No Offense, But.... (The 2024 Summer Transfer Window Thread)

Time to Mo Vaughn · May 14, 2024

Seems like with Havertz taking the primary #9 role for Arsenal that Jesus may be shopped over the summer.

rguilmar · May 14, 2024

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
At least in terms of attacking players, this looks to me like the worst transfer market in recent memory. Who are the best, realistically transferable attacking players this summer? I mean strikers, wingers, or attacking midfielders who are truly likely to move, not players like Kvara, Wirtz, or Leao whose clubs have no intention of selling but could theoretically if somebody offered an outrageous and implausible sum. Also, forget about Mbappe or somebody like Salah who would only be moving to Saudi Arabia if he leaves, since they are special categories and not really in the mix for normal European big clubs.

Osimhen
Olise
Gyokeres
Zirkzee
Dovbyk
Eze
Raphinha
Nico Williams
Sesko
Toney
Pedro Neto

That is a really shit list compared to past summer transfer windows. Bad time to be looking for attacking reinforcements IMO.

There might be some fallout in Madrid post Mbappe signing. Technically Joselu is still an Espanyol player, but Madrid have an option to buy for around €1.5 million. Could Rodrygo or someone else push for a move? It’s been reported that the release clause for Osimhen is insanely high but that there is a gentleman’s agreement to let him go for any reasonable offer.

For the guys in La Liga, I’m not sure how available Dovbyk and Williams are. Girona are in the Champions League next season and have already “sold” Savio. They need to add players, not sell. The general feeling is that Nico won’t move this summer unless the player absolutely demands it. Athletic generally pays players pretty well, and they’re just one Real Madrid win away from the Champions League too. A few club legends just hung up their cleats, including Muniain and Raul Garcia, which will make the club less interested in selling anyone and even more cash rich than usual. A good Euros and his price, both in terms of transfer fee and wages, will be through the roof

Rumors are that there are some unhappy campers in KSA. Benzema has been fuming, but idk if he’s demanding out of his club specifically or the country. He likely can’t contribute like he used to anyways. Gabri Veiga has not adjusted well to life in the Kingdom and might available.

Villarreal might be tempted to sell one of their young attacking players, Alex Baena and Yeremi Piño included, but they have longer terms contracts and won’t come cheap.

bosox4283 · May 14, 2024

rguilmar said:
Rumors are that there are some unhappy campers in KSA. Benzema has been fuming, but idk if he’s demanding out of his club specifically or the country. He likely can’t contribute like he used to anyways. Gabri Veiga has not adjusted well to life in the Kingdom and might available.

It was also a mystery to me that Veiga chose Saudi Arabia. I mean, I assume it was a financial decision, but he grew up in what seems to be a small town close to Vigo and was at a growth point in his career, not a "move to get the money" phase.

rguilmar · May 14, 2024

bosox4283 said:
It was also a mystery to me that Veiga chose Saudi Arabia. I mean, I assume it was a financial decision, but he grew up in what seems to be a small town close to Vigo and was at a growth point in his career, not a "move to get the money" phase.

The sense is that Celta needed him move for financial reasons, and that the Saudis were offering the club the most amount of money up front for him. He wanted to stay but left to help the club at the club’s request.

tmracht · May 14, 2024

I hope Chelsea gives this attack another 6 months to gel, Jackson is finding his feet, Enzo is rehabbing, they need some time and stability and no one on that list is a game breaker. They could use some defensive reinforcements, bye Thiago, Reece can't prove he can stay healthy all year etc. But really the attack has turned the corner. Since February they have only been shutout 3 times (Liverpool EFL Final, City FA Semis, the Arsenal Stinker). I'm not sure if they have patience in them, but they have a star in Palmer, a maturing Jackson, Noni and Mudryk are improving. Will be interesting, but really they don't need another attacker. Conversely they only have 3 clean sheets since February (Everton, Spurs and West Ham in the league). But so much hinges on them giving Poch another run until January to see where they are.

