Dusic

If there is any interest from Wolves in Ramos then it would be a tough job to persuade him to join us over them. Used to be coached by Lage, seven Portuguese in their starting 11 and look like a decent side that are missing a no9. They will obviously sign a striker so hopefully they aren't in for him for some reason.

Sounds like Norwich have only really had loan offers, so doubt he would actually be that much and certainly nowhere near the £25m that used to be touted for him. Assuming KWP doesn't sign a new deal and leaves next summer then wouldnt hurt to have already signed his replacement, seeing as we could certainly use someone lile Aarons now. I believe he has also covered at LB on occassions too. From what I have seen of him as a player he is probably a similar profile to KWP style wise.

Probably positioning ourselves for him incase we are unable to get Ramos. Assuming Benfica wouldn't sell before the 2nd leg of their CL tie, any move for him would go down to the wire, if indeed he moves anywhere. Also...wonder if potential Ramos purchase is/was reliant upon selling Adams? Seems to have gone a bit quiet there, although noted he had a knock and didnt train for a few days this week...

Because in a year if he has done well in the PL he could pretty much move to any of the top clubs here or in Europe. Seems very clear we want him. Newcastle also mentioned but hopefully they will get Pedro - surely he will push to leave Watford if they keep turning down bids? Then there is Wolves, but they just signed Guedes, although Lage used to coach Ramos and spoke to him earlier in the summer. Supposedly some financial issues so maybe the MGW cash covers Guedes and Nunes rather than being available to spend? Everton worries me as they clearly need a striker and will be getting very desperate.

At this stage no point signing anyone who isn't going to be a starting player, aside from the cover full back (note full back, not player who sometimes does a job there).

Tough one for Ralph with Perraud out. No legitimate LB so hard to see him trusting Djenepo in a back 4 away from home, which probably means 3 CBs again. Of course most will moan, but he isnt exactly blessed with a huge amount of options and would get slaughtered if he did play MD in a 4 and he has a poor game.

Would be a good replacement for Romeu. But not sure Luckhurst is overly reliable (and Shields isnt following him on IG, he follow Ramos FWIW). Also...how can we afford all this assuming we spend £20m on a striker too? Even if we sell Adams and Romeu our net spend will be around the £70m mark. Although could argue that regardless of how this season goes SR would have developed a talent pool of higher value and then hopefully we can get to a point where we have a couple of £50m players to sell each summer. At the moment we could not do this without killing ourselves (selling JWP and KWP) whereas in future we could deal with it much easier potentially.

Free agent I think, so probably not bound by yhe transfer window, although of course our need is more immediate. On Ramos, wonder who the backup option is? Likely his move to the PL will drag in for a while so other targets will probably go in the meantime, assuming we have any real confidence of getting him. Will be interesting to see if Ralph comments at all today.

Any talk of Gomez is ludicrous given Liverpool's injuries, clear he will be starting the next few games for them. Regarding Ramos, never feel like the Portuguese sides are easy to deal with, and assuming they make the CL why would a.) They sell him and b.) He be interested in a relegation-threatened PL side? Not confident something like that will come to fruition, especially given competition. On Djenepo, seeing as we will clearly keep him, it wouldnt suprise me if he signs a contract extension. Would be a bit silly to lose him on a free at the end of the season given he is still so young. Might be silly not to sign a full back but maybe Livramento is on track to return after the WC and they feel we can get by til then rather than sign someone who won't even make the squad in January? Finally...props to @SaintRob_ for stringing so many along on #SaintsFC Twitter. The lad plays the percentages well and could teach a lot of the @AgentITK types a thing or two about how to build followership despite knowing fuck all.

Sarr is pretty injury prone but as a player would give that ball carrying ability in the final third that we don't really have. Really hope we get two attacking players rather than just one. Shame CHO doesnt fancy it as he would have been an ideal loan in addition to a striker.

Would imagine that player (possibly Orel Mangala who we have been linked with previously), has already moved. Garner, if interest is correct would fit the bill. A tough position to recruit for seeing as JWP plays 100% of available minutes when fit, plus we already have Lavia (who would be hard to shift from the team too) and Diallo. Any signing is probably going to spend a decent bit of time on the bench just like Diallo has. Romeu has been a great signing and everyone would wish him well if he does leave. That said, more 'experience' out the door and one of the few of those type who actually plays. Would leave a big gap IMO.

