Well here we are again. Another season in the books, and we're gearing up for a third consecutive season in the Premier League. I've got mixed feelings about the season that we've just concluded. On the one hand, if you would have told me a year ago that we would beat Arsenal, Spurs and Man Utd (at Old Trafford in the last minute), reach a semi-final and never be in serious relegation danger- I would have bitten your hand off.
But the way the season's played out, and I think most crucially what I've seen on the pitch week to week- there's a lot about this team that I don't like. After we beat Spurs I tweeted something to the effect of this season in-terms of pure coaching performance was Silva's best of the three he's had with us. Because to get that group of players to perform as they did for the majority of the season was close to a miracle. This is not a good team. It has its moments, but in-terms of actual quality it's not a good team, even compared to the team we had the season prior. A lot of that is of course to do with Mitrovic, but we've just not been threatening enough for my liking- or aggressive enough which was a real feature in our first season back- because no, I'm not counting Carlos Vinicius' one man mission to get sent off every game as part of that.
Add on to that, we have as I said had Silva working out of his skin to get what he's got out of this set of players, and on merit in-terms of points gained we were the 14th best team this season and three of the teams below us were a historically bad bottom three- which should be concerning as we approach next season and why we need such a big transfer window in my opinion.
As we go into the transfer window, I think the big thing has to be the "philosophy" we go into the window with- and then in an ideal world make good, early moves with the set philosophy in mind to set us up for a good pre-season- because to be blunt last years pre-season was an absolute joke. Simply put, we need to get younger this summer. In many ways this season has reminded me of the last (full) Martin Jol season. Never really in danger, a few big wins- in fact I'm pretty sure that prior to March it was the last time we'd beaten Spurs, but the warning signs are there in-terms of actual performance levels, and the average age of the squad is a massive concern.
I'm not suggesting we sign a load of kids, dump them on the doorstep at Motspur Park and tell Silva that's your lot- because as we've seen in the last two seasons with Burnley and Southampton that strategy just doesn't work. But we need to be smart, and for the level of club we are, we need to start getting into the sort of Brighton "model" of signing players in the sort of 21-24 age range, giving them a platform and then selling them on. I think that whole aspect of what we need to do is more relevant now with the way FFP is getting enforced.
So how do we go about doing it this summer? That's the question I'm here to answer. As always with these blogs, I'm not expecting us to sign everyone on this list and this list is more of a shortlist of players I'd be looking to sign from- and I'm not necessarily expecting us to sign these exact names (although they would be welcome) and it's more looking at a profile of player I'd want to target this summer.
Goalkeeper
We don't need to sign a Keeper this summer. Even with the slight drop off in form, Leno is still so far clear as our #1 it's not even funny. And then I'm more than fine with having Benda as our backup assuming Marek Rodak departs.
There'll be some phrases I repeat a lot in this blog most likely, one of them is "serious club" and the other is "succession planning". If we want to start being a serious club that's looking upwards, one thing we could start looking into is a proper succession planning sort of business model similar to Brighton. It's why despite anyones thoughts on multi club ownership, the link there was to the Khans buying Ternana in Serie B was interesting to me. So with that in mind, if we were to do something on the Goalkeeper front this summer, I'd like to see us sign a real prospect and then find a good loan for them so long-term we'd have a potential successor to Leno already on the books.
Mycael Pontes (Athletico Paranaense)
We're starting with a trip to Brazil. It's clear we're scouting there, even though as of late the only thing we've really got out of the Brazilian market is endless links to Andre that haven't gone anywhere- and I'm sure we'll get more this summer as well. Mycael is a very exciting prospect, featuring for the Brazilian youth teams, and actually getting a senior call-up in the March internationals.
Is he the finished article? Of course not, he's not even the first choice Keeper at his club- but that goes back to signing him and then finding him a loan to help him develop. Because the potential is definitely there for him to be a genuinely top class Keeper down the line.
Tjark Ernst (Hertha Berlin)
Staying on the same train of thought, Ernst has been one of the best Keepers in the Bundesliga. 2 this season- in a pretty unsuccessful Hertha team relative to expectations. My ideal scenario in this case would be signing Ernst and then loaning him to a Bundesliga side to help him develop at an elite level- but obviously he wouldn't necessarily have to stay in Germany of course.
Massamba Ndiaye (Clermont Foot)
As always when clubs get relegated the vultures start circling, such is the case with Clermont Foot in Ligue 1 this season. Ndiaye isn't as young as the other two, and if it was purely my choice I'd take Mycael every day of the week- but there's something to be said for Ndiaye because he's still very young in-terms of being a goalkeeper but he's shown signs of being a proper Keeper. Especially in a game away to PSG earlier in the year where he was phenomenal, plus I think there's something to be said for a Keeper who's just absolutely massive giving them a base to build on- and considering Ndiaye is 6ft 8 he definitely has that going for him.
