstaff and Steven Sessegnon are get-able.

Listening to Warne’s hatred of big time Charlies I think you can strike Lingard off the list😂

[sage]

15 minutes ago, Gabby'sThighs said:

https://www.transfermarkt.com/spieler/vertragslosespieler/statistik/1/plus//galerie/0?ausrichtung=alle&spielerposition_id=alle&land_id=alle&altersklasse=23-30&wettbewerb_id=alle&seit=alle&yt0=Show
 

Here you go - an up-to-date list of the free transfers still available, filtered for 23-30 year olds.
Adama Traore, Tom Davies, Maitland-Niles, Jesse Lingard, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley, Sam Byram, Tiemoué Bakayoko, Britt Assombalonga.

Bosh, done. Can someone ping it to Paul Warne please? I'll accept a 10% finder's fee - thanks.

In all seriousness, surely Matty Longstaff and Steven Sessegnon are get-able.

Longstaff has serious injury issues and is no faster than Bird. Sessegnon is right footed and PW specifically wants a left footed wing back. 

[Waghorny]

5 minutes ago, Gabby'sThighs said:

https://www.transfermarkt.com/spieler/vertragslosespieler/statistik/1/plus//galerie/0?ausrichtung=alle&spielerposition_id=alle&land_id=alle&altersklasse=23-30&wettbewerb_id=alle&seit=alle&yt0=Show
 

Here you go - an up-to-date list of the free transfers still available, filtered for 23-30 year olds.
Adama Traore, Tom Davies, Maitland-Niles, Jesse Lingard, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ross Barkley, Sam Byram, Tiemoué Bakayoko, Britt Assombalonga.

Bosh, done. Can someone ping it to Paul Warne please? I'll accept a 10% finder's fee - thanks.

In all seriousness, surely Matty Longstaff and Steven Sessegnon are get-able.

Some great names on here:

Tariqe Fosu - 88 Games in League 1, 20 Goals from 2017-2020 -  most recently on loan at Stoke & Rotherham in the Championship managing a measley 1 goal in 39 games - would he drop back down, only 27 years old

Josh Onomah - Tottenham youth, most recently at Preston, playing in the Premier League 2 seasons ago, doubt he would drop back down but... only 26

Benik Afobe - Most recently in the UAE, wages an issue, hasnt played in League One since 2013/14 scoring 10 goals in 22 games, most recently scored 12 in 38 in the Championship for Millwall in 2021-22

Ryan Nyambe - 32 Apps for Wigan covering LB, RB and CB in the Championship, shrewd cover?

Matty Longstaff - 23 years old and now without a club, loan moves to Aberdeen, Mansfield and Colchester in recent years, energetic midfielder that has made 14 Premier League appearances, only worry is he's never played at this level, just the 18 appearances in League Two, is he an unknown?

Fankaty Dabo - Surprised he hasnt yet found a club, and doubt he'd come to play 2nd / 3rd fiddle for the Wing Back spot, Coventry's first choice RB for their promotion charge, and is still only 27

Liam Moore - ex Reading captain who seems to have been around forever, yet is only 30 - wages probably an issue and hasnt stepped foot out of the championship since 2012, strange he hasnt been picked up by a promoted side, would he come here as a backup? probably not...

Tom Rogic - big surprise that he is still without a club, have to think wages again would be an issue most recently playing for WBA, Australian international who can play anywhere in the centre of Midfield

Steven Sessengnon - loan move to Charlton last season as their first choice LB, but can also cover RB and CB - good cover and can't be expecting big wages?

 

[Premier ram]

12 minutes ago, Foreveram said:

Listening to Warne’s hatred of big time Charlies I think you can strike Lingard off the list😂

 

            

[sage]

4 minutes ago, Waghorny said:

Some great names on here:

Tariqe Fosu - 88 Games in League 1, 20 Goals from 2017-2020 -  most recently on loan at Stoke & Rotherham in the Championship managing a measley 1 goal in 39 games - would he drop back down, only 27 years old (right footed we want a LWB)

Josh Onomah - Tottenham youth, most recently at Preston, playing in the Premier League 2 seasons ago, doubt he would drop back down but... only 26 (decent shout)

Benik Afobe - Most recently in the UAE, wages an issue, hasnt played in League One since 2013/14 scoring 10 goals in 22 games, most recently scored 12 in 38 in the Championship for Millwall in 2021-22 (decent CF but looks like fading away, can't see us getting Waggy and him)

