Summer 2024 transfer window thread.

[Wolf316]

Our front 3 when all fit would be neto, Hwang and Cunha

None of which are an out and out striker though.

 

[OLDGOLD]

I don't think RAN will be here after the summer if he stays fit . Anything over £40 million and they will cash in .

We don't have a strategy to push on and build a squad or team imo . It's more about player turnover and profits on them . The reinvest little on the odd up and coming players that hopefully come good and we sell for profit.

Imo that way doesn't ever get you moving forwards very far at all . Just the odd good season say top half . Then 2/3 seasons lower half of prem scrapping. Appreciate we have FFP but no other teams have sold lots of their so called better players and have a paper thin squad have they really . Everyone said in January it will bite teams and they will be selling lots of players and nothing happened .

I think most think that this summer will be telling rather than last winter.

 

[Skrilla]

So from the current squad, I would be perfectly happy if we added one good striker and a Che Adams type.

As would I, but I get the feeling there will be more ins and outs than that.

As @Madmalc said, GON may want to freshen up the squad a bit, and in line with Hobbs saying he expects at least one high profile departure, that could potentially fund a bit of a reshaping of the squad. In that sense it may actually be a necessity. I just personally hope it's not RAN, Gomes or Cunha. Those three should be indispensable.

RAN being a Mendes client with two years left on his current deal worries me quite a bit.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

To keep the team fresh you have to think about the sometimes very short period of time that footballers have when they're at the top of their game.
In my opinion, there could easily be 2,3 or even 4 outgoing players from the 1st team squad most years.
It will be interesting to see if we end up with a squad of 19 or 25 players. GON's latest interview hinted that was a discussion topic. GON also stated that the bigger squad would be from lower cost players, so there is a quality of player trade off, for a bigger squad.

Then again given the large number of substitutes allowed now each game, is a larger lower individual calibre squad, with a sprinkling of top players the best option?

I think with the 5 subs rule you have to have a squad of 20 plus
Theres always going to be injuries and loss of form

A couple of youngsters is fine but you need a first team squad of minimum 18

Ok you dont need 18 quality players but certainly a few more than say 13 with a few experienced squad fillers topped off with youngsters

We cant afford to have quality long term bench warmers, but the need to rotate is vital, and most players understand this

We surely can operate in the end of contract/young talent areas of the market enough to do this

 

[WeAreTheWolvesII]

As would I, but I get the feeling there will be more ins and outs than that.

As @Madmalc said, GON may want to freshen up the squad a bit, and in line with Hobbs saying he expects at least one high profile departure, that could potentially fund a bit of a reshaping of the squad. In that sense it may actually be a necessity. I just personally hope it's not RAN, Gomes or Cunha. Those three should be indispensable.

RAN being a Mendes client with two years left on his current deal worries me quite a bit.

I think we have an option with RAN, so it's three years really.

I agree though, would prefer Neto to go for a big fee if we have to get one.

 

[Skrilla]

I think we have an option with RAN, so it's three years really.

I agree though, would prefer Neto to go for a big fee if we have to get one.

Didn't realise we have an extra year option, that's brilliant news.

 

[North West Wanderer]

I think we have an option with RAN, so it's three years really.

I agree though, would prefer Neto to go for a big fee if we have to get one.

RAN needs games. As good as he is, would he get that at a Liverpool or United right now?

 

[Minimalist]

Looking at the squad and assuming we kept everyone (very unlikely), where do we think we need to improve in the summer? A striker is the obvious one. Other than that, I do think our squad is quite well balanced, depending on your opinions of certain players.

GK - Sa/Bentley
RWB - Semedo/Doherty
CB - Kilman/Toti/Dawson/Bueno/Mosquera
LWB - RAN/Bueno
CM - Gomes/Lemina/Doyle/Traore
RW - Neto/Sarabia
ST - New ST/Hwang
LW - Cunha/Bellegarde

Add in a dynamic striker that can add goals, it's not looking bad is it?

That being said, wouldn't mind some upgrades to our depth options. Sa is certainly marmite as well, some weeks he's incredible and some weeks he's an utter liability.

I think numbers wise that is absolutely fine. (With the new striker, and you could also add chiquinho).
And it’s well balanced for playing 343.
Only question mark is if Bellegarde really suits a wide forward position and if Hwang would be better in the wider forward position?

