Summer Window 2026 - Rumours and Discussion

SELR_addicks

Would rather now we focused on less turnover and quantity but more quality. 

killerandflash

SouthLincsAddick said:

ShootersHillGuru said:

wolfgang said:

Gisappointed said:

can't see any upgrades from lower leagues. Wiredu perhaps?

Joe Powell (27) Rotherham Utd
contract expires June 2026
very experienced, Hammers Academy product, primarily LWB but can play FB, CM, and on the right as well. Rarely injured.
Would not improve the first-team but a very reliable and versatile back-up at a low cost.
An East Londoner, I reckon he would he happy to move back to London at an enhanced wage even if not starting.
Better than many we have played this season.

I’m not saying that all league one players don’t merit looking at but we caught a cold last summer with signing “the better players from that division “ and if we want to progress which we must then I’d rather we sign fewer but better players than we did last summer window. 

L1 players is all we could afford last summer, it might be similar this summer.

That was also a choice to use the money to pay fees, rather than pay higher wages or loan fees. 

Something we've slightly changed in January, where we've brought in more loans and experienced Championship players like Dykes and Coady, presumably on higher wages.

If we stay up, we should be in a position to target the relegated teams, and sign players who've already proved themselves in the Championship.

Diebythesword

SELR_addicks said:

Would rather now we focused on less turnover and quantity but more quality. 

Agreed. Evolution not revolution. I think some of the league one all stars we bought will come good next season and onwards, namely Kelman, knibbs and Rankin Costello, hopefully the likes of Carey and Coventry push on from a great first season in the championship. Adding a ball carrier in midfield and a left wing back and left centre back will be a priority. Maybe gillesphey and a couple of others on their way out too. 

RedRobin

I feel we will be dipping back in the league one market next season! Like the look of the Plymouth striker Lorent Tolaj and Lincolns Rob Street and Dom Moylan. We will have the pick next season you’d think, granted Lincoln will be in the champ next season. 

Garrymanilow

golfaddick said:

Re the Bree debate 

I'd rather sign Clarke instead of Bree, even if it does mean paying a fee for him. Better player all round - better defensively & better crosser of a ball.

Thats my contribution for now.

I don't know that that's true. Bree's crossing definitely dipped when he started playing through that groin injury but Bree has 4 assists this season, two of them from free kicks and one from a corner. Clarke currently has 1. Bree also has 4 goals to Clarke's 0 and we have suffered from Clarke's inability to finish. I do like Clarke a lot and I'd be happy with either but Bree still has our 4th highest goal total and our highest number of assists despite not playing for us since January. He's only behind Carey and TC for overall goal contributions in our team with 5 so while he doesn't look as dynamic as Clarke and I agree he isn't quite as strong a defender, he's undeniably more of a threat going forward.

Bostonaddick

With Dykes, Leaburn, TC, Kelman and Godden, you have two traditional big center forwards, a wide striker and two poachers.  We really are missing a forward who can run the channels and cause problems for the defense with their movement.  6 forwards is a lot to have in a squad even with our injury record at the position so if one comes in either Dykes won’t be here, or one of Godden/TC/Kelman will be loaned out or sold.  

golfaddick

raytreacy said:

_uptheaddicks said:

raytreacy said:

Dykes to me is a journeyman. Works very hard for the team but will not score you many. I must say I am ambivalent whether he stays or goes.

Donkeys from Blackpool are welcome!

I stand by that, he is a donkey. The sort of striker you see in non league football. He hardly ever scores. Is he really what we need? We already have one donkey in Ahadme, do we want a  pair?

I know I might state our strikers but you can't put Dykes & Ahadme in the same category. Jeez.....at least Dykes let's the CH know he's there and can finish. 

Crispywood

Bostonaddick said:

With Dykes, Leaburn, TC, Kelman and Godden, you have two traditional big center forwards, a wide striker and two poachers.  We really are missing a forward who can run the channels and cause problems for the defense with their movement.  6 forwards is a lot to have in a squad even with our injury record at the position so if one comes in either Dykes won’t be here, or one of Godden/TC/Kelman will be loaned out or sold.  

We have the options of letting go TC Dykes and Godden this summer due to contracts. We then we have options what to do with the likes of Kanu, Mbick, Tanto. We’re in a very flexible position this summer where we can pick and choose what we do with our forward line as we deem most appropriate. What we end up with up top next season will be down to Jones and the recruitment, but it’s a very healthy position to be in where the club are in complete control rather than having to do moves out of desperation 

Henry Irving

killerandflash said:

SouthLincsAddick said:

ShootersHillGuru said:

wolfgang said:

Gisappointed said:

can't see any upgrades from lower leagues. Wiredu perhaps?

