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

[El Scorchio]

Just seen our squad actually has five empty spaces in it. We cannot even fill a 25 man squad. Granted we have four players who likely will play a bitpart who don't need to be included but fucking hell. And that's WITH bang average names like JWP, Irving. Guido all included.

[Fauxstralian]

I said many times that given his performances last season that Fabianski could have done another season as no.2 even at 40

Suspect at some point we will be told that Antonio is signing again as a free agent 

[Massive Attack]

Fucking make your mind up, Potter! Didn't think he should have gone anyway as a handy back up, an old head with Leadership qualities. 

[RootsRadical]

Cheers, no wonder I couldn't find it.

[Far Cough UKunt]

Fabianski to return.
Wes leaving.
According to Ex.

For some reason I can not find where to post a new thread. Been looking for 20 mins and can't see the option anywhere???

You can't start a new thread if you're in the All Forums, you have to choose football forum or off topic.

[RootsRadical]

Fabianski to return.
Wes leaving.
According to Ex.

For some reason I can not find where to post a new thread. Been looking for 20 mins and can't see the option anywhere???

[threesixty]

I’ll accept defeat on this one lads!
It seems everyone thinks that academy players playing more 1st team football doesn’t make them better players. That sounds wild to me. But if that’s what you all think. Cool. I’ll accept it. 

glad to have entertained you all!
 

[Eerie Decent]

This is proper unhinged, had a thought in your head, convinced yourself it was right, doubled down, absolute madness. Just lick your wounds, sixty. In fact, do a complete three sixty, just hold your hands up, and try to let this one go silently into the night.

The fact you've tried to cement the point on Cole Palmer, a lad that didn't get a sniff of regular PL football at the age of 21, quite far down the line these days, is fucking hilarious.

Good entertainment though. If this was a youtube clip, you'd become a meme.

[Massive Attack]

Thought I’d ask chatGPT!

“Would Declan rice have made it as a world class player if he didn’t play as much 1st team football as he did in the early part of his career?”That’s a really interesting “what if” because Rice’s career path is quite unusual compared to many English players. A few points to weigh up: 1. Opportunity and Development Curve 

• Rice got regular first-team minutes at West Ham from age 18. By 21, he had over 100 Premier League appearances — something most young players never get.
• Playing against top professionals week in, week out clearly accelerated his tactical understanding, decision-making under pressure, and physical resilience.

  2. Talent vs. Timing 

• Rice had the raw attributes: composure on the ball, positional intelligence, stamina, and leadership. Those traits suggest he would likely have reached a high level regardless.
• But without that early exposure, it might have taken him longer to develop consistency, and he may not have been recognised as quickly at international level.

  3. Comparisons with Peers 

• Players like Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Ross Barkley had similar technical ability as teenagers but didn’t get sustained starts in a key role — their careers plateaued.
• Conversely, someone like Michael Carrick only broke through regularly in his early 20s but still became elite. So it’s not impossible to succeed later, just less common.

  4. Role of Circumstance 

• West Ham were in a situation where they needed him; they gave him responsibility. At a bigger club with more depth, he might have been loaned out or benched, and his development could easily have stalled.

   So, would Rice have become world-class without that early game time?Most likely, he still had the raw potential — but it was the combination of his talent and the unusually high volume of early first-team football that pushed him into the “world-class” bracket by his mid-20s. Without it, he might have developed more slowly, perhaps still becoming a top Premier League midfielder, but not necessarily the standout England and Arsenal captain we see today. Do you want me to compare Rice’s path directly with players who had similar potential but fewer early minutes — like Loftus-Cheek, Barkley, or even Wilshere — to see how different it could’ve been?

 

 

Asking AI's opinion on whether Declan Rice would have made it as a World Class Defensive Midfielder?!
AAAG AG AG

360, I love ya man, but that is 'next level' Forumming.  

[kylay]

Okay. This has descended into a bit of a farce!
Originally I was criticising our youth policy over the last decade or so that has produced hardly any 1st team players compared to other PL clubs. My point was it was a catch 22. That if we don’t plan for and give our academy players minutes in 1st team games we will not bring many through. If we lean on the fact that they need to be as good as regular senior players to play in the 1st team before they get a sustained opportunity they will be unlikely to make it. A sort of self fulfilling prophecy that our managers have leaned on as an excuse to not to give our young players a chance. 

