Winter '25/26 Transfer Rumours Thread

[stubbo-admin]

Well seems like with all these international breaks, and us languishing, the rumours of ins and outs are rife.

Chuck anything 'worthy' of discussion on this thread...

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

Incomings:

Pablo Felipe - €21m + €3m (Gil Vicente) | Forward
Valentin 'Taty' Castellanos - €26m + €4m (Lazio) | Forward
Adama Traore - £2m + £1m if stay up (Fulham) | Forward
Axel Disasi - Loan (Chelsea) | Centre Back
Keiber Lamadrid - £150k + £1m option | Attacking Mid

Outgoings:

Nicolas Füllkrug - 6 months loan (AC Milan)
Luis Guilherme - £17m + Sell On % (Sporting Lisbon)
George Earthy - 6 months loan (Bristol City)
Callum Marshall - 6 months loan (Bochum)
Andy Irving - 1.5m (Sparta Prague)
Guido Rodriguez - Undisclosed (Valencia)
Igor Julio - Loan Cancelled (Brighton)
James Ward Prowse - 6 months loan (Burnley)
Lucas Paqueta - £36.5m + Buy Back Clause (Flamengo)

[Rossal]

Traore serves a purpose. 

He won't score many goals...but he's a chaos creator.  The sort of guy you bring on against tired legs that carries you up the field, and that gives teams something to worry about.

He's what we'd be using Antonio for right now if he'd not had his car crash.  A tool in the arsenal of options.

I'm looking forward to seeing him in a West Ham shirt.   He'll be frustrating at times, as Antonio was, but he also offers pace and power.  And last season he was very creative for Fulham (less so this season).

Let's hope Nuno gets him firing...if he does, he could be very valuable.  He's coming on a free...and he offers more from the bench offensively than anyone else we have or have had this season.  Can play wide or through the middle.

Not going to turn us into prime Real Madrid...but for next to nothing, he's worth having in the squad.



 

Traore makes Antonio look like Mbappe. A truly awful footballer, who can't get in a bang average Fulham team. Hasn't played over 16 mins in a prem game this season.  I would have rather used Earthy. 

[stubbo-admin]

Traore serves a purpose. 

He won't score many goals...but he's a chaos creator.  The sort of guy you bring on against tired legs that carries you up the field, and that gives teams something to worry about.

He's what we'd be using Antonio for right now if he'd not had his car crash.  A tool in the arsenal of options.

I'm looking forward to seeing him in a West Ham shirt.   He'll be frustrating at times, as Antonio was, but he also offers pace and power.  And last season he was very creative for Fulham (less so this season).

Let's hope Nuno gets him firing...if he does, he could be very valuable.  He's coming on a free...and he offers more from the bench offensively than anyone else we have or have had this season.  Can play wide or through the middle.

Not going to turn us into prime Real Madrid...but for next to nothing, he's worth having in the squad.


 

[Massive Attack]

He's fucking shit too.

[Fortunes Hiding]

Hope we got enough oil for Traore. 

[Massive Attack]

Fuck knows what the point of getting in Igor on loan was for by the way when we hardly used him whilst available all that time.

Rightly or wrongly Nuno clearly doesn't rate him (neither does Hurzeler, obviously)

he was Potter's signing

 

 

Yep  just goes to show how truly awful he is and why I wasnt surprised Bowen skipped passed him with ease in the Final. 

[Rossal]

In what way have we weakened ourselves at CB?
I'm not mourning the loss of a CAM who was underperforming and undoubtedly a negative influence
I'm not mourning the loss of Guilherme who contributed fuck all of note to the season before his departure
We didn't have any attackers on the bench in December

 

Igor isnt available at the moment and hasn't been replaced.  I am not Paqueta fan either, but i would rather him on the bench or coming on if we need a goal than Kante or JWP. There are no wingers behind the two who start, any injuries or loss of form how are we going to score the goals to stay up?      It's basic stuff. 

 

I'm not disputing we still need bodies, I just don't agree we're weaker. You can't bemoan the loss of players who have contributed the square root of fuck all 

I bemoan the fact that we have less options than when we started. A thin squad has been made thinner when we're scraping to stay up.   How is that good ownership? 

Paqueta is a great deal, but surely in our position you have to replace attacking players?  Same for Earthy, Ghuillurme etc 

[onsideman]

The squad needed depth added to it. We've added two up front and weakened ourselves at CB, CAM and out wide.   We've also got 1 attacker on the bench at the moment. 

