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Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

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Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post stubbo-admin »


May as well get going with this since with Sullivan at the helm, season ticket renewals slow, and the football vacuum to commence, this will soon be all the "news" there is.

Can Potter and MacCauley pull multiple rabbits out of the hat, or will Sullivan 'try really hard' with all of them before grabbing a few aging bargains from Big Willie Salthouse?

Window this close season comes in two parts:

Part 1: 1st June to 10th June
Part 2: 16th June to 1st September

Rumoured Outs...most of the squad

Let the "Rumoured In's" commence. 

------------------------------------------------------------

Player | Position | Club | Fee (GBP)

Rumoured In
  1. Daniel Cummings | ST | Celtic
  2. Koni De Winter | CB | Genoa
  3. Morten Frendrup | DM | Genoa
  4. Richard Kone | ST | Wycombe
  5. Aaron Ramsdale | GK | Southampton
  6. Caiomin Kelleher | GK | Liverpool
  7. James Trafford | GK | Burnley
  8. Kyle Walker-Peters | FB | Free Agent
  9. Taylor Harwood-Bellis | CB | Southampton
  10. CJ Egan-Riley | CB | Free Agent
  11. Josh Brownhill | CM | Free Agent
  12. Albian Hajdari | CB | Lugano
  13. Lucas Høgsberg | CB | FC Nordsjælland
  14. Ardon Jashari | CM | Brugge
  15. Raphael Onyedika | CM | Brugge
  16. James McAtee | AM | Man City
  17. Mario Struykens | AM | Anderlecht
  18. Mathias Kvistgaarden | ST | Brondby
  19. Clement Bischoff | LB | Brondby
  20. Mika Biereth | FW | Monaco
  21. Barış Alper Yılmaz | AM | Galatasaray
  22. Evann Guessand | ST | Nice
  23. Lucas Stassin | ST | Saint Etienne
  24. Marcus Taverner | FW | Bournemouth
  25. Soungoutoo Magassa | CDM | Monaco
  26. Valentin Atangana | CM | Stade Reims
  27. Mads Hermansen | GK | Leicester City
  28. Hamza Igamane | ST | Rangers
  29. Yeremay | FW | Deportivo La Coruna
  30. Adama Bojang | ST | Reims
  31. Rocco Reitz | MF | Borussia Moenchengladbach
  32. Dominic Calvert-Lewin | ST | Free Agent
  33. El Hadji Malick Diouf | LB | SK Slavia Prague
  34. Oscar Mingueza | RB/MF | Celta Vigo
  35. Tyler Morton | CM | Liverpool
  36. Harvey Elliott | AM | Liverpool
  37. Zion Suzuki | GK | Parma
  38. John Victor | GK | Botofogo 
  39. Jacob Ramsey | MF | Villa
  40. Mateus Fernandes | CM | Southampton
  41. Nga Makou | CM | Lille
  42. Quinten Timber | CM
  43. Hayden Hackney | CM | Boro
  44. Yves Bissouma | CM | Spurs
Rumoured Out
  1. Nayef Aguerd | CB | Leverkusen, Marseile
  2. Maxel Cornet | FW | Genoa/Others
  3. Guido Rodriguez | DM | Betis/Espanyol
  4. Tomas Soucek | CM | Everton
  5. Michail Antonio | ST | Free Agent
  6. Mo Kudus | FW | Chelsea/Newcastle/Arsenal
  7. Lucas Paqueta | AM | Man City
  8. Andy Irving | CM | Celtic/Wrexham
  9. Emerson | LB | Marseille
Confirmed In
  1. Jean Clair Todibo | CB | Loan To Perm (32m)
  2. Daniel Cummings | ST | Celtic (Free Agent...Tribunal)
  3. El Hadji Malick Diouf | LWB | Slavia Prahia | 20m
  4. Kyle Walker-Peters | RWB | Free Agent
  5. C****m Wilson | ST | Free Agent
  6. Mads Hermansen | GK | Leicester (18m)
  7. Mateus Fernandes | CM | Southampton (38m + 4m)
  8. Soungoutoo Magassa | CDM | Monaco (17m)
  9. Igor Julio | CB | Brighton (Loan)

