2017 Summer Transfer Window

A recap of the 2017 Summer Transfer Window...

New Signings
Djalo (CB)
Cisse (Mid)
Mollo (Mid)
Fonte (Forward)
Kamara (Forward)

In on Loan
Kalas
Piazon
Soares (LB)
Norwood (Mid)
Graham (Mid)
Ojo (Forward)

Departures
Parker (retired)
Malone
Aluko

Out on Loan
Woodrow
Sigurdsson

While we brought in a number of new players we kept a good chunk of our core players from last season that started in over 30 league matches - Cairney, Johansen, McDonald, Kalas. We lost just two regular starters Aluko and Malone. Keeping Sessegnon on the roster was also clearly a good sign of the ownerships intentions.

I'm surprised we brought in so many mid-fielders since that was our strongest area, but we were rather thin and got relatively lucky with injuries last year. A little more depth there is appreciated. Norwood has seemed like a good addition, but Cisse less so. Graham and Mollo have yet to play a match so what they offer remains to be seen.

We've clearly lost our mojo when it comes to scoring and we didn't pick up a renowned striker as many of us had hoped. However, I thought Ojo and Fonte looked promising in the Ipswich match and if we can get our midfield scoring again we should be okay. Of our offensively-minded signings I've been a little disappointed with Kamara. He has seemed a little selfish and taken difficult shots when other players were open. One thing we missed last year was someone who could score on free kicks, which was our bread and butter when McCormack was around. I don't know if we've picked up anyone who can offer anything in that regard.

On defense we've continued to keep the central pairing of Kalas and Ream that worked well in the last half of the season. We're also seeing familiar faces on the wing with Fredericks and Sessegnon (and Odoi). I'm concerned about relying more on Sessegnon as LB without Malone around. I'm glad to have Sess, but I'm not convinced he's great at playing defense. So far our defense has played well giving up just a handful of goals and getting two shut-outs so I can't complain too much, but I'll make one more complaint anyway: I'm also not a fan of Button. He can make saves, but we seem to get into panic mode more often when he's in goal. From what I saw at the end of last season Bettinelli keeps things steady even under pressure.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the Summer results and looking forward more winning after the break.

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...g-kcs-erik-palmer-brown-signs-manchester-city

I understand financially why the contract is probably appealing but I hate it when young talent goes someplace it is likely to die.

 

De la Torre signs an extension to summer 2020. He is also healthy and training again. Good news all around.

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2017/september/12/new-deal-for-de-la-torre