Ryan Nyambe - 32 Apps for Wigan covering LB, RB and CB in the Championship, shrewd cover? (good player but doubt would want to be cover, not a priority area)

Matty Longstaff - 23 years old and now without a club, loan moves to Aberdeen, Mansfield and Colchester in recent years, energetic midfielder that has made 14 Premier League appearances, only worry is he's never played at this level, just the 18 appearances in League Two, is he an unknown? (injured)

Fankaty Dabo - Surprised he hasnt yet found a club, and doubt he'd come to play 2nd / 3rd fiddle for the Wing Back spot, Coventry's first choice RB for their promotion charge, and is still only 27 (right footed we want a LWB)

Liam Moore - ex Reading captain who seems to have been around forever, yet is only 30 - wages probably an issue and hasnt stepped foot out of the championship since 2012, strange he hasnt been picked up by a promoted side, would he come here as a backup? probably not... (can't see us signing another CB when we have 4 other priorites)

Tom Rogic - big surprise that he is still without a club, have to think wages again would be an issue most recently playing for WBA, Australian international who can play anywhere in the centre of Midfield (decent shout)

Steven Sessengnon - loan move to Charlton last season as their first choice LB, but can also cover RB and CB - good cover and can't be expecting big wages? (right footed we want a LWB)

I can see our signings from now on fitting into 4 categories

 

Older player signing for 1 year ie Waggy

Champ Level player who gets fed up of hanging on for a champ club ie Onomah

A player we have been chasing and suddenly becomes available ie Godden

A young loanee when Prem or Upper Champ clubs are finalising their squads in late August ie Dobbin  

[Gabby'sThighs]

Ah, you're right - I read an article from Jan that said his injury wasn't an ACL but a few weeks later it was confirmed as an ACL.

Personally, I think every squad should have a Sessegnon.

[Gabby'sThighs]

35 minutes ago, Waghorny said:

Some great names on here:

Tariqe Fosu - 88 Games in League 1, 20 Goals from 2017-2020 -  most recently on loan at Stoke & Rotherham in the Championship managing a measley 1 goal in 39 games - would he drop back down, only 27 years old

Josh Onomah - Tottenham youth, most recently at Preston, playing in the Premier League 2 seasons ago, doubt he would drop back down but... only 26

Benik Afobe - Most recently in the UAE, wages an issue, hasnt played in League One since 2013/14 scoring 10 goals in 22 games, most recently scored 12 in 38 in the Championship for Millwall in 2021-22

Ryan Nyambe - 32 Apps for Wigan covering LB, RB and CB in the Championship, shrewd cover?

Matty Longstaff - 23 years old and now without a club, loan moves to Aberdeen, Mansfield and Colchester in recent years, energetic midfielder that has made 14 Premier League appearances, only worry is he's never played at this level, just the 18 appearances in League Two, is he an unknown?

Fankaty Dabo - Surprised he hasnt yet found a club, and doubt he'd come to play 2nd / 3rd fiddle for the Wing Back spot, Coventry's first choice RB for their promotion charge, and is still only 27

Liam Moore - ex Reading captain who seems to have been around forever, yet is only 30 - wages probably an issue and hasnt stepped foot out of the championship since 2012, strange he hasnt been picked up by a promoted side, would he come here as a backup? probably not...

Tom Rogic - big surprise that he is still without a club, have to think wages again would be an issue most recently playing for WBA, Australian international who can play anywhere in the centre of Midfield

Steven Sessengnon - loan move to Charlton last season as their first choice LB, but can also cover RB and CB - good cover and can't be expecting big wages?

 

Liam Moore is another one who had a serious knee injury (Jan 2022) and has had various other injuries since.

[Carl Sagan]

3 hours ago, RoyMac5 said:

Would you have taken Waghorn last January? I would and I think he can't trap a bag of cement! Sign him up on a reasonable wage if he'll take it.

No chance. The key player I wanted in January to make a difference and secure a playoff place in the run-in was Bielik. Alas that ship sailed and we didn't make the playoffs and now it feels we're in a hole. But we're largely in that hole because Mel gambled (with good odds but lost) so I do understand Clowes not gambling as he probably can't afford to lose. But if we don't roll at some point, can we escape this lowest position in the club's history?