Defenders
Moving on to the defence now, and the obvious bit of business we need to do this summer is replacing Tosin. Especially when you factor in what our finances should look like this summer, and the Tosin replacement being the only real gap there is in our current squad- we should be breaking our record transfer this summer and going big on Centre-Back this summer is the obvious one we do it with. No excuses, no delaying, no "it's the Euros so we can't sign anyone", work out who we want and sign them as soon as possible so they get a full pre-season with Bassey to start developing the partnership between them. And then beyond that, it's a numbers game and making sure we're well stocked and well covered across the defensive line.
Eric Garcia (Barcelona)
When talking about developing a partnership with Bassey, I think the conversation then turns to who is the right style of player we need that we can put next to Bassey and they'll both complement each other. With that in mind I think we need to sign more of a "passer". For want of a better way to put it, we need to sign a younger, right-sided version of Tim Ream. Basically, we need to sign Joachim Andersen. But considering we've missed the boat on that one we need to look at alternative options.
Garcia is probably best known in England for getting absolutely flattened during a COVID game for Man City, but his move to Barcelona just hasn't really worked to be blunt. However, Garcia's looked very good for Girona in recent months and is looking more like the player people thought he could be when he was coming through. In-terms of the chances of him actually signing, it can go both ways- because Barcelona would definitely be happy to sell him with the state of their finances but on the other hand Girona have obviously qualified for the Champions League- so Garcia's first choice would almost certainly be to stay with them if both offers were on the table.
Dani Vivian (Athletic Club)
Staying in Spain, we're switching from Catalonia to the Basque region to take a trip to Bilbao. Like Girona, Bilbao have had an exceptional season under Ernesto Valverde which has taken them to 5th in La Liga and their first trophy win over 40 years. Vivian isn't really a "passer" like Garcia is, but he's just an absolutely phenomenal defender- and in my opinion the most underrated defender in La Liga. As with Garcia, it wouldn't exactly be a straightforward move, Bilbao's Basque only rule and the way they go about retaining the players they do have wage wise makes it very challenging to sign pretty much anyone from them- but again we should be breaking our record signing this summer with the money we should have available to us. So let's go big and see what we can make happen.
Milan Skriniar (PSG)
I remember we were linked with Skriniar during the COVID season, and most people including myself wrote it off as absolutely ridiculous, because it was. While this move suggestion is still very ambitious, I don't think it's ridiculous anymore. To put it simply, Skriniar's move to Paris just hasn't worked. Luis Enrique doesn't trust him, and he's been overtaken in the pecking order by Lucas Beraldo among others.
There would be a slight concern to me in the sense that his performance levels haven't been that good since he's been dealing with back issues that kept him out of a lot of his last season with Inter- but putting it simply, I could definitely see Skriniar being on the market this summer and if he was he could be everything we need in-terms of his profile as a player as well as the fact he's been a Captain for both Inter and Slovakia to add some leadership at the back next to a relatively young defender in Bassey.
Charlie Hughes (Wigan)
Looking beyond the Tosin replacement now, it's another time to use the two words "succession planning". When looking at our squad for next season, I'd be surprised if the 4 options we had at Centre-Back weren't Bassey, Diop, Ream + 1. But next year needs to be Tim Ream's last year at Fulham. I love him to bits, and have so much time for him, and if/when we announce the "Team Ream v Team Cairney" testimonial for next summer I am there- but that needs to be that. So with that in mind, I'd look at signing a young prospect for a Centre-Back, loaning them out next season and then when Ream departs we bring them fully into the mix for the following season.
There have been three standout young Centre-Backs in League One this season. Eiran Cashin, who I highlighted last year and has also been promoted, Ronnie Edwards, who has been very good for Peterborough- but with the way Peterborough's owner operates he'd be asking for a ridiculous fee most likely- and then there's Charlie Hughes who would be the most attainable player of the three by a pretty wide margin I would assume, but he's someone who still has the potential to be a Premier League player in my opinion.
I'd like to think our relationship with Wigan is pretty decent as well considering the way we structured the Robinson payments (and the sell on they'll be due eventually) as well as most recently the Godo loan- so if we could do a deal there and then potentially loan him back for next season, or find Hughes a Championship loan it would be ideal for me.
Emin Bayram (Galatasaray)
Casting the net a bit wider now, Bayram's spent this season on loan from Galatasaray in Belgium, and he's been one of the absolute standout defenders in the league this season. Of the three defenders in this little section, Bayram is the most "ready" of the three, for instance if we decided to get rid of Diop as well and completely redo the right-hand side of the defence Bayram would be the one I'd be most keen on. To put it simply, Bayram is just very good, and especially at his age and his room to grow and develop he'd be a very shrewd signing which is presumably why I've seen Brighton be very strongly linked to him.
