“I strongly believe” – Plymouth Argyle tipped to fend off potential transfer interest in £15k-a-week star.
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which features personal opinions from FLW Fan Pundits on breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings, and more.
Plymouth Argyle’s relegation to League One, along with Cardiff City and Luton Town, at the end of the 2024/25 Championship season may result in significant changes this summer.
Plymouth will compete for the services of Ryan Hardie and Mustapha Bundu, who both scored double digits in the Championship. The latter’s contract is set to expire next month and is currently being renewed.
There is also uncertainty about the future of popular manager Miron Muslic, who deserves credit for coming close to keeping the Green Army in the Championship despite the odds. Due to issues with the footballing structure at Home Park, the Bosnian-Austrian manager has recently declined to confirm whether he will lead Plymouth in League One next season.
A number of other players could leave in the coming months, but Plymouth has been backed to keep Bali Mumba heading into the summer transfer window.
The 23-year-old, who will be one of the more valuable assets in Muslic’s squad, signed for Plymouth permanently in the summer of 2022 for a reported £1 million fee from Norwich City. He previously helped the side to promotion from League One while on loan.
| Bali Mumba’s career stats by club, via FotMob | ||||
| Years | Club | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 2018-2020 | Sunderland | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020-20230 | Norwich City | 9 | 0 | |
| 2022 | Peterborough United (loan) | 13 | 1 | 1 |
| 2022-2023 | Plymouth Argyle (loan) | 47 | 6 | 7 |
| 2023- | Plymouth Argyle | 93 | 3 | 6 |
FLW asked Chris, our resident Green Army fan pundit, if Mumba will leave after relegation from the Championship, or if potential second-tier suitors may be turned off by his lack of direct goal contributions.
Chris believes that factor will be a “turn-off point” for clubs, and while he anticipates interest in Mumba’s signing, he is ultimately confident that the Argyle wide-man will stay put to help his side return to the Championship at the first attempt.
“Although there is a lot of excitement in relation to what prospects we will be looking to acquire come the summer transfer window, there are also a lot of concerns regarding the current squad,” Chris told the news organisation.
“Although we’ve seen the retained list and many of our regular first-team players, such as Ryan Hardie, are still under contract, the challenge will be retaining those assets for the League One season with the goal of bouncing right back up to Championship football.
“One of those particular assets of concern is Bali Mumba, the £1 million signing who helped us stay in the Championship for two seasons but was unable to keep us there for the following season.
“With League One football, there is always the possibility that many outside clubs, particularly those that have recently been promoted, will be looking for a quick and agile wing-back who can contribute goals.
“However, the turn-off point may be Mumba’s lack of direct contributions in terms of assists or goals last season, as opposed to the previous season.
“I strongly believe that he will stay with the club, and we will fend off potential suitors for his signature due to the prospect of going straight back up to the Championship, staying with the club he knows and trains well with, and already doing well under Miron Muslic.”
Bali Mumba’s estimated Plymouth Argyle salary
Plymouth has secured Mumba’s contract and will not rush to accept offers. Mumba is under contract until the summer of 2027, after agreeing to a four-year deal nearly two years ago.
According to Capology, Mumba’s contract makes him Plymouth’s top earner, with an estimated weekly wage of £15,000.
On an annual basis, that equates to £780,000, which is a lot of money for League One, though Plymouth are in a much better position in terms of player salaries and potential wage bill reductions than Luton and Cardiff.
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