 

[Skrilla]

I think with the 5 subs rule you have to have a squad of 20 plus
Theres always going to be injuries and loss of form

A couple of youngsters is fine but you need a first team squad of minimum 18

Ok you dont need 18 quality players but certainly a few more than say 13 with a few experienced squad fillers topped off with youngsters

We cant afford to have quality long term bench warmers, but the need to rotate is vital, and most players understand this

We surely can operate in the end of contract/young talent areas of the market enough to do this

I think the added problem now is the fact every game is on average 100 minutes long, and it's having a drastic impact on the number of injuries in the league. With the five sub rule as well, there's plenty of minutes for players in a 25 man squad to play.

In that sense, it would probably make sense to carry an extra forward and midfielder going into next season, as long as that player isn't likely to kick up a fuss for not playing enough minutes, but still good enough to contribute meaningfully on occasion (clearly GON doesn't rate Enso or Noha enough to play them). Someone like Chiquinho would seem to fit into that bracket.

 

[YouGottaRaulWithIt]

Striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, I want a goal scoring ****ing striker!

 

[Rabid Wolf]

Striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, striker, goal scoring ****ing striker!

13 strikers is abit excessive but I agree.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

13 strikers is abit excessive but I agree.

Well Sasa coming back will be like a new signing

Nobody will want Fabio

Ok we’re up to 2 senior strikers more than we have now. Oh wait we must of loaned them out

 

[Starsky]

RAN needs games. As good as he is, would he get that at a Liverpool or United right now?

RAN also needs a certain type of manager IMO and GON is perfect for him.

His rapid development this season reflects how he feels valued here - unlike under your mate JL.

 

[North West Wanderer]

RAN also needs a certain type of manager IMO and GON is perfect for him.

His rapid development this season reflects how he feels valued here - unlike under your mate JL.

haha my mate JL. love it

He does need that type of manager, ironically who would be perfect for him? Klopp.

 

[kidder_wolf_II]

Think we should go for a 4-2-3-1 formation next season with the option of switching to 5 at the back.

My 25 man squad would be
Goalkeeper
Sa/New Signing
Bentley/New Signing
King

Right Back
Semedo
Mosquera

Centre Back
Dawson
S.Bueno


Centre Back
Kilman/New Signing
Toti

Left Back
Ait-Nouro
H.Bueno/New Signing

Central Midfield
Lemina
Traore/New Signing

Central Midfield
Gomes
Doyle

Right Forward
Neto/New Signing
Sarabia
Chiquinho

Central attacking Forward
Cuhna
New signing
Noah Lemina

Left Forward
Hwang
Bellagarde

Striker
New Signing
New Signing

Unwanted Players Sold/Loaned out
Doherty
Cundle
Silva
Sasa
Hodge
Fraser
Guedes
Podence
Hoever
Campbell
Moulden
Bolla

Obviously some players can cover other positions such as
Toti left back
Ait-Nouri left forward
Hwang and Cuhna striker
Mosquera centre back
Bellagarde central midfield

Focus definitely on 2x strikers in the summer

 

[theweave]

None of which are an out and out striker though.

Looked very dangerous when they were together

 

[wolfslair]

Well Sasa coming back will be like a new signing

Nobody will want Fabio

Ok we’re up to 2 senior strikers more than we have now. Oh wait we must of loaned them out

Sasa is finished at the elite level of English football……. Three ACL injuries and his general fitness record must be below 40% for games in his senior career.

We should be nudging him towards retirement, as then we can get some money back against insurance.

Great lad, character good finisher so this is very hard to put down as I really wished it had worked for him.

But it was a bloody silly signing to have made as his body just isn’t made for elite sport and with our small squad approach his fitness record should have meant he couldn’t and shouldn’t have been an option as he was always more likely to be injured than fit.

 

[Mugwump]

People are talking about Adams as if he would be our main signing. He's clearly going to be the type of player who will get regular game time but not as a starter. We need somebody like him so the manager doesnt run our other forwards into the ground.

 

[lets all have a disco]

People are talking about Adams as if he would be our main signing. He's clearly going to be the type of player who will get regular game time but not as a starter. We need somebody like him so the manager doesnt run our other forwards into the ground.

Exactly.....

