Transfer Window January 2025 Post-Transfer Window Thread

[Carpy]

The transfer window closes and overall we seem to have had good one, excited to see what the summer brings.

Transfer Window recap:

IN​	OUT​
Ole Romeny - Forward/Winger from Dutch Eredivisie side FC Utrecht (OUFC) Alex Matos - Central/Defensive Midfielder on loan from Chelsea (OUFC) Tom Bradshaw - Forward from Millwall (OUFC) Michał Helik - Central Defender from Huddersfield (OUFC Tweet) Standey Mills - Winger from Everton (OUFC Tweet)​	Malcolm Ebiowei - Return to Palace (OUFC Facebook) Will Goodwin - Loan to Wigan (Wigan Athletic Official) Ed McGinty - Shamrock Rovers (OUFC Tweet) Dane Scarlett - Return to Tottenham (OUFC Official) Stephan Negru - Return on Loan to Salford (Salford Tweet) Louie Sibley - Loan to Rotherham (OUFC Website) Owen Dale - Loan to Wigan Athletic​

 

[greatunclekip]

A creditable 4. Hopefully it’ll be enough.

 

[SSO]

I think it was a good one but would not go as far as either calling it fantastic or could do better.

Looks like we will have a 24 man squad which leaves a gap for a player not contracted to a club to join although that is something more of a summer window thing than this one.

Understandably GR does not want a big squad but 24 plus the 3 under age players gives us 27. It makes the next window an interesting one because 2 from MF, TG and TM will need to be included in the next squad. So 2 of what we already have now (not including those on loan that might come back) will be gone along with probably another 5 or 6 of this current squad.

I think GR has done what he wanted to do in raising the floor of the squad quite significantly in this window and is probably well ahead of schedule to deal with the next one. Although I predict that one is going to be absolutely brutal.

When we get to the summer we will see sales of players as well as a released list of some of our favourites that some of us will find very hard to accept.

We must use the position we are in now in the league and push on to secure Championship status as soon as possible. I hope that unlike last summer we will be one of the first teams to definitely know which division we are going to be in next season. By doing that we can plan much earlier the cull and the regeneration for next season.

 

[BillyTurleys CurlyWurly]

Squad of 25 + 2 Under 21s. (27 players)

Cumming
Ingram
Eastwood

Kioso
Ter Avest
Long

Moore
Helik
Nelson
Brown
Thorniley

Leigh
Bennett

Vaulks
Brannagan
McEachran
Matos
El Mizouni

Rodrigues
Placheta
Romeny
Dembele
Phillips
Goodrham (U21)
Mills (U21)

Bradshaw
Harris

 

[SSO]

I had not counted Eastwood in my 25 and we have young Marselino as a 3rd U21 player.

 

[Scotchegg]

Plus Marselino Ferdinan, Jacob Knightbridge and Max Woltman. Whether they are involved or not is another question.

 

[Marked Ox]

Too early to tell.

 

[Leysboy]

No problem with the window as a whole. Did our business early, which was refreshing! Let’s a couple of players go out on loan, and saved cash rather than panic buying.

Not sure what people were expecting. Rowett said that was it for incomings the other day. We have enough in this squad to get the amount of points required to stay up.

 

[Bicester Yellow]

No problem with the window as a whole. Did our business early, which was refreshing! Let’s a couple of players go out on loan, and saved cash rather than panic buying.

Not sure what people were expecting. Rowett said that was it for incomings the other day. We have enough in this squad to get the amount of points required to stay up.

I’m not sure going into the last 16 games with just Harris & Bradshaw as our striker options is what would be required to stay up, we’ve given ourselves a cushion but a bad run of form where we lose 5 or 6 in a row (which is possible in this league) drags us right back into trouble. I think we will stay up but I would have liked another option personally.

Anyway, Win or Lose. Up the U’s

 

[carefreeoufc]

A good window which has raised the quality as Rowett said he’d do e.g. bring 3-4 championship quality players in and have the same number leave.

I think he/we have taken a bit of a gamble in terms of strikers/goal scorers. He’s either hoping he can get the best out of Rowett again (17 goals in the 22/23 season for Millwall), that Harris finally finds the net again, we continue to have players chip in e.g. Goodrham, Cheese, Brown etc. or Romeny can make the step up and contribute up front.


From a goalscoring perspective, we’ve carried Harris for most of the season so far and we sit 10 points clear of the relegation spaces so it’s not completely crazy to roll the dice over the next few weeks. We just have to hope that the teams around us haven’t brought players in that have a significant boost to their form.

 

[BicesterU]

We’re far stronger than we were at the start of the window. Can’t ask for much more than that.

I expect a striker will be top of the list come summer, but you never finish building a squad so it’s not realistic to expect every shortcoming to be addressed in a single window.

Looking forward to hitting 50 points against Watford on March 15, and then sitting back and enjoying the rest of the season!

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

View attachment 25203
A creditable 4. Hopefully it’ll be enough.

Hard to comprehend how breaking our transfer record can be described as 'bargain bucket'.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

We’re far stronger than we were at the start of the window. Can’t ask for much more than that.

I expect a striker will be top of the list come summer, but you never finish building a squad so it’s not realistic to expect every shortcoming to be addressed in a single window.

Looking forward to hitting 50 points against Watford on March 15, and then sitting back and enjoying the rest of the season!

If we do hit 50 points that early I'll want us to kick on and finish top half

 

[Coffin Dodger]

View attachment 25203
A creditable 4. Hopefully it’ll be enough.

Another window goes by and no-one comes in for GUK, surely his contract is up soon and we can finally release him.

 

[West Oxon U’s]

Not OUFC related by MacAnthony is bang on the money here re: Spurs loan signing Mathys Tel, 19.

