Beckenham Saint

Where has the £50 / £55 been quoted? Haven't seen in anywhere official...

We can be playing this out with Feyenood, £8m seems pretty fair to be honest for a 29(ish) year old striker who has only ever been good at one club whilst negotiating elsewhere. I see your point, but it sounds like Pellé isn't our main striker target... (I am making that assumption both from Monks comments and our seeming-unwillingness to pay any more than we feel we need to)

While it would make little difference to our available resources, I think it's more the message that we would send out to other clubs by only paying what we felt necessary despite having quite a bit of cash sat behind us that is the problem with "an extra one or two million." By only paying what we say our highest offer is (potentially) we are letting other clubs know that we won't be taken the mickey of in the transfer market, even if we were quite happy taking the mickey with Liverpool!

As should anyone who uses the phrases "dat awkward feel" and "hue hue hue"

89 goals in 179 games for Internacional doesn't seem to bad a record to me, as well as the five he scored in the London Olympics. He seems to be a player with good technical ability, is good with the ball at his feet and seems relatively strong. I think the £20m+ price tag that was floated about last year would have been way over the top for him, but if he has been out of form with Santos (although 5 goals in 15 games is better than Osvaldo managed for us) and not making the Brazil squad may mean that his stock is down and wouldn't cost as much.

But players of Morgan's quality and class are. For me, Schneiderlin is invaluable to us.

We will need two whether we play Osvaldo or not. Jay Rod will be a big boost, but as mentioned, he is better from out wide. Sharp will just run his contract out I think, he has been unspectacular when on loan and anyone who thinks that he would be decent in the Prem (I've seen it suggested!) needs their head checked. If we are in for Pellé then he could be a decent option, although I wouldn't want to rely on someone who has only ever been good for one club. Ings would be a good signing, I think, but Burnley's reluctance to sell him on top of the fact that they don't actually need to could make his acquisition both pricey and difficult. Monk suggesting that we have other targets in mind is a comforting thought on the matter as neither Gallagher or Mayuka are good enough to lead the line for a Premiership team (yet, in the case of Gallagher, and ever in the case of Mayuka, I suspect.) Will be interesting who we are linked with and who we get. I think this will be the position that we spend most money on. Where are the best leagues to buy strikers from? Soldado was good in La Liga but couldn't cut it in the Prem, likewise Osvaldo. And most big name strikers who should guarantee goals usually come for high prices, and thus have higher expectations, which could become a factor if they are not immediately successful. I wonder if we were ever really in for Damiao? I think he would have been a quality addition, but see no reason why he would have, or would now come to us. Would we go in for someone like Wissam Ben Yedder from Toulouse? Is pretty young and scored as many as Cavani last year, but is not such a big name as to command a massive fee? Am looking forward to seeing who we get...

That will likely be before tax and any other fee's (someone in the office the other day was telling me the various places that a players 'wage' goes before they see any of it but I couldn't focus on what he was saying because he was wearing sandals and baggy green linen trousers at the time, and I don't know how much I can trust a man who chooses to dress as such) so while the figure looks high, he won't actually be getting £20,000 a week, apparently. Do we know roughly how much our players of similar age and experience are on?

Cheers. Never understood why young players would even consider signing for them, every young player they have signed or developed (McEachran was always highly rated by their fans that actually know anything) seem to fade. Chelsea FC seems to me like a graveyard for the young! They are about to sign Athletico's left back Fillipe Luiz in compliance with Chelsea's "One in one out" policy on players called Luiz!

Rumbled! haha

Don't think he's old enough to have made the cut

Lambert and Sharp?

Haven't seen this posted yet, although I haven't actually looked(!) but Lloyd Isgrove has signed a new one year deal. Seem to remember he signed a one year extension last pre-season? Has always looked decent when I've seen him (which isn't often.) Hopefully he'll get some more game time this year. http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/09072014-lloyd-isgrove-one-year-contract-extension-1732908.aspx

Guly to Liverpool?

Not yet...

Haha I thought that! A bit like finding a picture on social media or three people and commenting "You two look great!"

I agree on this, Zarate and Kouyate are both good players, will be interesting to see how they are going to fit into their team!

