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Summer 2026 Transfer Thread

So, with Jackson’s deal done, Al Hilal are finishing up Watkins’ deal … 50 million pounds with small add-ons possible. That gets him out for just under what it cost to replace him. Now to actually practice with a squad of players who are gonna be there all season. And at the end of the day, that’s all I really care about.

I hate that Oliie has ended up in freaking Saudi, but here we are.
 
And in a stunning move, former Gotham FC forward Esther Gonzalez, who left the club last month to attend to "personal matters", signed in the Saudi Pro League for Al Qadsiah. Reportedly, she has also deleted photos from her social media accounts of her wife and child! :oops: :(

sports.yahoo.com

Ex-Gotham FC star stunningly signs with new team shortly after release to deal with ‘personal matters’

The surprise departure of Spanish forward Esther González from Gotham FC late last month took on a new twist Sunday after it was revealed that she already has a new soccer home.
sports.yahoo.com sports.yahoo.com
 
What a stupid transfer window we are having. PSR has turned the transfer market into the art market where rich people buy art at insanely inflated prices for tax purposes and the rest of us just look at the prices thinking, what the hell is going on.

Also, Villa this summer have basically done what I do in my first transfer window of every football manager save ever where I turn over the entire team regardless of when it is in the transfer window.
 
Ed H in Pasadena said:
Apparently Chelsea got the Emi deal over the line, officially

www.skysports.com

Emiliano Martinez transfer news: Chelsea agree £7.5m deal to sign Aston Villa's World Cup winning goalkeeper

Chelsea agree transfer to sign Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez in deal worth £7.5m; 2022 World Cup winner has been relegated to second choice at Villa Park after arrival of Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki from Parma
www.skysports.com www.skysports.com
Click to expand...
Amazing how quickly the price for keepers declines. They were turning down offers for almost twice that much just last year.

As for Chelsea, as always, we’ll see. They have a special gift for collecting overwhelming talent that then ends up not being able to play together.
 
Villa managed to get PSG/Senegal winger Ibrahim Mbaye's deal done after months and months of back and forth. That one never seemed particularly likely to me. Real deal talent, but still very young. Could be world class if handled well. That's some serious talent up front, once they figure out how to play together.

Now somebody go find a RCB and maybe by November this side might actually be cooking.
 
Some smart business from Hamburg, expecting to sign Fabio Vieira from Arsenal for €10 million. He played for Hamburg on loan last year and the loan agreement had a €20 million purchase option. Hamburg declined the option and negotiated a lower fee. A small fee by Premier League standards, but it’s the most Hamburg have paid since 2016.
 
Villa finally met Southampton's price for RCB Taylor Harwood-Bellis and now have a functioning back line ... or will when everybody gets settled. Of course, they have to play Arsenal today and this won't help with that particular dilemma. Harwood-Bellis seems like a good enough fit. A basic right footed CB who's decent with the ball and pretty good in the air, who very much looks like he came out of Man City's academy ... because he did. Should be a decent fit, but they ended up paying north of 30 million pounds, which leaves only a 20 million gain from selling Konza. Fine. Needs must.
 
Now that Villa's roster churn is pretty much done I'm really only left upset with the horrific timing of it all. Doing all this business so late in the window meant that there's been no time to train up the incoming players, which basically guarantees a horrible start. Champions League matches start next week, which means this will be a shakedown cruise on a speedboat, basically. At least they get until November before they get Barcelona and another month before facing PSG. Could be worse, I guess.

Since financial restrictions basically reduced roster turnover to tinkering around the edges for the past two summers, this turnover was both overdue and inevitable. It's a shame that it all happened at once, but the core group had gone as far as they were going to go. There's a lot of risk in their new signings, but a lot of promise too. Guys like Suzuki, Ruggeri, Manzambi, Mbayi and Madjo all have ridiculously high ceilings and are replacing players who had already hit theirs. This team could be a lot of fun by the spring. I just hope the hole doesn't get too deep in the meantime.
 
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