Our writer Simon Phillips’ exclusive on his Substack today paints a rather gloomy picture of the first team’s transfer situation right now.Our writer Simon Phillips’ exclusive on his Substack today paints a rather gloomy picture of the first team’s transfer situation right now.
Drawing comparisons with the women’s team, who have just brought in the experienced, born winner Lucy Bronze, Phillips explains why the men’s first team won’t be doing anything similar to replace the outgoing Thiago Silva.
According to Phillips, we’re still walking a financial tightrope in terms of PSR and FFP, and don’t want to break our wage structure buying a top player on top wages:
“It’s all about operating within the rules and making sure the profits balance up. They have found smart ways of doing this, but they also NEED sales now too,” he wrote.
“I expect sales to happen. But what I am now unsure of with all of this in mind, is the remaining transfer incomings that we might do. A winger and a striker are still being considered, but I don’t think we should have high expectations about any Nico Williams and Victor Osimhen type arrivals for this summer now – with all that in mind. Unless the overall financials for such players fit within our remit.”
So the message is – don’t expect top tier players in their prime. Expect more Marc Guius and more Rentato Veigas, at least until some of our more expensive assets have been sold on.
A bleak picture – but one that could improve suddenly
It’s all rather bleak, but it’s not time to get depressed just yet. There are a lot of very talented players up for sale, and once the market gets moving post-Euros there’s a lot of money to be made on their sales. All being well, we can easily see Chelsea having a week period where they raise £100m or so, and that would put us right back into the mix for some top players.