[IlsonDerby]

3 hours ago, Will Hughes Hair said:

I thought (and probably still do) that May was a better and cheaper bet than Rhodes. Both have little resale value.

Washington seems very much a Warne type of player and there’s nothing wrong in that. I hope he does well but I very much doubt he’s going to be so repolished he re-attains his former status or resale value.

Waghorn is only here by chance. I think he’s astute business at this level. But again no resale value.

The issue with no resale value is that if they walk away like Didzy or retire you’ve nothing to reinvest and you’re forever signing aging freebie’s.

So my issue isn’t that I’m sulking about May but I’m worried about squad depth and our apparent one dimensional approach to recruitment.

Our hand has been forced I know people are worried they can’t criticise us without having ‘we nearly didn’t have a club’ thrown at them but genuinely were shopping where we are because we nearly didn’t have a club. This is a direct result of the mismanagement of our club that led to admin. 
 

if a bloke who paid way more than what we were worth to save us wants the club to be sustainable and so is using the knight and Beliek funds to run the club then fair enough. It isn’t on him to pour any more money in. 

[Eoghan1884]

Aden flint was linked to QPR in the last few days by some decent journalists, now he’s set to sign for Mansfield. So reports of him wanting to stay local obviously true. Don’t think he’d have been a bad option on a cheap contract for a year but also don’t care we haven’t signed him.

[TheTinMan]

On the sustainable theme I've seen somebody else mention this, our transfer policy is getting in players in their 30s, past their best, no resale value and probably won't extend their contracts. I'm struggling to see what is sustainable about that and where this cycle ends if there isn't a constant production line of decent talent breaking through from the academy we can sell on and not be shafted over like we always seem to be. 

[IlsonDerby]

4 hours ago, TheTinMan said:

On the sustainable theme I've seen somebody else mention this, our transfer policy is getting in players in their 30s, past their best, no resale value and probably won't extend their contracts. I'm struggling to see what is sustainable about that and where this cycle ends if there isn't a constant production line of decent talent breaking through from the academy we can sell on and not be shafted over like we always seem to be. 

I’d assume that’s a big part of the plan but you’ve got to think it’s worth an extra what £8m to be in the championship? That’s when you can start paying your £500k here and your £600k there on some younger talent with resale value. 
 

 

[DesertRam]

We are still being linked with Sharpe, I'd have him. no animosity here,

he's a professional footballer and would soon change peoples minds with his first

goal!

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

59 minutes ago, DesertRam said:

We are still being linked with Sharpe, I'd have him. no animosity here,

he's a professional footballer and would soon change peoples minds with his first

goal!

[FlyBritishMidland]

6 hours ago, IlsonDerby said:

Our hand has been forced I know people are worried they can’t criticise us without having ‘we nearly didn’t have a club’ thrown at them but genuinely were shopping where we are because we nearly didn’t have a club. This is a direct result of the mismanagement of our club that led to admin. 
 

if a bloke who paid way more than what we were worth to save us wants the club to be sustainable and so is using the knight and Beliek funds to run the club then fair enough. It isn’t on him to pour any more money in. 

Exactly this.  A good organisation, team, relationship, reputation or whatever you use takes time to build but is lost in an instant.  And that’s where we are.  It’s going to take time to build.  We’re effectively trying to build a number of parts of the club from scratch.

We’ve had to get the structure behind the scenes in place with the academy roles, recruitment and lots more roles that are always being advertised that we don’t see.  We’re trying to build a competitive first team with the aim of promotion.  That will require experience and is reflected in our signings.  We’re also building the academy back up.  It’s great that some have been involved during the pre-season like Brown and Robinson.  We’re continuing to sign more.  Maybe one of these will have a part to play and break through?  No one knows.  We need to maximise the entire club budget to feed all areas, and try to be as sustainable as possible.

Yes, we could do with a few more players.  But wouldn’t it be great if one of the new academy signings or one who was already here surprised us all.  We might say take a gamble on a young player in the lower leagues.  But what if he’s already here.

[Caerphilly Ram]

1 hour ago, FlyBritishMidland said:

Exactly this.  A good organisation, team, relationship, reputation or whatever you use takes time to build but is lost in an instant.  And that’s where we are.  It’s going to take time to build.  We’re effectively trying to build a number of parts of the club from scratch.

