Contracted / Academy players to be the first to leave

[Sly]

I will add, knowing our academy players likely read this forum, that leaving the academy or youth team, isn’t necessarily the end of their footballing journey.

 

If you think of the quality of players we have produced during the past 10 - 20 years, quite a few have moved on to play for other clubs in the football. 
 

Some have broken into the first team here, some have had to grind it out elsewhere. 
 

We have done quite well as as an academy setup really. 
 

GK : Iversen, Stolarkzyk, Johnasson, Logan, Young, Smith, 

 

DF : Bassey, Chillwell, Schlupp, Mattock, Moore, Taft, Moore, Knight, Thomas, James, Nelson, Johnson, Wormleighton, Godsmark-Ford, Pascanu, Daley-Campbell, Hughes, Brunt, Elder, Clark, 

 

MF : King, Cluscas, Choudhury, Dewsbury-Hall, Tavares, Leshabela, Alves, Braybrooke, Page, Cover, Cartwright, Ewing, Thomas, Suengchittawan,  Watson, 

 

FW : Gradel, McKay, Barnes, McAteer, Marçal, Monga, Evans, Muskwe, Pennant, Ndukwu, Maswanhise, Wright, Dodoo, Eppiah, Shade, Gordon, Hirst 

 

…… and many more no doubt’ 

[shen]

On 27/04/2026 at 18:13, Kilworthfox said:

I think inevitably there will be a huge overturn in players.

 

Winks, Vestergaard, Choudhury & De Cordova Reid. I image will be free's (I can't imagine who would pay for them, on top of their wages) unless we simply have no offers, then a last resort is, a season long loan with a % of their wage to be paid, to encourage the wage reduction required to rejuvenate the playing squad. Other than that, they would have to be bought out of their contracts.

 

Players who would generate a fee:

 

Mavadidi

Skipp

Kristiansen

Okoli

Fatawu

Coulibaly

 

I would be unsure about Souttar, he hasn't played much football to justify a new team much confidence to spend on him, but if we are desperate then maybe we would give him a free / low fee to leave.

 

Academy players who would be of interest to sell due to the PSR rules:

I'd say any or all of them, fee dependant but:

Monga, Stolarczyk, Thomas & Nelson would be most likely.

 

Without sounding too positive, this terrible event must be looked at as a time to wipe clean the years of mismanagement and embrace the Academy talent.

 

There needs to be a structure of sound first team professionals (hopefully new ones), to give the first team a back bone and positive culture at the club, to win the 3rd division at the first attempt. It is a massive job, but one that is very doable (as we already experienced).

 

 

Hamza has already said he's here next season.
I don't imagine Thomas, Stolarczyk or Nelson will generate interest - their level is League One and we're by far the biggest club at that level. 

There's no chance we'll be buying players out of their contracts - it'd be some kind of mutual termination at best. And with the wages these guys are on, I'd say that's highly unlikely. 

 

I think we'll really struggle to shift our British core. Our hope is that we can somehow revitalize the likes of Skipp, Winks, Mavididi, BDCR et al.

 

Our non-British seniors are the most likely to generate interest as many of these have reputations back home or have had OK-ish seasons with their national teams, that means Vestergaard, Kristiansen, Okoli, Fatawu, Coulibaly, Vieites, maybe Souttar at a push.

 

And of course our current Academy products like Monga, Page, Motsi, Hutchinson et al may already be on their way. I hope one or two of them can stay and feature heavily - it's important to keep the connection with local fans and homegrown players will go someway to get fans on board.

[ClaphamFox]

8 minutes ago, shen said:

Hamza has already said he's here next season.
I don't imagine Thomas, Stolarczyk or Nelson will generate interest - their level is League One and we're by far the biggest club at that level. 

There's no chance we'll be buying players out of their contracts - it'd be some kind of mutual termination at best. And with the wages these guys are on, I'd say that's highly unlikely. 

 

I think we'll really struggle to shift our British core. Our hope is that we can somehow revitalize the likes of Skipp, Winks, Mavididi, BDCR et al.

 

Our non-British seniors are the most likely to generate interest as many of these have reputations back home or have had OK-ish seasons with their national teams, that means Vestergaard, Kristiansen, Okoli, Fatawu, Coulibaly, Vieites, maybe Souttar at a push.

 

And of course our current Academy products like Monga, Page, Motsi, Hutchinson et al may already be on their way. I hope one or two of them can stay and feature heavily - it's important to keep the connection with local fans and homegrown players will go someway to get fans on board.

