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2018 Summer transfer thread

H

HNIM

Well-known member
Sorry, but the season is over for most of us and it's time for the dreamers.

The PL window opens Thursday and ends August 9, two days before the start of the season. Reminder that 8 players on the 25 man roster at the close of the window must be home grown; for UEFA competitions, 4 of those must be from the club youth system. This is always in the background for the clubs that are top heavy in international players, though I don't remember any of them having to do something rash near the close in order to meet the requirement.

From the PL standpoint the most entertaining part by far will be to see to what extent Chelsea and Arsenal rebuild their lineups, which will of course depend on who is brought in as the new manager for each (recognizing that Conte has one more match to go before he gets canned). I also want to see how the three promoted teams that survived relegation act with their first taste of the big TV money.

Will Hazard go? Will Salah score a hat trick in the CL final and make the Spanish press explode? Stay tuned.
 
BTW ... get ready for a summer full of Pulisic transfer rumors. He signed a new contract with Dortmund but that's irrelevant to the English press who are convinced that he'll move to the Prem at the drop of a hat. We've seen rumors of interest from Man United and Chelsea recently, as well as a new report about Spurs. And of course, he'll never escape rumors that he's joining either of his old bosses at Liverpool or PSG.

My take ... Pulisic is a smart, ambitious kid. Now that he's getting regular first team football at Dortmund, I don't think he passes that up to go sit on the bench in Blighty. I think he'll move to England if and when he's prominent enough to be promised first team football without the manager's fingers being crossed behind his back. Until then ... continue to learn and grow in Dortmund with his friends while playing in the Champions League. There's really no downside.
 
jeffbear said:
Probably the end of James Milner's career as a regular at this level. I've got a soft spot for that guy from his time at Villa and I'll be sad to see him slide down the ranks if that's what he decides to do.
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Speculation is that he's a replacement for Emre Can, who is supposedly off to Juventus.

jeffbear said:
BTW ... get ready for a summer full of Pulisic transfer rumors. He signed a new contract with Dortmund but that's irrelevant to the English press who are convinced that he'll move to the Prem at the drop of a hat. We've seen rumors of interest from Man United and Chelsea recently, as well as a new report about Spurs. And of course, he'll never escape rumors that he's joining either of his old bosses at Liverpool or PSG.

My take ... Pulisic is a smart, ambitious kid. Now that he's getting regular first team football at Dortmund, I don't think he passes that up to go sit on the bench in Blighty. I think he'll move to England if and when he's prominent enough to be promised first team football without the manager's fingers being crossed behind his back. Until then ... continue to learn and grow in Dortmund with his friends while playing in the Champions League. There's really no downside.
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Arsenal have a Dortmund connection too, with Sven Mislintat having joined as head of recruitment last November. Arsenal already brought Aubameyang from Dortmund and Mkhitaryan from Man U but he spent 3 years with Dortmund prior to that. Dortmund barely qualified for the Champions League, beating out Bayer Leverkusen on goal differential but 29 points behind Bayern Munich and 8 points behind Schalke in 2nd. As long as they don't slide further down the table, he should probably stay there. Pulisic never played for Klopp on the senior team, having made his debut in January, 2016. Klopp left Dortumund at the end of the 2014-15 season.
 
Still ... Klopp was the one who choreographed his elevation to the senior team at 18 even if he didn't execute the plan before he left.

Bottom line ... you're going to hear a million Pulisic rumors this summer and barring something unusual they're all going to amount to nothing. He's staying at Dortmund until he gets a shot at something better than the subs' bench. And should.
 
Wolves keep 2 key pieces from their Championship run, triggering options in loan agreements for defender Willy Boly and striker Benik Afobe. Afobe had 6 goals in 16 matches after joining in the January transfer window.
 
andyt said:
Wolves keep 2 key pieces from their Championship run, triggering options in loan agreements for defender Willy Boly and striker Benik Afobe. Afobe had 6 goals in 16 matches after joining in the January transfer window.
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They could use N'Diaye back as well if Villareal are never going to actually put the guy in their squad. He's a useful midfielder with Premiere League experience. They pretty much HAD to get Boly signed. He was a rock for them.
 
IMO that's not enough of a profit for selling along a guy they could actually play at the next level. Plus, I feel certain that they'll end up splitting whatever profit they make on the deal.

But what do I care? Wolves beat my Villa back to the Prem, so that can suck it.

Speaking of that ... John Terry has already said his goodbyes in the West Midlands. Unless some other English club wants to money up the bucks, look for him to be joining Rooney in MLS sooner or later. Terry is a shell of his former self, but he'd still be one of the top 10 defenders in MLS ... easily.
 
jeffbear said:
IMO that's not enough of a profit for selling along a guy they could actually play at the next level. Plus, I feel certain that they'll end up splitting whatever profit they make on the deal.

But what do I care? Wolves beat my Villa back to the Prem, so that can suck it.

Speaking of that ... John Terry has already said his goodbyes in the West Midlands. Unless some other English club wants to money up the bucks, look for him to be joining Rooney in MLS sooner or later. Terry is a shell of his former self, but he'd still be one of the top 10 defenders in MLS ... easily.
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There were rumors that Terry could end up joining Lampard at Derby County too.

Man U sign Brazilian midfielder Fred from Shakhtar for €55 million that could rise to €60 with add-ons.

http://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-t...agree-deal-to-land-fred-from-shakhtar-donetsk
 
Fred is one of the few guys who will sign for Man United and actually enjoy BETTER weather.
 
Crystal Palace sign keeper Vicente Guaiti on a free transfer from Getafe.

Juventus sign Douglas Costa to a permanent deal for €40 million. He played there on loan from Bayern Munich last year.
 
Did Emre Can not want to re-sign with Pool, I thought he would have been worth something in the transfer market.
 
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