Jeanuel Belocian (Rennes)
The most like for like replacement for Ream of the three, for the simple fact that he's the only left-footer. Belocian has a very high ceiling, especially as he can play as a full-back as well. For Belocian to be playing as much as he is at just 19 is a testament to how much Rennes believe in him and how highly thought of he is there. Again, similar to Hughes, I'd look at signing Belocian and then loaning him either back to Rennes or depending on the game time on offer finding him another Ligue 1 loan.
Festy Ebosele (Udinese)
Moving on to Right-Back now, and despite Kenny Tete's option being triggered, I suspect that move is just to try and get a fee for Tete- as opposed to a plan to keep Tete next season. To put it simply, Tete won't want to be a backup- and he's not shown enough in the chances he has had this season to displace Castagne.
So the job then is to look at someone to replace him. It's going to be a nail biter for Udinese next week as they go into the final day of Serie A with a real chance of getting relegated- but regardless of whether they stay up or not I'd be very keen on signing Ebosele. He still needs to develop his game quite a lot, but in-terms of raw ability he has so many things going for him- especially going forward and an added bonus is the fact that he's a homegrown player thanks to his time at Derby.
Amar Dedic (Salzburg)
When it comes to full-back backup, one thing that I think almost suits the role we need is to sign someone who can play both sides. I'm sure there will be other examples, but the Luton game is genuinely the only time I can remember Silva putting two full-backs on the bench. Whether it's because Silva didn't see the need to play Ballo Toure because he was on loan, or just because of the aforementioned aversion to putting two full-backs on the bench- Ballo Toure has basically wasted a year of his career with us.
Both in-terms of having the option the bench able to play both sides, and also their actual chances of playing someone who can play both sides is ideal for that reason. I feel like I'm almost constantly asking for us to sign Salzburg players in these annual blogs, because they are just a talent factory. To put into some context of how highly rated Dedic is, Inter are supposedly looking at him this summer- but as we saw last year with Castagne choosing us over Juventus if the terms were right and we can convince Dedic to choose us to further develop before ending up at an "elite" club then I'd be all for it.
James Justin (Leicester)
If only there was some precedent at the club for signing Leicester full-backs who are capable of playing both sides. The elephant in the room with Leicester is of course their FFP situation, with them almost certainly starting next season with minus points- and if reports are to be believed they need to bring in money before the end of June if they don't want to violate FFP again for the season just gone. While Dewsbury-Hall is the obvious sale Leicester can make, he's not the only one.
I really like Justin, and I have for a while. In fact he first featured in one of these blogs 5 years ago before Leicester signed him. Justin's problem has just been injuries, which have somewhat stalled his development. However, after a season where he's made 39 appearances for Leicester, and to my knowledge been injury free- I feel confident enough to say I'd be very happy to sign him this summer. Like I've already made reference to, the fact Leicester would seemingly be motivated sellers would make me very keen for us to get on this one early doors.
Maxim De Cuyper (Club Brugge)
Brugge have had an absolutely amazing end to the season, with our very own Denis Odoi scoring the goal that will likely have won them the league title come next weekend. The person who assisted that goal Maxim De Cuyper has been a very big feature of that Brugge success. In many ways De Cuyper is the antithesis of Antonee Robinson, in the sense that while Robinson's final ball is lacking he makes up for it with his pace and defensive awareness for the most part- whereas De Cuyper is all about his end product and his crossing ability is absolutely superb. So in a lot of ways having the two of them would be perfect, and give us another string to the bow in-terms of how we set up depending on who we're playing.
Patrick Dorgu (Lecce)
Two years in a row I'm recommending a Lecce defender now. While last year with Baschirotto it was very much a "for now" signing, Dorgu is pretty much the exact opposite. Dorgu's another player from the Nordsjaelland talent factory, and while he's far from the finished article- which you wouldn't expect him to be at 19, there's a reason that Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea among others are supposedly interested in him. Similar to what I've said with Dedic though, we need to become like Brighton where we won't stand in the way of someone using us a stepping stone as long as they perform for us- and becoming a "medium step" between where a player is now and an "elite" club.
David Hancko (Feyenoord)
We need to plan for a scenario where we sell Antonee Robinson this summer. As I've already mentioned in regard to Leicester, being FFP compliant is more relevant than ever with the way it's getting enforced- and as such we probably need to be making one big sale every summer, which we've inadvertently sort of stumbled into already with Mitrovic's sale last year. Robinson is one of two players we can sell this summer who'd fit into that category, so we'd be very naive to not plan for that eventuality.
Hancko has been a Centre-Back for the majority of the time he's spent at Feyenoord, and he's been absolutely brilliant there for them. The reason I'd be looking at Hancko for Left-Back is firstly because the Eredivisie isn't on the same level as the Premier League to be blunt, the level of defensive awareness needed is completely different- and the pace of the game as a whole is a different level which is why you've seen so many Eredivisie signings struggle as we know first hand with Bryan Ruiz.
