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

rguilmar

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One of the reasons that the transfer market has been a little slower this year is because of real financial restrictions on Premier League clubs (except for Chelsea apparently) combined with less-than-anticipated sweet, sweet oil money flowing from Saudi Clubs. Then this little nugget drops.

View: https://twitter.com/espnfc/status/1823422111064490203?s=46&t=XvGOrrWIyL-5CHVVL_0JYQ


I’ll caveat this by saying that I don’t know how much importance things like Balón d’Ors matter to Vini Jr, but this is multigenerational wealth that might be hard to turn down. Never mind what Florentino can do ten figures.
 
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sdiaz1

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Vini Jr is Amazing

But trading Vini Jr for Mbappe + 1 billion euros is pretty good business*

*obviously super oversimplified *

Edit- Bet that some VOX scumbags would hail this as a win in chasing Vini Jr away.
 
rguilmar

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Liverpool with a smart bit of business here. Mamardashvili is a heck of a GK. They obviously don’t need him now, but he can be had for a slight discount I imagine as Valencia already have his replacement signed and aren’t in a position to keep to starting level keepers. The hard part has been getting him to agree to leave Valencia, and it appears Liverpool have crossed that bridge already.

View: https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1823658707625894373?s=46&t=XvGOrrWIyL-5CHVVL_0JYQ
 
Zososoxfan

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rguilmar said:
Merino is inching closer to Arsenal. Real Sociedad have already brought in Luka Sucic as his likely replacement (or at least pair with Turrientes) and have been rumored to be interested in bringing Carlos Soler back to Spain. They’ll have a boatload of money and might move on from Sadiq at CF as well.

View: https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1823689664407957566?s=46&t=XvGOrrWIyL-5CHVVL_0JYQ
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Ugh I love this player and it would suck to have to hate him. Although if he supplants Declan Rice and otherwise makes that look like a dumb transfer, I'll accept that silver lining. More likely, he plays alongside Declan as Zubimendi is the more DMF of the 2, and Merino would slot in beautifully between Declan and Odegaard [le sigh].
 
67YAZ

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the1andonly3003 said:
Chicago Fire terminated Shaqiri's contract. They couldn't get a transfer fee for him?
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Nope. He’s on $8m/yr salary and no European side was willing to pick up the remaining half season despite Shaq’s good Euros & in-person negotiations while there.

So the Fire probably get a little salary savings & Shaq can get in a full season instead of a January start at a new club.
 
67YAZ

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OCST said:
Right? Pep never gave him a shot. There were fitness issues IIRC, but still seems like a terrible move for club and player.
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Well, he is English home-grown for roster purposes & was the beating heart of a Bielsa squad. Pep had to think that any guy who thrived under Bielsa would work for him, too.
 
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wonderland

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And they needed to replace Fernandinho.

It’s easy to look back and wonder why but at the time it made perfect sense to me. It didn’t work out but every team has big transfers that don’t work out.
 
OCST

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wonderland said:
And they needed to replace Fernandinho.

It’s easy to look back and wonder why but at the time it made perfect sense to me. It didn’t work out but every team has big transfers that don’t work out.
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I just wonder why. Seemed like a great fit.
 
Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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It's going to be an interesting next 10 days at Chelsea.

They've still got 42 players listed on Transfermarkt, almost all of whom are young and at a the place in their career in which they really need to play regular football to keep developing.

Realistically, a big club can really only give meaningful minutes to about 17-18 players in a season, even factoring in all competitions. And Chelsea is in the Conference League, which is more of an occasional fitness exercise than an environment for anybody to develop as a player.

They are limited to six loans of players aged 21 or older due to the new FIFA regulations.
 
Mighty Joe Young

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Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
It's going to be an interesting next 10 days at Chelsea.

They've still got 42 players listed on Transfermarkt, almost all of whom are young and at a the place in their career in which they really need to play regular football to keep developing.

