Summer 2025 transfer rumours

On a side note Port Vales forum rumour meltdown , a trigger clause for Tolaj has been pulled from a fellow L1 club £1.2m .
Plymouth or County?

 

Tom Cleverley wanting Tolaj

 

From Tolaj's Wiki page:

"Tolaj began the 2025-26 season well impressing against Cardiff, indeed his performance was good enough for Plymouth Argyle to offer Port Vale 5 pasties and free iced buns for all visiting Vale fans."

 

I don't disagree, but the players will have a large say. Halliday especially only plays in 1 position. The others have chance to play in a couple. It wouldn't surprise me if Halliday wanted to move for more regular game time. Same with Kavanagh, on a loan basis. That said, they may all be very willing to wait until the Jan window and see how the next few weeks play out.

 

I imagine Cook will largely feature from the bench. With the 343 system, the main role of the 9 is to run down the channels and allow us to turn opponents, so the 10s can get beyond him. Not as suited to Cook when it comes to starting games, but he'll be a great option for the last 20 mins of games. And that could be perfect for Cooky given his age and recent injury. Could prolong his remaining career.

 

Are we ignoring the stats when he's played on the left?

I mean, they certainly look a lot more impressive than when he's played centrally.

 

He has only played 14 games at LW in his career, and has 9 goals - but that was mainly a purple patch at Barnsley last term. That's an impressive stat but you must question why manager after manager continues to ignore it.

He has played centrally 165 times with 51 goals.

 

How do you establish the "pecking order" of an injured player?

Kav sounds behind Cook almost to me. Sounded well off fitness when Alexander was last asked about him.

All the "Kav could/should leave / he's out of the reckoning" chat is just nonsense. He's not playing because he's injured. When he is fit he'll have to fight for a space with Swan I reckon.

 

Yeh he is injured, but it doesn't take a genius to work out out then when he is back he is going to be 4th choice. We all saw enough of him last season to know what his limitations are.

You say he is fighting for a space with Swan, but Swan is currently on the bench fighting for a space in the 11 with Humphrys - and this isn't even considering Cook who is out injured. And when you add Powell to the mix as well....

Swan can do everything Kavanagh can, plus more. A fully fit squad, Kavanagh doesn't even make the 18.

 

Kav had a good season unluckily for him he hs picked up this injury and when he recovers it will be up to him to fight for his place. Competition for places is a good thing

 

Most of his goals come from running from deep, a classic scorer of good goals as opposed to a natural finisher.

 

His stats on the right are equally as impressive. I think it points to what the player has said himself that when he's got licence to drift he's probably most effective.

I think GA probably has it right in allowing his position to be fluid up there but the stats certainly suggest that if we can isolate him with a defender in those little inside right and left pockets that's where he looks at his most dangerous.

 

I think it's the reason we've also experimented with 2 up top this year. It gives us more options if we need a Cook type up top without losing too much from the press.

Obviously the caveat is that we probably lose a bit of control in the middle but it's certainly good to have a viable 'plan b' so to speak.

 

I am ignoring stats from 6% of his career as a suggestion that is his natural position, yes

 

Where did I suggest it was his natural position? I think I've explained my thoughts on him pretty well.

Since you went with percentages though ..... 6% of his appearances and almost 20% of his goals. That's not something that should just be ignored when thinking about the areas we want him taking up.

 

It's been reported on Sky Sports that it's Plymouth. I'm not surprised they've gone big after a disastrous start to the season and a lot of pressure on the board. £1.2m is a high price for Tolaj but I can understand why they've gone for it and ultimately if you are going to get a 1st choice striker from another club with just over a week until the end of the window you are going to have to pay above market rate.

A tough one for Port Vale to take to lose their top scorer from last season this late and added to that Jayden Stockley is out injured for a few weeks.

 

If this comes off PV will then go for Jatta me thinks ? He won’t have to move either . Chucking lots of money at Cleverley hasn’t exactly worked before has it?

 

Bit off tangent but anyone remember the young lad Ameen at Swindon who had a great game against us? Apparently signing for Norwich for a £250,000 fee plus add ons.
Good signing that

 

I expect before the transfer window shuts there'll be big domino effects at most clubs, who lose/pick up a new player/want rid of the current player etc. Which will be interesting/be in a nice place for us as a club to watch and be more interesting if we're involved somehow, if A,B or C becomes available that isn't now. Just a shame we can afford Tolaj, he'll be a decent pick up and offers balance up top being left footed. I think he definitely guarantees 10-15 goals a season at this level.

 

That's fairly cheap as well, if you compare it to the offer for Michael Smith who has just done his ACL, apparently Horsens offered a full £300,000 up front last week and Holloway produced a very degrading interview regarding the bid. (Which I would have taken with Smith being 30 years old) Now they won't get that sort of money again for him and he's probably out for the rest of the season. Re Holloways interview - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c201z27qdvxo