I think in-terms of style of play the best way I could describe Hancko in-terms of how he'd fit with us, is he'd be great as a more defensive Left-Back which would allow for other players to push on up the pitch. It would be a tactical adjustment from where we are now with Robinson- but especially if Willian's leaving as well then we'd need to adjust that left-hand side anyway so it would almost work better to kill two birds with one stone in that sense. Hancko would be very expensive, but as I've already made reference to, there's no reason we shouldn't be breaking our record signing this summer- especially if we do bring in an extra 50m+ from selling Robinson.
Midfielders
On to the midfield now, and as I've sort of already made reference to, in-terms of making a big sale every summer, the other player we can sell is of course Joao Palhinha. I'll talk in more detail about that potential sale later, but even though Silva's said he'll be here next season, to be blunt I don't believe him. In general I think our midfield needs a lot of work this summer, in-terms of balance as well as how we improve our build-up play because unless Cairney's in the team we suffer a lot in that regard.
Anton Stach (Hoffenheim)
Anton Stach is my absolute number one target for if we do end up selling Palhinha this summer. While Stach doesn't have the same tackling output, he's every bit as much of a fighter and a battler in the midfield and he's one of the key reasons that Hoffenheim have qualified for Europe next season. I also think you can't underestimate having literal presence in the midfield and how it could be big in-terms of replacing Palhinha when it comes to set-pieces at both ends of the pitch and Stach more than ticks that box. Like I said, Hoffenheim have got Europe, and I would assume be keen on keeping him- but it again goes back to the question of money and if we are selling Palhinha financially we should be reinvesting a large chunk of the fee back into his replacement
Vinicius Souza (Sheffield Utd)
It's now three years in a row for Vinicius Souza, and three years in a row that I'm using an Idrissa Gueye analogy. When it comes to teams that get relegated from the Premier League, for the most part you get what I'd call a "normal bad team", our last relegation being the prime example of what a normal bad team is to me. Don't really offer much, but show enough to where you can see players do have some ability. For instance with our last relegation everyone watching knew that Andersen, Lookman, Areola and Zambo (before Christmas) had the ability to become what they have now.
But every so often you get a team that is just so abnormally terrible that it's almost unfair to fully judge a player on their performances in that team. That's Sheffield Utd this season, but as we've seen in previous abnormally bad teams it doesn't mean every player in that team is an absolute write off. For instance when Aston Villa got relegated in 2016 they had players like our very own Adama Traore, Jordan Veretout, Jordan Ayew and of course Idrissa Gueye who after signing for Everton proved he was at the time of the best defensive-mids in the league.
While I'm not suggesting Souza would get to that level, it's why I've not given up on him after my last two years of recommendations and why despite a less than stellar season to put it mildly if we did sign Souza as a Palhinha replacement I genuinely wouldn't be upset. And the same applies to Gustavo Hamer should we show an interest in him as well for further up in the midfield.
Leandro Paredes (Roma)
This signing is almost a two-part recommendation. As I made clear from the outset of this section, I don't like our build up play. It just isn't cohesive enough, and unless we have Cairney on the pitch we don't have that player on the pitch who can receive the ball, turn and get the pass off under pressure reliably.
So with that in mind, one thing we could do, which is quite similar to how Arsenal have progressed this season would be to add a "ball player" in at the "6" position which for the most part was Jorginho and then move our equivalent of Declan Rice further up the pitch. It wouldn't be an exact like for like, because Rice is just an absolutely outstanding player and we don't have the sort of money to be bringing in players of that level- but in principle my idea is to bring in someone more reliable on the ball at the base of the midfield and then shift our combative "Palhinha type" midfielder further up the pitch- which would also help us with our press.
With all that said, this is why I've got Leandro Paredes down here as an option. Paredes is just an outstanding footballer, and there's a reason he's got the CV he does both in-terms of the clubs he's played for and the trophies he's won- and with Roma potentially missing out on the Champions League and the money that comes with it someone like Paredes who I assume is on big wages could be moved on if the right offer came in for him.
Morten Frendrup (Genoa)
Part 2 of this "theory" in-terms of how we can progress going forward with our midfield is Morten Frendrup. Frendrup would be another Palhinha replacement in-terms of his defensive output, but he doesn't have the positional discipline to be at the base of a midfield, and in actual fact he plays in exactly the sort of system I've been talking about playing ahead of Milan Badelj at the base of Genoa's midfield, who just as an aside is one of the most underrated midfielders of the last decade in-terms of technical ability in my opinion.