In what way have we weakened ourselves at CB?
I'm not mourning the loss of a CAM who was underperforming and undoubtedly a negative influence
I'm not mourning the loss of Guilherme who contributed fuck all of note to the season before his departure
We didn't have any attackers on the bench in December

 

Igor isnt available at the moment and hasn't been replaced.  I am not Paqueta fan either, but i would rather him on the bench or coming on if we need a goal than Kante or JWP. There are no wingers behind the two who start, any injuries or loss of form how are we going to score the goals to stay up?      It's basic stuff. 

 

 

I'm not disputing we still need bodies, I just don't agree we're weaker. You can't bemoan the loss of players who have contributed the square root of fuck all 

[stubbo-admin]

Traore 'in the building'.

[onsideman]

Fuck knows what the point of getting in Igor on loan was for by the way when we hardly used him whilst available all that time.

Rightly or wrongly Nuno clearly doesn't rate him (neither does Hurzeler, obviously)

he was Potter's signing

[Rossal]

Why do you think that?

The squad needed depth added to it. We've added two up front and weakened ourselves at CB, CAM and out wide.   We've also got 1 attacker on the bench at the moment. 

In what way have we weakened ourselves at CB?
I'm not mourning the loss of a CAM who was underperforming and undoubtedly a negative influence
I'm not mourning the loss of Guilherme who contributed fuck all of note to the season before his departure
We didn't have any attackers on the bench in December

 

 

Igor isnt available at the moment and hasn't been replaced.  I am not Paqueta fan either, but i would rather him on the bench or coming on if we need a goal than Kante or JWP. There are no wingers behind the two who start, any injuries or loss of form how are we going to score the goals to stay up?      It's basic stuff. 

[Massive Attack]

Fuck knows what the point of getting in Igor on loan was for by the way when we hardly used him whilst available all that time.

[onsideman]

Our squad is lighter than Jan the 1st at the moment. 

Why do you think that?

The squad needed depth added to it. We've added two up front and weakened ourselves at CB, CAM and out wide.   We've also got 1 attacker on the bench at the moment. 

In what way have we weakened ourselves at CB?
I'm not mourning the loss of a CAM who was underperforming and undoubtedly a negative influence
I'm not mourning the loss of Guilherme who contributed fuck all of note to the season before his departure
We didn't have any attackers on the bench in December

[Rossal]

If you get stick it's probably because you talk utter shite that doesn't make any sense. Of course he doesn't want to go down, and how the fuck do you think he's going to strip the squad and pocket the cash under the noses of the other shareholders? And if he did want to strip the squad why wait until we get relegated so the players' value is lower. 

Then why the fuck is our squad weaker and got less bodies with days of the window left? 

Oh and Paqueta will be sold at the death for £40m 

You didn't answer the question. Why would he not care about relegation if he's only wanting to sell our players for as much as he can to pocket the money, and how exactly is he going to pocket the money under the noses of Kretinsky et al anyway?

Talk about Sullivan's utter incompetence as much as you like and I will agree with you but don't be surprised if someone calls you a fucking idiot if you come out with bollocks like it's a deliberate ploy on his part to get us relegated.

 

 

Because at the moment what steps has he taken to try and improve the squad to stave of relegation?  After the Paqueta deal and the other outgoings our net spend this month will be near enough flat. 

We have one attacker on the bench, and we have lost a CB if Igor goes, both the number 10s and anyone in reserve who can play out wide. 

Paqueta had the sale lined up from the start of the month. If he wanted to get out of this, wouldn't you have him done near the start and then get bodies in?  Why take all month......we all know why. 

[factory seconds]

We do need a CB, but I don’t know what’s happened to Todibo and Mavropanos in the last 2 games, playing really well. 

Todibo almost seems like a rolls Royce at the back, or have I got my C&B glasses on?

Todibo has been superb in the last few games, more like a you would expect a French International to be.   Mavropanos has been decent and he's a good physical presence as well, as a pairing they are the best we've got.   I don't know what Mav was doing for the Sunderland goal though, Mav should have been much tighter on Brobbey, he'd completely lost him.

 

mav was left having to mark two players as todibo had gone roving out to the touchline in a failed attempt to tackle their winger. you can say he should've been more decisive and just marked mr brobbey but that would've left a free pass to their player at the front stick. 

[Rossal]

Our squad is lighter than Jan the 1st at the moment. 

Why do you think that?

