Summer Transfer Window 2025 Thread

[Bluepablo]

I remember when I was excited that we had managed to sign Sandro for a bargain £8m. It didn’t turn out well.

 

[Exeter_Gently]

I remember when I was excited that we had managed to sign Sandro for a bargain £8m. It didn’t turn out well.

Don't think I've ever been more excited about a singing than that one.

What an absolute dud.

 

[hallamblue]

If Isaak and Wilson are still at Newcastle he won’t be going there.

I don’t think we will get him but also I’m not too bothered because I don’t think he’s the be all and end all. I think the lad Ferguson has a higher ceiling ability wise but clearly has some off pitch issues.

If he’s as good as we’re all making out then Arsenal would snap him up as they need a number 9 but I don’t want to see us in a bidding war with West Ham or Fulham and paying out a load of money for a player that the top clubs aren’t interested in.

Chelsea, Newcastle and Man United all want him

 

[Stoffee]

I remember when I was excited that we had managed to sign Sandro for a bargain £8m. It didn’t turn out well.

Pretty sure it was closer to £5m...but we paid him massive wages to get him



....I'm still convinced we ruined his career

 

[MikeH72]

I remember when I was excited that we had managed to sign Sandro for a bargain £8m. It didn’t turn out well.

There’s never been a bigger gulf between what I saw on a YouTube compilation and what I saw on the football pitch. I vividly remember sitting watching him play against Spurs and thinking “what the hell have we done”. He had the best YouTube highlight reel I’ve ever seen of any player we’ve signed, he literally resembled R9.

 

[hetion]

Chelsea, Newcastle and Man United all want him

It's been said hundreds of times but any promising young player going to Utd wants their head checked. Can't believe they keep doing it.

Pretty sure it was closer to £5m...but we paid him massive wages to get him



....I'm still convinced we ruined his career

This was a really interesting one because it exposed so badly the gulf at the time between recruitment teams who were still ignoring any kind of advanced statistics. Walsh & co. sorted the tables by 'goals scored' and said "get that one near the top there". Meanwhile every single armchair analyst on twitter who'd even heard of xG said he'd never ever keep up that goalscoring rate. And now xG is so mainstream and so far from advanced that it's on the main BBC live match report page!

Edit: proof from 2017 - this level of analysis was deemed pointless nerdery by many at the time... https://differentgame.wordpress.com/2017/07/04/the-data-scout-sandro-ramirez/

 

[toffeeblue9]

Pretty sure it was closer to £5m...but we paid him massive wages to get him



....I'm still convinced we ruined his career

Yep - I would much rather pay a big transfer fee for someone and have them on reasonable wages than I would pay a "bargain" fee and have them on massive wages

It's so, so difficult to shift a player who turns out to be crap if you're paying them huge money

 

[toffeeblue9]

There’s never been a bigger gulf between what I saw on a YouTube compilation and what I saw on the football pitch. I vividly remember sitting watching him play against Spurs and thinking “what the hell have we done”. He had the best YouTube highlight reel I’ve ever seen of any player we’ve signed, he literally resembled R9.

I have never, in all my years watching football, seen a striker with worse movement. The problem was that the year before we signed him, he had a season where he just kept scoring absolute worldies from outside the box and there was never any way he could keep that up. Even the most basic of "law of averages" appraisal of him would have seen that. Remember watching him for a full 90 mins at the end of the season before we signed him thinking "maybe he's just having an off game here" and it didn't take long while he was here to see that what I'd seen was as good as it would ever get.

 

[MikeH72]

I have never, in all my years watching football, seen a striker with worse movement. The problem was that the year before we signed him, he had a season where he just kept scoring absolute worldies from outside the box and there was never any way he could keep that up. Even the most basic of "law of averages" appraisal of him would have seen that. Remember watching him for a full 90 mins at the end of the season before we signed him thinking "maybe he's just having an off game here" and it didn't take long while he was here to see that what I'd seen was as good as it would ever get.

He genuinely scored all types of goals, long range, headers, lovely slotted one on ones, round the keeper, free kicks. I can’t fathom that this is the same player we signed.

 

[Fonzy]

In the Guardian, apparently his representatives have told clubs that he's only interested in top of the table/ clubs in Europe.

Well thats Man U out as well

 

[Lanolin]

Pretty sure it was closer to £5m...but we paid him massive wages to get him



....I'm still convinced we ruined his career

Nah he was properly rubbish. I remember being massively underwhelmed watching him in the Euro 21s the summer we signed him, Deulofeu was absolutely running riot and he was just sort of there. Then after his debut here you could just see that he wasn't actually particularly good.

 

[efcste97]

 

[ganistuk]

Don't think I've ever been more excited about a singing than that one.

What an absolute dud.

I thought the same with Moise Kean... probably because I played too much Football Manager at the time!!

 

[Exeter_Gently]

I thought the same with Moise Kean... probably because I played too much Football Manager at the time!!

We've all done that mate ha

 

[Exeter_Gently]

Am absolutely convinced the club will do the same with Keane and he'll accept.