Nico Gonzalez (Porto)
Going back to our "usual" midfield setup now, the need is still the same. Nico Gonzalez had a slow start to life at Porto due to injuries among other things- but in the back half of this season he's been outstanding for Porto and showcased the ability that let him breakthrough with Barcelona and become as well thought of as he was there. To be blunt, Gonzalez is just exactly what we need, and would give us an absolutely perfect balance in our usual setup next to a Palhinha, or Palhinha type player that Harrison Reed, Lukic etc. don't in my opinion.
Seko Fofana (Al Nassr)
I think as a fanbase we're probably more acquainted with the Saudi project than most after last summer between the Mitrovic saga and them also trying to get Silva and Willian. I am interested to see what they do this summer given they've got their World Cup now, which was the predominant factor in why they invested as much as they did. I'd still expect a big spend, but I doubt it'll be anywhere close to where they got last summer.
Fofana is of course a familiar name after his loan spell with us close to a decade ago, and he was one of the more surprising movers to Saudi Arabia last summer in my opinion. He didn't carry the name value of say a Neymar, and from Fofana's perspective he'd just qualified for the Champions League with Lens- so to abandon that after being absolutely vital to that qualification did surprise me.
The reason I'm bringing Fofana up as an option is that to me, it's one thing to go for the money and still rationalise it in your head that you'll be playing with some genuinely elite level talent at the same time, as Fofana would have if he stayed at Al Nassr with Ronaldo, Mane etc. But Fofana could be the first case of many we see crop up over the next year or two where the restriction on foreign players mean a player, such as Fofana, gets shipped off to one of the "lesser" Saudi clubs so they can register a new shinier toy.
That's what happened to Fofana this season, where he ended up on loan at Steven Gerrard's Al Ettifaq because Al Nassr wanted to register David Ospina instead. The Saudis can change the rules of course, and they have changed the limit from 8 to 10 next season- with the two extra spots being made available for U21 players, but it still leaves a player like Fofana in a bit of a Saudi wilderness where he's not even getting the "stimulation" from playing with a Ronaldo or a Mane- and he's now settling for Demarai Gray. He could of course be completely happy to call an end to his competitive career and collect his no doubt obscene wages playing for a Mid-Table Saudi club, but I'd like to think that if a Premier League club such as ourselves offered him a way out and a chance to prove himself at the very top level again that he'd take it.
Gabriel Sara (Norwich)
I did worry about having Gabriel Sara on my shortlist for this, for reference I've been working on this list for the best part of two months at this point- and while Gabriel Sara's been a constant fixture if Norwich had made it to the Play-Off Final then it would have put the likelihood of this one very much up in the air. Thankfully I had nothing to worry about, and Norwich's 2nd Leg display against Leeds was genuinely abysmal and now I can go full tilt into my Gabriel Sara agenda, because I would absolutely love for us to sign him this summer.
Sara simply has everything I'd want out of a player for his position. He's got all of the on the ball ability, but he doesn't rely on that and he's always been one of the hardest workers on the pitch when I've watched him play. He's also shown tactical versatility this season, playing in a pivot, as a #10 which where he's best as well as on the wing which would give us different options in-terms of team selection depending on who we were playing. There are names on this list that are absurd for reasons I've tried to explain, but as far as genuine realistic options go, Gabriel Sara would be my absolute first choice "want" from anyone on this list. He genuinely is that good.
Yaser Asprilla (Watford)
Watford have struggled a lot since relegation, but they've always had at least one player in the mix that is genuine quality. Previously it's been Joao Pedro and Ismaila Sarr, and now it's Yaser Asprilla who is the absolute standout player for them. I see Asprilla long-term developing into the #10 role, but he's also been playing on the wing for Watford this season, and physicality wise stepping up to the Premier League that might be better in the short-term. Ultimately this comes down to what I've said before about turning us into an "in between" club, we sign Asprilla, get 2-3 years out of him and then if everything's gone to plan and he's shown the ability that he no doubt has we sell him on at a huge profit then.
Cameron Puertas (Union Saint-Gilloise)
Of the three, Puertas is the most similar profile wise to Andreas Pereira in the sense that he can set the press in the same way, but probably most crucially is absolutely lethal from set-pieces. I also said to myself that I was putting Puertas in as an absolute must after I talked myself out of putting Teddy Teuma on last years list, only for him to go from USG to Reims and have a very good season.
One thing I do hope we do as we adjust to life without Luis Boa Morte is bringing in a dedicated set-piece coach, anyone watching can see the impact Arsenal's made this season- and while we're not bad from set pieces by any means- as we hopefully look to improve and move up the table that's one of the things we can do that won't cost obscene amounts of money in transfer fees and wages.
Forwards
The forward areas are where we need to see major improvement this summer. I realise the stat at the end of the season says we scored the same number of goals as we did last season, and while it is a true stat, I think it's deceptive in the sense that while we did score the same number of goals, we didn't score a goal in 13/38 games this season- which to put that into context, Sheffield Utd's equivalent stat is 15/38. It ultimately just boils down to a lack of consistent quality, and it was to be expected in some ways without Mitrovic, especially earlier in the season when we were adjusting to life without him- but ultimately we need to be better next season.