We’ve had to get the structure behind the scenes in place with the academy roles, recruitment and lots more roles that are always being advertised that we don’t see.  We’re trying to build a competitive first team with the aim of promotion.  That will require experience and is reflected in our signings.  We’re also building the academy back up.  It’s great that some have been involved during the pre-season like Brown and Robinson.  We’re continuing to sign more.  Maybe one of these will have a part to play and break through?  No one knows.  We need to maximise the entire club budget to feed all areas, and try to be as sustainable as possible.

Yes, we could do with a few more players.  But wouldn’t it be great if one of the new academy signings or one who was already here surprised us all.  We might say take a gamble on a young player in the lower leagues.  But what if he’s already here.

Ben Radcliffe is the one I’m most impressed by from pre-season. Spent pretty much a full season in non-league men’s football last year as an 18 year old and has the height and build of someone much older than his 19 years. He’s my pick for surprise fast track to the first team picture 

[Ghost of Clough]

10 hours ago, sage said:

It's not criticism, it's concern. I'll explain.

Last season Warne said our squad is 3 players short. We are currently 3 players below that figure. So 6 less than he stated he wanted last year. 

Last year Warne bemoaned having too many players 30 and over. Half of our signings are 30 or over. WE have signed one player under 27.

We are 3 days away from our first game and we have 2 CFs, one of which has only had 1 week of training following an injury.

Our 3 of our 4 young players have been sold, under offer or injured. None of the 3 we have left have signed another contract.

We have a game plan that requires a high press but contains little pace in a backline leaving us stretched in CM where we have only slightly more pace. Only Washington and Nelson have increased pace in the starting XI, something which Warne wanted.

The statement after the Sheff Wednesday defeat implied we would have a bigger budget this year, this isn't apparent in reality. The ruling about Jozwiak appears to have swallowed the Knight fee, when we thought those debts were cleared.

 

None of this is a criticism, just legitimate concerns. We are all grateful for Clowes rescuing the club and don't expect or want MM levels of spending, but we currently have the smallest squad of the promotion contenders despite having the biggest 22/23 attendance by miles, 45% higher than our nearest rival. 

These concerns won't stop us buying match or season tickets or cheering our lads on at games, but they are concerns nonetheless.

Squad Size

We may have fewer numbers than last season, but a number of those were only here for half a season, and one player was unavailable to even be in the matchday squad for 85% of the season. Let's look at the numbers in detail...

We used 22 players in the league last season. This was then boosted by a number of U21 squad members for cup games. Excluding 2nd and 3rd choice keepers, we're currently 4 players down on last season (3 once Waghorn signs).

We can split the season in two, since the squad is adjusted in the January window.

In the first half of the season, we used 20 different players. With the exception of just 1 game, it was a case of either Davies or Rooney in the squad. 6 out of the 7 occasions Chester appeared in the matchday squad came in the first half of the season, so on the whole, he's hardly worthy of consideration. We essentially had an 18/19 man squad in the first half of the season, so in terms of depth, we're on par, with the view to still adding 2 or 3 more players later this month.

For the second half of the season, the only new additions to feature on the pitch were White and Springett. However, Osula returned to Sheff Utd, Stearman was no longer used, and Thompson eventually went out on loan. Once again, we basically ended up with a 19 man squad.

Warne stated he wanted a 20-22 man squad. Well, with the additions Warne still plans to make to the squad, we'll be at 22.

 

Squad Age

I'm sure Warne underestimated how difficult it was for us to add under 30s to the squad. We started last season with 10 players in the squad who were 30 or older, and we currently have 10 players aged 30 or over. The average age of those has decreased from 32.8 to 31.9. 

We have Wilson, Bird, Sibley, Cashin, Thompson and Rooney in the first team squad who are 23 or younger. More than just the 3 you're suggesting we have. That could be 3 out of our back 5 sorted, 2 CMs, and 1 AM, forming our spine for years to come. Wildsmith, Vickers, Ward and Elder are still in their prime years too.

I'm not sure why you're making it sound like other clubs (from a higher division) bidding for our players is a bad thing. It proves they're actually good players. Whilst it was sad to see Knight leave, I expect the other three to remain with us this season. None of them want to be playing in L1, so it's understandable that they may be reluctant to sign new deals at this stage. It may also be a case of us waiting to see how much budget we have left after signing our remaining targets before we offer them new deals. Cashin in particular will be due a big pay rise.

