People get ready, for we have now entered that magical time of the year... Flying Kiwis Transfer Season. Not so long ago we used to have to take the kiwi footballer transfers as they came along but these last few years have been different. There are now so many men and women from Aotearoa spread out at professional clubs across the globe that we can guarantee good things will happen in copious quantities. So, as the portal opens once more, here’s the cheat sheet ahead of the European Summer window, breaking down contract situations, existing rumours, and which names to keep handy in those search bars.

Alex Paulsen got us going with a blockbuster move to AFC Bournemouth. That’s already been written about at length – one thing to add is Bourney have since revealed their retained list and two goalkeepers, Darren Randolph and Cameron Plain, were amongst those who are leaving the club, while Ionut Radu was only ever there on loan. That helps clear the path for Paulsen to have a crack at the main squad. Assuming they don’t sign anyone else, it’ll be Neto, Mark Travers, and Will Dennis that AP’s competing with. At least one of them will probably go out on loan. Potentially Paulsen... though Travers or Dennis might feel they’re ready to be starters somewhere else.

Following that, all signs point towards Marko Stamenic joining Coventry City. The Serbian media is convinced of it. The English media are saying to cool down but Stamenic is currently in England so make of that what you will. Almost all of the kiwis who played in England last season remain under contract (including Jamie Searle whose Forest Green Rovers were relegated to the National League). Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest), Matt Dibley-Dias (Fulham), Henry Gray (Ipswich Town), Ben Waine (Plymouth Argyle), Scott Morris (Stoke City), Tyler Bindon (Reading), Max Crocombe (Burton Albion)... no dramas there. All have at least one more season on the books. That also applies to youngsters like Marley Leuluai (Burnley) and Adam Watson (Stoke City). There are a few other youth players at EFL clubs with dual national status but we’ll stick to the known NZ reps for now.

The two exceptions are Nik Tzanev and Deklan Wynne. Tzanev is leaving AFC Wimbledon after dropping to second choice last season (even though the number one, Alex Bass, has returned to Sunderland after his loan). He was rumoured with Blackburn Rovers a year ago but that obviously never happened. He’d actually be a sneaky option for the Wellington Phoenix if they wanted to replace Paulsen from outside the club. As for Deklan Wynne, he only joined Port Vale for the final few weeks of their season and didn’t make an appearance. But he is in talks to remain with them after their relegation to League Two. Nothing further has been announced yet.

Max Mata has of course gone on loan to Auckland FC from Shrewsbury Town. He’s got two more years with Town so he could potentially return after a year in the A-League – though that’d be dependant on them changing managers. He was getting good game time until Paul Hurst came along. The job-life of a football manager being what it is, that’s actually not a bad thing to roll the dice on. Plus there has been chat of interest from Derby County in Tyler Bindon, albeit not for the type of fee that they’d likely consider. Not even with the ownership change looking like it’ll drag on for months and keep them in a state where incoming transfer fees are necessary.

It’s a slightly different story for the women based in England. CJ Bott is under contract with Leicester City... but that’s about it. Ria Percival has already been released one year early from her Tottenham Hotspur contract (presumably her last year was a club option, or it could have been a mutual release) which would surely clear the path for her to rejoin Crystal Palace on a permanent basis now that they’ve been promoted to the WSL. Not sure where Anna Leat is going though. Rumours were that she’s expected to leave Aston Villa at the conclusion of her contract. She’s backed up two different goalies in two years with the Villans, although this year’s number one, Daphne van Domselaar, is expected to move to Arsenal with Gunners back-up Sabrina D’Angelo going the other way. Leat could still choose to stay... though you can understand why she wouldn’t if it means a third year of only being a cup specialist. Quite a few WSL clubs seem to have vulnerable starting goalkeeping spots and, at this stage of her career, that’s what Leat has proven she’s ready for. Might not even be in England but she should be a starting keeper somewhere.

Down a division in the Championship it’s basically all one-year contracts so everyone’s up for grabs. There’s a good chance that Grace Neville remains at London City Lionesses where she’s one of their longest serving players and hopefully Paige Satchell is able to re-up as well. However we surely won’t see Jacqui Hand stick around with Lewes now that they’ve been relegated to the third tier. She’s far too good for that. Katie Kitching and Sunderland seem like a good mix though. You’d imagine KK hangs on for another promotion challenge... even if there have been whispers of Newcastle United wanting to poach a bunch of their close rival’s players now that they’ve been promoted into the same division. Also keep an eye on whether teenager Olivia Page returns with Sheffield United for a second season. Apparently Reading youngster Mae Hunt has kiwi heritage also.