Kliq · May 14, 2024

Victor Gyokeres, a Swedish international who has 27 goals and 9 assists in 32 games for Sporting Lisbon this season, is expected to be sold. Transfermarkt has him at 55 million Euros at the moment.

the1andonly3003 · May 14, 2024

Been looking for this thread. SA going to bail out Utd this summer Saudi Arabia clubs want to sign Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes (telegraph.co.uk)

Zososoxfan · May 14, 2024

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
At least in terms of attacking players, this looks to me like the worst transfer market in recent memory. Who are the best, realistically transferable attacking players this summer? I mean strikers, wingers, or attacking midfielders who are truly likely to move, not players like Kvara, Wirtz, or Leao whose clubs have no intention of selling but could theoretically if somebody offered an outrageous and implausible sum. Also, forget about Mbappe or somebody like Salah who would only be moving to Saudi Arabia if he leaves, since they are special categories and not really in the mix for normal European big clubs.

Osimhen
Olise
Gyokeres
Zirkzee
Dovbyk
Eze
Raphinha
Nico Williams
Sesko
Toney
Pedro Neto

That is a really shit list compared to past summer transfer windows. Bad time to be looking for attacking reinforcements IMO.

How did you come up with this list? I freely admit I haven't looked at any resources yet and it may be obvious, but I'm not seeing it.

rguilmar · May 14, 2024

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Thanks for the la liga insights as always.

Rodrygo would be a really interesting option if he became available. Everything I have read about Nico Williams suggests that he has a low release clause but very high wages for a player his age, potentially prohibitively so for many clubs that wouldn’t want to bring a player of his profile in as one of their highest earners.

What do you think of Alex Baena as a player? Not many attacking midfield talents right now and he seems like an intriguing one.

Regarding Nico, there are so many variables that it’s a hard situation to read. I think his release clause is in the neighborhood of €50 million, but he might not want to leave. He’s at his boyhood club and playing with his brother who more or less raised him. I don’t know how much that impacts him or if he wants to get out of Iñaki’s shadow. You can’t overlook the role Basque identity plays either as player like Iker Muniain have turned down a fortune to stay in Bilbao. In my biased opinion, there is nothing like Athletic Club in soccer, and it would be emotionally hard for him to leave. Athletic broke their 40 year trophy drought, so it might be a good time to move on. But there is also room for improvement as a club and European trophies are up for grab. The team never holds players back from leaving but always get a ton of money.

For Baena, I wasn’t much of a fan until this season. He had a lot of unrealized potential. There was controversy with Fede Valverde that led to Baena being punched after a game in Madrid. He’s really improved this season though. He’s a nice player for a team that has a lot of possession and needs someone to unlock the opponent. He will always have many more assists than goals, and a fair amount of those “hockey assists” where he opens up a defense with a pass that leads to a goal. It looks like Aston Villa are hoping to sign him, which makes sense since Emery managed him at Villarreal. Monchi obviously knows the player well too.

67YAZ · May 14, 2024

Some other attacker names I've seen nominated as Liverpool targets:

Dani Olmo (Red Bull is always open for business)
Jarrod Bowen (change is coming to West Ham)
Kudus (again, change in manager...but apparently has a buy out clause that starts next summer, so that seems a more likely time)

And a couple of youngsters - Alberto Moleiro from Las Palmas & Francisco Conceicao from Porto.

There's also the Newcastle situation - do they have to sell? Would one or two big sales allow them to clear their books and reinvest? Isak would be a great get this summer, though Bruno G. would be the real prize. And then there's Gordon...oh god, no...

I do think Nico Williams has an incredible future ahead of him and if he moves this summer for the rumored release clause, it will be seen as brilliant move in a couple years time. But he has a lot to stay for, as Aguilar explains.

the1andonly3003 · May 15, 2024

Dates for summer 2024 and winter 2025 transfer windows confirmed (premierleague.com)

Now its official

Mighty Joe Young · May 15, 2024

the1andonly3003 said:
Dates for summer 2024 and winter 2025 transfer windows confirmed (premierleague.com)

Now its official

That article also says the rest of Europe’s top leagues will have the same dates.

Pesky Pole · May 15, 2024

The Saudi league window looks to be July 1 through September 7th. Just so we're all ready for the breath holding when those late offers come in.