 

[lets all have a disco]

https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/football/sheffield-united/chris-wilder-addresses-oliver-arblasters-sheffield-united-future-after-wolves-newcastle-transfer-links-4581524

 

[lets all have a disco]

I'm not convinced it's just a numbers game in certain areas of the squad that are Gary's problems as such....he doesn't trust a few of the current squad members in my opinion Santiago Bueno, bouba and Hugo Bueno are 3 I reckon...Granted you will need to get offers but say we sold Santiago and Hugo Bueno to say fund Ahmedhodzic from Sheffield...would that give us more balance and scope in defence with.

Semedo, Kilman, Yerson , Dawson, Ahmedhodzic, Toti, Rayan, Doherty.....(Lembiksa)

Would removing 2 who the manager doesn't trust for 1 good player be better ..... obviously we won't get rid of Doherty and he just provides a bit of cover in a couple of positions...

It's similar with bouba , do we need 2 or do we need to replace bouba with someone O'Neil will want to use instead of flogging Lemina and Gomes.....Guido Rodriguez, free transfer...

 

[WickedWolfie]

People are talking about Adams as if he would be our main signing. He's clearly going to be the type of player who will get regular game time but not as a starter. We need somebody like him so the manager doesnt run our other forwards into the ground.

I would hope that your second sentence is accurate if we sign him. However l fear that in those circumstances he could well be all that we actually get.

 

[goldeneyed]

Whilst I think Che Adams is an average, lower half Premier League striker, to cite his scoring record for Scotland as an argument against signing him suggests you don't know the role Steve Clarke asks his strikers to play for Scotland. They are very much there to work their *******s off for the team, run the channels, occupy the centre halves, and drag them out of position to create space for the midfield support to get beyond them.

Since 2020, midfielders have scored more than twice the amount of goals for Scotland as the forwards have (34 goals from midfield, 16 from strikers).

Strikers are judged primarily by their goal output whatever system is being used. He is very average as you say. Can we do better? Yes.

 

[goldeneyed]

adams is nowhere near as bad as you make out. 25 goals and 14 assists for a crap side. A definite improvement on Hwang as well.

He is a journeyman striker who works hard but misses far more chances than he takes. We can do so much better.

 

[goldeneyed]

I'm not convinced it's just a numbers game in certain areas of the squad that are Gary's problems as such....he doesn't trust a few of the current squad members in my opinion Santiago Bueno, bouba and Hugo Bueno are 3 I reckon...Granted you will need to get offers but say we sold Santiago and Hugo Bueno to say fund Ahmedhodzic from Sheffield...would that give us more balance and scope in defence with.

Semedo, Kilman, Yerson , Dawson, Ahmedhodzic, Toti, Rayan, Doherty.....(Lembiksa)

Would removing 2 who the manager doesn't trust for 1 good player be better ..... obviously we won't get rid of Doherty and he just provides a bit of cover in a couple of positions...

It's similar with bouba , do we need 2 or do we need to replace bouba with someone O'Neil will want to use instead of flogging Lemina and Gomes...

Boubacar is still young and has plenty of potential. Keep and develop him.

 

[WickedWolfie]

DON'T go for. Adams. I'm a Scotland fan and he is behind Dyche in the pecking order.

I didn't know that Everton's manager played for Scotland lol.....

 

[WickedWolfie]

Sasa is finished at the elite level of English football……. Three ACL injuries and his general fitness record must be below 40% for games in his senior career.

We should be nudging him towards retirement, as then we can get some money back against insurance.

Great lad, character good finisher so this is very hard to put down as I really wished it had worked for him.

But it was a bloody silly signing to have made as his body just isn’t made for elite sport and with our small squad approach his fitness record should have meant he couldn’t and shouldn’t have been an option as he was always more likely to be injured than fit.

The sad thing is that his previous injury record meant that the current situation was eminently predictable.

 

[Madmalc]

Nice summary of a bullet we dodged:
Ansu Fati

There's also a rumour Mendez may try to shove him our way.
Let's hope not.

 

[Minimalist]

I'm not convinced it's just a numbers game in certain areas of the squad that are Gary's problems as such....he doesn't trust a few of the current squad members in my opinion Santiago Bueno, bouba and Hugo Bueno are 3 I reckon...Granted you will need to get offers but say we sold Santiago and Hugo Bueno to say fund Ahmedhodzic from Sheffield...would that give us more balance and scope in defence with.

Semedo, Kilman, Yerson , Dawson, Ahmedhodzic, Toti, Rayan, Doherty.....(Lembiksa)

Would removing 2 who the manager doesn't trust for 1 good player be better ..... obviously we won't get rid of Doherty and he just provides a bit of cover in a couple of positions...

