Transfer News, Gossip & Speculation Transfer Thread - Summer 2025 Edition.

[Rob1920]

We haven't got the money to win this league - consequently we will never win this league. Our only chance out of this league is via the play offs.
1st is living in a fantasy world
2nd or 3rd is overachieving
4th or 5th will be realistic
6th or 7th slightly disappointing
Outside the play offs will be a failure

These are the facts, and they are indisputable...

Pretty accurate I would say. I'd slightly disagree that we will never win this league, as we ourselves have proved in happier times that you can win the league without one of the biggest budgets, and other teams from this division have done it in the years before Wrexham changed the script. But generally I'd agree.

 

[Suffering shrimper]

I love this threat. Crowds are mad high and the town is finally engaging with the club. People aren't going to stop coming because the internal transfer process is too bureaucratic

They will if we’re bottom half tho it’s a two way thing

 

[amsemp]

Think a ball playing CB is our key signing this summer.

And also can score goals from set pieces

Totally agree and said before that a ball playing centre back should be very top of our list. If you offered me Golding or Pepple, I’d snap your arm off for Golding. Really hope we can find our Kensdale/Golding 2.0, as Golding looks destined for bigger things next season and Goodliffe wasn’t close to those two (particularly Golding) in terms of being a proper ball playing centre half.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

They will if we’re bottom half tho it’s a two way thing

Yes, and if my gran had wheels she’d be a bicycle. But neither of the above are or will be true, bet the farm on it.

 

[GBJ]

Think a ball playing CB is our key signing this summer.

*One of.

Goals win games & clean sheets win titles.

We need both.

 

[RHB]

Yes, and if my gran had wheels she’d be a bicycle. But neither of the above are or will be true, bet the farm on it.

Bit harsh on granny Spiffy!

 

[GBJ]

We haven't got the money to win this league - consequently we will never win this league. Our only chance out of this league is via the play offs.
1st is living in a fantasy world
2nd or 3rd is overachieving
4th or 5th will be realistic
6th or 7th slightly disappointing
Outside the play offs will be a failure

These are the facts, and they are indisputable...

Disagree.

People said around Feb/March time that reaching the playoffs (never mind reaching the final) was also living in a fantasy world.

I wouldn’t expect us to win the league, but I also wouldn’t write us off of anything next term.

 

[cerbera45]

I think we're treading a fine line here (the club as a whole) between going for player's who will significantly improve the quality of our squad and/or team but careful not to over extend ourselves financially and pay extortionate agent/signing-on fees, overinflated wages across multiple year deals.

 

[amsemp]

Ethan Sutcliffe could be someone we have our eye on. Seems very highly rated and made over 50 appearances on loan to Tonbridge Angels in the NLS last season from Wimbledon. Described as a ‘towering ball playing centre back’, so a loan could be on the cards.

 

[Smiffy]

I love this threat. Crowds are mad high and the town is finally engaging with the club. People aren't going to stop coming because the internal transfer process is too bureaucratic

That's not what I was suggesting at all. I was merely pointing out crowds could drop due to Kev not being able to build a side capable of "chasing top honours", not because the internal processes may or may not be working correctly at present. it's not a threat, it's what will likely happen as it does at every other club that perhaps underperforms fans expectations. Let's hope this is not the case and Kev is given the tools to build a side chasing those top honours.

 

[BEERMONSTER]

I’ve noticed a recurring comment on here that we don't have the money the idea that COSU simply hasn’t got the cash to back Kev in the market.
Is in my view a misrepresentation of how our ownership group actually works and it risks under‑selling the commitment that sits behind the Club.
COSU isn’t one deep‑pocketed sugar‑daddy; it’s a consortium. Its members all have meaningful personal wealth, immediately none are on the same tier as the Premier League’s resident billionaires. The key point is that collectively they’ve agreed to pool their clout in a way that keeps the Club sustainable, starting with a clear five‑year plan that was laid out when they took the reins.
So when the recruitment pot looks modest, it’s not because the cupboard is bare. It’s because COSU have chosen a disciplined, data‑led spend model rather than a chequebook frenzy. Each member underwrites their own stake in line with a consortium‑wide budget that grows only when the underlying numbers justify it. It might feel cautious, but it’s the same principle that kept clubs like Brentford and Brighton from nosediving into administration while they climbed the leagues.
Need evidence that money is there when the cause is right? Look no further than the Wembley display fund. A single COSU member wrote a £10,000 cheque so the travelling Shrimpers could unfurl that wonderful statement banner.
No publicity, no fanfare, just a quiet show of faith that the moment mattered. That’s not the behaviour of owners who “can’t afford” to back their club.
Does that mean COSU will break the wage structure? In my opinion yes potentially.
If a target comes along whose upside dwarfs the risk – on the pitch and on the balance sheet – individual members (or a group of them) can and I believe would step up to underwrite the deal. The difference is they’ll do it strategically, not emotionally.
We all want quick fixes, but we’ve also lived through the roulette‑wheel finances of the last regime. COSU’s model isn’t as sexy as a billionaire’s blank cheque, yet it’s infinitely healthier for Southend United’s long‑term future. So the next time someone says “we’ve got no money,” I’d counter with this: we do have money – what we also have, finally, is a plan.