Confirmed Out
  1. Aaron Cresswell | LB | Free Agent | 0m
  2. Danny Ings | ST | Free Agent | 0m
  3. Vladimir Coufal | RB | Free Agent | 0m
  4. Lukusz Fabianski | GK | Free Agent | 0m
  5. Kamari Swyer | AM | Free Agent | 0m
  6. Kurt Zouma | CB | Free Agent | 0m
  7. Carlos Soler | CM | PSG | End of Loan
  8. Evan Ferguson | ST | Brighton | End of Loan
  9. Brad Dolaghan | Released
  10. Dondre Abraham | Released
  11. Mehmet Halim | Released
  12. Muhammed Judus |stroppy| sp*rs| £55m
  13. Michail Antonio | Released
  14. Kieran Casey | Swansea | Loan
  15. Edson Alvarez | Fenerbache | Loan with Option
  16. Emerson | Marseille | £1m
  17. Aguerd | Marseille | £20m
  18. Max Cornet | Genoa | Loan
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post Massive Attack »

Pub Bigot" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 14:47
Massive Attack" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 14:35
twoleftfeet wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 14:20
So are you advocating a 4-4-2 system?

Have KWP and Scarles as full backs with AWB and Diouf in front of them as “ wingers “ ? 
 
4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 would be my preferred formations when all are fit. I'd play Paqueta in Summervilles absence for now but it would look like this..
     Hermansen 

Wan-bissaka Todibo Kilman Diouf

       Soucek Potts Paqueta 

       Bowen Fullkrug Summerville


It just feels to me like he's overcomplicating it needlessly, or maybe because that's just his preferred style, however I don't think the players are getting it or like playing how he wants them to. 
I’d bench Kilman for Aguerd. Maxi’s been dreadful. 
Yep, I'd bench them all, they've been that bad. 
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post Pub Bigot »

Massive Attack" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 14:35
twoleftfeet wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 14:20
Massive Attack" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 14:15 I'm not so convinced that all our Defenders are dogshit. We play with 5 at the back that includes the impressive Wan-Bissaka and now Diouf and yet even with 5 at the back we still concede 3 with ease and could have been more. Take Aguerd who after a season away from us was widely praised for his form at Real Sociedad/Morocco where even Real Madrid were sniffing and he did help us to win a Trophy. Yet we produce that on the weekend where they all looked toilet. 5 at the back and that happens against a newly promoted side for fuck sake. 

What that tells me is it's more down to the Manager than our entire Defence being shit and the way he sets the Team up. 5 at the back doesn't suit our Team, yet he stubbornly persists with it.
So are you advocating a 4-4-2 system?

Have KWP and Scarles as full backs with AWB and Diouf in front of them as “ wingers “ ? 
 
4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 would be my preferred formations when all are fit. I'd play Paqueta in Summervilles absence for now but it would look like this..
     Hermansen 

Wan-bissaka Todibo Kilman Diouf

       Soucek Potts Paqueta 

       Bowen Fullkrug Summerville


It just feels to me like he's overcomplicating it needlessly, or maybe because that's just his preferred style, however I don't think the players are getting it or like playing how he wants them to. 
I’d bench Kilman for Aguerd. Maxi’s been dreadful. 
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post El Scorchio »

scott_d wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 14:28
El Scorchio" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 11:56
Jean-Luc Paul Goddard" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 11:48
The thing is, our 3 CBs are all poor for various reasons, but they also fit the profile that Potter would want anyway as his whole focus is on possession, and as bad as they are defensively, Todibo, Kilman and Aguerd are all better at passing the ball and playing out from the back than most of the defenders we've had over the years.

Then you have the whole thing about Bowen being our only goal threat because he creates his own chances. Again, a lot of this is down to how the manager wants to play. He's not interested in midfielders who can make an incisive pass to quickly put an attacker in on goal. He wants them to keep possession above all else.

