WPM 2024/25 Squad Speculation, Confirmation and Mutual Termination

YoungHeartHM

Intra squad game on Friday by the sounds of it. Going to be a lot of academy lads involved given the national team absences. 

Good time for a lot academy lads to potentially show their wares given they've got 3 weeks before they play their final Central League fixture against Stop Out.

And not too long till our Australia Cup game.

On contract until 2026 unfortunately, would definitely see him as a solid option otherwise

Walsall Boy

Talking of keepers, wonder how settled Filip Kurto is at McArthur given the betting fiascos.

Would welcome him back with open arms.  Again, we probably cannot afford him now.

Oi Oi Edgecumbe

YoungHeartHM

Intra squad game on Friday by the sounds of it. Going to be a lot of academy lads involved given the national team absences. 

Good time for a lot academy lads to potentially show their wares given they've got 3 weeks before they play their final Central League fixture against Stop Out.

And not too long till our Australia Cup game.

Going to be a lot of the guys from the OFC U19's Championship and a few more of the academy lads who will be making that trip. Big ask to go to an NPL powerhouse in South Melbourne and try and get a result. 

Will be a good indication of where a lot of these boys are at in their development as well. 

YoungHeartHM

Oi Oi Edgecumbe

YoungHeartHM

Intra squad game on Friday by the sounds of it. Going to be a lot of academy lads involved given the national team absences. 

Good time for a lot academy lads to potentially show their wares given they've got 3 weeks before they play their final Central League fixture against Stop Out.

And not too long till our Australia Cup game.

Going to be a lot of the guys from the OFC U19's Championship and a few more of the academy lads who will be making that trip. Big ask to go to an NPL powerhouse in South Melbourne and try and get a result. 

Will be a good indication of where a lot of these boys are at in their development as well. 

Can we sign Sotirio on a one game contract? He looked like prime R9 when we played Avondale

Napier City Rovers success on the field paying off for them!

In addition to Oscar Faulds being on trial this week, Danish goalkeeper William Tønning is also in Wellington 👀

Also, just the nicest blokes the pair of them. 

Screenshot_2024-07-18-21-24-45-91_1c337646f29875672b5a61192b9010f9.jpg 463.08 KB

Finally feels like we have some good speculation to build on as we get in to the pre season schedule!

I thought it was Auckland City that was coined 'Backpacker United'.
Maybe they can find some other Viking footballers in a Dannevirke hostel

He did spend the first half of the 23/24 Danish season on the bench at Hobro in the Danish 2nd tier. Rode the pine in 18 games up to the winter break. Hobro (6th) finished 3 spots above Eli Just's Horsens. A spell before that in the Faroe Islands league.
https://us.soccerway.com/players/william-tonning/733393/

Also Jonathan Gould spent some time at NCR earlier this year with their keepers. He may have had a quiet word to Shaun Gill and said hey this Danish guy is worth a look.

https://www.cityrovers.co.nz/newsarticle/138332?newsfeedId=1155114

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/be-the-best-danish-football-recruits-17000km-journey-to-new-zealand-with-victory-in-mind/YDZHEK6BD5BHNIERZKQC5MLXRE/

The 24-year-old goalkeeper – who has Danish and Canadian citizenship – arrived in Napier after having previously played in Denmark, the United States, Sweden, and the Faroe Islands.

Recruits brought in by coach Bill Robertson include Swedish-born Kiwi Oscar Faulds.

Jonathan Gould is the goalkeeper coach at Auckland FC now so I don't think he would have been passing on any potential signing tips to the Nix.

Gooner 4 Life

Jonathan Gould is the goalkeeper coach at Auckland FC now so I don't think he would have been passing on any potential signing tips to the Nix.

He left the Nix less than 2 years ago. Probably keeps in touch with Gill & Chief abit. Rueben Parker as well. NZ is a very small football pond.

It isn't Boca & River Plate, and 100 years of hating each other. Read an article on Gould where he says he loves helping young players, and of course he has a relationship with Napier City going back 30 plus years.

But yeah it could be more Tonning's mate Faulds who helped get the Dane down to the NZCIS.

Coast Watch saying on insta that the Nix will finish 4th this season and Auckland 5th. Chiefy may not have to put his picture up for motivation this season. 