It's similar with bouba , do we need 2 or do we need to replace bouba with someone O'Neil will want to use instead of flogging Lemina and Gomes.....Guido Rodriguez, free transfer...

That’s largely my philosophy on things; it’s why I’m happy with a smaller squad. But in a small squad (say 18 outfield players) the manager needs to trust and use them all. You often see teams with squads of 25, but the manager still mostly only uses a small core.

It is good that GON knows his own mind, but perhaps he could have given some players more game time and developed them into contenders. I think Doyle has looked great, but really he only got a chance because of bereavement and suspension. I think Traore wouldn’t let anyone down but needs a little run of games.
And maybe if silva had been used more he would have developed, felt part of things and still be here.
A manager needs to use all the players he has else he effectively makes his own squad smaller, regardless of how many he starts with. So I think your right, if he’s not going to trust those players you list we may as well sell and replace with one he will.

 

[wolfslair]

The sad thing is that his previous injury record meant that the current situation was eminently predictable.

The quality was there, the clubs who were looking shows he is a player with all of the talent and ability.

But they didn’t pull the trigger on a low fee for them.

He was the kind of striker who we should have signed a second striker alongside if Fabio wasn’t here like he wasn’t at the time and no Raul till after the World Cup.

Sport is just cruel, some people have the talent, the mindset and the personality to be cracking footballers, but the physiology for being able to play elite sport just isn’t there.

He is patently one of those people ask he had injuries across his body not just weak knees.

I hope he has a great support system around him as a third ACL is going to be ****ing tough to take and process about what is best long term for his health.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

I'm not convinced it's just a numbers game in certain areas of the squad that are Gary's problems as such....he doesn't trust a few of the current squad members in my opinion Santiago Bueno, bouba and Hugo Bueno are 3 I reckon...Granted you will need to get offers but say we sold Santiago and Hugo Bueno to say fund Ahmedhodzic from Sheffield...would that give us more balance and scope in defence with.

Semedo, Kilman, Yerson , Dawson, Ahmedhodzic, Toti, Rayan, Doherty.....(Lembiksa)

Would removing 2 who the manager doesn't trust for 1 good player be better ..... obviously we won't get rid of Doherty and he just provides a bit of cover in a couple of positions...

It's similar with bouba , do we need 2 or do we need to replace bouba with someone O'Neil will want to use instead of flogging Lemina and Gomes.....Guido Rodriguez, free transfer...

I would get rid of Doc before Santiago or Hugo tbh
He has done nothing this season and wont get better, whereas the other two have at least shown patches of decent form and could possibly improve a little
I do agree he doesnt seem to particularly trust any of them and upgrades on all would be preferable

 

[Bawtry Wolf]

I would get rid of Doc before Santiago or Hugo tbh
He has done nothing this season and wont get better, whereas the other two have at least shown patches of decent form and could possibly improve a little
I do agree he doesnt seem to particularly trust any of them and upgrades on all would be preferable

I like Santi. Think there is a player there.

 

[hollo]

The quality was there, the clubs who were looking shows he is a player with all of the talent and ability.

But they didn’t pull the trigger on a low fee for them.

He was the kind of striker who we should have signed a second striker alongside if Fabio wasn’t here like he wasn’t at the time and no Raul till after the World Cup.

Sport is just cruel, some people have the talent, the mindset and the personality to be cracking footballers, but the physiology for being able to play elite sport just isn’t there.

He is patently one of those people ask he had injuries across his body not just weak knees.

I hope he has a great support system around him as a third ACL is going to be ****ing tough to take and process about what is best long term for his health.

If he does come back then the manager doesn’t want him and the player doesn’t feel “important “.

How does medical insurance work in football? Surely with three acls he may want to retire as he is risking a 4th , and this will surely affect him in later life.

 

[Aurum Lupus]

Nice summary of a bullet we dodged:
Ansu Fati

There's also a rumour Mendez may try to shove him our way.
Let's hope not.

I saw that rumour earlier. Hopefully the days of us blindly accepting Mendes players are behind us. I'm not against using him if we want a player, but Ansu Fati isn't one if them!

 

[Mark Rankines Lovechild]

Conroversial but I think if someone comes in with a half decent bid, I would let Hwang go.
I am not entirely convinced that his goalscoring glut earlier in the season wasn't just a “hot streak”
Generally his fitness seem to let him down a little

 

[wolfslair]

If he does come back then the manager doesn’t want him and the player doesn’t feel “important “.

