Summer 2021 Transfer Thread.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

The name put forward to me today was Marvin Ekpiteta. Not sure how that would work, as he's playing regularly for Blackpool up a division, but worth a mention.

Played every minute of their last 14 league games, including captaining them a couple of times.

Maybe someone got him mixed up with his twin brother Marvel, who plays in defence for sixth-tier Billericay Town. They've lost their last five on the bounce, shipping 13 goals, so he'd be used to the chaos.

[GhostoftheBok]

Played every minute of their last 14 league games, including captaining them a couple of times.

Maybe someone got him mixed up with his twin brother Marvel, who plays in defence for sixth-tier Billericay Town. They've lost their last five on the bounce, shipping 13 goals, so he'd be used to the chaos.

Marvel sounds like our kind of defender.

I think the suggestion is we are keeping him aware of our interest should the relative positions of the two clubs change in the summer; but yeah it struck me as very odd. You wouldn't swap Blackpool for Bolton at the minute in a million years. It's not like we can throw a big wage at anyone.

[Worthy4England]

Every team will have watched the last two games and seen that if you stand off us we'll beat you and if you get at us we will fall to bits.

Wycombe will go at us hammer and tongs off the back of an extra day's rest and no extra time. We will see where we are after 90 minutes of that.

Yeah - that's the worry. I remember our first game against FGR last year. They stood off for about 15-20 minutes then thought "why we doing this?" - I was also worried when we shipped 6 v Port Vale (and a number of other games) - surprised "word" didn't get out better...

[GhostoftheBok]

Sharron has just been quoted on the additional funding handed down by the Prem to Leagues One and Two (£20m split between the clubs). So about an extra 400 grand each. Should help with the lack of a cup run.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Sharron has just been quoted on the additional funding handed down by the Prem to Leagues One and Two (£20m split between the clubs). So about an extra 400 grand each. Should help with the lack of a cup run.

Or alternatively, given the laws of (football) economics, it should help agents ask for more money. Certainly won't help us outmuscle domestic rivals in the transfer market, given that everyone will get it.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Been some discussion on this thread and others about EFL squad size, and specifically how many spaces we have to play with. TL;DR: three for now.

In September, while announcing Comley's exclusion, Ilesy wrote that "EFL rules state that League One clubs can name 23 players who are aged over-21, excluding goalkeepers" (my bold emphasis). However, the EFL regulations downloadable from EFL.com (PDF here) state:

43.9 Squad Lists

43.9.1 Clubs shall be permitted to name up to a maximum number of Players in their Squad List based on the following provisions:
(a) in respect of Championship Clubs, 25 Players of which a minimum of 8 must be a Home Grown Player; and
(b) in respect of League One and Two Clubs 22 Players of which a minimum of 8 must be a Home Grown Player.

43.9.2 The following Players do not need to be included in the Squad List to be eligible to play in League Matches:
(a) in respect of Championship Clubs, any Under 21 Player (save for any Under 21 Player who is registered with the Club on a Temporary Loan Transfer); and
(b) in respect of League One Clubs and League Two Clubs: (i) any Under 21 Players; and (ii) goalkeepers.

(Notes: I've shrunk the Champo rules so they don't get in the way; don't worry about Home Grown, which means the affiliated FA not the club.)

Back in September, Ilesy listed the "squad list" Wanderers players thusly: Afolayan, Aimson, Bakayoko, Baptiste, Brockbank, Delfouneso, Doyle, Edwards, Gordon, Isgrove, John, Johnston, Jones, Kachunga, Lee, Santos, Sarcevic, Sheehan, Tutte, Williams. That is indeed 20, of which one has left and seems happy about it. Comley has also left but wasn't registered and thus doesn't free up a space.

So, the 19 players we currently have left against that 22-man limit:

Contracted till 2022 (5):
Alex Baptiste (31/1/86)
Liam Edwards (2/10/96) - loaned to tier-6 Southport, initially for a month to mid-December
Liam Gordon (15/5/99)
Andrew Tutte (21/9/90)
Nathan Delfouneso (2/2/91)

Contracted till 2023 (10):
Harry Brockbank (26/9/98)
Ricardo Santos (18/6/95)
Will Aimson (3/6/94)
MJ Williams (6/11/95)
Kieran Lee (22/6/88)
Josh Sheehan (30/3/95)
Lloyd Isgrove (12/1/93)
Elias Kachunga (22/4/92)
Amadou Bakayoko (1/1/96)
Eoin Doyle (12/3/88)

Contracted till 2024 (4):
Gethin Jones (13/10/95)
George Johnston (1/9/98)
Declan John (30/6/95)
Dapo Afolayan (11/9/97)