Realistically, a big club can really only give meaningful minutes to about 17-18 players in a season, even factoring in all competitions. And Chelsea is in the Conference League, which is more of an occasional fitness exercise than an environment for anybody to develop as a player.

They are limited to six loans of players aged 21 or older due to the new FIFA regulations.
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And good lick getting rid of their problem contracts - Lukaku and Stirling being the top of the list. Not to mention the new boys that have been replaced by the even newer boys.
 
67YAZ

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Chillwell is reportedly in the shop window, and I thought he’s probably an attractive player for anlmost every EPL side. Then I looked up his wages - £200k/week through ‘26-27.

So many of these guys Chelsea wants to move are on huge wages - Lukaku & Sterling £325k/week, Kepa £150k/wk, Carney & Mudryk £100k/wk.

Lukaku looks just about done for his move, but the rest are going to have to take a big wage cut to get regular first team action.

In a similar spot is Goretzka at Bayern. I thought while older than Liverpool typically likes (somehow he’s already 29???), he profiles as a plug-and-play upgrade for at least a couple seasons. But he’s on €346k/wk through ‘25-26! He can probably do better overall on a 5yr deal now…but I wouldn’t bring him to Liverpool through age 34. And it sounds like Goretzka is willing to ride it out at Bayern and sign on a free in a couple years.
 
rguilmar

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67YAZ said:
Chillwell is reportedly in the shop window, and I thought he’s probably an attractive player for anlmost every EPL side. Then I looked up his wages - £200k/week through ‘26-27.

So many of these guys Chelsea wants to move are on huge wages - Lukaku & Sterling £325k/week, Kepa £150k/wk, Carney & Mudryk £100k/wk.

Lukaku looks just about done for his move, but the rest are going to have to take a big wage cut to get regular first team action.

In a similar spot is Goretzka at Bayern. I thought while older than Liverpool typically likes (somehow he’s already 29???), he profiles as a plug-and-play upgrade for at least a couple seasons. But he’s on €346k/wk through ‘25-26! He can probably do better overall on a 5yr deal now…but I wouldn’t bring him to Liverpool through age 34. And it sounds like Goretzka is willing to ride it out at Bayern and sign on a free in a couple years.
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Holy hell, I just looked at some of Chelsea’s contracts. You’re right, it’s not just the wages, it’s the lengths of the contracts. Who is going to buy these players? I know Napoli have lined up for Lukaku when they sell Osimhen, but there are so many others making so much for so long.
 
Mighty Joe Young

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67YAZ said:
Chillwell is reportedly in the shop window, and I thought he’s probably an attractive player for anlmost every EPL side. Then I looked up his wages - £200k/week through ‘26-27.

So many of these guys Chelsea wants to move are on huge wages - Lukaku & Sterling £325k/week, Kepa £150k/wk, Carney & Mudryk £100k/wk.

Lukaku looks just about done for his move, but the rest are going to have to take a big wage cut to get regular first team action.

In a similar spot is Goretzka at Bayern. I thought while older than Liverpool typically likes (somehow he’s already 29???), he profiles as a plug-and-play upgrade for at least a couple seasons. But he’s on €346k/wk through ‘25-26! He can probably do better overall on a 5yr deal now…but I wouldn’t bring him to Liverpool through age 34. And it sounds like Goretzka is willing to ride it out at Bayern and sign on a free in a couple years.
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And it’s not just ginormous weekly pay packets - some of those deals are for 7+ years.
 
tmracht

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Chelsea definitely needed another winger/AM/SS. Felix comes back for 50 + sell on. Sigh can we get some kind of striker to spell Nico.
 
