Pay That Mendes His Money: The Summer 2021 Transfer Thread

67YAZ

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 1, 2000
8,729
Hakimi to PSG for €60m with Ramos and Donnarumma coming along on free transfers...and presumably eye watering salaries.

When they write the history of Financial Fair Play, don't let them fool you and think Man City killed it. PSG is the biggest and most shameless culprit who has never been charged with FFP violations because Qatari royals and sovereign funds are so deeply entwined with FIFA, UEFA, and international broadcast media.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 2, 2006
22,345
Philadelphia
Palace sign Michael Olise from Reading. I honestly think this could be a real coup for them, maybe one of the best transfers of the summer. He was a very exciting looking player in the Championship, especially for a 19-year-old, and they're getting him at a bargain basement price due to an £8m release clause. If Eze comes back OK from his injury, him and Olise will be an exciting young duo to build around in attack.

View: https://twitter.com/CPFC/status/1413136632543281165?s=19
 

67YAZ

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 1, 2000
8,729
Palace sign Michael Olise from Reading. I honestly think this could be a real coup for them, maybe one of the best transfers of the summer. He was a very exciting looking player in the Championship, especially for a 19-year-old, and they're getting him at a bargain basement price due to an £8m release clause. If Eze comes back OK from his injury, him and Olise will be an exciting young duo to build around in attack.

View: https://twitter.com/CPFC/status/1413136632543281165?s=19
Oh, that’s fantastic for @candylandriots & Olise. A number of Liverpool sites were touting him, but Olise would have been somewhat redundant with Harvey Elliott and struggled to break into the first team any time soon. The kid could likely have gotten a bigger weekly wage at one of the mega clubs given the low release clause, but he seems to have made a keen decision to go where he can realistically break through.
 

candylandriots

unkempt
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Mar 30, 2004
12,327
Berlin
Funny - I was literally just reading the email that Palace sent out to announce the signing. This is totally the sort of business they should and need to be doing and I’m pretty happy about it. Now we only need about 11 more players to complete the squad.
 

teddykgb

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
11,016
Chelmsford, MA
Some strong rumors out of nowhere today that City may be close to a deal on Bissouma. City get thrown around to motivate other buyers but one of the few rumors I’ve been excited about in regards to City this summer
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 2, 2006
22,345
Philadelphia
Some strong rumors out of nowhere today that City may be close to a deal on Bissouma. City get thrown around to motivate other buyers but one of the few rumors I’ve been excited about in regards to City this summer
It definitely felt like City could have used Bissouma in the CL final versus Chelsea. Nice to have a more athletic alternative to Rodri in matches where you expect to get really stretched.
 

bosox4283

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
Mar 2, 2004
4,673
Philadelphia
Atletico have signed Rodrigo De Paul from Udinese for about 35 million euros. Good business, I think. Simeone does have a penchant for Argentines, though this affinity for his countrymen has backfired at times. That said, De Paul looks like the real deal and seems like a great addition. Atletico's midfield is already pretty deep, and De Paul gives the team even more depth or the ability to offload a player for salary relief or that doesn't quite fit Simeone's plans.
 

Zososoxfan

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 30, 2009
9,208
South of North
Atletico have signed Rodrigo De Paul from Udinese for about 35 million euros. Good business, I think. Simeone does have a penchant for Argentines, though this affinity for his countrymen has backfired at times. That said, De Paul looks like the real deal and seems like a great addition. Atletico's midfield is already pretty deep, and De Paul gives the team even more depth or the ability to offload a player for salary relief or that doesn't quite fit Simeone's plans.
I think this was reported about a month ago and just got finalized. After the Copa run we just saw, I think you have to say Jackpot on this one. At worst, he's a hardworking, experienced, defensively sound option in the MF for Simeone. With the upside of being an elite B2B MF allowing Simeone to put talented attackers on the field. I also love that him and Correa get to be Argentina buddies in Madrid now. I felt like Correa only got a couple of opportunities in the Copa but looked very good in them. He's also just hitting his prime now though and should have plenty of opportunities to shine. Correa and Lautaro could lead a really aggressive press if Argentina look to bring that into their strategy going forward.
 