Zososoxfan · May 15, 2024

There's not top end forward talent available on a free, but here's 3 names that cash-strapped clubs might think about:

Rafa, Benfica. 14G, 12A this season. 30 y.o. Short dude, but those are outstanding counting stats.

Che Adams, Southampton. 15G, 4A. 27. Could be a nice addition for a mid or lower table EPL club, or a decent backup perhaps farther up. Hitting what should be his prime years. We'll see if they win the EFL Championship playoff for promotion. The semis are tomorrow and Friday FYI.

Martial, Man U. Neglible PT and stats this season. Still a talented player, no idea what scouts think of him, but probably needs to rebuild his value. Barca??

Other attacking players (adding AMF types) I would expect will draw interest (with the caveat I don't know whether these players are looking to move or much about the situation/ambition of most of these clubs):

Ivan Toney, Brentford. His name is going to be everywhere this summer IMO. Controversial but very talented player, proven in the EPL, at the hardest position to fill (all respect to the 3-4 bona fide worldclass pivots).

Jonathan David, Lille. 19G, 4A. 24. Only 2 years left on his contract, he's moving this summer IMO. Likely a €50M move.

Dovbyk, Girona. 20G, 7A. 26. All due respect to @rguilmar, but I bet he gets sold. He could net Girona €40M and I doubt they pass that up.

Sorloth, Villarreal. 19G, 6A. 28. Big target striker that just put it a terrific season in Spain. Signed a new contract last year that will go for another 5, but if Villarreal get an offer North of €20M I bet they take it.

Adam Armstrong, Southampton. 21G, 13A. 27. Another Southampton attacker who will likely be in the Prem next season, with Southampton or otherwise. Can probably be bought for €20M or less.

Morgan Whittaker, Plymouth. 20G, 9A. 23. Really broke out this season on a terrible Plymouth side. At his age, I would imagine he'll draw interest from high Championship/low EPL clubs.

Openda, RB Leipzig. 24G, 7A. 24. RBL made a shrewd move getting him last season, and he's delivered the goods this season. He's signed thru '28, so anyone knocking on the door needs to be ready to pay real money (like ~€75M) to pry him loose. RBL also have 20 year old Sesko who just banged in 13G, 2A in under 1500 minutes signed for 5 years. We can hate on RBL for flaunting the spirit of Bundesliga rules, but my goodness they can scout and run a club.

Guirassy, Stuttgart. 26G, 2A. 28. Signed thru '26, probably need at least €60M to buy if I had to guess. They'll be in UCL next season.

Undav, Stuttgart. 18G, 10A. 27. Only signed for one more season. I expect he'll end up at Bayern, so he can stay in Germany, but seems like a player that would draw significant interest, since he'll cost much less than others.

I don't expect Sane or Chiesa to move from their respective clubs.

There's definitely some more names to suss out.

Kliq · May 15, 2024

Could Lautaro Martinez be on the move? He's got two years left on his current deal at Inter--if he wanted to make a giant transfer in his career now would probably be the best time.

Dummy Hoy · May 15, 2024

67YAZ said:
Some other attacker names I've seen nominated as Liverpool targets:

Dani Olmo (Red Bull is always open for business)
Jarrod Bowen (change is coming to West Ham)
Kudus (again, change in manager...but apparently has a buy out clause that starts next summer, so that seems a more likely time)

I'd think Lopitegui would want to have both Bowen and Kudus.

rguilmar · May 15, 2024

No offense taken @Zososoxfan. The ownership situation makes these predictions even more difficult. I wonder what if CFG see Girona as a stand alone club, a feeder club, or just a money maker. As a La Liga fan, I’d be pretty irate if the club sold off all of their top talent and tanked in the Champions League. Aleix Garcia will be getting tons of interest.

From the La Liga thread, Vitor Roque’s agent is making rumblings and grumblings about not wanting a loan move out of Barcelona and that they will only accept a permanent transfer, but it likely means nothing.

Not an attacking option, but Real Sociedad are pretty adamant that Martin Zubimendi will not be sold. Arsenal have been interested and will likely pursue him pretty hard this summer. Barca have wanted the player for a while too, but they agreed to terms with Guido and it turns out you need money to buy things. It doesn’t look like Zubimendi wants to move- I don’t like leaving San Sebastián myself- so unless the club needs him to do a solid for financial reasons, I’d guess he stays.