Moving over to Scotland, it was in July just before the World Cup last year that Vic Esson re-signed with Rangers. A few months ago it wasn’t looking like there’d be much point her doing that again for a third year in Glasgow Blue but then she had a brilliant end to the season looking like an undisputed number one so we’ll see how this tracks. Similar situation with Meikayla Moore at Glasgow City where she was excellent in her second season with the club and you’d imagine both parties will be keen for an extension. It’s so hard to find contract details in women’s football, maybe she’s already locked in.

James McGarry will remain at Aberdeen in the Men’s Premiership, though Callan Elliot has left Motherwell (supposedly for Auckland FC) and Alex Greive has been released by St Mirren after spending the second half of the campaign on loan with Dundee United. Curiously, Dundee United still gave him a happy birthday shoutout on their socials even after he’d left the previous week. Then NZF listed him as a Dundee United player in the Nations Cup squad. DU were promoted as champs of the second tier so it’d make sense for him to stick around in the same way as it does for Ria Percival at Crystal Palace. George Stanger has another year with Ayr United in the second tier.

Will Nando Pijnaker still be a Sligo Rovers player in a few months? As soon as Max Mata left it began to feel like a matter of time until Nando also departed, though a rib injury has been keeping him out for the last wee while. A further step up in his career is probably about overdue, and he was in great form prior to the injury, but we shall see. Zac Jones has re-signed for another year with Welsh top flight club Haverfordwest County also. It would be cool to see him tested at a higher level though for now he’s got a comfortable spot where he is.

There’s been some outstanding news out of Germany with Sarpreet Singh having been granted free agent status one year into a three-year deal with Hansa Rostock thanks to a prescient relegation clause in his contract. That move was a shambles for him as the struggling 2.Liga club refused to take the risk of playing a dude with international quality and genuine creativity. Their loss. Singh’s club career has been absolutely cursed but his All Whites performances prove what he’s capable of. He’ll be one of the funkiest names to follow over the next couple months. Singh’s won more Bundesliga titles than Harry Kane so that’s gotta count for something.

There could also be something on the cards for Elijah Just, who earlier in the year spent some time away from the AC Horsens first team squad as he angled for a move to IFK Göteborg in the Swedish top flight. That didn’t happen at the time because it was outside of the Danish transfer window so ACH would not have been able to sign a replacement. But once they dodged the threat of consecutive relegations, Just seemed to play a lot less than he had been doing prior. Could that have been preparation for his inevitable departure? His old Horsens coach is in charge of Göteborg so there ya go... although he might wanna hurry because IFKG are only one place above the relegation break with the Swedish league on its summer break until late July. The fact that a fresh EJ highlights package just appeared feels like a sign.

Other than that, the blokes in Europe are mostly sorted. Libby Cacace has another year on the books with Empoli. That puts him in possible contract extension territory, though it’d be easier to predict that if we could trust he’d be a first eleven player. Callum McCowatt (Silkeborg), Dalton Wilkins (Sønderjyske), Kees Sims (GAIS), and Joe Bell (Viking FC) are all at Scandinavian top flight clubs having transferred within the past 12 months so nothing happening there. Nor with Matthew Garbett, who might have been a transfer possibility had NAC Breda not been dramatically and spectacularly promoted. There are always a few youngsters who could be on the move. Same goes with players from outside the foreign professional realms who could be making that leap. That’s where we’re at with the top choice All Whites though.

Unless... Bill Tuiloma’s contract does expire with Charlotte FC at the end of 2024 and he’s only made two appearances in the past twelve months despite being their eighth highest salary earner. An early release is absolutely something to consider. Tuiloma’s a true pro so he’s not going to rock the boat but if a better situation comes along, you know? Could be Auckland FC to the rescue. Could even be a trade to a rival MLS team for the rest of that expiring deal. On that note, Myer Bevan left his Canadian club for personal reasons a little while ago to return back to Auckland with his young family. Whether or not that might come with an A-League opportunity in his hometown remains to be seen.

As for the rest of the Football Ferns, well, the proliferation of one-year contracts means that anyone could be moving. The likes of Katie Bowen (Inter Milan), Malia Steinmetz (Nordsjælland), and Indi Riley (PSV) all seem settled where they are after excellent first seasons with those clubs. Then again, that may mean that even bigger clubs are lurking. Claudia Bunge hasn’t been getting any minutes at HB Køge lately, nor has Ally Green at AGF, despite both going really well earlier in the campaign. They’d be worth following. Emma Pijnenburg did sign a pro deal with Feyenoord a few weeks ago, which was more than deserved, but Erin Nayler is leaving Bayern Munich after a year in which she made one lone substitute appearance in the team’s last home game (which was still pretty cool, to be honest). Jana Niedermayr has been playing reserves for the top team in Austria these past 18 months but is now leaving SKN St. Pölten. Also hoping that Kiara Bercelli gets a crack with the Sampdoria first team after spending this past term out on loan with Chievo in the second tier.