I can only conclude that most of you agree that these managers were right. Which is sad as I would not expect that from our fans. 

I used Rice as an example being one of the few PL players who got more minutes than most his age. And how that has made him a better player than he would have been. And yet still you cling on to this weird premise that experience does not make you better at anything you’re doing (office work, football, sex even lol). 
And although Rice is talented and it was obvious he was, the amount of minutes would not have made any difference to his ability now. As if Rice didn’t play 1st team football for the last 3 yrs he would have still been a 100m player because his exploits as a youth meant he had somehow gained his full abilities before he got his starting place at west ham. 



Respectfully, you all sound a little bit mad and illogical. 
Never mind…



 

 

 

You talk as though playing in the academy and jumping straight to first team, premier league football is the only way to make the jump. Assuming these players were good enough, we should be able to loan them out to championship and/or even other top leagues in Europe (see the Chelsea model). While I recognize some are being loaned to championship teams, we're still not even able to sell them to those teams let alone justify giving them first team minutes on the senior squad. I would love for us to bring more through the academy, but another unfortunate side-effect of the money in the premier league is that it has become such a high level and so competitive that very few players are making it through anyone's academies. Even Harry Kane played at varying levels on loan before breaking through at tottenham.

I also disagree with the premise that a lack of minutes in the premier league somehow stunts development. Look at how many foreigners come straight into premier league sides not having played a minute in England. And even if you wan to point to English players, Vardy had no premier league minutes before his mid-20's and done okay. 

[threesixty]

Thought I’d ask chatGPT!

“Would Declan rice have made it as a world class player if he didn’t play as much 1st team football as he did in the early part of his career?”That’s a really interesting “what if” because Rice’s career path is quite unusual compared to many English players. A few points to weigh up: 1. Opportunity and Development Curve 

• Rice got regular first-team minutes at West Ham from age 18. By 21, he had over 100 Premier League appearances — something most young players never get.
• Playing against top professionals week in, week out clearly accelerated his tactical understanding, decision-making under pressure, and physical resilience.

  2. Talent vs. Timing 

• Rice had the raw attributes: composure on the ball, positional intelligence, stamina, and leadership. Those traits suggest he would likely have reached a high level regardless.
• But without that early exposure, it might have taken him longer to develop consistency, and he may not have been recognised as quickly at international level.

  3. Comparisons with Peers 

• Players like Ruben Loftus-Cheek or Ross Barkley had similar technical ability as teenagers but didn’t get sustained starts in a key role — their careers plateaued.
• Conversely, someone like Michael Carrick only broke through regularly in his early 20s but still became elite. So it’s not impossible to succeed later, just less common.

  4. Role of Circumstance 

• West Ham were in a situation where they needed him; they gave him responsibility. At a bigger club with more depth, he might have been loaned out or benched, and his development could easily have stalled.

   So, would Rice have become world-class without that early game time?Most likely, he still had the raw potential — but it was the combination of his talent and the unusually high volume of early first-team football that pushed him into the “world-class” bracket by his mid-20s. Without it, he might have developed more slowly, perhaps still becoming a top Premier League midfielder, but not necessarily the standout England and Arsenal captain we see today. Do you want me to compare Rice’s path directly with players who had similar potential but fewer early minutes — like Loftus-Cheek, Barkley, or even Wilshere — to see how different it could’ve been?

[Massive Attack]

Rice was destined to go all the way to the top once he got his break under Bilic. The talent was clear to me and others once Bilic selected him. Had fuck all to do with those ahead of him getting injured that gave him his chance. He was always going to regardless of injuries/form. Suggestions of more likely playing in the Championship??

[fraser]

Cole Palmer had played less than 500 minutes of football by the time he was 21. He must be shit now, eh? All those years of development lost.

 

You would hardly know who the guy was if he didn’t make the jump to Chelsea to get more …. MINUTES IN 1st team PL football!

ffs.. you make my point for me and you don’t even realise it. 

you're just trolling now. No-one's that stupid.