Cellar-Door · May 17, 2024

Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Yeah, my guess is that Lopetegui got guarantees that West Ham wouldn't be selling key players on his arrival, other than maybe Paqueta (who seemingly would have gone to City last summer if not for the weird betting issue).

Paqueta didn't go to City because his release clause doesn't kick in until this summer. Presumably they or someone else will trigger it this year, most West Ham supporters expect he'll be leaving.

the1andonly3003 · May 18, 2024

Sevilla gives Jesus Navas a lifetime contract
Jesus Navas to stay at Sevilla after being offered lifetime contract - The Athletic (nytimes.com)

SocrManiac · May 18, 2024

Of course it’s Chelsea. Somebody over there robbed a Monopoly money factory.

rguilmar · May 18, 2024

the1andonly3003 said:
Sevilla gives Jesus Navas a lifetime contract
Jesus Navas to stay at Sevilla after being offered lifetime contract - The Athletic (nytimes.com)

Hey, Jesus, this is a little awkward. Sorry we forgot about you for a minute. We were busy running this club into the ground. We know we had you record an awkward retirement video and that we released it to the public, but we promise it was all just an elaborate scheme. Anyways, after seeing your heartfelt letter and fielding several million phone calls from irate fans, we decided to do the right thing and offer you a contract. You can go ahead and pick any five digits you want, and that’s what you will get, because we care about you. We’re still going to take you for granted, but you can hang out in the locker room for as long as you’d like.
-Management

ps Next time we make a retirement video, can you bring a little more energy? The last one felt forced. Thanks xoxo

candylandriots · May 20, 2024

Aaronson returning to Leeds, per Union Berlin instagram.

OCST · May 20, 2024

Kliq said:
Victor Gyokeres, a Swedish international who has 27 goals and 9 assists in 32 games for Sporting Lisbon this season, is expected to be sold. Transfermarkt has him at 55 million Euros at the moment.

Everton tried to buy him from Coventry 2 seasons ago, one of several Everton targets who have done well (Kudus is another) - DoF has been doing solid work, if we had more money and less lunacy maybe wed have landed a few of these guys and done ok.

rguilmar · May 21, 2024

Palace are after Chadi Riad from Betis. It looks like Marc Guehi is moving on so he’s a nice piece for CP to add to their 3 CB formation. Riad was a Barcelona player who was loaned then sold to Barcelona, who were interested in activating the buyback clause in the deal iirc. The fee will be split between Real Betis and Barcelona.

View: https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1792836501358956720?s=46&t=XvGOrrWIyL-5CHVVL_0JYQ

the1andonly3003 · May 23, 2024

Newcastle plot double swoop for Jarrod Bowen and Dominic Calvert-Lewin (telegraph.co.uk)

Bowen, 27, was keen on signing for Newcastle when he left Hull City four years ago and had verbally agreed to sign for Steve Bruce before the club’s former owner, Mike Ashley, said they could not afford the £22million fee in January 2020.

Bowen would have given Bruce more time at Newcastle...

candylandriots · May 23, 2024

rguilmar said:
Palace are after Chadi Riad from Betis. It looks like Marc Guehi is moving on so he’s a nice piece for CP to add to their 3 CB formation. Riad was a Barcelona player who was loaned then sold to Barcelona, who were interested in activating the buyback clause in the deal iirc. The fee will be split between Real Betis and Barcelona.

View: https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1792836501358956720?s=46&t=XvGOrrWIyL-5CHVVL_0JYQ

This is a done deal according to Fab Romano - 5 year contract, Palace buying for €14 million. Seems like a good deal for someone to replace Guehi!

rguilmar · May 29, 2024

Girona are getting their reward for a wonderful season- the exodus of their top players.

Savio to Man City (this was agreed to a while ago and is a “deal” involving three CFB clubs)
Aleix Garcia to Bayer Leverkusen
Artem Dovbyk is being linked to Atletico Madrid (not so shockingly it looks like I will be wrong and @Zososoxfan will be right).
Yan Couto is attracting interest from pretty much everywhere

Girona are reportedly interested in Dani Ceballos as a replacement for Garcia. Ceballos is pretty buried at Real Madrid, but he’s had some colorful comments in the past about the Catalan people that might not endear him much to the fine folks in Girona.