That takes us deeper down to where the A-League glimmers through the distant fog. Alex Paulsen’s already shown what is possible, joining a proud selection of Wellington Phoenix players to have earned transfer fee departures: Sarpreet Singh, Liberato Cacace, Ben Waine, Macey Fraser, Alex Paulsen. The Nix have already admitted that there is at least some cursory interest in other players. From the men’s team, Ben Old, Finn Surman, and Sam Sutton should all be on a few wishlists. Each of them remains under contract for at least next season.

As to the women’s team, there are only six players under contract as things stand. Macey Fraser has already departed to the golden sands of Utah (for an A-League Women’s record price-tag). Grace Wisnewski has revealed that she won’t be returning as she explores other opportunities. She’s still on the mend from that ACL tear so it’ll be interesting to see what that entails. And just as this article was being written, the Welly Nix announced that Kate Taylor would be leaving to “explore overseas opportunities”. She definitely seems ready for that next step. It was strange to see the last Footy Ferns squad list Taylor as a free agent but Michaela Foster as a Phoenix player when both of them are technically out of contract. Once again the international squad announcements left a clue behind for those with eyes to see it.

You know who else was listed as “Unattached” in that Ferns squad? Grace Jale... who is out of contract at Perth Glory. She’s played for three different ALW clubs in three years with arguable diminishing returns each time. The logical reaction would be to either move to a contending ALW team or to have a nudge overseas (she did trial in Serbia once upon a time). Hannah Blake has already been released by Adelaide United which is probably much more of her not re-signing than them not wanting her to. Blake’s always said she wants to play in England, where she was born, and she’s probably got enough of a reputation now to get a go in the second tier. Liz Anton is the only other current ALW player who seems ready for a leap, granted you never quite know. Younger or less experienced ALWers like Alyssa Whinham, Helena Errington, Deven Jackson, Ruby Nathan, or Emma Main could always surprise us. Also, Olivia Chance will be looking to get back into it later this year after giving birth to a healthy wee bairn two months ago. You can pretty much guarantee that’ll be in the A-League for one of the Melbourne teams. Her husband is from Melbourne so that’s where they’re currently based.

It’s also the case that Marco Rojas is a free agent after his short stint with Brisbane Roar. Hard not to think Auckland FC there, especially after Tommy Smith did the same thing with a short-term gig to get (re-)acquainted with the A-League before joining AFC. Rojas could pick any team in the ALM though, they’d all take him. Highly doubt he’ll go any further overseas than that again... in fact it might even be worth considering if an early retirement may be in his thinking.

That only leaves a myriad of local options seeking to sign their first professional deals. Come to think of it, there weren’t very many reported trial opportunities over the past six months, not compared to the previous couple years. The Olympics in July/August are bound to be a spotlight – especially for the blokes given that’s an U23 tournament. There’s also the Women’s U20 and U17 World Cups later in the year, though that’ll be fuel for future transfer window fires.

Suffice it to say that if something happens, you’ll be able to read about it in the Flying Kiwis roundups every Tuesday on this very same website. That’s for the substantiated yarns. The rumours tend to find a home in our Substack newsletter. Stay tuned in and you’ll get the goods. In the meantime, here’s a cheeky Transfer Activity Excitement/Anticipation Level rank as of 10 June 2024...

1. Marko Stamenic – Crzena zvezda

2. Sarpreet Singh – Free Agent (Hansa Rostock)

3. Anna Leat – Free Agent (Aston Villa)

4. Kate Taylor – Free Agent (Wellington Phoenix)

5. Elijah Just – AC Horsens

6. Jacqui Hand – Free Agent (Lewes)

7. Grace Jale – Free Agent (Perth Glory)

8. Grace Wisnewski – Free Agent (Wellington Phoenix)

9. Alex Greive – Free Agent (Dundee United)

10. Ria Percival – Free Agent (Spurs/Crystal Palace)

11. Tyler Bindon – Reading

12. Nik Tzanev – Free Agent (AFC Wimbledon)

13. Hannah Blake – Free Agent (Adelaide United)

14. Bill Tuiloma – Charlotte FC

15. Nando Pijnaker – Sligo Rovers

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