Oscar Bobb (Man City)
I'd be surprised if there wasn't a "Cole Palmer effect" in this transfer window, where clubs look at the sort of fringe academy players at the elite clubs and think they can replicate the same success of Cole Palmer's transfer to Chelsea. And I am absolutely no different.
Oscar Bobb is a long shot, in fact he's only signed a new deal with City earlier this season- but I do wonder how long Bobb decides to wait at City. It's not like they're ever going to be short on wingers, in fact they've already signed a new one for next season in Savio who's coming off the back of a good season for Girona. As I think Palmer realised, you can only wait for so long before you need to make the decision to actually go out and play football- it's just when that decision comes from Bobb. And it could be this summer despite his signing a new contract given he turns 21 in July- and if that opportunity presented itself- or we put in an offer to where City feel like they need to accept it from a "pure profit" FFP standpoint then I'd love if we signed him.
Assane Diao (Real Betis)
You will have noticed with Bobb that I was looking at wingers at the younger end of the age bracket, and that's because ultimately in-terms of wingers it's what we need at this point. Our youngest winger right now is Harry Wilson, who's 27- and also very inconsistent. As I've made a point of right from the start, we need to get significantly younger this summer, and winger is probably the most extreme example given our most effective winger over the last two years has been Willian who should he stay would be 36 when the new season kicks off.
Having those experienced players is fine, and in some ways would prove to be beneficial when it comes to signing like Diao because there wouldn't be any immediate pressure on him to start, and we should be able to bed him in slowly and reap the long-term benefits of that. For want of a better way to descibe Diao, he reminds me of Traore in a lot of ways in-terms of his pace mixed with his physicality. And to have that physicality in particular at just 18 years old should help him adapt to the Premier League and help him as he hopefully develops the other parts of his game.
Jota Silva (Vitoria Guimaraes)
To my knowledge the only player in this list that we've actually been linked with already as we go into the summer window. There's always a few. Silva is coming off a brilliant season for Vitoria, hitting double figures for goals and getting his first Portugal caps in the March international break. Silva isn't as young as the other two names I've mentioned, but he's still definitely got room to grow, and I'd personally see him as a natural successor to Bobby Reid in-terms of his work ethic and his mentality.
Raheem Sterling (Chelsea)
Firstly, yes this is a stupid suggestion. Before I get into my actual reasons for including Sterling, let's just indulge in the hypothetical. I can definitely see a world where Chelsea want to move Raheem Sterling on this summer, I think that free-kick he had against Leicester in the Cup was the last straw for many Chelsea fans as well. While he has scored a couple of goals at the back end of the season, I wouldn't say he's absolutely key to Chelsea, especially long-term so like I said I can see a world where Chelsea want Sterling to move on this summer- and at this stage of his career I can't see Sterling being able to get a move to a club higher than a Mid-Table club, of which we are a part of. The big stumbling block, and why even in the hypothetical world where Chelsea did want to move Sterling on it won't happen, would be Sterling's wages. But if that could be sorted, then I'd love it if we signed him.
In-terms of age profile, the reason I've moved on from relatively young players to Raheem Sterling who's probably past his prime goes back to what I said at the start about not just dumping a load of kids on Silva's doorstep despite the need for us to get younger. I think we've seen more often than not that since we've got to the Premier League that Silva values experience above everything else. Also going back to my "gold standard" in Brighton, they recognise the value of experience as well, which is why they've retained players like Lallana, Milner, Groß and Welbeck despite their obvious preference for teenage South American regens.
The reason I've also included Sterling is that a large part of our transfer policy since we got promoted can be boiled down to a general sort of mentality of "I can fix them". I can't say it hasn't worked, with Willian being the prime example- and it's why that among other names at various points while I was organising this list I considered putting down names like Leonardo Bonucci, Ryan Sessegnon, Thiago Alcantara, Christian Eriksen and perhaps the most "I can fix them" player potentially in the world right now Dele Alli.
Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio)
I don't know if under the radar would be the right way to describe this one, but considering Zaccagni's ability the fact this is in my opinion a genuinely realistic option is unbelievable. Zaccagni's ability on the ball is just top tier, and given his age I'd be surprised if there was a huge market for him this summer despite said ability. I do also think that within reason of course, that Lazio would welcome a market for Zaccagni this summer as well given his age and the fact they've missed out on the Champions League going into next season. Zaccagni is obviously an ambitious ask, but again I go back to wanting to be an actual serious club looking to move up the table, and these are the sort of signings a club with that mindset would be looking at making.
