Rowan Gorilla 5

Transfermarkt lists Perraud, Walker-Peters and Livramento as 173cm and Larios as 170cm whereas Bree is shown as 178cm. Not sure how accurate that is but 178cm isn’t 5’8” and he would be our tallest fullback. Allegedly.

Would Beto, Moffi, Estupiñan, Akpom, Jackson, Onuachu, Wright or any other mystery striker that we’ve been linked with do any worse than our current strikers at scoring goals if we can somehow convince them to join?

Paul-Georges Ntep.

I'd like to see Alderweireld and Bertrand signed permanently. After that I'd like to see competition for Forster, Clyne and Pellè and then I would feel much more comfortable. I'm also interested to see whether Cork and Rodriguez will sign new deals. I know Cork hasn't been offered one while Rodriguez is sitting on an offer. If neither look like being offered or signing a new deal then something will need to be done in terms of bringing in another midfielder and attacking player. Who knows, maybe the linking of Spurs' players to Saints is a bid to try and line up an exchange of Kane and Townsend for Rodriguez. Pie in the sky in all likelihood and very greedy I know but these are heady days.

I get the feeling that Koeman will be playing with one midfielder sitting deep in a defensive role with the other two further forward. All will be playing centrally. The front 3 will include the two wide players and one central striker.

Goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi linked again. http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/376711/Stoke-and-Southampton-go-head-to-head-over-ex-Liverpool-stopper-Peter-Gulacsi

I won't disagree with you but if that's what she means then she should have said "provided they raise £90M" or "if they raise £90M". Regardless, I wouldn't expect Saints to spend £70M.

That's my understanding of it. A budget of £70M to spend regardless. Up to £90M in incoming transfer fees should players, i.e. Shaw, Lallana and Lovren, be sold. The two are separate. Not saying either or both will happen but that's what she appears to be saying.

Quality link to Mexican goalkeeper Ochoa. http://www.courier.co.uk/Liverpool-Arsenal-Southampton-battle-goalkeeper/story-21255144-detail/story.html

If Koeman or De Boer are appointed and 2-3 players are sold for big money then I have no doubt that 4-6 players could be recruited from the Eredivisie that would be more than capable of slotting into the team and improving the squad overall. There are many good, young, technically gifted Dutch players. Teams can sell players, replace them and continue to thrive. Fingers crossed Saints can do so.

Oliver Baumann and Ron-Robert Zieler. 2 good quality keepers from the Bundesliga.

I believe Saint-Etienne were scouted earlier in the season so I wonder whether Ruffier would have been one of the players under consideration.

Don't worry chaps, the below should sort out the enormous hole in the finances: Chambers - £10m Lovren - £15m Shaw - £27m Schneiderlin - £15m Lallana - £25m Gallagher - £5m Plus Wanyama and Rodriguez, when fit again, for potentially big fees. All ball park figures from the press. Pretty sure I've missed out a bunch of other players certain to leave as well, i.e. the worthless Hooiveld, Ramirez and Osvaldo who will leave for nothing except the remainder of their contracts being paid up by the club. That being said I make it a guaranteed £97m coming into the club minus the £27m transfer 'debt' and a few other expenses leaving somewhere in the region of £70m to reinvest or pocket. Most or all of the above is nonsense.

What about Keylor Navas of Levante? Linked in the summer along with Ruben Garcia in a double deal. Can't remember which paper it was in though. No idea how good he his but wouldn't have thought he'd be linked to Liverpool for £8m in the upcoming transfer window if he was useless. 27 years old and off to the World Cup with Costa Rica.

A small market team winning the title ahead of much more fancied clubs. What's wrong with that?

Add the following: Karim Bellarabi - AM - Eintracht Braunschweig (Bayer Leverkusen) I forgot Danny Ings previously and then there was the Jack Colback link as well. Still no 'keeper.

Not entirely sure. I know that I've read them on Newsnow though.

A summary of some of the players we've been linked with from January-ish sort of time to present. Aly Cissokho - LB - Liverpool (Valencia CF) Davide Astori - CB - Cagliari Calcio Cheikhou Kouyate - CB - RSC Anderlecht Harry Maguire - CB - Sheffield United Virgil van Dijk - CB - Celtic Diego Poyet - DM - Charlton Athletic McDonald Mariga - DM - Inter Milan Havard Nordtveit - DM - Borussia Monchengladbach Claudio Yacob - DM - West Bromwich Albion Eder - AM - Sampdoria Aaron Hunt - AM - Werder Bremen Lucas Ocampos - AM - AS Monaco Rafa Silva - AM - SC Braga Saphir Taider - AM - Inter Milan Carlos Vela - AM - Real Sociedad Sergio Garcia - CF - RCD Espanyol Paulinho - CF - AS Livorno Christian Stuani - CF - RCD Espanyol Fabio Quagliarella - CF - Juventus Mirko Vucinic - CF - Juventus I'm sure that there are many that I've missed off the list and some, if not all, of the links may be dubious. Interesting that there are no 'keepers or right backs linked. Not that we need a right back. Anybody's guess who we'll sign and how much we'll spend but there are obvious weaknesses in the squad. Interesting times ahead.

Radja Nainggolan mentioned again as possibly being on the move.

Christian Stuani, 27 year old Uruguayan striker at Espanyol being linked as well.

I imagine that there will need to be a further similar outlay in the January transfer window to that seen in the Summer. £30m plus on 3 players to once more significantly improve the quality and depth of the squad once more. Of course this will be far easier should the club maintain its very healthy league position to the midway point of the season thereby making it a far more attractive proposition to potential signings. Given various other clubs starts to the season it would appear to be as good a time as any to push on in an attempt to break into the 'closed shop' at the top of the table.

He's 27. Cardozo is 30. Slight difference.

Cardozo would have been a good signing. Wonder whether there is any truth to it. Doesn't seem to fit in with the general age range. Would certainly have made things interesting up front and would tend to indicate that Osvaldo and Rodriguez are more likely to play as attacking midfielders.

Who needs to go? Martin, Forte, Barnard, Lee and Sharp. Some posters would want Fox and Guly to leave on top of that. Rumours, mutterings at best, of Hooiveld and Mayuka out. Not sure how much money that would bring in really but it would reduce the wage bill by a reasonable amount. Pleased with the 3 players brought in so far but can't help but feel that that the squad is somewhat light in certain areas. It does feel greedy wanting more signings but there are squad numbers not yet allocated which does indicate that there might have been the intention of bringing more players in. What is it, numbers 11, 14, 15, and 19? Would like to see full back cover, a starting centre back to partner Lovren and a couple of pacy attacking midfielders to give the team and squad that added quality and resilience to deal with any injuries.

Why would we not try to improve every area of the first team and squad if that option is available? I don't understand how we can settle with what we have and not strive to better what we've got. Where did we finish last season again?