Álvaro Morata might be seeing his last days at Atletico Madrid. Memphis Depay is already gone and available on a free. Sevilla are clearing out the cabinet as well. Eric Lamela and Oliver Torres will not be offered new contracts.

the1andonly3003 · May 29, 2024

Sir Jim Ratcliffe demands end to reckless Man Utd spending (telegraph.co.uk)
I don't think Olise or Branthwaite are going to Utd....

Behind the scenes Ratcliffe has ended the club’s flexible work-from-home policy. United staff have been given until next Wednesday to decide if they wish to voluntarily resign under Ineos’ new drive to end working from home.

Wonder if Utd had over-hired like tech firms in 2021-2022...

Other cost-cutting measures included telling employees that they would have to pay for their own travel to the FA Cup final in a break from tradition, although staff still received a free ticket for the Wembley showpiece last Saturday at which United beat Manchester City 2-1.

Wonder what City did

Zososoxfan · May 30, 2024

rguilmar said:
Girona are getting their reward for a wonderful season- the exodus of their top players.

Savio to Man City (this was agreed to a while ago and is a “deal” involving three CFB clubs)
Aleix Garcia to Bayer Leverkusen
Artem Dovbyk is being linked to Atletico Madrid (not so shockingly it looks like I will be wrong and @Zososoxfan will be right).
Yan Couto is attracting interest from pretty much everywhere

Girona are reportedly interested in Dani Ceballos as a replacement for Garcia. Ceballos is pretty buried at Real Madrid, but he’s had some colorful comments in the past about the Catalan people that might not endear him much to the fine folks in Girona.

Álvaro Morata might be seeing his last days at Atletico Madrid. Memphis Depay is already gone and available on a free. Sevilla are clearing out the cabinet as well. Eric Lamela and Oliver Torres will not be offered new contracts.

Ceballos would be a shrewd pickup, but yeah, AWKWARD!!

What Girona did this year is pretty spectacular. For those that are unaware, Girona is a smallish city of 200K people in the shadow of Barcelona. It's jaw-droppingly beautiful and has been well-preserved. For them to qualify for UCL is amazing. But like I imagined, they're treating this like a well-earned windfall, and the best we can hope for is that they reinvest in the squad and club. @rguilmar , do you happen to know if they're success is built more on shrewd acquisitions, a strong academy, or a bit both? Something else?

the1andonly3003 said:
Sir Jim Ratcliffe demands end to reckless Man Utd spending (telegraph.co.uk)
I don't think Olise or Branthwaite are going to Utd....

Wonder if Utd had over-hired like tech firms in 2021-2022...

Wonder what City did

They flew on Emirates, duh. TBF, they would've done that if the game was at Old Trafford too.

rguilmar · May 30, 2024

Zososoxfan said:
What Girona did this year is pretty spectacular. For those that are unaware, Girona is a smallish city of 200K people in the shadow of Barcelona. It's jaw-droppingly beautiful and has been well-preserved. For them to qualify for UCL is amazing. But like I imagined, they're treating this like a well-earned windfall, and the best we can hope for is that they reinvest in the squad and club. @rguilmar , do you happen to know if they're success is built more on shrewd acquisitions, a strong academy, or a bit both? Something else?

Girona is unbelievably beautiful. I think it was a filming location for GoT at one point.

Anyways, the Girona squad was built mostly through shrewd transfers. They got Daley Blind and Aleix Garcia on a free (Garcia will likely be sold for more than €20 million I would guess), Miguel Gutierrez for €4 million from Madrid, Tsyngokov for €5 from Kiev, and Ivan Martin for €2 million from Villareal. These players are all worth significantly more now. Dovbyk cost €7.75 million from Dnipro, and rumors are close to a €30 million sale.

Loans included Eric Garcia, Savio, Yangel Herrera, and Yan Couto. Last season they had Rodrigo Riquelme on loan. The only home grown player of note I can think of is Arnau Martinez who I like a lot, but he spent the season behind Yan Couto at RB.

