Summer Transfer Window 2025/26

[UpweySaint]

3 minutes ago, ally_uk said:

If we get rid of Downes get Les back in on loan... 

my initial reaction was this was ridiculous but if Chelsea are looking to move him on and there isn’t interest from bigger and better maybe a loan with a fee and option if we go up? He potentially gets week in week out football and either gets us back up or puts himself in the window for a bigger club. 

[S-Clarke]

3 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

My point is SR have been chaotic. 

A lot of the talk months ago was about being prepared going into the season, and whereas I think we have a decent Championship squad, this is going to be very competitive.

There will be fourteen or fifteen teams going for promotion. Saints and Ipswich should be attractive propositions for players; I would’ve expected the club to get business done sooner than later.

We’re going into next week with a mixed team, still fragmented from last season. 
I just hoped more would’ve been done by now to prepare us for what you’d think would be a promotion-chasing season.

You do make good points, we have lurched from one 'style' to the next without any forward planning or understanding.

The issues of the past still haunt us and it has all been very chaotic, but I'm still in the zone of giving the new setup a chance as we've not had a revamped 'scouting/analysis' role like this since SR have been in. Yes, we're lurching back to another style of play again...but I always think this style (Aggressive/powerful) is more beneficial for smaller teams anyway, if smaller sides try to be tika-taka it only ever ends one way.

Let's see what situation we sit in next summer.

[Chez]

7 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

My point is SR have been chaotic. 

A lot of the talk months ago was about being prepared going into the season, and whereas I think we have a decent Championship squad, this is going to be very competitive.

There will be fourteen or fifteen teams going for promotion. Saints and Ipswich should be attractive propositions for players; I would’ve expected the club to get business done sooner than later.

We’re going into next week with a mixed team, still fragmented from last season. 
I just hoped more would’ve been done by now to prepare us for what you’d think would be a promotion-chasing season.

OK, but you did not say that, you said "Now it just feels chaotic." 

Every summer we hear the same thing: "I would have expect the club to get business done sooner". Why? We are not a top of the pyramid side that dictates the transfer window. We are well down the pecking order, and reliant on other above getting deals done to allow them to offload players. We are also reliant on players departing to free up squad places and ensure we have the cash to pay them all. Two signings is fine by me at this stage. Whether they are any good is a different matter. We have also offloaded, what 8 or 9. Not too bad either. Doesn't mean the window is good or bad, but the pace seems completely normal.

Edited 2 hours ago by Chez

[Andrew Watson]

Perhaps if Dibling goes we could sign Rudoni.

[Sheaf Saint]

1 minute ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

My point is SR have been chaotic. 

A lot of the talk months ago was about being prepared going into the season, and whereas I think we have a decent Championship squad, this is going to be very competitive.

There will be fourteen or fifteen teams going for promotion. Saints and Ipswich should be attractive propositions for players; I would’ve expected the club to get business done sooner than later.

We’re going into next week with a mixed team, still fragmented from last season. 
I just hoped more would’ve been done by now to prepare us for what you’d think would be a promotion-chasing season.

Of course it would be nice to get all our business done early on, but that just isn't how football transfer windows work unless you're willing to pay massively over the odds on transfer fees and wages.

The main reason so many signings happen late on in the window is because players are always advised by their agents to hold off and wait to see if they get a better offer elsewhere before committing. Then you also have the domino effect, which is due to selling clubs being reluctant to let players leave until they have secured a replacement.

It's the same every summer and every January.

[Wade Garrett]

19 minutes ago, Kenilworthy59 said:

We will still finish in the play-offs. Bristol City, a team of nothing players, managed it last season

I think that’s very complacent.  We need to strengthen the first XI.  If we don’t, then play-offs will be difficult.

[Saint Matty 76]

Our four Summer loans in 23/24 all took place in the final 10 days of the window. I wouldn't be too surprised to see that be all we do for the rest of this year. It was three games into the season before we signed any of them.

Two/three central midfielders and one/two wide players would be my guess.

Harwood Bellis: 1st September
Fraser: 25th August
Holgate: 25th August
Downes: 21st August
 

[Dusic]

Assuming Dibling, Fernandes and THB go in addition to Edozie and Aribo then what are we seeing as the priority for incomings? Any variations on this?