Chiefytheman

Coast Watch saying on insta that the Nix will finish 4th this season and Auckland 5th. Chiefy may not have to put his picture up for motivation this season. 

He didn't want that smoke this season. 😂

With Surman officially gone, sounds like that will be the last of the departures. An earlier version of Rollo's article about Chiefy said that one more departure was expected, but that wording was removed once Portland announced it officially. Apparently we can expect two imports, including a goalkeeper

Edit: apparently a new signing is very close and could potentially be announced this coming week. Not clear if that player is one of those two imports or not 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/350345872/giancarlo-italiano-pledges-future-wellington-phoenix-ahead-rebuild
Give him the three years he wants Welnix!

imanixsupporter

With Surman officially gone, sounds like that will be the last of the departures. An earlier version of Rollo's article about Chiefy said that one more departure was expected, but that wording was removed once Portland announced it officially. Apparently we can expect two imports, including a goalkeeper

Edit: apparently a new signing is very close and could potentially be announced this coming week. Not clear if that player is one of those two imports or not 

Sutton’s contract expires in 12 mths?

If there is a reasonable offer for him post Olympics in this shark financial environment they would be silly not to take it. 

He’s been at the Nix 8 years from memory, he’ll be looking at Europe now like most. Could be wrong but don’t see him really interested in a Nix extension, especially in a low wages ALM environment 

Don’t want him leaving on a free and you have LK-H to play LB

True, if NZ go far in this Olympics and Sutton plays at his best then an offer could come in for him, and it wouldn't be a devastating loss given LKH could play there. 

You mentioning that Sutton's contract is expiring at the end of the coming season reminded me that we only have six players contracted for the 2025/2026 season, and of those, only Rufer, LKH & Conchie have played significant first team minutes. 

Would be great to get some contract extensions over the line in the coming weeks and announced to keep the team in the news over the long preseason and to give us a bit more stability. I think the Nix should be trying to get Wootton, Payne, Sutton, Sheridan & Hughes to sign on for at least another year ASAP. And if Rojas, Kosta, OVH & al-Taay start the season well then it would be good to get them nailed down for another season long before season's end too. 

Interesting quote from chief indicating Kraev got a big pay rise going to WSW. Seems not all teams are broke.

Ryan

Interesting quote from chief indicating Kraev got a big pay rise going to WSW. Send not all teams are broke.

Yep, I’d think you’d have to be watching how much rent was being paid and the jobs’ partners were working etc. There was an accusation in a post somewhere about Rudan that WSW were not on the level with their payments. Payments in kind may be a way to sneakily top up deals. Certainly been done in the past. 

Rudan had complained that WSW didn't have the budget to fill all foreigner spots.

With all the names leaving WSW, I would imagine they have plenty of money. Marcello would've been on decent coin.

imanixsupporter

True, if NZ go far in this Olympics and Sutton plays at his best then an offer could come in for him, and it wouldn't be a devastating loss given LKH could play there. 

You mentioning that Sutton's contract is expiring at the end of the coming season reminded me that we only have six players contracted for the 2025/2026 season, and of those, only Rufer, LKH & Conchie have played significant first team minutes. 

Would be great to get some contract extensions over the line in the coming weeks and announced to keep the team in the news over the long preseason and to give us a bit more stability. I think the Nix should be trying to get Wootton, Payne, Sutton, Sheridan & Hughes to sign on for at least another year ASAP. And if Rojas, Kosta, OVH & al-Taay start the season well then it would be good to get them nailed down for another season long before season's end too. 

I mean the Nix can try get Sutton to sign an extension. I just have hunch he'll want to head off if a good overseas offer pops up post Olympics. He's been at the club 8 years, most of his peers or closer friends like Waine & Old have left. He will also have one eye on the 2026 WC. The 2nd LB spot behind Libby is wide wide open. Does being at an overseas club increase his chances? Lets see how he goes in France.

Older guys like Wootton and Payne look settled, and hopefully will be keen to extend. With the younger kids yeah once they have shown some promise you obviously want to get them onto longer deals, so that after 2-3 seasons when they are now on the radar for an overseas move you can sell them for a fee. Getting LK-H on a long deal, some shrewd business already.