A lot is made of the connection to City Football Group, and three of those loans come from there (Savio from Troyes, Couto and Herrera from Man City), but they don’t have a controlling stake and these players were not necessarily sought after outside of CFG. I think what Girona has gotten from City is the idea of a singular focus on how the team is going to play and the players to identify.

the1andonly3003 · May 30, 2024

Zososoxfan said:
Ceballos would be a shrewd pickup, but yeah, AWKWARD!!

What Girona did this year is pretty spectacular. For those that are unaware, Girona is a smallish city of 200K people in the shadow of Barcelona. It's jaw-droppingly beautiful and has been well-preserved. For them to qualify for UCL is amazing. But like I imagined, they're treating this like a well-earned windfall, and the best we can hope for is that they reinvest in the squad and club. @rguilmar , do you happen to know if they're success is built more on shrewd acquisitions, a strong academy, or a bit both? Something else?

They flew on Emirates, duh. TBF, they would've done that if the game was at Old Trafford too.

Thought they have to fly on Etihad!

OCST · May 30, 2024

Everton wrap up- I’m not going to be post the tweets but this is the summary of scuttlebutt from dependable sources.

Supposedly Branthwaite wants to stay and Everton don’t want or need to sell.

Calvert-Lewin has been offered a new multi year deal- he is in his walk year so it’s either sell, re-up, or lose on a free next May.

Coleman and Ashley Young, who combined are older than the club, each offered one year deals.

Jack Harrison will again spend a year on loan from Leeds.

Tire kicking on Kalvin Phillips and Westin McKennie. Also Yukinari Sugawara, RB at Dutch side AZ Alkmaar. That would be the clubs 5th RB and interest probably indicates that Nathan Patterson is being moved on.

Onana is in the shop window and will be sold; hope is that a good Euros will boost the price.

Others to be let go include the lifeless husks of Michael Keane and Neal Maupay.

Tangled Up In Red · May 30, 2024

OCST said:
Onana is in the shop window and will be sold; hope is that a good Euros will boost the price.

Everything else listed makes sense... but why dump Onana? Just an attractive piece to raise funds? Hardly seems disposable and is of high quality...

67YAZ · May 31, 2024

Read a report that Bruno Giumares has a release clause that expires on June 30 - £100m payable in 3 annual installments. Apparently, this was agreed to in the new contract hashed out back in October. Interesting, to say the least. I'm a huge fan and would love to see Bruno at the base of Liverpool's midfield, but have to think there will be a lot of interest given the structure. Definitely one to watch this month.

OCST · May 31, 2024

Tangled Up In Red said:
Everything else listed makes sense... but why dump Onana? Just an attractive piece to raise funds? Hardly seems disposable and is of high quality...

His numbers are very good but there is something lacking. A maturity problem. Lots of faux displays of spirit but a curious detachment from the ebb and flow of the game. Too timid, does not “grab the game by the scruff of the neck” which a midfielder of his gifts absolutely could/should do. Dyche spoke about having some hard man he used to play with come work with Onana to teach him how to be more physical which is a damning thing for your manager to say publicly.

Everton had a streak of 15-ish winless games, squeaked out a 1-0 win over Burnley, then went to Chelsea and got waxed 6-0. The next practice things got heated and evidently there was a blowup on the practice pitch. Dyche read the team the riot act and there was a players only meeting. Supposedly the team committed to doing a lot of things differently, down to changes in practice routines and, most famously, Dyche ditching his usual jacket and tie for a tracksuit. The next week Everton beat Forest, Liverpool and Brentford by a combined 5-0 over the span of six days. The biggest lineup change was benching Onana. The performances were even better than the results. No one could reasonably have predicted that Gana Gueye would suddenly morph into Messi and start banging in goals, but yhe side looked much improved without Onana in it. Pretty damning.

Without rehash, it seems as if he’s been coasting at the struggling club and has his heart set on a move away. Best to let him go then.