bosox4283

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
Mar 2, 2004
4,673
Philadelphia
I think this was reported about a month ago and just got finalized. After the Copa run we just saw, I think you have to say Jackpot on this one. At worst, he's a hardworking, experienced, defensively sound option in the MF for Simeone. With the upside of being an elite B2B MF allowing Simeone to put talented attackers on the field. I also love that him and Correa get to be Argentina buddies in Madrid now. I felt like Correa only got a couple of opportunities in the Copa but looked very good in them. He's also just hitting his prime now though and should have plenty of opportunities to shine. Correa and Lautaro could lead a really aggressive press if Argentina look to bring that into their strategy going forward.
Great insight. Thanks! And, yes, I'm excited to see how Correa continues to grow as he hits his prime.
 

bosox4283

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
Mar 2, 2004
4,673
Philadelphia
Rumors circulating that Barcelona and Atletico are about to make a swap, with Griezmann returning to Atletico and Saul moving to Barca. If it happens, the move both bums me out and really excites me. Saul is a canterano, a player that grew up in the Atletico system, and has been brilliant at times. There's something disappointing about seeing one of your homegrown players with so much potential leave. At the same time, Griezmann is clearly better than Saul and is someone that Simeone seems to want back.
 

Zososoxfan

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 30, 2009
9,208
South of North
Rumors circulating that Barcelona and Atletico are about to make a swap, with Griezmann returning to Atletico and Saul moving to Barca. If it happens, the move both bums me out and really excites me. Saul is a canterano, a player that grew up in the Atletico system, and has been brilliant at times. There's something disappointing about seeing one of your homegrown players with so much potential leave. At the same time, Griezmann is clearly better than Saul and is someone that Simeone seems to want back.
Jeez, that's a helluva blockbuster. I have to imagine the transfer fee would be close to 0 or that Barca are retaining a lot of his wages because this is a $ move--Griezmann's the better player here. That being said, getting some relief from Griezmann's wages and still getting a player of Saul's caliber back would be a coup for Laporta.
 

67YAZ

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 1, 2000
8,729
Donyell Malen moving towards a Dortmund transfer. It’s a smart move for Malen - can take a step up in competition and immediately attempt to fill the Sancho-sized hole in attack.
 

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,668
Donyell Malen moving towards a Dortmund transfer. It’s a smart move for Malen - can take a step up in competition and immediately attempt to fill the Sancho-sized hole in attack.
Rumor going this morning that Abramovich reportedly gave the green light for $175 million for Haaland.
 

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,668
where do we think Tammy Abraham lands? Harry Kane replacement at Spurs? make Chelsea pay for not believing in him...
I like Tammy. At this point I don't see Kane leaving unless he leaves England, which he doesn't want to do. The only option is Citeh; perhaps if Haaland goes to Chelsea they will feel like they have to upgrade too and then meet Levy's price.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Quiet so far but everyone has been waiting on the Euro/Copa. Haaland or Kane is going to be the move that sets off all the dominoes.
 

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,668
Quiet so far but everyone has been waiting on the Euro/Copa. Haaland or Kane is going to be the move that sets off all the dominoes.
Sancho was a pretty big deal, no?

If anything sets things off it will be Lionel.
 

coremiller

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 14, 2005
5,846
Catalan paper Sport is reporting a new 5 year contract to keep Messi at Barca with a pay cut included.

https://en.as.com/en/2021/07/14/football/1626268056_416618.html
5 years is a long contract for a guy who just turned 34. I guess he got extra term in exchange for the wage cut. Even though he's Messi, probably no one else was going to pay him that much for those backend years.

Hot rumour out of Spain today has Saul Niguez heading to Barca in a swap deal for Griezeman.