Updated

Just one Australian in Al-Taay on the books at the moment. An Aussie who plays for Iraq. If it stays that way when the season starts, it must easily be a record low number.

So with a new signing apparently imminent, who do we think it is?

Oscar Faulds, William Tønning, Dublin Boon & Gabriel Baralhas the only players I've seen speculation about. Dublin Boon may already be signed but not as a first team signing, Transfermarkt seems to think he has. 

Chiefy said the plan was there would be 2 new visa signings, and the suggestion is that one of those could be a starting goalkeeper. Could Tønning & Baralhas be those two? Tønning already being at the Nix trialling would make the logistics of announcing him as a signing straightforward. 

imanixsupporter

So with a new signing apparently imminent, who do we think it is?

Oscar Faulds, William Tønning, Dublin Boon & Gabriel Baralhas the only players I've seen speculation about. Dublin Boon may already be signed but not as a first team signing, Transfermarkt seems to think he has. 

Chiefy said the plan was there would be 2 new visa signings, and the suggestion is that one of those could be a starting goalkeeper. Could Tønning & Baralhas be those two? Tønning already being at the Nix trialling would make the logistics of announcing him as a signing straightforward. 

Talked to Oscar and he was very happy with how his trial played out, even (in his words) if it was a bit hard to gauge things given there was only 5-6 first team players at training the whole week - complimented of course by guys coming up from the academy, and other trialists.

They specifically lined him up against Scotty Wootton in the squad match and it sounds like he had a banger with "5-6 goals" - He got to the point where he stopped counting. Again it's hard to read into things too much so early in the season, and with more trialists set to come in over the coming weeks/months. But he did what he had to when given his chance, so that's all you can ask really. You've got to be in it to win it so to speak, and time will tell if he ends up landing a deal.

He's said he's going to go to ground for a few days while he waits and sees what eventuates, so I've got to respect that. Probably did his chances no harm yesterday either by banging in a hatty in Wellington against Island Bay. 

No word from other known trialists unfortunately at this stage, but that's how it goes sometimes.

Would Western Suburbs' American midfielder Lucas Meek (15 goals in Central League this season, 2nd only to Faulds), be on the radar as well, if it's all about budget cheap imports.

He was previously on the books of MLS club Inter Miami. Spent last year with their reserve team in the MLS Next Pro, and even sat on the bench for one MLS game.

Miami verus Kansas City. No Messi or Suarez (game was in a FIFA window), but he got a close up view of team mates for a day, Jordi Alba & Busquets running around.

coochiee

Would Western Suburbs' American midfielder Lucas Meek (15 goals in Central League this season, 2nd only to Faulds), be on the radar as well, if it's all about budget cheap imports.

He was previously on the books of MLS club Inter Miami. Spent last year with their reserve team in the MLS Next Pro, and even sat on the bench for one MLS game.

Miami verus Kansas City. No Messi or Suarez (game was in a FIFA window), but he got a close up view of team mates for a day, Jordi Alba & Busquets running around.

 https://us.soccerway.com/matches/2023/09/10/united-states/mls/inter-miami/kansas-city-wizards/4004898/

I heard calls for that one twitter as well. The main difference being Faulds has a NZ passport whereas Meek would take a visa spot.

Perhaps I'm reading into Rollo's article from yesterday a little bit too deeply, but to me it read like with the money we've made from the sales of Paulsen, Old, and Surman, that we might go out and spend a bit of dosh on two quality visa players, complimented by cheaper signings either through the academy or through the domestic scene. That's how I interpreted it anyway.

Happy to see the days of signing cast off Aussies, and bit part players from across the Tasman hopefully/seemingly at an end. There is a lot of untapped talent and potential in this country, and I for one would take an 18-19-20 year old Kiwi with a bit of raw talent, over some 28-29-30 year old journeyman, who may have rotated through several A-League clubs over the course of their careers.

Any. Day. Of. The. Week.

I think with the cap the way it is, some Aussies stock has gone up. We might see some previously unfancied locals getting a bit more coin than they had expected and costlier import spots being left unfilled. 

Really it makes no financial sense now for the Nix to sign Aussies who have been fringe ALM players, or from the NPL. They will just take the spot of a Weenix youngster, and hinder their development.