I'm not so sure. Outside of our fanbase the general view seems to be that we have talented players that have horribly underperformed as a group this season, not that we have terrible players. I suspect a number of clubs will be looking at our relegation and thinking they can pick up Championship or even lower-PL players at bargain prices. Nelson, for example, has had a poor season in an underperforming team, but he is a ball-playing English centre half with a lot of potential.  He was getting rave reviews at Oxford and was attracting interest from Chelsea at one point. I expect there will be some interest in him.

 

We can afford to let Winks and BDCR go for nominal fees, and I expect that's what will happen. Mavididi had a good season in 2023/24 and is still relatively young, so I'd expect some interest from the Championship. I agree Stolarczyk, Thomas, Hamza and Skipp will probably stay. 

 

Monga will surely go as soon as his contract becomes a professional one and we can get a half-decent fee. I think Page will stay and play a big part for us next season. Hopefully Hutchinson too.

[shen]

42 minutes ago, ClaphamFox said:

I'm not so sure. Outside of our fanbase the general view seems to be that we have talented players that have horribly underperformed as a group this season, not that we have terrible players. I suspect a number of clubs will be looking at our relegation and thinking they can pick up Championship or even lower-PL players at bargain prices. Nelson, for example, has had a poor season in an underperforming team, but he is a ball-playing English centre half with a lot of potential.  He was getting rave reviews at Oxford and was attracting interest from Chelsea at one point. I expect there will be some interest in him.

 

We can afford to let Winks and BDCR go for nominal fees, and I expect that's what will happen. Mavididi had a good season in 2023/24 and is still relatively young, so I'd expect some interest from the Championship. I agree Stolarczyk, Thomas, Hamza and Skipp will probably stay. 

 

Monga will surely go as soon as his contract becomes a professional one and we can get a half-decent fee. I think Page will stay and play a big part for us next season. Hopefully Hutchinson too.

I hope you'll be proven right. 

The thing is, Fatawu and James have been productive for large parts of the season in the same team. Mavididi has been ever present and has been woeful. He did nothing in the PL and bar his one season under Maresca, he's been abject. 

 

Nelson is now another year older and didn't stand out in a team that got relegated despite ample playing time. The fact that the manager who had him at Oxford chose to drop him as soon as Vestergaard was fit again is a blow to Nelson and Chelsea will not be sniffing any time soon. I have not seen anything from Nelson that tells me he's going to go above L1/CH level. 
He will likely get another full season with us and if he stands out, then he might turn heads again, but on the back of this season, I doubt interest will be high. Could a midtable CH team pick him up? Maybe, but it'd have to be financially worthwhile for us as he's likely to feature heavily next year.

 

The issue with Winks and Skipp is obviously their wages. It would require a top-half CH club or a PL club to buy them - and once in that bracket, there will be plenty of players at least as good. BDCR - I mean, yeah, someone might take a punt. He screams midtable CH. Maybe a return to Bristol City could be on the cards.

[Monk]

The top 10 earners at the club need to be gone - whether that’s loan or permanent, and that’s in addition to selling our most valuable lower earners (Monga). 

[filthyfox]

On 27/04/2026 at 15:58, coolhandfox said:

I think it depends on how realistic we are on his price, pretty much a nailed on starter in their side and they have only lost 2 in 12 in the league in that time.

So...   are we saying Faes ISNT faeces after all?

[Headcase]

On 27/04/2026 at 15:29, Les-TA-Jon said:

For added context...

 

 

 

Sell with profit:

- Fatawu

- Mavididi(?)

 

Probably break even/cover wages:

- Faes

- Winks

 

Fail to sell/fail to profit:

- Okoli

- Kristiansen

- Souttar

- Skipp

 

The risk being that sell the youth products (easier to sell, better profit) in order to make the money we need...

6mil for injuredsen? Not a chance

[Foxmeister]

On 28/04/2026 at 08:53, The boy Linacre said:

He multitasks, I'm sure his name was down as our scorer Friday, thats  a start

He definitely multitasks, he put the ball in the net along with three opponents.

[Les-TA-Jon]

6 hours ago, Headcase said:

6mil for injuredsen? Not a chance

Exactly

[StanSP]

Is anyone surprised that we've not heard from some players or had any announcements that they definitely won't be here when their contracts expire in summer? 

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

19 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Is anyone surprised that we've not heard from some players or had any announcements that they definitely won't be here when their contracts expire in summer? 

