SQUADWATCH - Summer 2026

[linkenholtroyal]

So how much money do we have to spend?

Earthy is rumoured to have cost £600k, We apparently offered a similar amount for Lisbie in January so can't imagine his fee was much less and Godwin-Maliffe was signed for a fee.

We also apparently matched MK Don's offer for Nombe which was about £500-600k.

There has been some Knibbs money come in which has helped and there is money to spend. Richardson and JJ are still looking for a CB and a CF from the money that is left.
There is a main CB they are focused on I can’t find out who, but they have Masterson and TMc as options if their primary choice doesn’t come off.

Striker I believe there still is an interest held in Daniel Kanu. But….. no one has reached the valuation in which Charlton are willing to sell. I believe Reading has gone with loan with option to buy as their valuation is so high and Charlton would prefer just a loan and we are not so keen. Bromley are also showing interest apparently.

This one may roll on or they may have just moved on already. Very quiet coming out the club from who I get my info from….

[Sutekh]

So how much money do we have to spend?

Earthy is rumoured to have cost £600k, We apparently offered a similar amount for Lisbie in January so can't imagine his fee was much less and Godwin-Maliffe was signed for a fee.

We also apparently matched MK Don's offer for Nombe which was about £500-600k.

There has been some Knibbs money come in which has helped and there is money to spend. Richardson and JJ are still looking for a CB and a CF from the money that is left.
There is a main CB they are focused on I can’t find out who, but they have Masterson and TMc as options if their primary choice doesn’t come off.

Striker I believe there still is an interest held in Daniel Kanu. But….. no one has reached the valuation in which Charlton are willing to sell. I believe Reading has gone with loan with option to buy as their valuation is so high and Charlton would prefer just a loan and we are not so keen. Bromley are also showing interest apparently.

This one may roll on or they may have just moved on already. Very quiet coming out the club from who I get my info from….

Wimbledon also interested apparently and their manager (Johnnie Jackson) knows him well having given Daniel his debut when Jackson was managing Charlton.

Anyone know how much Charlton value him at?

More to the point is he actually any good and can he produce the goods at this level now - or would he be more someone for the future? Career strike rate to date is 1 goal every 4 games so not exactly mouth watering, but then Charlton wouldn’t be selling if he was that good.

[blythspartan]

So how much money do we have to spend?

Earthy is rumoured to have cost £600k, We apparently offered a similar amount for Lisbie in January so can't imagine his fee was much less and Godwin-Maliffe was signed for a fee.

We also apparently matched MK Don's offer for Nombe which was about £500-600k.

There has been some Knibbs money come in which has helped and there is money to spend. Richardson and JJ are still looking for a CB and a CF from the money that is left.
There is a main CB they are focused on I can’t find out who, but they have Masterson and TMc as options if their primary choice doesn’t come off.

Striker I believe there still is an interest held in Daniel Kanu. But….. no one has reached the valuation in which Charlton are willing to sell. I believe Reading has gone with loan with option to buy as their valuation is so high and Charlton would prefer just a loan and we are not so keen. Bromley are also showing interest apparently.

This one may roll on or they may have just moved on already. Very quiet coming out the club from who I get my info from….

Anyone know how much Charlton value him at?

More to the point is he actually any good and can he produce the goods at this level now - or would he be more someone for the future? Career strike rate to date is 1 goal every 4 games so not exactly mouth watering, but then Charlton wouldn’t be selling if he was that good.

I saw him a few times last year for Walsall and I’d say he’s still quite raw, but he’s big, strong and powerful. He took a couple of chances really well on the break. I think we should look at Samson Tovide who’s been training with Southend. However, we’d have to agree a compensation deal with Colchester.

I am really pleased with the signing of Earthy, but feel that if there’s not much money in the pot I’d rather we had spent it on a striker.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Boring accountant hat on here. Is our limitation with signings cashflow, SCMP rules or a mix of both?

As if it's SCMP, the Knibbs instalment means nothing - we'll have recognised the full profit of his sale last season when we made the deal and became entitled to future cashflows. The only additional profit would be achieving optional add ons, but that's impossible in pre season when he can't make first team appearances, score goals, win promotion etc.,

Whereas if the limitation is actual cash, that instalment matters a lot.

[linkenholtroyal]

Boring accountant hat on here. Is our limitation with signings cashflow, SCMP rules or a mix of both?

As if it's SCMP, the Knibbs instalment means nothing - we'll have recognised the full profit of his sale last season when we made the deal and became entitled to future cashflows. The only additional profit would be achieving optional add ons, but that's impossible in pre season when he can't make first team appearances, score goals, win promotion etc.,

Whereas if the limitation is actual cash, that instalment matters a lot.

I think with SMP if the payment was in the account and seen as funds available at the opening of the transfer window this would have been part of the calculations for the sustainability of the club. If Rob etc added more there would be more headroom. So it would have made a difference. In regards to the wages side we cleared some big earners that would have been part of the calculations which also would have given more wage space.

One thing I am not clear on is if you have lowered the wage bill and the money is still there for player investment can it now be used on transfers. I assume so and this also would have made a difference.

In easy terms.
Let’s say after wages etc were accounted for there was £1 million for transfers left from last years sales and add ons coming in Knibbs etc.
Rob etc put in 2 million pound half of which has to be used on academy or facilities (would make sense as money spent on stadium and new pitch). Which then leaves £2 million towards player investment.

We then sold WiFi for 600k.

Which is £2.6 million.

And we lowered the wage bill aswell giving headroom.

These are all guess figures but does sound like there is money there to spend.