The paltry APL disbursement coupled with the Paulsen, Old & Surman sales, shows it's now obvious that the Weenix pathway, and eventual transfer fee income is so crucial to the future of the club.

Kosta, Rojas, Ball, Rufer, Payne & Wootton is enough old head experience. You want the other non import spots to nearly all be taken up by Weenix grads. Journeymen Aussies just blocks the financial model.

Anyway we wait to see what visa players Chiefy targets. They always tend to be the final signings. But Meek you'd think would be worth a trial at least.

Not sure if this has been discussed already but Transfermarkt has now listed Finn Surman's transfer fee to Portland at €500K. I wonder if this this is an outright fee or subject to either instalments and/or player-performance clauses

MirjansCast

Not sure if this has been discussed already but Transfermarkt has now listed Finn Surman's transfer fee to Portland at €500K. I wonder if this this is an outright fee or subject to either instalments and/or player-performance clauses

It's been said elsewhere that it was in the region of $1 million our money, which would be slightly more than that

MirjansCast

Not sure if this has been discussed already but Transfermarkt has now listed Finn Surman's transfer fee to Portland at €500K. I wonder if this this is an outright fee or subject to either instalments and/or player-performance clauses

Screenshot_2024-07-21-18-48-54-89_955f68c4df44ad6a86e46b05cf65099a.jpg 53.93 KB

That was on the FotMob transfer centre where I think by default it shows in USD.

Disregard the Team Wellington bit though. 😂

$752k USD works out to about $1.25 million NZD. Ca-ching! That's about half a week of Lionel Messi right there.

How do the transfers work in relation to player pay?

Do we get a % of what they make?  Or is it 1:1 or anything like that?  I.e. if we get a mill does that mean he makes a mill?

Bananas

How do the transfers work in relation to player pay?

Do we get a % of what they make?  Or is it 1:1 or anything like that?  I.e. if we get a mill does that mean he makes a mill?

The transfer fee goes to the selling club, the player doesn’t get that money. Surman and his agent may have negotiated a signing bonus with Portland but that’s separate to the transfer fee.

The Phoenix wouldn’t see anything related to his wages.

The good thing about the MLS is they are transparent publishing player salaries each year. May take a while for Surmans to appear but it will so we can get a feel at that point how he is valued.

The MLS actually openly reveals annual player salaries.
https://mlsplayers.org/resources/salary-guide

Auckland will need both Tuiloma & Boxall to finish their time Stateside you feel, before either can realistically play in the pauper's ALM. Tuiloma's contract expires end of 2025 MLS season, and from what I can see same with Boxy at Minny.

Annualized Average Guaranteed Compensation (AAGC)

Tuiloma - Salary $US460,000   AAGC $US484,938
Boxall - Salary $US675,000    AAGC $US728,097

Some fella called Messi - Salary $US12,000,000   AAGC   $US20,446,667

The 2024 Salary Guide contains salary information for all MLS players under contract as of April 25, 2024. In the Guide, player salaries are broken down into two numbers:

The Annual Average Guaranteed Compensation (Guaranteed Comp) number includes a player's base salary and all signing and guaranteed bonuses annualized over the term of the player's contract, including option years.

For example, a player earning an annual base salary of $500,000, whose contract has an initial term of two years with two one-year options and received a $100,000 signing bonus, his average annual guaranteed compensation would be $525,000 (base salary plus signing bonus ($100,000), with the signing bonus divided by the number of years covered by the contract (4)).

The Average Annual Guaranteed Compensation figure also includes any marketing bonus and any agent's fees, both annualized over the term of the contract. The Average Annual Guaranteed Compensation figure does not include Performance Bonuses because there is no guarantee that the player will hit those bonuses.

These figures include compensation from each player's contract with MLS. They do not include any compensation from any contracts with individual teams or their affiliates.

Oh that's interesting.  So the transfer fee and the players pay are totally unrelated?

So does that mean with a transfer his agent negotiates with a club, and the interested club has to negotiate with the current club?

Yes, both the player and club negotiates separately.

Which is why you can occasionally get situations where a club will agree to sell a player but the buying club cannot reach terms with the player on salary and the deal falls through.

Well I'll be damned.  Thanks for the clarification team.