You've been here long enough to know that's not true (not aimed at 360 BTW) 

[threesixty]

Okay. This has descended into a bit of a farce!
Originally I was criticising our youth policy over the last decade or so that has produced hardly any 1st team players compared to other PL clubs. My point was it was a catch 22. That if we don’t plan for and give our academy players minutes in 1st team games we will not bring many through. If we lean on the fact that they need to be as good as regular senior players to play in the 1st team before they get a sustained opportunity they will be unlikely to make it. A sort of self fulfilling prophecy that our managers have leaned on as an excuse to not to give our young players a chance. 

I can only conclude that most of you agree that these managers were right. Which is sad as I would not expect that from our fans. 

I used Rice as an example being one of the few PL players who got more minutes than most his age. And how that has made him a better player than he would have been. And yet still you cling on to this weird premise that experience does not make you better at anything you’re doing (office work, football, sex even lol). 
And although Rice is talented and it was obvious he was, the amount of minutes would not have made any difference to his ability now. As if Rice didn’t play 1st team football for the last 3 yrs he would have still been a 100m player because his exploits as a youth meant he had somehow gained his full abilities before he got his starting place at west ham. 



Respectfully, you all sound a little bit mad and illogical. 
Never mind…

 

[Jean-Luc Paul Goddard]

Cole Palmer had played less than 500 minutes of football by the time he was 21. He must be shit now, eh? All those years of development lost.

 

You would hardly know who the guy was if he didn’t make the jump to Chelsea to get more …. MINUTES IN 1st team PL football!

ffs.. you make my point for me and you don’t even realise it. 

That's hilariously stupid. We all knew who he was. Many of us had seen the few games he got for Man City at the end of the season where he showed he was top quality. Why the fuck do you think West Ham bid £40 million for him? According to you he wouldn't have been good enough to play in the PL so I guess we were going to pay that much for a reserve. I'm getting the feeling you're just trolling now. No-one's that stupid.

[Nutsin]

Early days I know, but there is a small part of me that thinks this transfer window will go down as one of the best we’ve had for some time. 


 

This is fucking bonkers

Bit of a prayer, which is why I finished with Amen.

Time will tell.

[John Drake]

I've got a spare spade if 360 wants to keep digging

[Ron Eff]

"If Rice had a seasoned international in the CDM position in front of him he wouldn’t have got anywhere near the minutes he got and he wouldn’t be a great player by now. And he’d have ended up at some yo yo club or in the championship"


You're genuinely saying that the £100mil, soon to be Arsenal captain, soon to be England captain, could play in any team on the planet, world class Declan Rice, would be a Championship player if Jack Wilshire had stayed fit?

Go and have a bite to eat, a nice cup of tea, wipe your mouth of this thread, and let's all move on. Quietly.



 

 

A few years back other fans were laughing at us saying he’s nowhere near world class. Some were putting Kalvin Phillips in front of him. He was so destined to be a 100m player that the Republic of Ireland had him playing u21 instead of England. So obvious he was a star player as a kid he was released by Chelsea. So destined to be a 100m player that on his debut at 18 Real Madrid and Barca were blowing up his agents phone. Ffs.. 

yeah.. we all have a crystal ball somewhere!

Chelsea. Who over the years have let a young De Bruyne go for peanuts. Likewise Salah. Hardly the barometer of good decisions. 

I only recall Leeds fans hyping Phillips as better.

His ability was absolutely clear. We agree on a lot of things 360, but you’ve got this one badly wrong!

[Ron Eff]

Bilic was the one who introduced Rice to the team and played him at DM a handful of times. Moyes played him as a CB, but only when he used a back 3. Pellegrini used him as a DM but only made him a starter a few games in to the season when Wheelchair Wilshere got injured.

The idea that he would have been playing in the Championship now if he had not been a regular starter until 2-3 years later is patently absurd. All it meant was that he probably reached an optimal level earlier than he would have done otherwise. He'd still almost certainly be the same level of player now at 26, whether he had game time as a teenager or not.

 

 

Rice started the first game of the season under Pellegrini vs Liverpool. He was the admittedly left out for a few games after that. 

But yes, it’s absolutely ridiculous to suggest he got lucky. I hate the phrase, but the bloke is a clear “generational talent”. He would have found his way into the first team no matter what.