This is why I don't see us improving much even if Potter was given full control over all transfers in and out and a reasonable budget to spend. The way he wants to play only works if you have the very best players at your disposal and we'll never have the budget for that.
 
The Bowen thing has applied under all three managers he's played for. He's the only consistent goalscorer we've had for 4-5 years. 
 
I would go as far as saying for the last 20 years, since Jermaine Defoe.

.
 
 
Yup, you are probably right. I think we have had a maybe few who WOULD/COULD have gone on to be that had we kept them- Ba obviously, maybe Arnie, Kanoute, and a few one season wonders- Sakho, but no one who has been consistent and been at the club for a decent while. Ashton obviously would have been a real standout but we know what cruelly happened there. He was either going to score a hatful of goals for us or someone else.

We've been pretty lucky with Bowen. 74 in 238 (almost 1 in 3?) is an extraordinary GPG ratio for a player playing for our club for an extended time in the last generation. I can only think of Defoe and Di Canio who can boast similar. A chunk of Defoe's were in the second tier though. He scored a lot in that season before we sold him. Those two of course played at a time when we were an attacking side, which probably makes Bowen's exploits more successful in comparison- and he doesn't take penalties.
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post Massive Attack »

twoleftfeet wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 14:20
Massive Attack" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 14:15 I'm not so convinced that all our Defenders are dogshit. We play with 5 at the back that includes the impressive Wan-Bissaka and now Diouf and yet even with 5 at the back we still concede 3 with ease and could have been more. Take Aguerd who after a season away from us was widely praised for his form at Real Sociedad/Morocco where even Real Madrid were sniffing and he did help us to win a Trophy. Yet we produce that on the weekend where they all looked toilet. 5 at the back and that happens against a newly promoted side for fuck sake. 

What that tells me is it's more down to the Manager than our entire Defence being shit and the way he sets the Team up. 5 at the back doesn't suit our Team, yet he stubbornly persists with it.
So are you advocating a 4-4-2 system?

Have KWP and Scarles as full backs with AWB and Diouf in front of them as “ wingers “ ? 
 
 
4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 would be my preferred formations when all are fit. I'd play Paqueta in Summervilles absence for now but it would look like this..
 
     Hermansen 

Wan-bissaka Todibo Kilman Diouf

       Soucek Potts Paqueta 

       Bowen Fullkrug Summerville


It just feels to me like he's overcomplicating it needlessly, or maybe because that's just his preferred style, however I don't think the players are getting it or like playing how he wants them to. 
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post scott_d »

El Scorchio" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 11:56
Jean-Luc Paul Goddard" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 11:48
El Scorchio" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 10:59


 
The thing is, our 3 CBs are all poor for various reasons, but they also fit the profile that Potter would want anyway as his whole focus is on possession, and as bad as they are defensively, Todibo, Kilman and Aguerd are all better at passing the ball and playing out from the back than most of the defenders we've had over the years.

Then you have the whole thing about Bowen being our only goal threat because he creates his own chances. Again, a lot of this is down to how the manager wants to play. He's not interested in midfielders who can make an incisive pass to quickly put an attacker in on goal. He wants them to keep possession above all else.

This is why I don't see us improving much even if Potter was given full control over all transfers in and out and a reasonable budget to spend. The way he wants to play only works if you have the very best players at your disposal and we'll never have the budget for that.
 
The Bowen thing has applied under all three managers he's played for. He's the only consistent goalscorer we've had for 4-5 years. 
 
 
I would go as far as saying for the last 20 years, since Jermaine Defoe.

.
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post Sydney_Iron »

Signings in the last 24hrs: from 2 clubs that seem well run and getting business done in a timely manner, identifying players then getting them, both are leaving us behind, what have we done this window?  

Doak from Liverpool to Bournemouth: 20+5m
Omari Hutchinson From Ipswich to Forest: 37.5m
Arnaud Kalimuendo from Rennes to Forest: 26m
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post twoleftfeet »

Massive Attack" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 14:15 I'm not so convinced that all our Defenders are dogshit. We play with 5 at the back that includes the impressive Wan-Bissaka and now Diouf and yet even with 5 at the back we still concede 3 with ease and could have been more. Take Aguerd who after a season away from us was widely praised for his form at Real Sociedad/Morocco where even Real Madrid were sniffing and he did help us to win a Trophy. Yet we produce that on the weekend where they all looked toilet. 5 at the back and that happens against a newly promoted side for fuck sake. 