Barca must be dancing in the streets getting out from the Griezeman contract. Have to imagine he’s taking a pretty hefty wage cut to go back to Atletico.

https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2021/antoine-griezmann-saul-niguez-swap-is-advanced-rmc/
To dump Griezmann's contract and get a good, useful, much cheaper player back without having to pay any fee would be a massive coup for Barcelona.
 

Zososoxfan

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 30, 2009
9,208
South of North
5 years is a long contract for a guy who just turned 34. I guess he got extra term in exchange for the wage cut. Even though he's Messi, probably no one else was going to pay him that much for those backend years.



To dump Griezmann's contract and get a good, useful, much cheaper player back without having to pay any fee would be a massive coup for Barcelona.
I can't remember if I heard it or read it, but there was a rumor that there's some kind of deal in place for Messi to join Inter Miami "on loan" after 2-3 years. I'm sure there's a way so that this benefits Messi and/or Barca hence why they would structure this as a 5-year deal.

Like I said w/r/t Griezmann, Barca has to be taking a $ hit one way or another. Either there's no transfer fee, in which case they're downgrading quality without a fee (noting that it may be a better squad fit too--i.e. Barca need more quality in MF and less so at FWD). Or, Barca's paying a portion of Griezmann's wages. I assume the decision between those options comes down to La Liga and FFP (L.O.L.) financial accounting rules.
 
Last edited:

bosox4283

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
Mar 2, 2004
4,673
Philadelphia
While I'm inclined to think that these rumors are out there just to make some noise, does anyone think there's truth to Trippier's supposed desire to return to England?
 
Last edited:

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 2, 2006
22,345
Philadelphia
While I'm inclined to think that these rumors are out there just to make some noise, does anything think there's truth to Trippier's supposed desire to return to England?
If I had to guess, I'd say he does want to go back. He's from Manchester, reportedly a boyhood United fan (although he was in the City youth setup), and this is probably his last best chance to secure another really good contract (I imagine he'll get like 100k per week on a three year deal from United). He won La Liga, which is fantastic, but the idea of spending the twilight of his career competing for the Premier League for his boyhood club has to be a huge draw, especially if he can get paid well to do it.

Whether Atleti and United can agree a fee seems like the biggest stumbling block. Atleti aren't under huge pressure to sell since he still has two years left on his deal. I don't think it makes much sense for them unless the fee is pretty decent (at least 20m?).
 

coremiller

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 14, 2005
5,846
Man Utd just spent a huge sum on AWB a couple years ago. Why would they spend another big chunk on a 30-year-old RB when the squad has bigger holes?
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 2, 2006
22,345
Philadelphia
Man Utd just spent a huge sum on AWB a couple years ago. Why would they spend another big chunk on a 30-year-old RB when the squad has bigger holes?
Two reasons I think:

First, they're clearly prioritizing a CB over this transfer. But after that, I'm not sure there are really any substantially larger holes. Or to the degree there are larger holes (like a long term striker or a new top shelf CM), they don't make sense to fill this summer from a squad building perspective (without some surprising outgoings at least) and would cost a lot more than 20m to address.

Second, AWB isn't very good going forward and his natural game isn't a good match for the rest of the team. He doesn't overlap or get into deep positions very often and he isn't that much of a threat when he does. This is a big problem when you just paid 73m for a guy like Sancho who isn't really a natural right wing player to begin with, is going to face constant double teams without an overlapping fullback, and who will want to drift into the middle a lot, leaving the right wing completely empty unless you have a FB who can play like a right winger and has a good cross.
 

candylandriots

unkempt
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Mar 30, 2004
12,327
Berlin
Palace have acquired defender Marc Guehi on a permanent deal from Chelsea. He'll get a 5 year contract; fee is up to GBP 20 million. This is a pretty important acquisition, as the only CB that Palace has on the roster right now James Tomkins, though Cheikhou Kouyate played the bulk of last season there.

Nice to see the focus on getting younger. Guehi is 21 and their last meaningful transfer in was Michael Olise,19. This was the oldest squad in the PL, so its imperative that they do so.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jul/15/crystal-palace-agree-fee-defender-marc-guehi-with-chelsea

@tmracht you know much about this guy?
 

candylandriots

unkempt
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Mar 30, 2004
12,327
Berlin
Palace is doing good business, candy. Getting deeper front to back.
They definitely are. And while the adjective "deeper" is directionally correct, there wasn't much more room in the other direction. With Guehi, they are up to a grand total of 17 players on the senior roster that are under contract (and I'm not sure you should even count Rakip). So there is a fair bit of work still to be done...

https://www.spotrac.com/epl/crystal-palace/contracts/

Edit: for comparison, Everton has 28.
 
Last edited:

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
They definitely are. And while the adjective "deeper" is directionally correct, there wasn't much more room in the other direction. With Guehi, they are up to a grand total of 17 players on the senior roster that are under contract (and I'm not sure you should even count Rakip). So there is a fair bit of work still to be done...

https://www.spotrac.com/epl/crystal-palace/contracts/

Edit: for comparison, Everton has 28.
Want some?
 

tmracht

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 19, 2009
3,070
Palace have acquired defender Marc Guehi on a permanent deal from Chelsea. He'll get a 5 year contract; fee is up to GBP 20 million. This is a pretty important acquisition, as the only CB that Palace has on the roster right now James Tomkins, though Cheikhou Kouyate played the bulk of last season there.

Nice to see the focus on getting younger. Guehi is 21 and their last meaningful transfer in was Michael Olise,19. This was the oldest squad in the PL, so its imperative that they do so.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jul/15/crystal-palace-agree-fee-defender-marc-guehi-with-chelsea

@tmracht you know much about this guy?
He was really highly rated coming up through the academy. He did really well for Swansea. Solid tackle rate, played a lot of minutes north of 4000 I think. He is really smart, rarely carded. Has every reason to think he'll have a good PL career. Chelsea made sure to keep a buy back clause cause they were quite torn on selling him but couldn't promise him first team minutes. Great bit of business for Palace. He would have stayed with Swansea if the playoffs had gone differently.
 

candylandriots

unkempt
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Mar 30, 2004
12,327
Berlin
He was really highly rated coming up through the academy. He did really well for Swansea. Solid tackle rate, played a lot of minutes north of 4000 I think. He is really smart, rarely carded. Has every reason to think he'll have a good PL career. Chelsea made sure to keep a buy back clause cause they were quite torn on selling him but couldn't promise him first team minutes. Great bit of business for Palace. He would have stayed with Swansea if the playoffs had gone differently.
Great stuff - thank you!
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
SoSH Member
Jan 10, 2004
24,483
The 718
Everton supposedly about to sign Andros Townsend. Everton Twitter thinks he's crap. candy, what say you? I remember him as being decent-but-inconsistent a couple of years ago, and haven't heard much since. Toffees badly need wingers with pace. Price is $1.5M.

Is this good business? I don't mind if it's a depth signing, but seems underwhelming.
 

candylandriots

unkempt
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Mar 30, 2004
12,327
Berlin
Everton supposedly about to sign Andros Townsend. Everton Twitter thinks he's crap. candy, what say you? I remember him as being decent-but-inconsistent a couple of years ago, and haven't heard much since. Toffees badly need wingers with pace. Price is $1.5M.

Is this good business? I don't mind if it's a depth signing, but seems underwhelming.
Let's put it this way...I'd be quite disappointed to lose him, though I think decent-but-inconsistent is a fair assessment. Last season was not his best (far from it), and he actually acknowledged that he wasn't in the best shape of his career and that he did not work hard enough to prepare physically. He will take responsibility for something like that, and judging by his character, I'd expect him to show up in top physical condition for next season with something to prove. Whether he's good enough to bring a team like Everton to the next level is not terribly likely, but he'd be outstanding depth for a team even higher up the table than the Toffees. I think he is quick, tracks back well, a good passer and every once in a while throws in an amazing goal. If he does end up leaving, he will be walking away with the respect of Crystal Palace fans. He would definitely be cheered when he returns to Selhurst.