[threesixty]

"If Rice had a seasoned international in the CDM position in front of him he wouldn’t have got anywhere near the minutes he got and he wouldn’t be a great player by now. And he’d have ended up at some yo yo club or in the championship"


You're genuinely saying that the £100mil, soon to be Arsenal captain, soon to be England captain, could play in any team on the planet, world class Declan Rice, would be a Championship player if Jack Wilshire had stayed fit?

Go and have a bite to eat, a nice cup of tea, wipe your mouth of this thread, and let's all move on. Quietly.


 

 

 

A few years back other fans were laughing at us saying he’s nowhere near world class. Some were putting Kalvin Phillips in front of him. He was so destined to be a 100m player that the Republic of Ireland had him playing u21 instead of England. So obvious he was a star player as a kid he was released by Chelsea. So destined to be a 100m player that on his debut at 18 Real Madrid and Barca were blowing up his agents phone. Ffs.. 

yeah.. we all have a crystal ball somewhere!

[Eerie Decent]

"If Rice had a seasoned international in the CDM position in front of him he wouldn’t have got anywhere near the minutes he got and he wouldn’t be a great player by now. And he’d have ended up at some yo yo club or in the championship"


You're genuinely saying that the £100mil, soon to be Arsenal captain, soon to be England captain, could play in any team on the planet, world class Declan Rice, would be a Championship player if Jack Wilshire had stayed fit?

Go and have a bite to eat, a nice cup of tea, wipe your mouth of this thread, and let's all move on. Quietly.
 

[threesixty]

Bilic was the one who introduced Rice to the team and played him at DM a handful of times. Moyes played him as a CB, but only when he used a back 3. Pellegrini used him as a DM but only made him a starter a few games in to the season when Wheelchair Wilshere got injured.

The idea that he would have been playing in the Championship now if he had not been a regular starter until 2-3 years later is patently absurd. All it meant was that he probably reached an optimal level earlier than he would have done otherwise. He'd still almost certainly be the same level of player now at 26, whether he had game time as a teenager or not.

 

 

That’s just silly. 
he wouldn’t be a 100m player without the amount of game time he got at West Ham. Even you are saying that if Jack WheelChair wasn’t injured, Rice may not have played as much under Pelligerini. So if he doesn’t play 1st team football how does he stand out? How does he learn about the game? 

one of the big things about Rice is that before he left us that guy was rarely injured and made what I think is a record amount of 1st team minutes for his club between 18 and 23. I don’t think there has ever been a 1st team player with more minutes in the 3yrs after his debut.

Yes you could say he was that good. But if he played for Man U or Chelsea do you think he wouldn’t have more competition is his position? people used to want to decide between him and Kalvin Phillips in the England team!  The idea that Rice was always destined to be who he is, is just a fairytale. Hard work and good fortune often need to align. They definitely did for him. 

[Eerie Decent]

You are talking absolute fucking nonsense, sixty.

Proper mad, unhinged nonsense.

[threesixty]

Cole Palmer had played less than 500 minutes of football by the time he was 21. He must be shit now, eh? All those years of development lost.

 

 

You would hardly know who the guy was if he didn’t make the jump to Chelsea to get more …. MINUTES IN 1st team PL football!

ffs.. you make my point for me and you don’t even realise it. 

[threesixty]

Some people live in a football fantasy land. Like it’s some complete meritocracy with no luck or good fortune involved. Carry on thinking that if it makes you feel better. 

the reality is Rice did not have his position impeded by a more experienced pro and he benefitted from that. 

we even had soucek having to curtail his game to benefit Rices development as a more attacking player later on in his West Ham career. 

the idea that young players do not get better with more minutes in 1st team football is so ludicrous I can’t even be bothered to argue that point.  

No one knows for sure if Rice would have remained a PL player if he didn’t get his break in the West Ham squad. What I do know is several of our academy players who have won things at their level have not made it which also correlates with their lack of 1st team game time at this club. 

Rice did not start off as world class. He became world class because he got more experience than other players his age to add to his already promising game. He had no major competition for his place at this club. If we had bought Casemiro or something Rice would not have played as much would he?

 Why is this so mentally hard to understand? I’m not saying he is shit, precisely the opposite. I’m just saying potentially great players can be hindered in their progress without minutes in 1st team PL football.