Joe Powell (27) Rotherham Utd
contract expires June 2026
very experienced, Hammers Academy product, primarily LWB but can play FB, CM, and on the right as well. Rarely injured.
Would not improve the first-team but a very reliable and versatile back-up at a low cost.
An East Londoner, I reckon he would he happy to move back to London at an enhanced wage even if not starting.
Better than many we have played this season.

I’m not saying that all league one players don’t merit looking at but we caught a cold last summer with signing “the better players from that division “ and if we want to progress which we must then I’d rather we sign fewer but better players than we did last summer window. 

L1 players is all we could afford last summer, it might be similar this summer.

That was also a choice to use the money to pay fees, rather than pay higher wages or loan fees. 

Something we've slightly changed in January, where we've brought in more loans and experienced Championship players like Dykes and Coady, presumably on higher wages.

If we stay up, we should be in a position to target the relegated teams, and sign players who've already proved themselves in the Championship.

Rather than targetting the teams relegated from this division I'd be looking at those who get promoted.

Harry Clarke would be a good example if, as we all hope, Ipswich go up.  

Glibert from Boro and there will be a few more not deemed good enough for the EPL who'd improve us.

Overseas signings will also be cheaper but carry a greater risk.

Shifting maybe half of the dozen players we have out on loan could be key to balancing the budget, we'll have to take a hit on most.

DennisBooth

golfaddick said:

raytreacy said:

_uptheaddicks said:

raytreacy said:

Dykes to me is a journeyman. Works very hard for the team but will not score you many. I must say I am ambivalent whether he stays or goes.

Donkeys from Blackpool are welcome!

I stand by that, he is a donkey. The sort of striker you see in non league football. He hardly ever scores. Is he really what we need? We already have one donkey in Ahadme, do we want a  pair?

I know I might state our strikers but you can't put Dykes & Ahadme in the same category. Jeez.....at least Dykes lets the CH know he's there and can finish. 

Dykes can’t finish, how many goals has he scored in his career. If he could finish he wouldn’t be playing for us. Don’t forget Ahadme cost a fair amount of money in a transfer fee. Dykes must be on a fair wage, I wouldn’t be at all upset if he leaves in the Summer.

DennisBooth

Three goals in forty six games when he was at Birmingham. Hardly prolific. 

elbiglad

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 

We know what we have with Dykes and what he can do at this level. He's not my favourite player to watch, but he is effective and he works ridiculously hard. His goal contributions have been pretty good in a low scoring team.

I agree that we will only go so far with him as our no.1 option, but I think he provides exactly what we need for where we are in our 'journey'. Working on the basis that our budget will again be limited, any free signing with his experience and ability is a huge bonus that allows us to use the money elsewhere.

Scoham

DennisBooth said:

Three goals in forty six games when he was at Birmingham. Hardly prolific. 

No one is going to claim he's prolific, but only 11 of those were starts.

One more goal for us in the remaining games and he'd have scored as many for us as he did for Birmingham in the league.

Todds_right_hook

DennisBooth said:

Three goals in forty six games when he was at Birmingham. Hardly prolific. 

Based on your theory, we should never have signed that donkey from Leicester. What was his name again, the player that missed a vital penalty and had a poor record???? Oh, I remember… Yann Kermogant 

ShootersHillGuru

SouthLincsAddick said:

ShootersHillGuru said:

wolfgang said:

Gisappointed said:

can't see any upgrades from lower leagues. Wiredu perhaps?

Joe Powell (27) Rotherham Utd
contract expires June 2026
very experienced, Hammers Academy product, primarily LWB but can play FB, CM, and on the right as well. Rarely injured.
Would not improve the first-team but a very reliable and versatile back-up at a low cost.
An East Londoner, I reckon he would he happy to move back to London at an enhanced wage even if not starting.
Better than many we have played this season.

I’m not saying that all league one players don’t merit looking at but we caught a cold last summer with signing “the better players from that division “ and if we want to progress which we must then I’d rather we sign fewer but better players than we did last summer window. 

L1 players is all we could afford last summer, it might be similar this summer.

I really believe if that’s the case we can expect another relegation battle. 

Crispywood

DennisBooth said:

golfaddick said:

raytreacy said:

_uptheaddicks said:

raytreacy said:

Dykes to me is a journeyman. Works very hard for the team but will not score you many. I must say I am ambivalent whether he stays or goes.

Donkeys from Blackpool are welcome!

I stand by that, he is a donkey. The sort of striker you see in non league football. He hardly ever scores. Is he really what we need? We already have one donkey in Ahadme, do we want a  pair?

