Dusic

Carrillo surely our worst ever signing?

Daily Echo says we are interested in Jannik Vestergaard. Totally different player from Marlon. I'm not convinced by the accuracy of the Marlon stuff. Sport is one of the least reliable Spanish football outlets. http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/16323811.mohamed-elyounoussi-is-not-direct-tadic-replacement/

Worth poiting out an article earlier today on the same site said he was going to West Ham, not the most credible source. https://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barca/ultimos-flecos-del-traspaso-marlon-6914841

Giving him a new contract is one of the worst decisions the Saints hierarchy have made in the last two years. Didn't need one. Didn't deserve one. No chance a club will maych his wages, let alone pay a fee so we will have to let him out on a subsidised loan for a bit, like with Ramirez and Osvaldo.

Apart from the bit where Wilson introduces Armstrong to Les (off camera but you can hear Reed's name mentioned).

Great signing, really good player..from game one with the Clyne backheel assist, to the last game. Teammates trusted him with the ball and he rarely lost possession when in control. I think he genuinely cared too. Kept himself fit for a very high proportion of games, so very professional attitude (Austin could learn a thing or two about physical prep of a PL footballer). Will take some replacing IMO. Easily our best creator and also the best at combining with the full backs, an important element of our game. Yes, inconsistent, although tended to deliver in big moments. If he did it all the time then he would never have played for us. Will miss watching him, he has a lot of what is good about football.

Good business in theory, but with Tadic leaving he will have to hit the ground running and have a similar impact to what Tadic had at first. If he is another Boufal who doesn't adapt then we are in trouble.

Top pro. Great signing for Saints and when on form an excellent player to watch. Will miss him waving at the crowd even when the ball is in play.

Austin scores goals but is one of the least creative players I can think of. (We are selling our most creative player)

LOL how Armstrong is questioned about missing a handful of games for Celtic and Ings absolutely woeful injury record is glossed over. Also not what we need IMO.

Who are they?

Boufal should be sold and Sims sent out on loan. Tadic is miles better than any of our other wide players. Seeing as our strikes are awful at creating chamces for themselves we are hugely reliant on Tadic's creativity at the moment. Sell him and replace badly and it would be a horrendous move, he kept us up last season.

Good to bring in a British player. Seems a smart move for a low fee. Looks like a profile of player that we don't have. Still require a lot more activity both in and out though. Certainly been a disappointing window so far, had expected more change.

Our striker options are certainly bottom 6 material. Really expected an overhaul in that area this summer but don't think the Club have the urgency/ambition to do what is needee sadly.

No way City would let Gunn go permanently so would be a loan and no way they would send him somewhere to sit on the bench. Odd one really.

All the same teams watch and are interested in the same players. Tough job to persuade anyone to join us ahead of Leicester, Everton or WHam though. Elyounoussi would be a great signing but a few days ago Leicester were strongly linked: http://www.espn.in/football/soccer-transfers/story/3536780/leicester-city-plan-summer-move-for-basels-mohamed-elyounoussi-sources

McQueen is quite favoured on here, but is he actually better than Targett as a LB?

Cheap, available, average. Sounds like a Saints deal.

Agree personally. Targett lacks that yard of pace that Shaw and Bertrand have. Decent player but gets ripped by quick wide players at PL level. Those kind of numbers just shows you need to spend £30m for a proven player these days.

Key word - "hope" In a situation where they must get things done rather than hope it. See January 2017 & 18.

FAO Mosin - have a lie down. FAO those who are sayings its ok if we replace him well - look at the Schneiderlin, Wanyama, Mane, Pelle, Fonte and VVD replacements. I have zero faith in Ross and Les to replace what Tadic brings, within our budget. That is more of a concern than the actual act of selling our only good attacker.

Would cost double that to replace what he brings and assuming Boufal goes to when we need a couple of wide players before even considering strikers, CB or RB. We have 7 or 8 attacking players but he is easily the best and our most reliable creator. Also one of the main experienced pros in the squad, and is a leader of which we have few. Can imagine the rest of the squad being gutted about this as well. This window, even in the early stages, has a January 2018 feeling about it.

Like it or not, the Wires are having a good window. Fair play.

This is interesting on Haidara: https://janrihaplateau.wordpress.com/2017/11/05/amadou-haidara-destined-for-the-top/ But he isn't similar to Maddison at all so assume we still want a player of that profile i.e a no10. Haidara seems like a Lemina or JWP competitor. As an aside, I wonder if, after the articles from Wilson and Wallace bigging up our plans for January after selling VVD, the club have decided to be a lot more low key. There have been no articles of that type, nothing in the Echo, nor via Blackmore which is probably better, despite the crave for information. Where Reed and Willo are concerned, actions need to speak louder than words.

Saints go to China at the end of June, looking increasingly likely with no additions to a squad that was nearly relegated. There is a massive advantage to have players settled for the start of the season and it adds competition for those who were poor last season but with no real fight for their place. Also gives Hughes fewer options, he has to plan for a 5-3-2 simply because the CBs arent good enough and need protecting. Plus, surely we aren't going to start the season with Long and Austin as the main strikers again?