2022 Winter Transfer Window

First move of note for Fulham in the Winter transfer window - Cyrus Christie is out on loan to Swansea for the remainder of the season. He's been the invisible man this season and didn't even get into the lineup when Tete was out. He played in the Carabao Cup match against Leeds and one appearance in the U23 team.

 

Don’t think we’ll see much except for trimming the squad UNLESS a big club tries to swoop in for Carvalho. I know he turned down a contract and is on a free at the end of the season, but I hope we don’t just fall for the $$. I’d go back to his agent (apparently his is a big name in the agent game) and offer him a huge raise, but only on a 1 year deal. That way we just delay his move (he’s leaving for sure) and let him focus on helping us get promoted. Simple math: if promotion is worth $70 million that is far more then the $15-20 mill we’d get back for him this window.

 

Do not sell Carvalho...unless it's poured directly back into another attacking player. And even then, I do not like it. COYW

 

Fulham don’t need any players - unless they come as replacements for departing players.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Tony Khan signs someone though since he loves to get his name out there. It’ll probably be a bit player that ends up on the pitch for less than 15% of the remaining available minutes this season. Or if I’m truly cynical, a fourth goalkeeper.

 

Danish Captain Christian Eriksen is apparently ready to continue playing professional soccer, despite having died on the pitch for five minutes in the 2020 Euros. He was, of course, resuscitated by fast and competent medical attention, and has had a device called an ICD (implanted cardioverter defibrillator) put in his body that supposedly works well enough to allow him to resume normal athletic activity for a 29 yo professional athlete. Inter Milan terminated his contract last month because he cannot play in Italy with such a device implanted inside him. He’s been working out with a third tier Swiss club a half an hour’s drive across the border from his Milan home. Brentford have supposedly offered him a six month contract with a year option, if it works out. We’re also supposedly interested in signing him, although I’ve seen no reported evidence that would suggest that’s the case. I’d be in favor of it. It’s a low risk/high reward scenario. If he starts out at 90% of what he was and quickly improves to 98% or 99%, it’s a win, win. But I don’t think we’ll bite.

https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-...-over-potential-premier-league-return-sources

 

Based on this report from the BBC, it looks like Carvalho will sign with Liverpool and come back to Fulham on loan for the remainder of the season. I'm disappointed in this, but if it became clear that Carvalho was not going to stick around, even if Fulham were promoted, then this deal does make sense so Fulham can cash out while still not damaging their promotion hopes.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/60208290

 

it seems to be official. best of a bad situation, i suppose. https://theathletic.com/news/liverp...-final-hours-of-transfer-window/sFMgQzHUYKoL/

coyw

 

and then it didn't happen... Carvalho stays
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/60208290

 

Odoi is gone. Didn't see that coming. One of my favorites for Championship football.

 

I was stunned when I read that from you Brad. I thought "But who will play right back?!" Then the BBC had the answer: Neco Williams on loan
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/60210380

We sure are getting cozy with Liverpool.

In other news...
Steven Sessegnon joins Plymouth on loan https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/january/31/sess-joins-plymouth/
Quina went back to Watford: https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/january/31/quina-returns-to-watford/
Sylvester Jasper went to Hiberian on loan: https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/february/01/Jasper-Joins-Hibs-On-Loan/

 

After having a night to think about the transfers, my thoughts turned mostly to Dennis Odoi. He's been a memorable part of Fulham for the past few seasons. Odoi in my mind is a marker of when Fulham no longer sucked. Since he joined, Fulham has either made it to the Championship Playoffs or been in the Premier League (of course there were some sucky seasons in the Premier League, but we weren't worried about relegation to League One anymore). He's been a utility man for Fulham, never claiming a spot truly as his own, but appearing as right back, center back, and even left back as required. Not a glamorous role, but one that was needed. I liked Odoi, especially for his community work off the pitch, but he could work up a wide range of emotions with his play. His performance in the 2017-18 playoffs perfectly encapsulated this - he brings joy with winning goal against Derby, he then brings angst with a stupid red-card foul against Aston Villa, and finally brings joy again with his celebration on the goal at Wembley. Fulham could not have done it without him in the Championship - but unfortunately they couldn't do it with him in the Premier League. I'm a little worried about our depth at right back with Tete being injury prone, but this was the right move to make for Fulham if they want to make a longer stay in the Premier League. We've lost a key connection to Fulham's recent past (only Cairney and Ream have been around longer), but it is time for a change.

 

I keep thinking about what the late miss might mean for Carvalho's motivation for the rest of the season. I hope he decides it's the best possible thing to have happened: he gets a longer shop window and will likely have a ton of offers to choose from come summer. If I were him, I'd stay for another year, with guaranteed involvement every match day instead of riding the pine at Liverpool or some such, but I'm not 19 and impatient.

 

IIRC he was also out of contract in the summer, and it was highly unlikely we'd resign him.

As MicahMan mention, this one stings because its signifying of change. Odoi was such a unsung fabric that escaped any sense of inevitability. His sudden departure hits you harder than when TC and Ream will leave, as they'll presumably get a proper send off. Odoi didn't, and so we'll never have a chance to emotionally register and compartmentalize it.

Knowing that we didnt really need any missing piece unlike in the past ... 8(?) years, it was a very strange window for me as a Fulham fan. Not that I'm complaining, mind you...

 

I certainly wasn't expecting Denis to stay too much longer, but the timing kinda caught me off guard. Despite his deficiencies, his efficiencies outweighed them. In a way, his play is very much a metaphor for this life. An incredible, unlikely header to get us to Wembley, then getting sent off at Wembley, is kind of his method of operation in a nutshell. I appreciate more than his soccer ability. Off the pitch, with his glasses on, he's a breath of fresh air, a thinking man with more than a bit of book knowledge and well thought out and reasoned comments. You hear the phrase he's well spoken applied to a lot of public people in athletics and other pursuits, but that fits him. He's been a solid performer on this merry-go-round, up and down rollercoaster we've been on in recent times, and I'll miss him. I would really like to meet him in person some day over a pint.

 

Fulham put up a nice photo retrospective for Odoi: https://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2022/february/01/oi-oi-oi-denis-odoi/

 

They also tweeted a semi-short video that I enjoyed.

 

Watching the Club Brugge match this morning. They got Odoi playing in a defensive midfield position.