[mikey_1871]

It doesn't sound like we're THAT limited in terms of money being avaialble. It's more about them finding the right player, and persuading them to sign for Reading that's taking time, rather than finding the money.

Which I'm fully on board with.

[Stranded]

It doesn't sound like we're THAT limited in terms of money being avaialble. It's more about them finding the right player, and persuading them to sign for Reading that's taking time, rather than finding the money.

Which I'm fully on board with.

It apeears it's potentially a case of waiting for clubs to be happy to release the player we particularly want. Reading between the lines, it seems the Earthy deal was ongoing for a while before we could progress with the player - that bit appears to have been the easy bit.

[Uke]

It doesn't sound like we're THAT limited in terms of money being avaialble. It's more about them finding the right player, and persuading them to sign for Reading that's taking time, rather than finding the money.

Which I'm fully on board with.

It apeears it's potentially a case of waiting for clubs to be happy to release the player we particularly want. Reading between the lines, it seems the Earthy deal was ongoing for a while before we could progress with the player - that bit appears to have been the easy bit.

Wouldn't be shocked to learn that we are playing the same game with selling on Charlie, etc.

Deadline days only encourage this behaviour as clubs and players try to maximise what they get.

[WestYorksRoyal]

It doesn't sound like we're THAT limited in terms of money being avaialble. It's more about them finding the right player, and persuading them to sign for Reading that's taking time, rather than finding the money.

Which I'm fully on board with.

It apeears it's potentially a case of waiting for clubs to be happy to release the player we particularly want. Reading between the lines, it seems the Earthy deal was ongoing for a while before we could progress with the player - that bit appears to have been the easy bit.

Wouldn't be shocked to learn that we are playing the same game with selling on Charlie, etc.

Deadline days only encourage this behaviour as clubs and players try to maximise what they get.

I think Azeez sale will happen close to deadline day too, which could free us up to make decent offers for high quality targets.

It always goes down to the last minute. If a club has a player who wants to leave and the asking price isn't being met, the chances are you will be forced to concede like Newcastle did with Isak last year, and I think that will happen with Azeez.

The situation that's harder is where you're pursuing a player who is not a regular starter at another club but they're still needed for depth. In that situation, we may be waiting on certain Championship clubs to make a signing and free our target up.

[stealthpapes]

Earthy feels like sort of signing i want RFC to make

Still think we need CB, utility defence, striker

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Earthy feels like sort of signing i want RFC to make

Still think we need CB, utility defence, striker

Agreed. Although those are probably the hardest positions to recruit. Hopefully as we get closer to the window closing some moves in the higher divisions will happen, opening up the opportunities for loans.

[Esteban]

Earthy feels like sort of signing i want RFC to make

Still think we need CB, utility defence, striker

I’m convinced our left side will be our downfall this season, specialist LB signing or not. I like Williams and Kyerewaa, but neither has the consistent end product to give us a real threat going forward.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Earthy feels like sort of signing i want RFC to make

Still think we need CB, utility defence, striker

I’m convinced our left side will be our downfall this season, specialist LB signing or not. I like Williams and Kyerewaa, but neither has the consistent end product to give us a real threat going forward.

But shouldn't we be working on Kyerewaa in particular given his raw pace and skill? Remember early days Kebe?

[WestYorksRoyal]

Rumour we're in for Dan Scarr. Would be a similar signing to POC; supposed leader of the defence but mobility not a strength.

I would say an "upgrade", but POC was one of the most sought after free transfers in the division when we signed him, so maybe we'd work our magic on Scarr and make him look mediocre too.

[rabidbee]

Earthy feels like sort of signing i want RFC to make

Still think we need CB, utility defence, striker

I’m convinced our left side will be our downfall this season, specialist LB signing or not. I like Williams and Kyerewaa, but neither has the consistent end product to give us a real threat going forward.

But shouldn't we be working on Kyerewaa in particular given his raw pace and skill? Remember early days Kebe?

Watching the reel of Earthy highlights put out by the club, I thought it was notable he could use - and score with - both feet, so perhaps he could play LW?

[6ft Kerplunk]

The only thing I don't get about the Earthy signing is why we got Stokes on loan if we thought it could happen? Both seems to be a bit of a luxury when we desperately need a LB and a centre forward.

[WestYorksRoyal]

The only thing I don't get about the Earthy signing is why we got Stokes on loan if we thought it could happen? Both seems to be a bit of a luxury when we desperately need a LB and a centre forward.

We needed both. We play with a CAM, and now we have 2 specialist players for that position which you need over a season. All other options there are makeshift, which is okay for a few games if needed but you're risking it too often if you only have 1 specialist.

Richardson has said we need a CB and CF, so I'm sure we're looking at them too. We just got this deal over the line first.

[Stranded]

The only thing I don't get about the Earthy signing is why we got Stokes on loan if we thought it could happen? Both seems to be a bit of a luxury when we desperately need a LB and a centre forward.

Well not really, as we also needed 2 #10 type players.

I do wonder if we moved Stokes to a loan (with possibility to buy) as we knew Earthy was likely to happen later in the window, therefore hedging our bets in case the former doesn't quite work out.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Ideal squad of 25 is 2 specialists per position, a 3rd GK, an attacking utility player like Brown and a defensive utility player who can cover multiple positions.

[6ft Kerplunk]

Hopefully there's other stuff in the pipeline then cos given Marriott's injury record and Patton be so inexperienced I'd rather have two centre forwards than two 10s.
Is there any news on when Haydon Roberts is going to be fit? I would also add Joh Ryan to that but well you know.