Summer Transfer Window 2025 | Official Thread

[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

[twoleftfeet]

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 “ ? 

[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.

[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.  

[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.

[southbankbornnbred]

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?

[El Scorchio]

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. 

[Massive Attack]

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. 

[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) .

[Huffers]

He'd go through the wrong brick wall, though.

[fraser]

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. 

[El Scorchio]

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. 

[twoleftfeet]

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.

[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!

[Jean-Luc Paul Goddard]

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.

[fraser]

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? 

[El Scorchio]

Completely agree. (@ scott_d) There 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. 

[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?

[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.

[fraser]

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 

[Lato]

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

 

[scott_d]

I wouldn't be so bothered about selling Paqueta in his current form, if I had any confidence that we might replace him.
But we sold Kudus and didn't even bat an eyelid at who would replace him in the team.

For what it's worth, I think we should be getting in a midfilder (or 2) that can play with Paqeuta rather than replace.  Imagine Paqueta had 2 dynamic, skillful midfielders to play alongside, rather than JWP and Guido?   I think you'd have a much better chance of seeing him back to his best if you put some quality around him.

I'd love to see Potts and Fernandes behind Paqueta.  But wouldn't be surprised if we brought in Fernandes (big IF), partnered him with JPW and Guido and sold Paqueta.

[El Scorchio]

I feel like we'd have done great business getting 80 million from City if this betting shit didn't rear it's ugly head. He's just not a difference maker for us. His standout games are far too few and far between.
It's very difficult to know what to do with him. Feel like his heart just hasn't been in it since all this shit started.

Paqueta won't get back to his best under Potter either, at least in terms of creativity. He has always been known for his ability at direct through balls but Potter wants balls played to feet, prioritising possession over creating chances.

There's unfortunately a whole lot of players we have who don't fit our manager's preferred style of play. We really need wholesale changes and spend lots of money to get in the players who would fit. That or, you know, just get a better manager in who can actually get the best out of the players at his disposal.

In all honesty he hasn't really been consistently good under any of our managers barring the odd bit of magic or a sporadic standout performance. He just seems like a total enigma. Very rarely is able to put any authority on a game. Same as when I've watched him for Brazil when he was playing for them also. He does just enough to make you hope something is going to click and he's going to start bossing games but then it all just goes away again or he'll do something stupid and careless which leads to us conceding a goal. I really want him to succeed but I just can't see it ever happening for us regardless of who is picking the team. And whoever is is going to need a lot of help from the owner with that central midfield, because under anyone, it's just not good enough what we've got in there. Ditto central defence and striker. 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. Maybe more than I think but I can't really see it. We just have bad or inconsistent players all across the park. The only two players I feel we can really rely on to produce workrate and quality every match are AWB and Bowen. I lean that way with Fullkrug when he's fit but the cսnt just gets nothing from midfield. A centre forward who requires chances created for him just will not succeed here. Bowen has only been such a player because he creates so many goals and opportunities off his own back. We're lucky he's married Danny Dyer's daughter or I suspect he'd have been off already.

[Jean-Luc Paul Goddard]

I feel like we'd have done great business getting 80 million from City if this betting shit didn't rear it's ugly head. He's just not a difference maker for us. His standout games are far too few and far between.
It's very difficult to know what to do with him. Feel like his heart just hasn't been in it since all this shit started.

Paqueta won't get back to his best under Potter either, at least in terms of creativity. He has always been known for his ability at direct through balls but Potter wants balls played to feet, prioritising possession over creating chances.

There's unfortunately a whole lot of players we have who don't fit our manager's preferred style of play. We really need wholesale changes and spend lots of money to get in the players who would fit. That or, you know, just get a better manager in who can actually get the best out of the players at his disposal.

[THUNDERCLINT]

Daniel Amartey is being considered.

[El Scorchio]

A few of my pals played at a West Ham golf charity day on Tuesday last week. Galey, Harewood and Cottee in attendance. Also Jack Sullivan (for what its worth) and he told people we will be getting at least 2 more in, hopefully 3.

Not willing to bet anything on it but its associated to this thread so just putting this info out. 

So Brownhill, Jonjo Shelvey and one other brown envelope special?