 

[Smiffy]

As I said countless times last season. This is a big summer for COSU and management. The honeymoon period is over and the board and management team will all be judged (probably by Xmas) without the caveats of transfer embargo's and late takeovers.

Fans are ruthless and we are no different. Good signings will be demanded and quickly. Along with an absolute minimum of a top 7 finish. That's football and it will be a baptism of fire this season for all involved and without that protection of a fire blanket they've had for the last few seasons.

 

[rigsby]

Someone like Goodliffe but is comfortable on the ball. And also doesn’t give away penalties, slip from a long ball and skew clearances in important games.

Someone like Goodliffe in the air but can play it out from the back will be playing in at least L2 if not L1.

I would be more than Ok if he signed with us. Without him we would not have made the play-offs let alone Wembley.

People have wrongly judged him after a Norwood cute foul 120 mins into a Wembley final in June…. If we had one other fit CB they would have been on the pitch by then. He had done his job by full time.

It’s the NL not the PL. Every team that wins it has at least one big strong number 5. We need a minimum of 2 of those because right now that’s our weakest area.

 

[Liam AAS]

That's not what I was suggesting at all. I was merely pointing out crowds could drop due to Kev not being able to build a side capable of "chasing top honours", not because the internal processes may or may not be working correctly at present. it's not a threat, it's what will likely happen as it does at every other club that perhaps underperforms fans expectations. Let's hope this is not the case and Kev is given the tools to build a side chasing those top honours.

I have some very recent data that would help working out the probability of this outcome.

 

[Rob Noxious]

Ethan Sutcliffe could be someone we have our eye on. Seems very highly rated and made over 50 appearances on loan to Tonbridge Angels in the NLS last season from Wimbledon. Described as a ‘towering ball playing centre back’, so a loan could be on the cards.

Great to have a post about someone of interest on a transfer speculation thread.

 

[Magnum PI]

Love wednesdays…

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

No- but straight away no doubt Kev will be thinking give me the tools and I will deliver, and some of our supporters will, if he doesn’t get that support, still be posting on an endless Maher Out thread trying to get everyone sacked if we aren’t at least top 3. After all expectation will be we are aiming for top spot.

Some motivations are better kept in house, or at least be aware of raising expectations amongst the fanbase inconsistent with the financial realities.

That all said at the moment we don’t know who we will bring in, and only then we will know how realistic any outcome is likely to be. We should then judge outcomes accordingly.

I don’t think Kev will be trying any more or less to get automatic promotion based on these comments, and by extension the players.

The highlighted bit in your post - that's not Justin's fault it's supporters and their expectations - look regardless of whether or not JR says anything there will be Southend fans who expect the league title. That's on them and based on the evidence *right now* we'd need miracles. Add 5/6 quality players why not? Don't think JR cares how we get to league 2 he just mentioned we should be in the mix and so we should - not sneaking in last day with a 0-0. I have no issue with a chairman saying 'let's bloody go for it'. It's the spirit the players showed in the play offs (and the fans) .. why not believe??

On to the point others have made - we HAVE to add quality. Yes that's on COSU to help Kev out.

 

[SHRIMPERPETER]

Love wednesdays…

Spasov all done?

 

[overseas shrimper]

"We want to be back in that EFL. We should all be driven by this disappointment to attack next season and be chasing the top honours rather than jumping in there [the play-offs] on the final day."

I have absolutely no issues with it. Neither should Kev or any of the players! It's not an ultimatum.

It's a good statement. Both measured, not over promising, not making commitments that should raise expectations. Well, not unless you want to read more into it than there is.

 

[overseas shrimper]

This is league which only has 1 automatic spot, how on earth can we afford to be patient? This isn't league 2 where they have 3 automatic promotion spots. The squad itself looks skinny which needs to be bolsterd interms of numbers (preferably with 1st or 2nd choice targets added instead of 4th/5th choice targets). Even from squad moral point of view signings are needed to show the management and the current set of players we are serious about going for promotion. We have to continue to build on whats been achieved so far and not being left behind playing catch up which could cost us in the long run. Currently we have squad of 17 players that's very light interms of numbers, you need a squad of atleast 22/23 going into the first game of the season. Fully prepared squad with 5 1st/2nd choice targets signed up before ball kicked will more likely see us get off to fast start which is needed in this league to be competitive at the top end. I seriously hope we aren't messing around at the back end of August, that will cause issues with the management and owners.

You're just going to have to learn to be patient. Talk about melodramatic.