1. No 10

2. Wide right attacker

3. Wide left attacker (if BBD goes)

4. Centre mid

5. 3rd GK

6. RB (if we can shift Bree somehow)

[ErwinK1961]

2 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Assuming Dibling, Fernandes and THB go in addition to Edozie and Aribo then what are we seeing as the priority for incomings? Any variations on this?

1. No 10

2. Wide right attacker

3. Wide left attacker (if BBD goes)

4. Centre mid

5. 3rd GK

6. RB (if we can shift Bree somehow)

Think that’s a fair list, although I would personally have a new number one GK up the list a bit. Albeit I don’t think the club will bother and think Bazunu will be number 1, which is a huge mistake.

[Appy]

9 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Assuming Dibling, Fernandes and THB go in addition to Edozie and Aribo then what are we seeing as the priority for incomings? Any variations on this?

1. No 10

2. Wide right attacker

3. Wide left attacker (if BBD goes)

4. Centre mid

5. 3rd GK

6. RB (if we can shift Bree somehow)

We need a wide left attacker regardless if BBD goes

[coalman]

8 minutes ago, Appy said:

We need a wide left attacker regardless if BBD goes

Also if he stays.

[S-Clarke]

21 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Assuming Dibling, Fernandes and THB go in addition to Edozie and Aribo then what are we seeing as the priority for incomings? Any variations on this?

1. No 10

2. Wide right attacker

3. Wide left attacker (if BBD goes)

4. Centre mid

5. 3rd GK

6. RB (if we can shift Bree somehow)

Number 10, wide right and wide left. But if they're clever, they could buy one proper '10' and another player who could play multiple positions across the front 3 (versatile winger type). Certainly the attacking area is the priority even without selling anyone else, so it's interesting to see what they do.

3rd GK - surely 1st choice GK  

CM and RB are probably nice to haves and depend on departures, i.e. if Smallbone or Bree leave. Although to give us a bit of cover it wouldn't be unreasonable to have another CM.

So potentially 3-5  new players? (taking us to a total of maybe 7 for the window) That's not asking for much, but they all need to be starters - that's the key.

Edited 2 hours ago by S-Clarke

[SuperSAINT]

Just now, S-Clarke said:

Number 10, wide right and wide left. But if they're clever, they could buy one player to cover multiple positions and just bring in '2' attackers at a push.

Certainly the attacking area is the priority even without selling anyone else, so it's interesting to see what they do.

3rd GK - surely 1st choice GK  

CM and RB are probably nice to haves and depend on departures, i.e. if Smallbone or Bree leave. Although to give us a bit of cover it wouldn't be unreasonable to have another CM.

So potentially 3 -5  new players? That's not asking for much, but they all need to be starters - that's the key.

We’re in a bit of a pickle because none of our “wide strikers” BBD / Arma / Archer seem to fit the wide positions we currently play.

[Farmer Saint]

1 hour ago, SWLondon Saint said:

They *can* afford it, but they won't - for the £40m + we want, most European clubs would want a Dani Olmo level proven player. I agree completely we should be looking for that amount though as he's worth it to us. I honestly hope we keep him as I think he's the kind of model pro who will just knuckle down and give 100% anyway like he did in last season's farce. It's just recent experience tells us that when agents are stirring the shit, clubs like ours rarely get what we want. He'd probably be better off playing week in and out for us than sitting on the bench somewhere bigger anyway.

When have we not got what we wanted for a player?

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, SuperSAINT said:

We’re in a bit of a pickle because none of our “wide strikers” BBD / Arma / Archer seem to fit the wide positions we currently play.

Robinson and Fraser are probably the only wide players we currently have.

[SWLondon Saint]

32 minutes ago, Chez said:

OK, but originally you didn't say that. You said "those interested can't afford £25m." 

I disagree. He would be better off playing in the PL. Plenty of sides there will help his career along nicely. Many better than we will.

His agent isn't "stirring the shit". Why do agents always get blamed? His agent is doing his job, which is to get the best deal possible for his client. And that deal is not going to be with a championship side. When players depart, it's not because of agents, it because the player can do better elsewhere. The only way you keep players is to give them a better deal here than they can elsewhere...and that means more money and also a progressing club moving forward, quickly. When that momentum goes, the stars depart.