Not surprised in the least. Their contracts haven't expired yet, and nobody's ever going to say anything about their future plans because they never do. And we don't need any announcements - If a player's contract expires, they're gone. An announcement would only be any use if someone signed a new contract.

[Foxes1]

33 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Is anyone surprised that we've not heard from some players or had any announcements that they definitely won't be here when their contracts expire in summer? 

Not surprised at all that none are posting on X or Instagram, after the last couple of years all they will get is how shite they have been (Which let's face it is the truth).

[demon_dog]

Removal vans outside Daka's house this morning.

Looks like he's moving on. Says they are international movers so don't know where he's going 

[Mint23]

9 minutes ago, demon_dog said:

Removal vans outside Daka's house this morning.

Looks like he's moving on. Says they are international movers so don't know where he's going 

I drove past it daily and it always looks like he’s ready to move, garage doors open with boxes never unpacked.  

[LCFCJohn]

On 29/04/2026 at 12:20, shen said:

I hope you'll be proven right. 

The thing is, Fatawu and James have been productive for large parts of the season in the same team. Mavididi has been ever present and has been woeful. He did nothing in the PL and bar his one season under Maresca, he's been abject. 

 

Nelson is now another year older and didn't stand out in a team that got relegated despite ample playing time. The fact that the manager who had him at Oxford chose to drop him as soon as Vestergaard was fit again is a blow to Nelson and Chelsea will not be sniffing any time soon. I have not seen anything from Nelson that tells me he's going to go above L1/CH level. 
He will likely get another full season with us and if he stands out, then he might turn heads again, but on the back of this season, I doubt interest will be high. Could a midtable CH team pick him up? Maybe, but it'd have to be financially worthwhile for us as he's likely to feature heavily next year.

 

The issue with Winks and Skipp is obviously their wages. It would require a top-half CH club or a PL club to buy them - and once in that bracket, there will be plenty of players at least as good. BDCR - I mean, yeah, someone might take a punt. He screams midtable CH. Maybe a return to Bristol City could be on the cards.

Another year older? Factually true but he has just turned 22! As a defender, he’s a number of years off hitting his peak. 
 

Zero chance Nelson stays for next season. Football scouts and clubs will look at more than a poor run of form in a toxic club in which only one player could hold their head high this season. Some players continually fail and get moves (mostly to us to be fair ) or fall upwards.
 

Those in charge of transfers at well run clubs will see a player who has just turned 22, players well anywhere else he has been and see that he could be picked up for no more than about £2 million due to his contract running out next year. Of course there will be many Championship clubs interested and probably PL clubs as well (not saying Chelsea etc) but lower PL clubs who might even see a longer term investment to give him another loan to the Championship. He’s not playing in L1 for us anyway. Not with a year left. 
 

You’re probably right about Thomas (in your last post not this one) but even Stolarcryk, a year left, someone will punt about £500k for him to be a squad player. Norwich were offering £4mill before weren’t they?

[StanSP]

2 hours ago, Manley Farrington-Brown said:

and nobody's ever going to say anything about their future plans because they never do.

It does happen? Silva and Stones at Man City have both said they're leaving this summer. 

 

I get your point though, it is rare. I just thought we'd have heard some players say they won't be here next season and give us some closure

 

[Guppys Love Child]

On 28/04/2026 at 10:17, The Doctor said:

much as I love giving Ayew a kicking, we've got a firmly midtable attacking record (12th most goals scored), our problem is that we seem to think defence is just what goes around degarden, only Wednesday and QPR have conceded more than us

I agree.

 

Our defence is horrific, but just think of the losses turned into draws and draws into wins with better strikers and therfore sitting higher than 12th.  

I shudder to think how many more points we could have scraped up.

 I appreciate it's a whole team package and we have been found seriously wanting everywhere...

[StanSP]

As if by magic, Ricardo announces he's leaving

 

[The Doctor]

24 minutes ago, Guppys Love Child said:

I agree.

 

Our defence is horrific, but just think of the losses turned into draws and draws into wins with better strikers and therfore sitting higher than 12th.  

I shudder to think how many more points we could have scraped up.

 I appreciate it's a whole team package and we have been found seriously wanting everywhere...

I mean, we'd be in the playoff picture if we could have defended leads - 32 points dropped from winning positions would have us on 75 with the deduction. Much as the strikers haven't been great, it's the defence that has let us down massively