How does medical insurance work in football? Surely with three acls he may want to retire as he is risking a 4th , and this will surely affect him in later life.

Could he Come back from a third ACL injury?

Yes, he could still play at a lower and less physical league. But he will always be a massive injury risk.

But at the top level, in a physical league. I am saying he is definitely finished.

Any chance of a sale is pretty remote unless it is in the 5-7m range.

I don’t know the policy wolves and the player have. There are a few different ones.

So for example I have seen the following happen first hand;

Player gets a lump sum for the remainder of their contract. This money CANNOT be touched by the agent! they will then get a second payment or instalments of a sum of money that is calculated on projected future earnings based on salary at the time of the injury.

The club then get a %age of the transfer paid for the player back. But this is a complicated thing based on appearances and a few other things. For example his previous injury record could reduce the amount we get, as he will be a “high risk asset” this was a term I have seen when a club I worked at did this process.

Wolves can, offer him a payment to entice him to start this process.

For example, I got a payout when I did my ACL and LCL as my specialist and club support said I wouldn’t recover enough to sign full
Pro terms due to the age I did the injury as a keeper as I lost some dive length from that leg and needed a lot of strapping to just train let alone play.

This is where the side of football people don’t want to think or see comes in…… what is best for the club in terms of not losing their ass on asset that is potentially pretty much useless to them.

I finally retired from paid sport after one injury too many playing rugby after coming back from the following injury list (some I have forgotten)

Torn ACL and LcL - the injury that stopped me playing academy level football

From playing rugby :
One hairline break to my ankle
Broke every finger MULTIPLE times, so cannot fully straighten 3 of my fingers…….
Three broken metatarsals
Dislocated same knee I tore ACL in, which left me with long term patella tendinitis after rehab
Micro fractures to lower spine
Torn ankle ligaments and tendons
Torn shoulder ligaments
And multiple slipped discs
Need to wear glasses after a clash of heads in a tackle…..

I retired when I picked up one more injury that had a three month rehab as mentally I was just broken and didn’t have it in me to try again. I was only 28 when I retired from rugby……

so from 16-28 that is my injury list…..

I am still in pain from my left knee and right shoulder and my ankle on a really cold day throbs…….

I would not want him to live his life in constant pain….. it isn’t worth it, he is a young guy about to become a father, he has his whole life still ahead of him.

But he is a professional athlete, so he may well have the drive to try and defy the odds again!!! I applaud him and will support him every step of the way if he tries!! But I will still worry about him and the damage and pain he is likely to face later down the road…..

 

[Mugwump]

Conroversial but I think if someone comes in with a half decent bid, I would let Hwang go.
I am not entirely convinced that his goalscoring glut earlier in the season wasn't just a “hot streak”
Generally his fitness seem to let him down a little

Some of his performances have been poor but he got away with them because he scored.

 

[wolfslair]

Some of his performances have been poor but he got away with them because he scored.

But……

Wouldn’t you be happy to have a player, who may not have had a great game pop up and score goals that win points?

At the end of the day, isn’t the key part of his role to score goals?

So even if he had a 6 out of ten in general play but scored, that is actually a better contribution to the overall team performance than a midfielder or defender who drop the same score for their performance.

 

[lets all have a disco]

I would get rid of Doc before Santiago or Hugo tbh
He has done nothing this season and wont get better, whereas the other two have at least shown patches of decent form and could possibly improve a little
I do agree he doesnt seem to particularly trust any of them and upgrades on all would be preferable

Yes but you aye getting no money for Doherty are you...

Santiago has done OK...wasn't expecting anymore to be honest for the fee...it might be harsh but do we need to be quicker deciding with some players, is he going to replace say Dawson or say Kilman if we have to sell in the future.. probably not...would we be better looking to someone else who may in time be a guarantee first choice as such in another 6-12 months when we inevitably need one .I would say the same with bouba ...if he ever going to replace Lemina....both players may have some value in the market this summer..the value will only go down if they have another season of bit part participation...

Although we are short in some areas...Gary seems reluctant to use some of the depth we have in some areas ....and due to finances is the better or more realistic option to replace instead of add to, when he isn't keen in the first place ..we can have both in my opinion...

 

[hollo]

We need a squad and I am happy to have Santiago bueno and boubacar. I want a bench as strong as Bournemouth and Fulham.