Loaned out, not counted (2):
Ali Crawford (30/7/91) - loaned to Scottish tier-1 St Johnstone until January
Reiss Greenidge (10/8/96) - loaned to tier-5 Barnet for the season

Under-21s on pro contracts who don't count (8):
*Xavier Amaechi (5/1/2001) – six-month loan from Hamburg, where he's contracted until 2023
*George Thomason (12/1/01)
*Ronan Darcy (4/11/00) - loaned to Norwegian tier-2 Sogndal until December
*Dennis Politic (5/3/00) - loaned to tier-4 Port Vale for the season
*Adam Senior (20/1/02) - loaned to tier-6 York City, initially for a month to mid-December
*Ryan Colvin (8/1/03)
*Jay Fitzmartin (14/9/02) - youth loan to tier-7 Stalybridge Celtic until January
*Fin Lockett (20/4/03)

----

So yeah, as I can see, we have three spaces right now. Loaning out Edwards, Gordon and Brockbank for their development would make six; older players like Tutte, Delf and Baptiste might be harder to shift but if we could, that would create nine spaces for much-needed fresh blood. Worth noting too that Amaechi, Darcy and Politic (plus perhaps Thomason) don't count against the total.

[GhostoftheBok]

Sharron has just been quoted on the additional funding handed down by the Prem to Leagues One and Two (£20m split between the clubs). So about an extra 400 grand each. Should help with the lack of a cup run.

Or alternatively, given the laws of (football) economics, it should help agents ask for more money. Certainly won't help us outmuscle domestic rivals in the transfer market, given that everyone will get it.

We actively want liquidity in the market. We need clubs to let players go and that means getting replacements. Anything that puts money into the window is good for us at the moment.

[GhostoftheBok]

So yeah, as I can see, we have three spaces right now. Loaning out Edwards, Gordon and Brockbank for their development would make six; older players like Tutte, Delf and Baptiste might be harder to shift but if we could, that would create nine spaces for much-needed fresh blood. Worth noting too that Amaechi, Darcy and Politic (plus perhaps Thomason) don't count against the total.

Our bare minimum is a right back and two in midfield. Absolutely, "if you don't to that it's a catastrophe" territory.

Beyond that, John badly needed someone pushing him for the shirt and we need a better striker. You can say "the right kind of striker" or whatever people prefer, but we just need better than we have.

Dixon isn't bad, but he's also not good. I suspect competition there won't be incoming until the summer, if even then. Evatt doesn't seem to care much about goalkeepers. Probably some bollocks about his teams not needing one if they play well.

Then you've got the "we've enough bodies there, but could do with better options" areas of centre half and out wide. That's a case of Championship quality in or leave it alone, for me. In both cases the issue is midfield (lack of protection through the middle and lack of drive going the other way). If there's a dominant, aggressive centre back in the market that's great; if we can shed Baps. Likewise if there's someone very good to replace Delf, that needs doing at some stage.

[Prufrock]

If it was an either/or (for arguments' sake) I'd rather sign a centre back and bin off Gordon (with Johnston pushing John) than sign a left back who might not play and keep those 4 centre backs.

Ideally we'd get a left back and a centre back, but we also definitely need a right back so that's three before you've got past the back 4.

Absolute essentials for me in Jan are (roughly in order)

2 CMs (maybe 3 if Sheehan is out for months and months)
RB
CB
LB

I'd also like another forward.

[GhostoftheBok]

If it was an either/or (for arguments' sake) I'd rather sign a centre back and bin off Gordon (with Johnston pushing John) than sign a left back who might not play and keep those 4 centre backs.

Ideally we'd get a left back and a centre back, but we also definitely need a right back so that's three before you've got past the back 4.

Absolute essentials for me in Jan are (roughly in order)

2 CMs (maybe 3 if Sheehan is out for months and months)
RB
CB
LB

I'd also like another forward.

All fair. I absolutely don't want a non-specialist competing for fullback, it has been a disaster with Izzy there (god love him, the little terrier); but I'd happily take another centre back right now.

[BWFC_Insane]

Is there a left back in Johnston? I just don't see him cutting it at CB, but he's good at defending 1v1 and tenacious, Gordon is hopeless and John has gone backwards. Aimson was awful on the ball last night but looks like he might be the best bet defensively. Literally the tallest dwarf.

There is. But not an Evatt left back. In a Parky side Johnston would be a good LB.

[Worthy4England]

MF's * 2
CB - unless we're certain we can keep them shielded with the 2 MF's, in which case we might scrape through
LB (Think we're finding out why John wasn't starting every week)
RB (If only because I think Jones need compo too)

[GhostoftheBok]

RB (If only because I think Jones need compo too)

What is the latest with Jone's injury?