The squad needed depth added to it. We've added two up front and weakened ourselves at CB, CAM and out wide.   We've also got 1 attacker on the bench at the moment. 

[Jean-Luc Paul Goddard]

If you get stick it's probably because you talk utter shite that doesn't make any sense. Of course he doesn't want to go down, and how the fuck do you think he's going to strip the squad and pocket the cash under the noses of the other shareholders? And if he did want to strip the squad why wait until we get relegated so the players' value is lower. 

Then why the fuck is our squad weaker and got less bodies with days of the window left? 

Oh and Paqueta will be sold at the death for £40m 

You didn't answer the question. Why would he not care about relegation if he's only wanting to sell our players for as much as he can to pocket the money, and how exactly is he going to pocket the money under the noses of Kretinsky et al anyway?

Talk about Sullivan's utter incompetence as much as you like and I will agree with you but don't be surprised if someone calls you a fucking idiot if you come out with bollocks like it's a deliberate ploy on his part to get us relegated.

[onsideman]

Our squad is lighter than Jan the 1st at the moment. 

Why do you think that?

[Manuel]

I would take Dunk, as said the type of CB we need. That said Mavro has been very good of late and doesn't deserve to be dropped, but we need one more regardless incase of injuries. The problem we have now though is are any new arrivals going to turn us into a side that can win a lot of games (comparable to the season so far) we are in a situation where not only do we need to win our 'winnable' games but also need to win some we'd not expect to usually win. Example, if we want to stay up then we need to be getting something on Saturday. It's all a big ask, if you're being realistic about it.

[Rossal]

If you get stick it's probably because you talk utter shite that doesn't make any sense. Of course he doesn't want to go down, and how the fuck do you think he's going to strip the squad and pocket the cash under the noses of the other shareholders? And if he did want to strip the squad why wait until we get relegated so the players' value is lower. 

Then why the fuck is our squad weaker and got less bodies with days of the window left? 

Oh and Paqueta will be sold at the death for £40m 

[Tomshardware]

We do need a CB, but I don’t know what’s happened to Todibo and Mavropanos in the last 2 games, playing really well. 

Todibo almost seems like a rolls Royce at the back, or have I got my C&B glasses on?

Todibo has been superb in the last few games, more like a you would expect a French International to be.   Mavropanos has been decent and he's a good physical presence as well, as a pairing they are the best we've got.   I don't know what Mav was doing for the Sunderland goal though, Mav should have been much tighter on Brobbey, he'd completely lost him.

[Jean-Luc Paul Goddard]

If you get stick it's probably because you talk utter shite that doesn't make any sense. Of course he doesn't want to go down, and how the fuck do you think he's going to strip the squad and pocket the cash under the noses of the other shareholders? And if he did want to strip the squad why wait until we get relegated so the players' value is lower. 

[Rossal]

Sullivan’s actions all driven by cash flow. Paqueta deal conveniently late to close will be the perfect excuse for why we couldnt spend any more. Window closes and net spend will be a few million in the black and wage bill reduced significantly yet again.  Last few windows we have been getting a lot more out than in to reduce wages and help cash flow. Symptoms of a failing business run by an incompetent owner

I got stick on here about a month ago for saying Sullivan doesn't care about going down and will strip the squad and pocket the cash. 

Our squad is lighter than Jan the 1st at the moment. Lets see in the next few days how badly he wants to try and stay up.....  back to back wins and the Paqueta sale funds......no excuses to not give it a go. 

[Sir Alf]

Sullivan’s actions all driven by cash flow. Paqueta deal conveniently late to close will be the perfect excuse for why we couldnt spend any more. Window closes and net spend will be a few million in the black and wage bill reduced significantly yet again.  Last few windows we have been getting a lot more out than in to reduce wages and help cash flow. Symptoms of a failing business run by an incompetent owner

[Fortunes Hiding]

We do need a CB, but I don’t know what’s happened to Todibo and Mavropanos in the last 2 games, playing really well. 

Todibo almost seems like a rolls Royce at the back, or have I got my C&B glasses on?

[Massive Attack]

He'd organise, lead at the back and take no prisoners from the opposition with a wealth of successful Relegation avoidance. Closest thing we'd get to a Ginge/Dawson type which we've long been crying out for to get a grip of this defence. It would be only a short term fix but needs must if we want to have any chance of survival this season. If it can be achieved, even if it cost close to £5M I'd sanction the deal if that was the cost. Need him more than Traore by a long distance.