Filip Kostic (Juventus)
Staying in Italy, a lot of my reasoning for signing Zaccagni also applies to Kostic in-terms of why I think it's possible so I won't just repeat myself. The thing I'll say for Kostic is that his crossing ability is just exceptional. In-terms of wanting to be more of a consistent goal threat, getting reliable service into a striker has to be one area we improve on going into next season- because it's been anything but this season for the most part- and when it has we've seen with both Muniz and Jimenez that's when they flourish.
Justin Njinmah (Werder Bremen)
Speaking of Strikers, I think our striker department is definitely one to watch this summer. We obviously have Jay Stansfield coming back into the mix, and I'd be looking at having our three options for next season as Muniz and Stansfield +1. The profile of that extra Striker is the interesting part to me in-terms of how ambitious do we go given Muniz has flourished recently, but also what do we look for stylistically to potentially give us a different option up-front.
If we're locked in on having Muniz as our starting striker next season, I think the best way we can go about doing things would be to sign someone like Njinmah. Firstly, Njinmah wouldn't be coming in expecting to start every week so the pressure wouldn't be there in that sense- and tactically Njinmah would offer something different to Muniz and Stansfield with his pace and also his ability to play out wide. This is of course a bonus because it means it's not an either/or situation where if someone else is playing up-front Njinmah is automatically on the bench. I'm really impressed by Njinmah's finishing ability to add on to his pace, and having more of a consistent, direct goal threat from different players would be big for us next season.
Callum Wilson (Newcastle)
Another option to explore this summer is Callum Wilson in my opinion. I think everyone knows what Wilson is about, his finishing ability is absolutely top class, but injuries are his major drawback. In a weird way I think that would work in our favour though. We can play Wilson when he's fit, and I'd have absolutely zero problem doing so- because when he is fit he's still a brilliant Premier League striker. But you can almost bake the injuries into any playing time expectations, and as a result we can use Wilson without stalling Muniz's long-term development because Muniz would also be getting a lot of game time when Wilson is injured.
Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla)
The level of belief we show in Muniz in many ways will shape our summer business. I'm genuinely so happy that he's shown the form he has, but the question remains about whether we can rely on him to be the starting Striker of a Premier League team across 38 games and for that to be enough to keep us clear of the drop. For me personally I'm genuinely on the fence, but if the opportunity arose to sign someone like En-Nesyri then I'm not sure I'd be able to turn it down.
And I can definitely see En-Nesyri being on the market this summer. La Liga clubs in particular bar Real Madrid all seem about 5 minutes away from bankruptcy at any given time, and I suspect Sevilla might suffer more than most this summer with no European football to speak of going into next season. We have of course already been linked to a Sevilla player in Lucas Ocampos but I'd be looking further up the pitch if we are looking in this particular shop window.
En-Nesyri is just an absolute animal, and for him to get the goal return he has done in such a poor Sevilla team is outstanding and highlights exactly why he'd the perfect striker for the sort of level we're currently at. En-Nesyri's ability in the air would also enable us to play to the strengths a lot of this squad has been assembled based on in-terms of feeding Mitrovic- and all in all he's just the absolute ideal Striker to me.
To summarise, I wouldn't be going out of my way to replace Muniz this summer, but if we could sign En-Nesyri or an equivalent level striker- then it would be too tempting to turn down.
Outs
Moving on to the Outs section now, and a squad refresh works both ways. You can't just add without losing players. Like I've already mentioned, we should be banking on making one big sale every summer right now to keep evolving the team and stay FFP compliant and beyond that one big sale we need to be looking at moving players on who for one reason or another just don't make the grade.
Joao Palhinha
Someone who definitely has made the grade is of course Palhinha. In last years version of this I was pretty clear on the fact that I believed we'd get another year out of Palhinha, and while we did, we ran it pretty close. I suppose if you were consoling Palhinha you'd mention that we won the same number of trophies as Bayern this season.
I know Silva said Palhinha would be here next season, but as I've already said earlier in this blog I don't believe him. You're not going to advertise the fact that Palhinha is going to move on because that will impact our negotiating position with any clubs who come in for him. You could even make an argument for this summer being the right time to sell Palhinha in-terms of the fact that his value will never be higher than it is now given his age. I'd be incredibly surprised if Palhinha is still a Fulham player come next season, and we should just appreciate the fact that we (just about) managed to get another year out of him.
Antonee Robinson
There is a world where Palhinha is a Fulham player next season though, like I've already mentioned his age works against him and clubs might not want someone who gets booked as often as he does. In that scenario, the other player we can sell for huge money this summer is Antonee Robinson. Robinson has been absolutely phenomenal this season, and while the vote isn't out yet I'd be incredibly surprised if he didn't win our POTY vote. Robinson also has a lot of attractive parts of his game that would tempt a top team to make a bid for him which his pace, defensive ability and the fact he's homegrown. FFP wise it also makes a lot more sense to sell Robinson given the small fee we paid for Robinson compared to Palhinha who we'd still be amortising as well as the fact we'd lose even more with Sporting's sell on clause.