What that tells me is it's more down to the Manager than our entire Defence being shit and the way he sets the Team up. 5 at the back doesn't suit our Team, yet he stubbornly persists with it.
So are you advocating a 4-4-2 system?

Have KWP and Scarles as full backs with AWB and Diouf in front of them as “ wingers “ ? 
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post Massive Attack »

I'm not so convinced that all our Defenders are dogshit. We play with 5 at the back that includes the impressive Wan-Bissaka and now Diouf and yet even with 5 at the back we still concede 3 with ease and could have been more. Take Aguerd who after a season away from us was widely praised for his form at Real Sociedad/Morocco where even Real Madrid were sniffing and he did help us to win a Trophy. Yet we produce that on the weekend where they all looked toilet. 5 at the back and that happens against a newly promoted side for fuck sake. 

What that tells me is it's more down to the Manager than our entire Defence being shit and the way he sets the Team up. 5 at the back doesn't suit our Team, yet he stubbornly persists with it.
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post El Scorchio »

That's it. Lop will have said 'I managed him, I want him.'
In fairness to Sullivan (cannot believe I typed that) that should be good enough to go after a player. However where the due diligence should have come in is over the price tag contract length and wages for the player because clearly we paid way over the odds on a ridiculous contract handcuffing ourselves to the player. At 27 was he going to get any better than he apparently was to warrant tying him down for so long? Those are the contracts Chelsea give to 21 year olds who they expect to either make the team or sell on for big money- big difference likely being the wages are probably not even half what we committed to Kilman

Those are the numbers you pay for someone international quality. Which Kilman is clearly nowhere near being. I didn't really watch him at Wolves- was he miles better there? Surrounded by better players? Was their midfield as shit as ours? Mind you, Lop also brought in Guido and Soler who were also both just bad in our setup. Neither even made themselves first choice. You could tell from watching even the first game against Villa there were big alarms going off in most of us in terms of the personnel and the system. It only went downhill from there really.  
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post southbankbornnbred »

Genuinely, I'd like to see our scouting report on Kilman. Just to know which parts of the assessment West Ham thought merited paying £40m for.

Although, Loopy probably didn't even bother to "scout" him, having managed him at Wolves.
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post southbankbornnbred »

Sir Alf" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 12:29 Mavrapanos is the strongest CB aerially by far and actually had been “rickettt free” towards the end of last season. Currently I’d drop Kilman not Aguerd for him but his £40 million price tag makes him untouchable it seems?  

We need to get those 2, not 1, midfielders in asap but Sullivan in charge of negotiations? It simply wint happen quickly if at all unless via some agent he knows.  He will quibble over a couple of million fee or agent fees or payment terms. Always lookimg to get one over the seller to boost his small man psychological disorder. 

Changing manager wont make a difference without central midfield being fixed. Although ironically the CBs cost us the game Saturday with the first 2 goals.  Would have to look at them again to know if “legs” in midfield would have stopped the Sunderland build ups that led to the goals?  

Sullivan will come up short even if we get players in they wont be the Potter / Macaulay choices.

Only 2 players so far are ( Diouf and Hermansen) .
 
 
It's an atrocious state of affairs, isn't it?

Despite spending £40m on Kilman (comfortably the worst £40m+ footballer I've ever seen), £30m on Aguerd, £33m on Todibo and £20m on Mavrapanos, we don't have a single reliable centre half among them. Almost £125m on four players, and somebody like Dawson was significantly more reliable than all of them.

I actually think that there's a real player in Todibo somewhere. He clearly has fitness issues, and I have no idea about his attitude (heard some question his commitment etc). But he has talent that can be nurtured by the right coach (there's a clue). Aguerd is uncomfortable with the Premier League's intensity and physicality, I feel. It looks like he doesn't want to be here and would happily have left over the summer if the right bid had come in. Mavrapanos is still just so raw and unreliable for a 27 year-old. Again, there was a player in there somewhere a few years ago, but his moment is passing quickly. He's powerful, has good athleticism, can (sometimes) dominate in the air. But he reads the game like a child and is so prone to lapses in concentration that it is a joke.

The less said about Kilman the better. A complete waste of money by Lopetegui and we are going to be stuck with him for years. He wants to do well, you can see. I don't question his attitude, and he's a battler. But he just doesn't have top-level ability. He's slow, he reacts poorly to threats as they play out, he's leaden-footed and can't really jump (worrying for a centre half) and he does not dominate Premier League strikers. Any half-paced striker takes five meters off of him over just 20 meters. Honestly, he would be comfortable at a club like Q.P.R. mid-table in the Championship. He's not a player who can thrive in the top-half of the Premier League. Unfortunately, he's on top-half Premier League wages - for a long time. Because we are such a stupid club when it comes to deals.

What does £123m really buy you if, as a club, you don't really know what you're doing?
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post El Scorchio »

Sir Alf" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 12:29 We need to get those 2, not 1, midfielders in asap but Sullivan in charge of negotiations? It simply wint happen quickly if at all unless via some agent he knows.  He will quibble over a couple of million fee or agent fees or payment terms. Always lookimg to get one over the seller to boost his small man psychological disorder. 


 
 
 
Exactly. He'd rather keep 2 million or something insignificant in the grand scheme of things in his pocket and not get the right player for the team and manager for 30 million quid, then go and spend 15 on the wrong player for the team and manager.

The Hermansen deal probably hasn't helped us bigger picture, seen as he'll have loved that Leicester caved and will assume that sooner or later Southampton will cave over Fernandes or someone else over their player- like he did for Kudus. Not everyone is desperate like him. When you're desperate and tell the world you're desperate, guess what, you get taken advantage of. It's plain to see we're now desperate and any selling club will hold all the cards. The question is whether he'll just suck it up and pay what it takes or just cut his nose off to spite his face, do nothing and gamble we finish 17th potentially saving a few million quid if it pays off, but costing himself probably hundreds of millions if it doesn't. It absolutely mental, but I almost believe he's that proud he'd rather just take the club down while convincing himself there was nothing he could have done and it's all other people's fault rather than his that the club got into this position, than get mugged off in a transfer deal. Not even so much as mugged off, just get the thin end of it. 
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post Massive Attack »

Sir Alf" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 12:29 Mavrapanos is the strongest CB aerially by far and actually had been “rickettt free” towards the end of last season. Currently I’d drop Kilman not Aguerd for him but his £40 million price tag makes him untouchable it seems?  



 
After the infamous "If you want me to swear, I can swear" game against Brighton when we shipped in 3 goals, he dropped him out the Team for Cresswell in the back 3 and we actually performed alright defensively from then on overall. He returned in the starting line-up for the last game against already relegated Ipswich. 
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post Sir Alf »

Mavrapanos is the strongest CB aerially by far and actually had been “rickettt free” towards the end of last season. Currently I’d drop Kilman not Aguerd for him but his £40 million price tag makes him untouchable it seems?  

We need to get those 2, not 1, midfielders in asap but Sullivan in charge of negotiations? It simply wint happen quickly if at all unless via some agent he knows.  He will quibble over a couple of million fee or agent fees or payment terms. Always lookimg to get one over the seller to boost his small man psychological disorder. 

Changing manager wont make a difference without central midfield being fixed. Although ironically the CBs cost us the game Saturday with the first 2 goals.  Would have to look at them again to know if “legs” in midfield would have stopped the Sunderland build ups that led to the goals?  

Sullivan will come up short even if we get players in they wont be the Potter / Macaulay choices.

Only 2 players so far are ( Diouf and Hermansen) .
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post Huffers »

He'd go through the wrong brick wall, though.
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post fraser »

Lato wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 11:51 fraser

I look at what we paid for Paqueta £56M compared to your example Bowen £22M one is far better value than the other.....take your time!
 