HowBoutDemSox

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tmracht said:
Chelsea definitely needed another winger/AM/SS. Felix comes back for 50 + sell on. Sigh can we get some kind of striker to spell Nico.
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Marc Guiu seems to be the second choice striker for now after Jackson, and possibly some time there for Nkunku, unless something comes together for Osimhen before the end of the window; Guiu has potential but at 18 he’s probably not going to be scoring a ton this season and striker in a 4-3-3 isn’t really Nkunku’s position, so yeah.
 
tmracht

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HowBoutDemSox said:
Marc Guiu seems to be the second choice striker for now after Jackson, and possibly some time there for Nkunku, unless something comes together for Osimhen before the end of the window; Guiu has potential but at 18 he’s probably not going to be scoring a ton this season and striker in a 4-3-3 isn’t really Nkunku’s position, so yeah.
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Oh I think that Guiu can be a talent I just don't have hopes that he can actually be super impactful at 18. Maybe that's pessimism, and yes, as you said I love Nkunku. I think he's a great second striker, but he's not a Frontline man in a 433. I don't know what the plan is really. Is Felix supposed to be the top of a 433? If so, I don't have super high high hopes for a living shooting the stars man I could use a Osimhen to score a killing.
 
rguilmar

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HowBoutDemSox said:
Marc Guiu seems to be the second choice striker for now after Jackson, and possibly some time there for Nkunku, unless something comes together for Osimhen before the end of the window; Guiu has potential but at 18 he’s probably not going to be scoring a ton this season and striker in a 4-3-3 isn’t really Nkunku’s position, so yeah.
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I think it’s fair to question how good Guiu is and how good he can be. We can mock Barcelona’s financial situation and their transfers (lord knows I have) but they have a really good hit rate with La Masia products that they like. The fact that they let him go while needing their own backup striker speaks volumes to me. I’d be looking for more depth, even with the 43 players or whatever they have under contract.
 
Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Glad to have Merino over the line. Arsenal and Sociedad seem to have haggled over every penny for the last month. I think it was probably one of these transfers in which both sides believed they had the leverage and neither side is really that time motivated (Sociedad already bought his replacement, Arsenal knew he was never going to be joining during preseason and would be integrated in late August/early September) so it tends to drag toward the deadline.

I think its a fair deal in the end, pretty close to what City paid for Kovacic with one year left on his contract last summer (£25m +£5m) or what Liverpool paid for Thiago (£25m) with one year left on his contract a few years ago. Both those experienced central midfield players had bigger reputations than Merino, but they also were each one year older when they moved than Merino is now and my guess is that Merino will be on lower wages.
 
rguilmar

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Barca have been busy moving players out to get their squad registered. Promising youngster Mika Faye is next (with a buyback clause).

View: https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1826645644800655405?s=46&t=XvGOrrWIyL-5CHVVL_0JYQ


Vítor Roque is probably next. The player prefers a loan move to Real Betis (who wouldn’t?) but the club might want the sale to Sporting. Betis had a loan with a buy clause lined up for Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko, but the club likes the financial flexibilty of the Roque loan deal.
 
Zososoxfan

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Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Glad to have Merino over the line. Arsenal and Sociedad seem to have haggled over every penny for the last month. I think it was probably one of these transfers in which both sides believed they had the leverage and neither side is really that time motivated (Sociedad already bought his replacement, Arsenal knew he was never going to be joining during preseason and would be integrated in late August/early September) so it tends to drag toward the deadline.

I think its a fair deal in the end, pretty close to what City paid for Kovacic with one year left on his contract last summer (£25m +£5m) or what Liverpool paid for Thiago (£25m) with one year left on his contract a few years ago. Both those experienced central midfield players had bigger reputations than Merino, but they also were each one year older when they moved than Merino is now and my guess is that Merino will be on lower wages.
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He's a really good player as @rguilmar can probably attest, and I hate the move for how astute it is. Your club is well run and it makes me puke.
 
rguilmar

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Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Glad to have Merino over the line. Arsenal and Sociedad seem to have haggled over every penny for the last month. I think it was probably one of these transfers in which both sides believed they had the leverage and neither side is really that time motivated (Sociedad already bought his replacement, Arsenal knew he was never going to be joining during preseason and would be integrated in late August/early September) so it tends to drag toward the deadline.