On the "Transfer Rumours" thread someone has just mentioned the signings made by other teams around us last year in the league and it got me wondering who other people had signed as I have largely not cared about other teams signings. But, as the season gets closer and things like new kits are being announced, and of course - our first summer signing - I am now getting very excited again! Having looked at the incoming transfers of other clubs, Tadíc would (and does) excite me a lot more than some of the other players that teams in the league have signed. If we can sign a couple more players of a similar quality, then we will have surely had a successful (at least on the incomings front) transfer window. Thought I'd compile a list on here of the signings made by the other teams in the league, and if I can be bothered - will update it as and when. Arsenal: In - Sanchez (Barcelona, £35m) Debuchy (Newcastle, £10m), Ospina (Nice, £3m) Chambers (Southampton, £12m) Out - Sagna (Manchester City), Fabianski (Swansea), Bendtner (released), Chu-young (released), Aneke (released), Boateng (released) Aston Villa: In - Senderos (Fulham, Free), J. Cole (West Ham, Free), Leggett & Nehemie (Southampton, Undisclosed), Richardson (Fulham, Undisclosed) Out - Albrighton (Leicester City), Delfouneso (Released), Bowery (Rotherham) Burnley: In - Kightly (Stoke, Undisclosed), Sordell (Bolton, Free), Gilks (Blackpool, Free), Taylor (West Ham, Free), Reid (West Brom, Free), Jutkiewicz (Middlesbrough, £2.5m) Out - Baird (West Brom), Stanislas (Bournemouth), Edgar (Birmingham), Treacy (released), Stock (released), Liversedge (released) Chelsea: In - Costa (Atletico Madrid, £32m), Fabregas (Barcelona, £30m), Pašalić (Hadjuk Split, Undisclosed), Luiz (£16m), Drogba (Galatasaray, Free) Out - Luiz (Paris Saint-Germain, £50m), A. Cole (Roma), Eto'o (released), Lampard (released), Hutchinson (Sheffield Wednesday), Ba (Beşiktaş), Lukaku (Everton, £28m) Crystal Palace: In - Chris Kettings (Blackpool, Free), Campbell (Cardiff, £800k), Hangeland (Fulham, Free) Out - Parr (Ipswich), Moxey (Bolton), Wilbraham (Bristol City), Dikgacoi (Cardiff), Gabbidon (released), Alexander (released), Sekajja (released) Everton: In - Gareth Barry (Manchester City, Free), Besic (Ferencvaros, £4m), Lukaku (Chelsea, £28m), Galloway (MK Dons, Free) Out - Vellios, Springthorpe, Gueye (all released) Hull: In - Snodgrass (Norwich, £8m), Livermore (Tottenham, £6m), Ince (Blackpool, Free), Maguire (Sheffield United, £2.5m), Robertson (Dundee United, £2.85m) Out - Fryatt (Nottingham Forest), Stewart (Ipswich), Koren (released), Dudgeon (released), Faye (released) Leicester City In - Upson (Brighton, Free), Albrighton (Aston Villa, Free), Hamer (Charlton, Free), Barmby & Rowley (Manchester United, Free), Ulloa (Brighton, £8m) Out - Dyer (Watford), Danns (Bolton), St Ledger (released), Whitbread (Derby County) Liverpool In - Judas (Saints, £25m), Lambert (Saints, £4m) Can (Bayer Leverkusen, £10m), Markovic (Benfica, £20m), Lovren (Southampton, £20m), Origi (Lille, £10m) Out - Suarez (Barcelona), Ngoo, Sama (Released) Manchester City In - Fernando (Porto, £12m), Sagna (Arsenal, Free), Caballero (Malaga, £6m), Zuculini (Racing Club, £1.5m) Out - Pantilimon (Sunderland), Lescott (West Brom), Barry (released), Nimely (released), Rodwell (Sunderland, £7m) Manchester United In - Shaw (Saints, £31.5m), Herrera (Atletic Bilbao, £29million), Milinkovic (FK Vojvodina, Undisclosed) Out - Buttner (Dinamo Moscow, £5.6million), Rio Ferdinand (QPR), Vidic (Inter Milan), Macheda (Cardiff City), Barmby (Leicester City), Evra (Juventus, £1.2m) Newcastle United In - Cabella (Montpellier, £12m), Riviere (Monaco, £6m), de Jong (Ajax, £6m), Perez (Tenerife, £1.5m), Colback (Sunderland, Free), Janmaat (Feyenoord, £5m), Out - Tavernier (Wigan), Gosling (Bournemouth), Ameobi (released), Newton (Rotherham), Richardson (released), Debuchy (Arsenal) QPR: In - Ferdinand (Manchester United, Free), Caulker (Cardiff, £8m), Mutch (Cardiff, £6m) Out - Hitchcock (Mk Dons), Hughes (released), Stephane Mbia (released), Johnson (released), Young (released), Ephraim (released), Balanta (released), Benayoun (Maccabi Haifa, undisclosed) Southampton In - Tadíc (FC Twente, £10m), Pellé (Feyenoord, £8m) Out - Shaw (Manchester United), Lambert (Liverpool), Lallana (Liverpool), Lovren (Liverpool), Chambers (Arsenal), Guly (released), Barnard (Southend), Forte (released), Fox (Nottingham Forest), Robinson (Bolton), Leggett (Aston Villa), Nehemie (Aston Villa) Stoke: In - Diouf (Hannover), Teixeira (Banska Bystrica, Undisclosed), Bardsley (Sunderland), Sidwell (Fulham), Krkic (Barcelona, Undisclosed) Out - Kightly (Burnley), Etherington (released), Agudelo (released) Sunderland: In - Jones (West Brom, free), Gomez (Wigan, free), Pantilimon (Manchester City, free), van Aanholt (Chelsea, undisclosed), Rodwell (Manchester City, £7m) Out - Colback (Newcastle), Gardner (West Brom), Bardsley (Stoke), Knott (Bradford) Westwood (Sheffield Wednesday), Cuellar (released), Dossena (released), Laing (released), Ustari (Newell's Old Boys), Vaughan (released) Swansea: In - Emnes (Middlesbrough, £1.5m), Gomis (Lyon, free), Fabianski (Arsenal, free), Kingsley (Falkirk, Free), Sigurdsson (Tottenham, Undisclosed), Montero (Morelia, Undisclosed) Out - Lita (released), Ngog (released), Meade (released), Situ (released) Tottenham Hotspurs: In - Davies, Vorm (Both Swansea, Undisclosed), Dier (Sporting Lisbon, £4m) