The way too early January 2023 Transfer Window Thread

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Swiss Ramble did a big breakdown of United's financial situation recently, looking mainly at what they are worth in a sale. But two of the things that came out were that they had a really low cash-on-hand balance by Q1 of the 22-23 football year (ie, this past summer/early fall) and that they have amassed a lot of debt recently, including a ton of transfer debt owed to other teams that is likely to come due as well as some short term borrowing they did recently to fund transfer market expenditures.

My guess is that they don't want to take on any more debt right now during the sales process, as this would alter some fundamental aspects of the financials that Raine is giving out to potential bidders, and they just don't have the cash on hand for much activity in January.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

That corresponds with this Guardian article mentioned upthread,.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/27/manchester-united-unlikely-to-sign-striker-permanently-in-january-window?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

 

[67YAZ]

Chelsea finalize deal for Datro Fofana. He’s a fun prospect - 20yo with 15 goals (3 PK) & 3 assists in 24 matches for Molde. I don’t know why he’s being touted as bolstering Chelsea’s attacking, though. More likely he and Slonina will run out and get some shooting/keeping practice during half time of home matches.

 

[the1andonly3003]

Chelsea finalize deal for Datro Fofana. He’s a fun prospect - 20yo with 15 goals (3 PK) & 3 assists in 24 matches for Molde. I don’t know why he’s being touted as bolstering Chelsea’s attacking, though. More likely he and Slonina will run out and get some shooting/keeping practice during half time of home matches.

Did they realize they got the wrong Fofana the first time?

 

[67YAZ]

Did they realize they got the wrong Fofana the first time?

Go get Youssouf Fofana from Monaco & collect them all!

 

[HowBoutDemSox]

A few other Chelsea items:

In addition to David Fofana, they’re about to wrap up a deal for 18 year old Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos.

They are also apparently looking to break the bank (and FFP, per some reports) to bring Enzo Fernández to west London. He supposedly has a €120 million release clause and Benefica are saying they won’t take less than that, so we’ll see.
View: https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1608738157045981185


In somewhat more realistic news, looks like they’ve generally moved on from Gvardiol and are targeting Benoît Badiashile of Monaco instead:

View: https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1608498130416189440

 

[SocrManiac]

I didn’t realize Fernández could play on the wing.

 

[Vinho Tinto]

I didn’t realize Fernández could play on the wing.

I didn't realize the club I root for is Benefica.

 

[Zomp]

Benfeek caralho

 

[Vinho Tinto]

Benfeek caralho

Porkista va se foder!

 

[67YAZ]

Apparently, Enzo is a split ownership situation with investors in Argentina holding 25%. It’s going to be so expensive and so messy trying to get him right now.

 

[67YAZ]

Ronaldo official.

 

[the1andonly3003]

HNY...the transfer window is now officially open

 

[Time to Mo Vaughn]

A bunch of smoke this morning (primarily from Ukraine) about Mudryk to Arsenal being close.

 

[Jimy Hendrix]

A bunch of smoke this morning (primarily from Ukraine) about Mudryk to Arsenal being close.

Are we still doing phrasing?

 

[the1andonly3003]

well, that was quick Nottingham Forest to let Emmanuel Dennis leave club to make room for new signings - The Athletic

guess we know how patient Forest will be with their new signings

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

View: https://twitter.com/Millar_Colin/status/1610042144022044676


View: https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1610065610070953984


Add these two to Nkunku at 70m euro, the young Brazilian midfielder they just bought for 20m, and the summer splurge and Boehly will have spent around 550m euro on player transfers in his first 12 months. All to probably finish 6th or 7th.

 

[the1andonly3003]

Klich to DC Utd Leeds United’s Mateusz Klich set to complete move to D.C. United - The Athletic

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

Looks like the Enzo Fernandez to Chelsea move has collapsed. Chelsea initially told Benfica they’d pay the full release clause (€120m !!!!). After both sides agreeing, Chelsea turned around and wanted to renegotiate - paying it in instalments , which really pissed off Benfica and the deal is off.

View: https://twitter.com/brfootball/status/1611002583564304386?s=20&t=g_BWioOv8-AiUkNhWOfZNQ


Im thinking Chelsea are going to be happy this fell through. That’s a ridiculous fee to be paying for such an unproven player. WC Bounce Exhibit A

 

[Zososoxfan]

Looks like the Enzo Fernandez to Chelsea move has collapsed. Chelsea initially told Benfica they’d pay the full release clause (€120m !!!!). After both sides agreeing, Chelsea turned around and wanted to renegotiate - paying it in instalments , which really pissed off Benfica and the deal is off.

View: https://twitter.com/brfootball/status/1611002583564304386?s=20&t=g_BWioOv8-AiUkNhWOfZNQ


Im thinking Chelsea are going to be happy this fell through. That’s a ridiculous fee to be paying for such an unproven player. WC Bounce Exhibit A

I agree with everything except the WC Bounce part. Enzo may not reach his full potential, but the guy's already a helluva player. Mac Allister has more WC bounce vibes, but he's young and promising too, and he's already doing it in the Prem. Same goes for Julian. Other players I suspect may get overvalued bc of the WC for Argentina are Emi Martinez, Molina, and De Paul.

Players from other teams that might get inflated values bc of the WC are Rabiot, Thuram, Juranovic, Vlasic, Petkovic, Bounou, Amrabat (probably justified), Koopmeiners, Weghorst, and Shaw. I'm sure there are some candidates from teams eliminated in the Group Stage and R16 too, but I'd have to think about that more.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

Hmm - maybe the Idiot Owner Bounce might be more appropriate. He’s obviously a very good player - but he’s been at Benfica for half a year - hence the “unproven” comment. There was lots of hype about him pre-WC.

Guessing Chelsea needed the instalments for FFP reasons - being new to world football Boehly hasn’t learned how to properly cheat yet.

 

[rguilmar]

A few days old, but definitely not a normal transfer. Lucas Perez, probably best remembered in these parts for his difficult time at Arsenal, moved from Cadiz to Deportivo La Coruña. Depor is his boyhood team, and he was in the stands for their playoff loss last season to earn promotion to the Segunda. So he went from top scorer last season at Cadiz in La Liga down to the Spanish third tier, which isn’t even recognized as a fully professional league. Needless to say, this includes a massive pay cut. And he paid half of his own 1 million Euro transfer fee to do so
Why? To chase a dream, he says. This move is in stark contrast to the big news that particular day, when CR7 signed in Saudi Arabia.

In Galicia, the northwest region of Spain where A Coruña is located, they have a famous word, la moriña, which loosely translates to “the longing”, a type of homesickness that eventually draws the Galician home.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/spanish-laliga/story/4845473/why-lucas-perez-left-laligas-cadiz-and-took-a-pay-cut-to-help-third-tier-deportivo-la-coruna

 

[Tangled Up In Red]

A few days old, but definitely not a normal transfer. Lucas Perez, probably best remembered in these parts for his difficult time at Arsenal, moved from Cadiz to Deportivo La Coruña. Depor is his boyhood team, and he was in the stands for their playoff loss last season to earn promotion to the Segunda. So he went from top scorer last season at Cadiz in La Liga down to the Spanish third tier, which isn’t even recognized as a fully professional league. Needless to say, this includes a massive pay cut. And he paid half of his own 1 million Euro transfer fee to do so
Why? To chase a dream, he says. This move is in stark contrast to the big news that particular day, when CR7 signed in Saudi Arabia.

In Galicia, the northwest region of Spain where A Coruña is located, they have a famous word, la moriña, which loosely translates to “the longing”, a type of homesickness that eventually draws the Galician home.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/spanish-laliga/story/4845473/why-lucas-perez-left-laligas-cadiz-and-took-a-pay-cut-to-help-third-tier-deportivo-la-coruna

Full truth probably lies somewhere in the fog, but a lovely story indeed.

 

[Zomp]

We are rumored to be close to taking Wout Weghorst on loan. I don’t mind it as a stop gap. Certainly better than bringing in Joao Felix then being coerced into buying him.

 

[allstonite]

Gakpo making his LFC debut vs Wolves

 

[HowBoutDemSox]

Seems like the Joao Felix loan spot will be Chelsea, per Ornstein:
View: https://twitter.com/david_ornstein/status/1612477317351178244

 

[bosox4283]

I’m rooting for Joao to succeed at Chelsea, for his sake and so that his value increases and Atleti can recover costs. I’m guessing that Joao will do much better in a flowing system that places more emphasis on creating chances, but I think there will be an adjustment time for Felix to get used to speed and physicality of Premier League. He’s very talented but it’s still a bit unclear if he can perform consistently enough within a match and game to game — flashes of brilliance aren’t enough.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Can't wait for Chelsea to roll out the "three guys who aren't really wingers but aren't really strikers either" frontline of Felix, Havertz, and Mount...and then add Nkunku over the summer.

 

[rguilmar]

Alex Moreno is off to Aston Villa. Teams wanted the attacking left back over the summer but he did not want to leave Real Betis. We will see how he does in the Prem. Betis reportedly will try to get Fran Garcia from Rayo Vallecano, who is also an attack minded left back (and would sadly break up the Garcia and Garcia left sided attack that has been so effective for Rayo).

 

[Zomp]

Weghorst looks to be done. Loan til the end of the season

 

[Zososoxfan]

Racing Club (Argentina) young star Carlos Alcaraz is confirmed to Southampton. 20 years old, he almost made the Argentina NT as a sub when GLC went down.

 

[HowBoutDemSox]

I’m rooting for Joao to succeed at Chelsea, for his sake and so that his value increases and Atleti can recover costs. I’m guessing that Joao will do much better in a flowing system that places more emphasis on creating chances, but I think there will be an adjustment time for Felix to get used to speed and physicality of Premier League. He’s very talented but it’s still a bit unclear if he can perform consistently enough within a match and game to game — flashes of brilliance aren’t enough.

Eventful first appearance for Felix today, generating a number of shots and chances but not finishing any, then gets sent off for a studs up tackle in the second half.

 

[67YAZ]

The Athletic reporting on the Brighton-Trossard fall out - an argument with a teammate, a refusal to sign an extension, and a fall out with the manager. Whatever happened, Trossard wants out this month. There should be no lack of suitors.

 

[SocrManiac]

Too bad he isn't a box to box MF. He could just switch changing rooms.

 

[the1andonly3003]

View: https://twitter.com/David_Ornstein/status/1614316975999664128?s=20&t=3gge9J2Ltp0Ep7_tTS2LTw


Chelsea nabs Mudryk

 

[Jimy Hendrix]

They are addicted to attacking midfielders, it's a real problem.

 

[Kliq]

Yeah, it's pretty remarkable that they went through a whole ownership change and they still just have a policy where they spend a kajillion dollars on attacking midfielders and wingers with little coherent plan.

 

[Time to Mo Vaughn]

That's a lot of money.

Were they worried they wouldn't have a 100M winger on the field for the three games while Joao serves his suspension?

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

I really like the player but 100m and big wages on a 22-year-old with nine career goals in the Ukrainian league is just insane.

I was getting uncomfortable with the price when it crept up around 70m euro and it looked like we might only pay peanuts for wages. Still wanted him but with qualms.

100m is crazy for his career profile.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

I really like the player but 100m and big wages on a 22-year-old with nine career goals in the Ukrainian league is just insane.

I was getting uncomfortable with the price when it crept up around 70m euro and it looked like we might only pay peanuts for wages. Still wanted him but with qualms.

100m is crazy for his career profile.

100m should buy lots of drones … just sayin’

 

[lars10]

I really like the player but 100m and big wages on a 22-year-old with nine career goals in the Ukrainian league is just insane.

I was getting uncomfortable with the price when it crept up around 70m euro and it looked like we might only pay peanuts for wages. Still wanted him but with qualms.

100m is crazy for his career profile.

I think he would have been a nice fit with Odegaard.. from the clips I've seen he seems to have a very good work rate and is a nice dribbler/ passer.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

Mudryk‘s contract is for 8 and 1/2 years … he will earn another 100m in wages. This is utterly insane.

 

[HowBoutDemSox]

They’ve been doing 6+ year deals for their transfers in part for FFP purposes, amortizing the cost of the transfer fee over more years so they can spend more now. Obviously if the player flops you’re paying for it long term in overpriced wages, but they must figure that’s a problem for another day.

 

[67YAZ]

Jhon Duran to Villa for $20m.

That’s a 10x return for Chicago after 1 season, but puts the Fire in an even deeper talent hole heading into the season. The Fire now have the Slonina and Duran transfer windfalls, a DP spot, and a young DP spot to fill. I wish I trusted Heitz to make the right moves here, but his DP batting average is abysmal. Duran is the only hit.

I’ll be exited to see Duran in the EPL and what Emery will do with him. Duran has EPL-ready athleticism and physique. He’s already quite technical, which will continue to improve. It’s hard to speak to his tactical understanding since he more or less thrived as a hard pressing & direct running counter attacker on a Fire club that spent all season pinned in their own end.

The question is his maturity. The Fire tried him as a super sub early in the season, and he picked up stupid, needles cards within minutes each time. Even when he grew up a bit and became the starter over the last couple months, he was still taunting the fans at away matches, Neymar-level over-doing fouls, arguing with refs, and generally acting like a butthead. If and when he grows up (he only turned 19 last month), he’s got the look for a career EPL striker.

 

[HowBoutDemSox]

Shakhtar is pledging $25 million of the Mudryk transfer fee to Ukrainian soldiers and families, and they also say Chelsea will play a friendly at Donbass Arena once Ukraine has liberated the region.

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/shakhtar-donetsk-allocate-25-mln-aid-ukraine-2023-01-16/

 

[OCST]

Brighton has enough young talent, on paper, to stare Trodsard down. As good as he has been, and as well run as that cub has been, you figure there must be something to it, he really must be poisoning the dressing room. If so, good on them for acting decisively. I’m sure LT has his side of the story but they can’t let one guy get in the way of what they’re doing.

 

[Time to Mo Vaughn]

Shakhtar is pledging $25 million of the Mudryk transfer fee to Ukrainian soldiers and families, and they also say Chelsea will play a friendly at Donbass Arena once Ukraine has liberated the region.

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/shakhtar-donetsk-allocate-25-mln-aid-ukraine-2023-01-16/

There's something especially poetic about this given Abramovich's ownership of the club less than a year ago.

 

[SocrManiac]

There's something especially poetic about this given Abramovich's ownership of the club less than a year ago.

This is where my head went as well.

 

[candylandriots]

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/dortmund-sign-norway-defender-ryerson-union-berlin-2023-01-17/

Ryerson has been absolutely fantastic this year for Union Berlin. He plays usually in a pretty advanced role. Happy for him to go to Dortmund, but this leaves a really big hole to fill. No idea what the fee could have been.

Edit: looks like the fee was €5 million. Not bad for someone they paid €150k for, but still seems pretty light, though I’m not sure how much longer he had on his contract.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Very quiet window so far IMO. I think we'll see a flurry of activity (calibrated for the Jan window still) once clubs can see how January is going and the deadline looms.