[officer_dibble]

Wonder if that lad at Huddersfield is worth an enquiry for left back?

[The_Gun]

I'm surprised people don't think we really need another central forward. Doyle is showing signs of being on the decline, and Baka is limited at best.

For me the order of priority would be:

CM
RB
FW
CB

[Worthy4England]

RB (If only because I think Jones need compo too)

What is the latest with Jone's injury?

2 weeks away from "light jogging" on 8th Nov.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

OK, been having a little nose at outsiders in a couple of Champo squads - the sort of player we might be able to get in January, in an MJ style. I'm aware there's a feeling of "anyone will do" and I also don't know much about these players, but if anyone does I'd be interested to be educated.

Particularly interested in players who could help us (if not necessarily this season) go up and stay up in D2, as other clubs have managed. Like these two clubs, who now aren't really using these six players:

BARNSLEY
Ben Williams - Preston-born former Wales U21 left-(wing-)back came up through Blackburn's academy. "A technically gifted left-back who likes to get forward to support the attack... [his] propensity to 'get stuck in' saw him become a fans favourite" as Barnsley bounced back out of this division in 2018/19. Also a second-tier regular in 2019/20 but then a summer knee injury wiped out his 2020/21 and he's been in and out this season - more out than in, not playing since Oct 2nd. He's 23 in March, contract elapses in summer.

Jordan Williams - right-(wing-)back who has also played across defence. Again, injured in 2020 and hasn't really settled back in since, although he seems to be slightly ahead of Ben Williams on the left. Just turned 22, contract up in summer.

Aapo Halme - 6'5" centre-back (all Bolton fans burst into tears of joy) signed from Leeds in 2019. Yet another who had injury problems in 2020/21 - I can hear Raymond Verheijen laughing - he only started three games that season and although now fit hasn't been in a matchday squad since September. Has also played holding midfield. "He's no' Finnish, he's 23." Contract up in summer, though club has an extension option.

George Miller - forward, I mentioned him on last deadline day: “Bolton-born nephew of Mark Halsey, came up through Bury's academy, scored 15 goals in 47 third-tier games, earned a move to Boro who then shunted him sideways to Barnsley. He's since been loaned out to car-crash Bradford and then Scunny, hasn't worked. Still only 23. Described as strong and pacey, can play across front three, and last year the Barnsley gaffer said "he shows me a very good picture from the physical side and running side. He has a big impact." He played the 90 minutes for them at our place - on the right of midfield in a 3-4-3 - having 75 touches (only four players had more), 79% accurate passing, three key passes (only one player had more), six accurate cross (game's highest) our of 12 (only Isgrove had more attempts). But not a second in the league yet this season.” Barnsley lent him to D4 Walsall and he’s scored 7 in 11; it’s a season-long loan but could we persuade them to see if he can cut it a division higher, a la Kioso?

BLACKBURN
Bradley Johnson - experienced defensive midfielder. Given another year in summer but wasn’t used till mid-Oct, and was dropped again after the bonkers 0-7 v Fulham. Not one for next season perhaps but might have the leadership nous we clearly lack.

Tyler Magloire - centre-back, famously “faster than Mbappe”, which could help us both defensively (by covering) and offensively (by letting us compress the play and stopping teams playing round/through our press). 23 in December, he did so well at Scots top-fighters Motherwell last season that they wanted to sign him but Blackburn gave him a year’s extension. Has played four league games (DDLL) this season and not been in matchday squad since October 2nd.

[The_Gun]

Wonder if that lad at Huddersfield is worth an enquiry for left back?

He never even makes their squad and his contract is up in the summer, so looks like he could be a realistic target. I'd take him back in a heartbeat, and he'd clearly be a huge upgrade on Gordon.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Wonder if that lad at Huddersfield is worth an enquiry for left back?

He never even makes their squad and his contract is up in the summer, so looks like he could be a realistic target. I'd take him back in a heartbeat, and he'd clearly be a huge upgrade on Gordon.

Sadly for us, he extended in summer to 2024.

https://www.htafc.com/news/2021/august/ ... 0extension.

Doesn't mean we couldn't loan him again. I like him.

[GhostoftheBok]

I can hear Insane's joy at us signing Tyler Magloire, the slight 22 year old with barely any league experience. Likewise Bradley Johnson - bringing a player who got dropped after conceding 7 to fix our defensive issues.

I actually think Magloire is the kind of player we would look at. Pace would allow us to push up the pitch and compact midfield and he can play