 
I didn't say he wasn't I said you can't judge a player because he didn't play well against us, Bowen was poor against Sunderland therefore they shouldn't sign him by your logic... 

Then again you could have watched Paqueta be motm against England for Brazil so then you can sign him, your logic is flawed. Lots of world class players have had bad games against us so according to you we should never sign them. 
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post El Scorchio »

Jean-Luc Paul Goddard" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 11:48
El Scorchio" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 10:59
We are absolutely powderpuff at CB with four players who were all bad buys. Mav's low price tag does excuse him somewhat but none of them are reliable or fill you with confidence. I could see Aguerd doing OK with the right mix beside him but Kilman is just useless and unsellable. Todibo just seems like he doesn't give a fuck and is already waiting to be sold on. It's a disaster down the whole spine of the team. I don;t know how much more another coach would get out of them.
The thing is, our 3 CBs are all poor for various reasons, but they also fit the profile that Potter would want anyway as his whole focus is on possession, and as bad as they are defensively, Todibo, Kilman and Aguerd are all better at passing the ball and playing out from the back than most of the defenders we've had over the years.

Then you have the whole thing about Bowen being our only goal threat because he creates his own chances. Again, a lot of this is down to how the manager wants to play. He's not interested in midfielders who can make an incisive pass to quickly put an attacker in on goal. He wants them to keep possession above all else.

This is why I don't see us improving much even if Potter was given full control over all transfers in and out and a reasonable budget to spend. The way he wants to play only works if you have the very best players at your disposal and we'll never have the budget for that.
 
 
The Bowen thing has applied under all three managers he's played for. He's the only consistent goalscorer we've had for 4-5 years. (aside from Soucek and his headers) That's not a Potter thing at all. 

Just because the centre backs can play the ball doesn't make them the right fit for him or for us, because they are lacking so badly in other areas- it's worth noting not a single one of them are his buys. They might be able to ping the odd one but they are not good defenders as a unit or really individually for what we've paid for each of them. Some of them may be if they were paired with others. We are stuck with Todibo and Kilman, we tried and failed to sell Aguerd and I expect the same to happen with Todibo next summer. Mavropanos is 'OK' by virtue of the fact he's not as bad value for money wise as the rest. This lot were crap as a unit under Lop, they are crap as a unit under Potter and they'll be crap as a unit under the next manager. They won't magically become faster, tougher and more aware. 
Last edited by El Scorchio on 18 Aug 2025, 12:01, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post twoleftfeet »

Jean-Luc Paul Goddard" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 11:48
El Scorchio" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 10:59
We are absolutely powderpuff at CB with four players who were all bad buys. Mav's low price tag does excuse him somewhat but none of them are reliable or fill you with confidence. I could see Aguerd doing OK with the right mix beside him but Kilman is just useless and unsellable. Todibo just seems like he doesn't give a fuck and is already waiting to be sold on. It's a disaster down the whole spine of the team. I don;t know how much more another coach would get out of them.
The thing is, our 3 CBs are all poor for various reasons, but they also fit the profile that Potter would want anyway as his whole focus is on possession, and as bad as they are defensively, Todibo, Kilman and Aguerd are all better at passing the ball and playing out from the back than most of the defenders we've had over the years.

Then you have the whole thing about Bowen being our only goal threat because he creates his own chances. Again, a lot of this is down to how the manager wants to play. He's not interested in midfielders who can make an incisive pass to quickly put an attacker in on goal. He wants them to keep possession above all else.

This is why I don't see us improving much even if Potter was given full control over all transfers in and out and a reasonable budget to spend. The way he wants to play only works if you have the very best players at your disposal and we'll never have the budget for that.
 
