Summer Transfer Window 2025 Thread

[Harryflashman]

Tried and tested Kenwright tactic that.. File under Riquelme and Moutinho, Fans are thrilled then when it doesn't happen "at least we tried" I expect Grealish to join this list too.

I say this every time this comes up , how does nearly signing a player and winding up all the fans until most of us are furious work as a positive ?

I just can’t work out how this is a good plan for the club to follow

 

[windymiller]

If we bring in 2 out of contract players as backup that moyes thinks can help if needed and use funds saved to then bring in 3 boss players that massively improve the first 11 that is not stagnation as our first team has improved and the backups wont offer any less than broja, mangala, lindstrom etc We cant bring in 5 or 6 players on big fees and wages as we can’t afford it.

Next transfer window replace one or two of the backup for first teamers, next summer replace a few of the backup with first teamers again and its continuous improvement.

That's quite the hypothetical scenario there. Out of curiosity who are the three boss players we're going to line up next to Keane and Brownhill?

 

[Tipp blue]

Whats the riskiest gamble?

1. Hanging on to save a few bob or to wait for some trumpet to get offered European football before they'll sign....and then miss out;
2. Go a bit more gung-ho and throw bigger money at 2-3 key targets like McAtee, Kubo and Luiz for example;
3. Bin the 'elite' targets off and get 6-7 'might-be's' in like Brownhill, AMN, Soucek etc?

We're at the stage where we need to go gung-ho on one of the three options.

I'd go route 2 with the view that with a following wind we could improve in the short-term AND very likley sell the likes of McAtee, Kubo and Barry for a decent profit in 12-18 months.

Wait for the super fantastic awesome legendary huge 6 clubs to pick who they want then pay over the odds for their castoffs who'll be told they have no place at the club.

 

[Lanolin]

One thing that has changed in my opinion is the attitude of some players now. Even 20 years ago if you said to a top player in the championship ‘do you want to come and play first team football for Everton’ they’d be absolutely all over it as they knew the call from the CL clubs was never coming, and even if it was they didn’t want to sit on the bench.

Now it feels like every single player who is even half decent wants European football, a ginormous wage, to play for Chelsea or Liverpool, and game time is utterly irrelevant to them. Given the choice between being squad player #999 in Chelsea or playing first 11 for Everton almost every single player would rather do the first one, collect their money, live in London, and say they ‘play’ champions league football. Some are even choosing to stay in the academy of big clubs than play first team football for other PL clubs.

It’s an absolutely bizarre situation but there’s definitely something up with the market when championship players and academy kids who aren’t even the cream of the crop are turning down guaranteed minutes in mid table PL teams.

The problem though is that because of European football and the fact that the better teams now dominate the cups, there are plenty of minutes to go round for the top clubs. If you look at someone like Dewsbury-Hall at Chelsea as an example, your perception would be that he's hardly played, but actually because of all the games they play he ended up playing 36 games for them so he's barely any worse off for minutes than he would be if he came to a club like us.

 

[Kevsleftpeg]

I say this every time this comes up , how does nearly signing a player and winding up all the fans until most of us are furious work as a positive ?

I just can’t work out how this is a good plan for the club to follow

It doesn't but it keeps tin foil sales at a reasonable level.

 

[Toffe3m4n]

Moyes is not responsible for transfer negotiations...pay those players more and they will come.

He is responsible for managing our football team still though..

 

[Marcus Kendall]

I'd take a James McCarthy any day of the week tbh

He's a broken man now, might get 45 minutes out of him if we're lucky

 

[Victus]

If I don't see something today I'm going into fight mode.

 

[Bebeto]

He is responsible for managing our football team still though..

He has done an unbelievable job last season. He is doing what he can right now with the few players he has at his disposal.

 

[Tipp blue]

I say this every time this comes up , how does nearly signing a player and winding up all the fans until most of us are furious work as a positive ?

I just can’t work out how this is a good plan for the club to follow

It buys time.. once the window's closed the fans will stop moaning as there is nothing that can be done about it at that stage.

 

[Toffe3m4n]

It buys time.. once the window's closed the fans will stop moaning as there is nothing that can be done about it at that stage.

Wouldn't count on that like

 

[BigBeto1]

I'd take a James McCarthy any day of the week tbh

God that buzz of the new owners has really gone hasn’t it

 

[Brett Angell Delight]

Volume of perceived signings needed as well comes into play as well mate. In a different context 4 In before Aug isn’t so bad.

I think that’s what has people cracking a bit the last couple of days, the percived scale and volume.

Defo. Regardless of the situation, footy fans are conditioned to break down at any perceived lack of action in the transfer market these days. So much media airtime is devoted to it, and so many people post any auld crap hoping for clicks that rumours become more exciting than actual transfers.

The obvious issue is that this is a pretty unique situation for us, the recruitment team have made the right noises, and by all accounts pursued some pretty ambitious moves, but when they're not coming off it would be good to see some secondary players coming in to show that we're working on multiple fronts. The worry otherwise is that we're chucking our eggs into a small number of increasingly unrealistic baskets, and that feeds into some very justifiable angst on here re past panic buys.

A couple more Aznou types, players with potential in key positions, in fairly short order would settle things down for all but the most committed cryarses. I felt sure we'd have gone on a little run of them once we had him in but that doesn't look like the case and now I'm getting bullied by @MikeH72

 

[Harryflashman]

It buys time.. once the window's closed the fans will stop moaning as there is nothing that can be done about it at that stage.

Does it though , how ? I’m not having a go but I can’t see it . Look at the mood here or in your WhatsApp groups , I’m sure , blues are stressing and calling out everyone from Moyes to the owners. Almost Nobody I’ve seen says “we’re linked to grealish , so we can all relax. “

It’s like setting fire to your shed when your house is on fire , you can argue it’s a distraction but it’s hardly helpful

 

[Lanolin]

I think a combination of factors is resulting in our inability to make progress in the transfer market. Changing ownership in January and then not having a recruitment team, even now, in place to properly plan for the summer combined with limited finances is not helpful. I also get the argument that having players in hand means there's less for the recruitment team to do. However, I've said it before and I'll continue to say it, signing bad players is never a good idea. You don't think Keane and Brownhill aren't that bad, fair enough, I don't think Brownhill is awful I just don't think he's an upgrade on anything we have, but Keane is a dreadful player. We'll have to disagree on this one, I'm afraid.

Believe me, we don't disagree! Don't mistake me saying 'I can see how that potentially makes sense in this scenario' for me thinking its a great idea.

I didn't want Keane to sign a new deal, I can just understand that having got ourselves into a position where we only had about 12 senior players on the books, it might make sense to kick that particular can down the road for a year. We shouldn't have got ourselves into a position where that was happening, but we did, so we have to deal with the real world consequences. Same with someone like Brownhill (or Harrison/Maitland-Niles/Coufal etc) coming in. Of course they're not the players I actually want to see us signing, not by a long shot, but if we can't get the players we want we need to do something. We can't play the season with what we've got now so at some point you have to actually act. If we end the window with what we've got now plus the 4 I've just mentioned I'll think the window has been a disaster and won't be shy of saying it, but that doesn't mean I can't accept that having those 4 would be better than not having anyone, which is effectively what the discussion is about.