Andreas Pereira
I think Pereira's probably the most divisive player in the fanbase after this season. I think there's definitely a disconnect somewhere when a player who seemingly half the fanbase want dropped is getting called up by Brazil for the Copa America. I also absolutely guarantee that if you asked Silva to name his first choice eleven that Pereira would be right up there for the first names on the team sheet.
I definitely think Pereira will have suitors this summer, he most likely would have last summer as well if he hadn't broken his ankle against City. Atletico Madrid supposedly have interest already, and I can definitely see clubs of that level showing interest in him as the summer progresses. Ultimately it'll boil down to what we think is an acceptable fee for someone who is so key to us tactically.
Rodrigo Muniz
If you would have said prior to February that I would be putting Muniz in this blog, the assumption would have been talking about another loan to the Championship, preferably one where he would actually play. Since February however, we of course know how well he's done and developed. I think it's unlikely, because a lot of teams would be wary of Muniz being a one season wonder, but suddenly we look like we could have a big money striker on our hands. Like I said it's unlikely, but if someone did come in with a stupid bid for him then we'd have to accept it given the aforementioned one season wonder chances.
Willian
I'm not really sure why we bothered adding in the year option on Willian's contract if the option boils down to Willian needing to say yes as well. My attitude to Willian is similar to that of Palhinha, we've got two good years out of him, if he decides he wants to move on and try something different then I won't hold it against him. In Palhinha's case it would be moving to a genuine top tier club, and in Willian's case it would most likely be to get one last payday in Saudi Arabia based on the rumours that were circulating last summer. I'd be happy if Willian did stay of course, but we need to move on at some point.
Bobby Decordova-Reid
I've seen a lot of stuff about moving Bobby Reid on with his contract situation, and to be honest I think it's quite disrespectful. Is Bobby Reid our best player? No. But for me, the second that we think we're "above" someone like Bobby Reid is when we're in serious trouble. He always chips in with a few goals, he'll play literally anywhere and his work-rate is genuinely an example for any of our younger players coming through.
Like I said with Willian, we do need to move on from Bobby Reid at some point given his age, and Bobby Reid might want to move on to somewhere he'll play more games- but if we don't make a serious effort to retain him this summer I'd be very concerned.
Kenny Tete
As I mentioned earlier, despite activating Tete's year option I think that was just an effort to try and get a fee for him this summer as opposed to a long-term plan. It'll be a shame if Tete departs after such a bad season for him relatively speaking, especially with that Forest away game still being fresh on the mind- but that's Football sometimes.
Raul Jimenez
Considering we signed Jimenez at a point where he hadn't scored a goal for pretty much two years, I think a return of 7 goals from the season is pretty respectable all things considered. I wouldn't go as far as to say the move worked, because he was ultimately brought in to be our (very) cut price Mitrovic replacement- but it definitely can't be considered a complete flop in my opinion.
Even if the move went absolutely incredibly, Jimenez was only ever going to be a quick fix given he's just turned 33- and with Muniz and Stansfield coming through we should be looking to prioritise both of them over Jimenez next season. And that's before talking about any other incoming players. I assume Jimenez is on quite big wages as well, so it'll probably be best for all parties if he was moved on this summer. At least his last contribution in a Fulham shirt won't be that miss against Brentford.
Next season is going to be an interesting one for us. I said right at the start that the season that's just ended had a lot of the same warning signs as Martin Jol's last full season to me- and we know what happened next. For a club our size the first and most important thing is to stay up, and that will always remain the case.
A mentality is set right from the top, and in my opinion a large part of why the end of the season was so... nothing was because of the way we behaved in the transfer window replacing one of our best ever Strikers with Jimenez for about a 10th of the price- which ultimately sent out a message of "safety is good enough". And in a way it is. But Silva will want more, and if we want to retain him as well as key players we need to start showing that dirty Mark Hughes word ambition- starting this summer. We need to show that we don't want to "just" be a club who is "just happy to be here". And as a fan I don't want that either, because it's boring.
That's the challenge to the Khans now, show you want to make us a serious challenger, because if safety is "good enough" then we'll just be circling the drain before we do eventually get relegated again. And we will at some point, that's just the nature of being the size of club we are. In-terms of next season it's such an unknown for where teams will be in regard to relegation. We don't know where Leicester will be points deduction wise, how Ipswich will handle the step up, where Everton's takeover and money situation will be etc. but I think the main hope for next season is that we're looking up instead and trying to become a consistent challenger for the top half at least.
Thanks for reading these transfer blogs as always, I still really enjoy "scouting" and putting these annual blogs together- so hopefully you still like reading them. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm so happy this season's over- because I'm just exhausted. Thanks again for reading, it's now time to rest, regroup, hopefully get treated to a good Euros- and before we know it, it'll be August and we'll be back at the Cottage.