It'll be steady progress and small tweaks to the squad each season. We're unlikely to see major overhauls and finish a summer with exactly the squad we want and at perfect ages for a number of years. It'll only be a couple of additions each season who will be at the right age and stay long enough for us to build a top squad again.

It took Clough 5 summers to build 13/14 squad. We never signed a lot of key players in any one season, but along the way wee still signed: Barker and Buxton (09/10), Brayford (10/11), Bryson, Ward and Shackell (11/12), Keogh (12/13), Russell, Forsyth, Grant, Martin and Eustace (13/14). The only key player who was signed over 30 was Eustace, however, we still signed other older players during those seasons  to fill gaps until we could find a suitable player in their prime years. 

I imagine we'll start to see similar recruitment from next summer, where the majority of defensive signings at 26-30, and midfield and forward signings are 23-27.

[Van der MoodHoover]

12 hours ago, sage said:

 

Our 3 of our 4 young players have been sold, under offer or injured. None of the 3 we have left have signed another contract

      

There was only this bit of your post I didn't quite follow mate.

Which is remarkable given my ongoing senility......

How many young players have we got left?

Are you and I counted among them?

[ram59]

57 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Squad Size

We may have fewer numbers than last season, but a number of those were only here for half a season, and one player was unavailable to even be in the matchday squad for 85% of the season. Let's look at the numbers in detail...

We used 22 players in the league last season. This was then boosted by a number of U21 squad members for cup games. Excluding 2nd and 3rd choice keepers, we're currently 4 players down on last season (3 once Waghorn signs).

We can split the season in two, since the squad is adjusted in the January window.

In the first half of the season, we used 20 different players. With the exception of just 1 game, it was a case of either Davies or Rooney in the squad. 6 out of the 7 occasions Chester appeared in the matchday squad came in the first half of the season, so on the whole, he's hardly worthy of consideration. We essentially had an 18/19 man squad in the first half of the season, so in terms of depth, we're on par, with the view to still adding 2 or 3 more players later this month.

For the second half of the season, the only new additions to feature on the pitch were White and Springett. However, Osula returned to Sheff Utd, Stearman was no longer used, and Thompson eventually went out on loan. Once again, we basically ended up with a 19 man squad.

Warne stated he wanted a 20-22 man squad. Well, with the additions Warne still plans to make to the squad, we'll be at 22.

 

Squad Age

I'm sure Warne underestimated how difficult it was for us to add under 30s to the squad. We started last season with 10 players in the squad who were 30 or older, and we currently have 10 players aged 30 or over. The average age of those has decreased from 32.8 to 31.9. 

We have Wilson, Bird, Sibley, Cashin, Thompson and Rooney in the first team squad who are 23 or younger. More than just the 3 you're suggesting we have. That could be 3 out of our back 5 sorted, 2 CMs, and 1 AM, forming our spine for years to come. Wildsmith, Vickers, Ward and Elder are still in their prime years too.

I'm not sure why you're making it sound like other clubs (from a higher division) bidding for our players is a bad thing. It proves they're actually good players. Whilst it was sad to see Knight leave, I expect the other three to remain with us this season. None of them want to be playing in L1, so it's understandable that they may be reluctant to sign new deals at this stage. It may also be a case of us waiting to see how much budget we have left after signing our remaining targets before we offer them new deals. Cashin in particular will be due a big pay rise.

It'll be steady progress and small tweaks to the squad each season. We're unlikely to see major overhauls and finish a summer with exactly the squad we want and at perfect ages for a number of years. It'll only be a couple of additions each season who will be at the right age and stay long enough for us to build a top squad again.

It took Clough 5 summers to build 13/14 squad. We never signed a lot of key players in any one season, but along the way wee still signed: Barker and Buxton (09/10), Brayford (10/11), Bryson, Ward and Shackell (11/12), Keogh (12/13), Russell, Forsyth, Grant, Martin and Eustace (13/14). The only key player who was signed over 30 was Eustace, however, we still signed other older players during those seasons  to fill gaps until we could find a suitable player in their prime years. 

I imagine we'll start to see similar recruitment from next summer, where the majority of defensive signings at 26-30, and midfield and forward signings are 23-27.

Hopefully, next season, we'll be in a much more flexible position. To start with, we will no longer under financial restrictions and combined with this all EFL league clubs will be receiving more money through a new tv deal meaning if we get promoted the extra tv revenue will be greater than the extra £6m that promotion is currently worth.