OCST · May 31, 2024

67YAZ said:
Read a report that Bruno Giumares has a release clause that expires on June 30 - £100m payable in 3 annual installments. Apparently, this was agreed to in the new contract hashed out back in October. Interesting, to say the least. I'm a huge fan and would love to see Bruno at the base of Liverpool's midfield, but have to think there will be a lot of interest given the structure. Definitely one to watch this month.

Doesn’t get enough credit. Newcastle would be fools to let him go.

OCST · May 31, 2024

OCST said:
His numbers are very good but there is something lacking. A maturity problem. Lots of faux displays of spirit but a curious detachment from the ebb and flow of the game. Too timid, does not “grab the game by the scruff of the neck” which a midfielder of his gifts absolutely could/should do. Dyche spoke about having some hard man he used to play with come work with Onana to teach him how to be more physical which is a damning thing for your manager to say publicly.

Everton had a streak of 15-ish winless games, squeaked out a 1-0 win over Burnley, then went to Chelsea and got waxed 6-0. The next practice things got heated and evidently there was a blowup on the practice pitch. Dyche read the team the riot act and there was a players only meeting. Supposedly the team committed to doing a lot of things differently, down to changes in practice routines and, most famously, Dyche ditching his usual jacket and tie for a tracksuit. The next week Everton beat Forest, Liverpool and Brentford by a combined 5-0 over the span of six days. The biggest lineup change was benching Onana. The performances were even better than the results. No one could reasonably have predicted that Gana Gueye would suddenly morph into Messi and start banging in goals, but yhe side looked much improved without Onana in it. Pretty damning.

Without rehash, it seems as if he’s been coasting at the struggling club and has his heart set on a move away. Best to let him go then.

Here's a data point. Everton went to penalties in the QF of the Carabao Cup against Fulham. The Carabao Cup obviously is the lamest and silliest of trophies, but Everton can't be choosy about silverware, and any kind of cup win boosts the club in all kinds of ways. The field was thinning out; the other semifinalists were Liverpool, Middlesbrough, and Chelsea (who Everton had already beat in the PL). A trip to Wembley wasn't out of the question.

Pickford saved one of the first four penalties. This was Onana for Everton's fifth. He makes it, and Everton are through to the semis.

View: https://youtu.be/ruvuu3p844g?si=mRU653yHI_K8JPDU

Good players miss penalties. Great players miss penalties. That's not what that was. This is an enormously talented kid whose head is not quite where it needs to be.

sdiaz1 · May 31, 2024

As a lover of Chaos, Ceballos to Girona would make me quite happy.

However, thinking of possible shrewd pickups with a Madrid connection- I get a sense that Sergio Arribas to Girona move would be a perfect match.

the1andonly3003 · May 31, 2024

OCST said:
Here's a data point. Everton went to penalties in the QF of the Carabao Cup against Fulham. The Carabao Cup obviously is the lamest and silliest of trophies, but Everton can't be choosy about silverware, and any kind of cup win boosts the club in all kinds of ways. The field was thinning out; the other semifinalists were Liverpool, Middlesbrough, and Chelsea (who Everton had already beat in the PL). A trip to Wembley wasn't out of the question.

Pickford saved one of the first four penalties. This was Onana for Everton's fifth. He makes it, and Everton are through to the semis.

View: https://youtu.be/ruvuu3p844g?si=mRU653yHI_K8JPDU

Good players miss penalties. Great players miss penalties. That's not what that was. This is an enormously talented kid whose head is not quite where it needs to be.

Dyche v Onana or Mourinho vs Dele Ali?

nayrbrey · Jun 2, 2024

Not that it is a surprise, but Fab has Mbappe to Real Madrid as “Here we go”

View: https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1797222640718921961

67YAZ · Jun 3, 2024

Some Mbappé numbers - 5-year contract, salary starting at €15m rising to €20m by the end, a €125m singing bonus spread over the contract, and he retains 80% of his image rights. Wowsah.

lars10 · Jun 3, 2024

67YAZ said:
Some Mbappé numbers - 5-year contract, salary starting at €15m rising to €20m by the end, a €125m singing bonus spread over the contract, and he retains 80% of his image rights. Wowsah.

Who even knew he could sing?

No Offense, But.... (The 2024 Summer Transfer Window Thread)

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