 

[Berliner]

Bearing in mind 203 out of 204 people said the last window was good or excellent (and how that ended up) I'm keeping my feet on the ground here, especially as only Helik has made any sort of impact so far.

The fact we kept our big players maybe more important than the comings and goings.

 

[Shosho]

I thought we navigated it well.

Helik has had an immediate impact, Matos and Bradshaw have been a clear upgrade when coming on for the last 30mins or so.

The club will have the next few windows planned with areas/positions/players to target and when. January isn’t the time to find yourself a striker, I’m sure we will reassess in the summer.

 

[Upthecowboys]

I think that was a pretty sensible window.

Bonus half a point for making early signings who have already had a good impact in January.

Now we can start thinking about Summer transfers! With contracts expiring, loanees returning and a couple of contracted players being sold I reckon we’ll be looking to make approx 7 signings.

 

[HillBilly]

Could Stan Mills get added to the IN list?

Looks a bit lopsided otherwise...

 

[holdsteady]

Bearing in mind 203 out of 204 people said the last window was good or excellent (and how that ended up) I'm keeping my feet on the ground here, especially as only Helik has made any sort of impact so far.

The fact we kept our big players maybe more important than the comings and goings.

It can’t have been that bad a window (summer one) we are on course for our target of staying up and have only briefly dipped into the relegation spots.

Placheta, Dembele, Kioso, Vaulks and Cummings have all done well, 5 players is a successful window in my book.

 

[Morris Oxford]

On the face of it a decent window, time will tell how good it is. Ever since Manning came in and subsequently Buckingham and Rowett our windows have been much more proactive.

Recruitment seems much more professional than the chaotic days of Robinson and his desperate last minute mobile phone deals.

Of course getting deals done early doesn’t guarantee success, but so far it has worked out well for us. Those points gained in January with the new signings in situ will likely be very important come the end of the season.

 

[Axol0tlFC]

Any idea on if we are looking for a free agent now we have a spare squad space?

 

[TobyDavis34]

Any idea on if we are looking for a free agent now we have a spare squad space?

I'm not 100% sure you can register them even if you sign them now though.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

As others have said, time will tell. I think I would describe it as 'Sensible' (Helik, Bradshaw) and 'Promising' (Mills, Romeny and Matos). Until we know how much impact they have (and only Helik has *really* done so so far), then the best recent signing has obviously been the manager!

 

[WRox]

Helik’s a big signing. Looking forward to seeing more of Matos, Romeny and Mills (at this level, post injury) but hopeful they’re upgrades on Sibley, Dale and Ebiowei. Bradshaw a sensible option and extremely difficult to find an affordable striker in January who’ll hit the ground running (I didn’t mind Scarlett, but have to trust Rowett on this one).

Overall, I’d say it’s not bad and we look stronger than 1st Jan thanks to Helik. The striker market is one for the summer, let’s say we stay up and the current bottom 3 go down - Yates, Morris, Adebayo could be genuine targets, rather than people we’ve never heard of in Scandinavia for £3m like yesterday.

The context for all of this is what’s happened elsewhere. Hull and Luton have predictably spent big, although I think there’s an air of desperation about Luton’s business. Derby look to have had a tough January in every sense. All in all, I certainly wouldn’t be swapping our squad and a 10-point lead with Luton or Derby’s situations.

 

[Basham Wonderland]

We've also kept Tyler and Cam, amongst others. Remember when Brentford pulled the rug on us with Baptiste and Fosu. No such losses this time.

Really solid window.

 

[harrymark1]

I just read that Harvey Vale who went to QPR and was much mentioned as a potential signing is injured and wont play again this season, the meltdown if we'd signed him

 

[werthersoriginal]

Everyone seems to be ignoring our record signing. Without him the window might be underwhelming but we are said to have paid a million or more for him. He seems to be dismissed as a Dutch rando and diminished by the Indonesian connection but he might actually be good? He’s tall and quite mobile. Presumably he’s the third striker, we didn’t need to sign another attacking midfielder.

 

[The Mighty Aldo]

Helik’s a big signing. Looking forward to seeing more of Matos, Romeny and Mills (at this level, post injury) but hopeful they’re upgrades on Sibley, Dale and Ebiowei. Bradshaw a sensible option and extremely difficult to find an affordable striker in January who’ll hit the ground running (I didn’t mind Scarlett, but have to trust Rowett on this one).

Overall, I’d say it’s not bad and we look stronger than 1st Jan thanks to Helik. The striker market is one for the summer, let’s say we stay up and the current bottom 3 go down - Yates, Morris, Adebayo could be genuine targets, rather than people we’ve never heard of in Scandinavia for £3m like yesterday.

The context for all of this is what’s happened elsewhere. Hull and Luton have predictably spent big, although I think there’s an air of desperation about Luton’s business. Derby look to have had a tough January in every sense. All in all, I certainly wouldn’t be swapping our squad and a 10-point lead with Luton or Derby’s situations.

Don’t forget we have Moore, Nelson and Bennett back shortly.

That will give us the option to change formation and in Nelsons’s case who can bring the ball out of defence and give our midfield more space

 

[The Mighty Aldo]

Everyone seems to be ignoring our record signing. Without him the window might be underwhelming but we are said to have paid a million or more for him. He seems to be dismissed as a Dutch rando and diminished by the Indonesian connection but he might actually be good? He’s tall and quite mobile. Presumably he’s the third striker, we didn’t need to sign another attacking midfielder.

I would expect that any club at our level who pays over £1 million plus for a player would expect to see him start every match for them,when fit.
Dembele is in this category, so if Romery is fit and he’s been on the bench twice so assume he is, he should be starting.