I know I might state our strikers but you can't put Dykes & Ahadme in the same category. Jeez.....at least Dykes lets the CH know he's there and can finish. 

Dykes can’t finish, how many goals has he scored in his career. If he could finish he wouldn’t be playing for us. Don’t forget Ahadme cost a fair amount of money in a transfer fee. Dykes must be on a fair wage, I wouldn’t be at all upset if he leaves in the Summer.

Dykes is on maximum 15k a week it would even Be less than that because he had to terminate his contract at Birmingham to come to us. 

Whether he’d still have the same motivation to perform is a different question but when you think the alternative is dropping 2M on unproven L1 forwards, I’d much rather take the smart and sensible option in dykes for the next year/2 years. You never know if Leaburn and Mbick are going to suddenly click in this division as well in which case Dykes makes a decent affordable backup 

Sword65pf

Might be worth mentioning, that limited player Dykes has been integral to us probably staying up, when at the time he came in we were a bit in the shit, I was really not excited by his arrival but he has done a great job for us, in general play and chipping in with the odd goal. 

Leuth

"Dykes can't finish" tell that to West Brom and Leicester 

Leuth

Oh wait I forgot, he missed from 45 yards the other day. Terrible player 

Garrymanilow

DennisBooth said:

Three goals in forty six games when he was at Birmingham. Hardly prolific. 

His job isn't to be prolific. Dykes was brought in specifically to bring the most out of Stansfield playing off him, which he did well enough in L1 that they won the title. Enough to stop Alfie May playing as a striker as well. This season they have brought in about £15m worth of strikers to replace him resulting in him starting 2 games for Birmingham. He made 21 sub appearances but it all totaled about 420 minutes which makes his 2 goals and 1 assist actually quite decent; it's a goal contribution every 140 minutes. He's at about 1 goal contribution every 180 minutes for us at the moment and that doesn't count the goal he was central to against Birmingham. Dykes is a striker focused on bringing others into the game more than scoring goals, surely anyone can see that

EpsomAddick

'Hull City and Reading could rival Charlton Athletic for Dorking Wanderers teenager's signature' - talking about Josh Hebert

https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hull-city-reading-could-rival-33562565

iaitch

We've had enough Herberts at our club over the years.

raytreacy

Bostonaddick said:

With Dykes, Leaburn, TC, Kelman and Godden, you have two traditional big center forwards, a wide striker and two poachers.  We really are missing a forward who can run the channels and cause problems for the defense with their movement.  6 forwards is a lot to have in a squad even with our injury record at the position so if one comes in either Dykes won’t be here, or one of Godden/TC/Kelman will be loaned out or sold.  

I agree. What we need is a Garry Nelson type striker. 

DDOUBLEE

If you are digging out Dykes over any of our other forwards then you need your head looked at. Mental 

sam3110

If Kelman puts in the graft on a more regular basis, Dykes and Kelman should be our current strike pairing, with TC as the "game changer" off the bench

Garrymanilow

raytreacy said:

Bostonaddick said:

With Dykes, Leaburn, TC, Kelman and Godden, you have two traditional big center forwards, a wide striker and two poachers.  We really are missing a forward who can run the channels and cause problems for the defense with their movement.  6 forwards is a lot to have in a squad even with our injury record at the position so if one comes in either Dykes won’t be here, or one of Godden/TC/Kelman will be loaned out or sold.  

I agree. What we need is a Garry Nelson type striker. 

Hopefully our scouting team have their criteria set to 'people who last played football in 1997' when plotting out our recruitment then

cantersaddick

There will be players at the top end of league 1 who have run their contract down in the hopes of getting a championship gig next year. Think Tom Lockyer last time we went up. We should absolutely be monitoring and considering those, plus any real quality players in league 1 with a lot of potential we want to buy. 

But I hope we compliment them with some experience in the championship and a few gems from abroad.

shine166

We already own enough league 1 prospects, really don't need to be signing many more. 

Crispywood

cantersaddick said:

There will be players at the top end of league 1 who have run their contract down in the hopes of getting a championship gig next year. Think Tom Lockyer last time we went up. We should absolutely be monitoring and considering those, plus any real quality players in league 1 with a lot of potential we want to buy. 

But I hope we compliment them with some experience in the championship and a few gems from abroad.

If you look at the free agent list in L1, if we exclude Cardiff players as they’re going up the quality is really really poor. You have Connor Hazard from Plymouth and Archie Collins from Peterborough as the only decent players. 

Seem Plymouth are in financial crisis so I’d potentially look at Tolaj or Pepple if they’re going cheap otherwise I’d be staying far away from L1 players 

AberystwythAddick

Could some spanner’s be put in the works if we get offers for Ramsay and Jones. We might have to rebuild the defence?