Anyone else get the feeling we don't really have a striker lined up and are probably doing what Man Utd are with central midfielders but without any media scrutiny? A bit like two summers ago when we clearly needed a central midfielder, didn't get Sangare and then were linked with a flurry (Veermans one if I recall) before moving for Diallo who was clearly a way down our list just before the deadline.

Football Insider, who MLG has said many times are very reliable, havent even mentioned Saints. Talk about jumping the gun with a new thread!

Cash strapped Wolves spending €45m on a midfielder (assist: Mendes). Whilst our spending spree has been welcome, things like this really do highlight that staying in the PL is getting increasingly more difficult, especially when not spending more than £15m on a player. No pressure, Joe Shields.

The £7.5m post looked like a wind up to me. Apparently Adam Leventhal the Athletic correspondent for Watford said there is an interest but its early stages. So nothing sorted. If he goes, good luck to him. Good signing in the first place and has served the club well. He has limitations but made over 100apps for a PL team - not many lads brought through our Academy can say that.

Regarding Delap, is it really worth signing him on loan with no option to buy? Spend the season developing him, taking the risk to give an untried kid a chance in the PL and then if he does well (score 6 or 7 PL goals and look a threat) know that there is about a 1.43% chance of being able to buy him. We would be in exactly the same position next summer and have essentially helped Man City make a profit on him, or increase the value of their asset like we did with Broja. On the flip side, he is absolutely brilliant and he keeps us up, which is looking like it will be a good achievement this season and then perhaps it works as a short term measure. Would certainly prefer a permanent move for a striker - assuming we have more cash (or sell Adams).

Having seen a bit of all the teams, what do people think for the relegation battle this season? Forest were a bit lucky today against WHU but they have clesrly signed some good players, with more to come - and have a good manager. Might take them a bit of time but I think they will end up being fairly comfortable. Shame they made it up as Hudds would have surely taken one of the relegation spots. Fulham - will be down there but early signs suggest they are not going to be terrible and unlike last time they play to Mitrovic's strengths and he is a goalscorer. Bournemouth - hard to tell as learn nothing from the City game but unless they do a lot of business surely they will struggle to stay up. Brentford - despite lots of people on here mentioning them I don't think they will be one of the three worst teams. Clever signings, good manager and Toney a good focal point for them. Leeds - lost their two best players but have signed well so far and off to a solid start. Everton - poor so far, and have lost Richarlison. Onana cameo promising for them and you would think with Coady and Tarkowski they find a way to be solid enough. Will be interesting to see which striker they sign in comparison with us, as imagine the requirements are fairly similar albeit they have more cash. I've seen others like Wolves and Leicester mentioned but personally would be amazed if anyone else (excluding us of course) has much of a problem staying up this season. The likes of West Ham, Brighton, Palace, Villa, Newcastle all have too much quality in key areas to be involved. So...are we better than 3 of those 6 teams? Going to be very tight IMO, and anyone external who is predicting us to go down is taking a pretty logical view I think. Hopefully a few of these sides are below us after the Leicester, Utd and Chelsea games but most have had a decent enough start and I don't think this is a season when two teams are buried after 20 games.

Surely we will see some outward movement for the likes of Redmond, Walcott,Diallo and a CB soon? Otherwise don't see how we could be targetting strikers for £20m plus, however much we may need one.

Any club sacking a manager after 2 games of a season would be an absolute shambles and wouldn't reflect at all well on their decision making to retain him at the end of the last season. Besides, they havent bought him a Broja replacement yet...

Maupay is going to Forest obviously and most Brighton fans seem happy to see the back of him. Would hope we are aiming higher.

To be fair to the guy, its not his fault he only has one fit full back and still no Broja replacement! Not like he is selecting Djenepo over a host of other viable options.

Kicker and Sky Germany at the start of the summer.

Interesting that in the press conference this week when asked about strikers Ralph said lots of teams are looking for one and specifically mentioned Man Utd.

I think we would be looking for more of a right sided CB, as if we being someone in it would be to replace Stephens, Valery, Lyanco or Bednarek. Pretty sure Mings plays on the left side and Salisu is so bad on the ball I wouldn't want him playing on his weaker side. Aside from that, it wouldnt be a horrendous move and the kind of character that would certainly help.

Do get the feeling that if we don't win any of the league games in August - a distinct possibility - then he will do well to last much beyond then. Will be very interesting to see the selection and tactics on Saturday. Its not hard to work out the players who would be most disgruntled even if in the main we would happily get rid of most of them! Wonder if this kind of situation puts off potential signings?