 
Potters best side at Brighton had Dunk & Webster at CB, 2 players who would go through a brick wall for the team. None of our CBs would do that, maybe Mav in all fairness.
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post Lato »

fraser

I look at what we paid for Paqueta £56M compared to your example Bowen £22M one is far better value than the other.....take your time!
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post Jean-Luc Paul Goddard »

El Scorchio" wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 10:59
We are absolutely powderpuff at CB with four players who were all bad buys. Mav's low price tag does excuse him somewhat but none of them are reliable or fill you with confidence. I could see Aguerd doing OK with the right mix beside him but Kilman is just useless and unsellable. Todibo just seems like he doesn't give a fuck and is already waiting to be sold on. It's a disaster down the whole spine of the team. I don;t know how much more another coach would get out of them.
The thing is, our 3 CBs are all poor for various reasons, but they also fit the profile that Potter would want anyway as his whole focus is on possession, and as bad as they are defensively, Todibo, Kilman and Aguerd are all better at passing the ball and playing out from the back than most of the defenders we've had over the years.

Then you have the whole thing about Bowen being our only goal threat because he creates his own chances. Again, a lot of this is down to how the manager wants to play. He's not interested in midfielders who can make an incisive pass to quickly put an attacker in on goal. He wants them to keep possession above all else.

This is why I don't see us improving much even if Potter was given full control over all transfers in and out and a reasonable budget to spend. The way he wants to play only works if you have the very best players at your disposal and we'll never have the budget for that.
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Re: Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

Post fraser »

Lato wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 11:36 Paqueta spends most of his time on his arse trying to get cheap free kicks.....remember the Liverpool winner against at Anfield last season. Why on earth would Sunderland fans have an opinion about Bowen?
Because he did nothing and was anonymous against them, the reason you claim we shouldn't have signed Paqueta because you didn't notice him against us.. It's not hard to follow is it? 
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Post El Scorchio »

Completely agree. (@ scott_dThere only ever seems to be a half measure from the board. Not a 'here's what you need' like most managers get the courtesy of (and this has happened to EVERY manager under them not just Potter- maybe Pellegrini was the only one who got most of what he wanted) but a 'we'll give you 60% of what you need BUT you have to lose X player in return.' It's like they want to set puzzles than just solve them. 

I've no doubt that the two midfielders we need will only be funded by selling someone probably for below market value as goes our ever diminishing returns on most players. It's clear that keeping Kudus wasn't even a choice for the manager to make. 

Potter will probably have something like this put to him 'You can keep Paqueta but then you have to accept Brownhill and AN other cheap player IF we let Alvarez go' or 'If you want Fernandes and (let's say the lad from Lille) then Alvarez and Paqueta have to go.'

It's clear all the players we want to shift are unsellable or they'd have gone by now. It's embarrassing that Emerson is just sitting there waiting for a bid after being replaced already, for example. Why hasn't Irving gone, unless Potter thinks he might HAVE to hold onto him because he might actually be less of a disaster than what else we currently have? 

The board have clearly admitted we are in big trouble (albeit with no sense of their responsibility for this) so surely they've just got to bite the bullet this time and give a manager what he needs with no half measures. Maybe we have to swallow paying over the odds for Fernandes and someone else. It'll hurt short term but it should be much more economic long term. The squad needs purging and rejuvenating but they just won't or can't provide the means to do it. It's on them really. No-one else can do anything about it. Maybe Sullivan will get turned on just enough by the thought of being the 'saviour' that he'll miraculously find some pennies. Doubt it though. EVERYTHING with him comes with a catch. 
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Post Lato »

Paqueta spends most of his time on his arse trying to get cheap free kicks.....remember the Liverpool winner against at Anfield last season. Why on earth would Sunderland fans have an opinion about Bowen?
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Post twoleftfeet »

Paqueta is very hit and miss, mainly miss to be fair.

If he goes I won’t shed a tear, he’s hardly Dmitri Payet is he.
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Post fraser »

Lato wrote: 18 Aug 2025, 11:27 Paqueta is a Fraud......doe's anyone actually remember him doing anything of note  in the 2 games we played against Lyon?  Because I can't. Then we spunk £56M on him to make him our record signing you couldn't make it up.....only at West Ham🤣


 
Sunderland fans will think Bowen is shit then.. What weird logic is that 
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