What I meant was a lot of the clubs who would be interested - say, a club of the size of Porto, European football, smaller league - can barely afford £25m, and the bigger ones like Atletico, Napoli etc, who can afford £25m-50m would only pay £25m for younger / less proven talent as opposed to the £40m+ we want.

McTominay went for £25m last year, Dani Olmo for £46m + add-ons so that's the kind of market we're selling into.

Yes, he'd obviously be better off in the PL or another top 5 league if he'd be playing regularly, but I can't see that happening because the type of club he would get that at - maybe a West Ham, Wolves or Forest in the PL - probably won't be coughing up the £40m+. So it's an impasse.

The agent's job is to to make the most money possible for the agent. The player's best interests are obviously involved in that to a degree, but anyone who's ever worked via an agent or commissioning type company has always got to bear in mind that they work for themselves, and you benefit as a byproduct. It's not personal, it is literally their job to 'stir shit' for their own and their client's interests. 

[Farmer Saint]

There seems to be a lot of chat about THB going? What links have there been for him? He was poor in the Prem last season so not sure who's going to want him.

[Matthew Le God]

3 minutes ago, SWLondon Saint said:

Yes, he'd obviously be better off in the PL or another top 5 league if he'd be playing regularly, but I can't see that happening because the type of club he would get that at - maybe a West Ham, Wolves or Forest in the PL - probably won't be coughing up the £40m+. So it's an impasse.

Why not when those clubs have spent similar to that on other players?

[Badger]

36 minutes ago, Andrew Watson said:

Perhaps if Dibling goes we could sign Rudoni.

If we sell Dibling (and/or Fernandes) I expect the asking prices for Rudoni, Goodrham (Oxford) and anyone else in this division will be bumped by a few million.*

Not sure Rudoni would see us as a better option than Coventry to be honest. Although £ will be a factor. 

*Subject to any release clauses of course 

[Matthew Le God]

Just now, Badger said:

Not sure Rudoni would see us as a better option than Coventry to be honest. Although £ will be a factor. 
 

We have a better squad than Coventry, higher chance of promotion and like you acknowledged the money factor. We will have a significantly bigger wage bill than Coventry. 

[Badger]

29 minutes ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Think that’s a fair list, although I would personally have a new number one GK up the list a bit. Albeit I don’t think the club will bother and think Bazunu will be number 1, which is a huge mistake.

Obvious to most fans, but going on our track record of numpties in charge of recruitment recently it probably is well down their list. 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

4 hours ago, gio1saints said:

Flynn Downes is a very good championship MF but could be a star in Scotland - I think he’s going to leave for £10m if Rangers can find the pennies that is. 

He would be a star there. Had we been talking about Flynn Downes currently playing for a non old firm Scottish team, he could well have followed the likes of Scott Brown's career.

Downes clearly works well with, and likes, Martin.

Juric said he was unhappy with Downes reaction to a blocked move (I think to Ipswich) after Martin left, and he either didn't like the changes, felt the reasons to stay had gone with Martin or just saw the writing on the wall for us.

With Rangers getting new funding, and Martin's relationship with Downes, there was the usual speculation, linking a move.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfer-news/rangers-could-break-six-year-35437572

We paid 15 million for him plus 3 million in add ons on a four year deal. Purely in amortisation, we'd be looking for at least 12 million. Considering he's one of our sellable assets, it's fair to think we'd be still in a position to get more than our initial outlay.

Wages wise, a 40% reduction puts him on 36k ( all figs here pulled from websites). An attractive deal for a PL club, if he still wants a move.

It's beyond the resources of Rangers at present. No doubt Martin would love him to be there. Downes could very well love the idea of playing for Martin again. 

They have a massive overhaul underway. They have an initial investment of only 20 million or so. The linked article points out that it was 2019, when Rangers last paid 7 million. Currently, their highest disclosed fee on wiki, in the squad is 5.6 million for Danilo in 2023. 36k a week would also make him Rangers' top earner.

They are operating in a different market to one where they could afford a Downs. Even if there were circumstances where Downs was available to loan, there would be a number of clubs interested. Rangers' biggest draw would be European football, and a prolonged run in it. They are pretty weak right now, for that to be a great choice.

As Downes contract goes closer to winding down, who can tell if he joins Martin? He'll be somehow managing Manchester United by then, having left a trail of baffled fans in mediocre teams. 🙂

[Badger]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

We have a better squad than Coventry, higher chance of promotion and like you acknowledged the money factor. We will have a significantly bigger wage bill than Coventry. 