I think its a fair deal in the end, pretty close to what City paid for Kovacic with one year left on his contract last summer (£25m +£5m) or what Liverpool paid for Thiago (£25m) with one year left on his contract a few years ago. Both those experienced central midfield players had bigger reputations than Merino, but they also were each one year older when they moved than Merino is now and my guess is that Merino will be on lower wages.
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Zososoxfan said:
He's a really good player as @rguilmar can probably attest, and I hate the move for how astute it is. Your club is well run and it makes me puke.
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Arsenal are getting one heck of a player. I feel like he’s pretty high on the list of under appreciated La Liga stars, at least until this summer. He was always leaving San Sebastián so I’m sure that Real Sociedad are glad he finally got the attention he deserved. You’re getting a complete 8, guessing that he slots in between Oodergard and Rice in the midfield. Merino has everything you expect from a Spanish midfielder in terms of touch and technique, though he’s more likely to attempt a dangerous pass than some others. He’s a master of finding the right pass to a cutting winger. He’s bigger than most La Liga midfielders too and more defensively aggressive, and he has a knack for making the late run into the box (just ask Germany). I’m bummed to see him go but hope he does well in the Prem.
 
rguilmar

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rguilmar

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From around La Liga:

Real Sociedad are closing in on Mats Hummels on a free.
Barca have unloaded Vitor Roque on Real Betis in one of those complex loan with buy option and a sell on clause (like Chadi Riad las summer). They also moved Clement Llenglet to Atleti yet they are still having trouble registering Dani Olmo.


67YAZ said:
Classic FM move when your roster is already stacked and have transfer budget to burn.

View: https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1828031518033265077?s=46&t=GfuLFvTYcOxcFiCZjyIYZw
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This is a nice move. He’s really, really good and you can just stash him where he’s already comfortable until Alisson moves on.
 
Zososoxfan

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I read recently that if Olmo is not registered within the next week, that he won't be registrable until January. Hopefully Lenglet gets Barca over the line because E.G.A.D.S.

Edit: Added "not"
 
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rguilmar

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Zososoxfan said:
I read recently that if Olmo is registered within the next week, that he won't be registrable until January. Hopefully Lenglet gets Barca over the line because E.G.A.D.S.
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According to the Spanish Football Podcast guys, it’s much worse than that. Olmo has a clause in his contract that if he’s not registered by the end of this month that Barca must pay him his full year salary and he can leave on a free.
 
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sdiaz1

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rguilmar said:
According to the Spanish Football Podcast guys, it’s much worse than that. Olmo has a clause in his contract that if he’s not registered by the end of this month that Barca must pay him his full year salary and he can leave on a free.
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Did the ghost of Sandro Rossel posses the body of Joan Laporta? Seems straight out of the 2017 playbook.
 
rguilmar

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sdiaz1 said:
Did the ghost of Sandro Rossel posses the body of Joan Laporta? Seems straight out of the 2017 playbook.
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It feels that way. I was supportive of the return of Laporta but I am baffled by his decisions.

Anyways, it looks like Olmo will be registered on time thanks to the long term injury to Christensen. It’s only temporary, expiring 12/31. I imagine this gives the club the time to sign the new Nike deal or resolve the funds not yet received for a portion of BarcaTV.
 
Zososoxfan

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rguilmar said:
It feels that way. I was supportive of the return of Laporta but I am baffled by his decisions.

Anyways, it looks like Olmo will be registered on time thanks to the long term injury to Christensen. It’s only temporary, expiring 12/31. I imagine this gives the club the time to sign the new Nike deal or resolve the funds not yet received for a portion of BarcaTV.
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Truly whack-a-mole stuff. Good thing Flicki Flaka looks alright thru 2 weeks.
 
rguilmar

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