I thought he's out of contract though - so what is the 1.5MM price for? That said, even if Everton do have to pay that fee for him, he is worth way more than that.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 2, 2006
22,345
Philadelphia
I don't think this merits its own thread so I'll drop it here as this is sort of the catch all summer football thead. A PL footballer has been arrested for allegedly doing an Adam Johnson. Rumors are floating around the internet that its Gylfi Sigurdsson but I haven't seen anything reliable confirming that.

All we know at this point is that the stadium chants can't possibly match the poetic perfection of those rhyming Johnson and noncin'.

Edit: I guess Everton just essentially confirmed the subject of the rumors, even if they're not naming the player.
 

swiftaw

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2009
3,434
I don't think this merits its own thread so I'll drop it here as this is sort of the catch all summer football thead. A PL footballer has been arrested for allegedly doing an Adam Johnson. Rumors are floating around the internet that its Gylfi Sigurdsson but I haven't seen anything reliable confirming that.

All we know at this point is that the stadium chants can't possibly match the poetic perfection of those rhyming Johnson and noncin'.

Edit: I guess Everton just essentially confirmed the subject of the rumors, even if they're not naming the player.
Just posted this in the Everton thread.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
SoSH Member
Jul 22, 2006
8,232
Falmouth
Palace sign Michael Olise from Reading. I honestly think this could be a real coup for them, maybe one of the best transfers of the summer. He was a very exciting looking player in the Championship, especially for a 19-year-old, and they're getting him at a bargain basement price due to an £8m release clause. If Eze comes back OK from his injury, him and Olise will be an exciting young duo to build around in attack.

View: https://twitter.com/CPFC/status/1413136632543281165?s=19
I haven’t paid much attention at all this summer so I missed this- great signing. He’s not totally disimilar from Eze- lot of speed and athleticism. Olise is a better passer where Eze is a better dribbler…two really exciting attacker who can play across the field.

edit: just read the news on Guehi too…probably in the all championship xi last season. Another great piece of business.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 2, 2006
22,345
Philadelphia
If Kounde to Chelsea and Romero to Spurs happen, five of the "top six" will have bought CBs this summer and seemingly without really having competed all that much. You never know what contacts and attempts were never reported but there has been very little legitimate public reporting suggesting real transfer struggles. Liverpool signed Konate early, United was clearly focused on Varane all summer even if links appeared to other CBs, Arsenal quickly moved on White after Tapsoba looked too expensive, Spurs seem to have approached Kounde but quickly moved to Romero, and Chelsea has been only really linked with Kounde and Tapsoba.
 

the1andonly3003

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
4,371
Chicago
If Kounde to Chelsea and Romero to Spurs happen, five of the "top six" will have bought CBs this summer and seemingly without really having competed all that much. You never know what contacts and attempts were never reported but there has been very little legitimate public reporting suggesting real transfer struggles. Liverpool signed Konate early, United was clearly focused on Varane all summer even if links appeared to other CBs, Arsenal quickly moved on White after Tapsoba looked too expensive, Spurs seem to have approached Kounde but quickly moved to Romero, and Chelsea has been only really linked with Kounde and Tapsoba.
Are Chelsea going to play a 6-4-0? We may see a lot of nil-nil draws if this run on CB continues
 

candylandriots

unkempt
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Mar 30, 2004
12,327
Berlin
Another great signing by Palace. I love that they are actually retooling in an ambitious way rather than just trying to patch a hole or two with older veterans in the hopes of doing just enough to avoid the drop for another year.

View: https://twitter.com/CPFC/status/1420421348481028096
Yeah, I was excited by this one too! They still have some work to do in terms of just getting enough bodies to field a team, but I really like the direction that they are going.

In somewhat related news, Patrick van Aanholt has officially left the club. On his way to Galatasary, which seems kind of a letdown for him, given that he was rumored to be in the sights of Barcelona...

https://sempreinter.com/2021/07/28/inter-linked-patrick-van-aanholt-to-sign-for-galatasaray-on-a-free-transfer-italian-media-report/