Not so sure on that one. They finished the season well last time, and have added a couple of useful additions at this level. They’ll feel quite optimistic for the season. Whether our squad proves better, we’ll have to see. 

[SWLondon Saint]

6 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Why not when those clubs have spent similar to that on other players?

At an initial fee of £40m +, he'd be Forest's record signing, West Ham have only spent more on Haller, I think, and same for Wolves with Cunha, so I don't see it happening. As I said ages ago, those sides would all want a Gibbs-White type deal of £25m+ add-ons, which I can't see us accepting.

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Badger said:

Not so sure on that one. They finished the season well last time, and have added a couple of useful additions at this level. They’ll feel quite optimistic for the season. Whether our squad proves better, we’ll have to see. 

Of course we do.

We have a pretty deep squad of players, most of which would start for about 20 other sides - Coventry being one of them

[CB Fry]

44 minutes ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

Our four Summer loans in 23/24 all took place in the final 10 days of the window. I wouldn't be too surprised to see that be all we do for the rest of this year. It was three games into the season before we signed any of them.

Two/three central midfielders and one/two wide players would be my guess.

Harwood Bellis: 1st September
Fraser: 25th August
Holgate: 25th August
Downes: 21st August
 

Great post, so season-to-season we are about 3 weeks away from signing some of our most pivotal players.

People can sob about how "chaotic" it is but its nothing of the sort.

[Smirking_Saint]

1 hour ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

I think the difficulty is we lurch from one set of transfers/style of play/signings every window.

Summer of 2022 - sign all children from top six academies and throw them straight into the first team

January 2023 - target man for route one football, but sack the manager six weeks later

Summer 2023 and January 2024 - Probably the only time where it felt like good transfer windows in recent years. British players suited to a style of play for a British manager. A core home-grown backbone with a blend of top flight, Championship and international experience (Brooks, Fraser, Manning etc).

Summer 2024 - a bit more bargain hunting, either that was because of Wilcox’s departure or financial reasons.

January 2025 - non existent, damage was done. But who sanctioned Groenbak?!? Bizarre.

Summer 2025 - so far Downs and Quashie, young and inexperienced in the UK. Are we going down the young route again?

When you break it down you could actually see in the Russell Martin era there were some consistencies, especially the Championship season, you could see how we’d play and how these players would fit in.

Now it just feels chaotic. 
I’ll reserve judgement until the end of the window but for a club that is supposedly in a decent finical position surely it makes more sense to get players in sooner than later and start building the squad?

Where is the chaos ? We’ve signed a player in two of the 3 positions we openly said we needed and have managed to shift some deadwood for prices above we thought we would get

Pretty far from chaotic tbh

[Willo of Whiteley]

Josh Brownhill please

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/statistik/vertragslosespieler

[S-Clarke]

4 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Josh Brownhill please

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/statistik/vertragslosespieler

Didn't he reject Burnleys contract offer and leave them, as he had interest from higher up? (Not just English, but Foreign leagues).

There's no chance he ditches Burnley in the PL to drop back down to the Champ.

[saintant]

46 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Josh Brownhill please

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/statistik/vertragslosespieler

He'll attract interest from better clubs than us - shame because he'd be perfect.

[Wade Garrett]

2 hours ago, Dusic said:

Assuming Dibling, Fernandes and THB go in addition to Edozie and Aribo then what are we seeing as the priority for incomings? Any variations on this?

1. No 10

2. Wide right attacker

3. Wide left attacker (if BBD goes)

4. Centre mid

5. 3rd GK

6. RB (if we can shift Bree somehow)

We are fucked if we are going for a 3rd keeper to replace Ramsdale.  Bazunu isn’t good enough.

[Gloucester Saint]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

Didn't he reject Burnleys contract offer and leave them, as he had interest from higher up? (Not just English, but Foreign leagues).

There's no chance he ditches Burnley in the PL to drop back down to the Champ.

Got an Everton signing written all over it. West Ham have been sniffing but if he has school-age kids, might not need to uproot them. 

[Chez]

2 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

There seems to be a lot of chat about THB going? What links have there been for him? He was poor in the Prem last season so not sure who's going to want him.

There was a story a few weeks ago about Porto putting in a £20m bid.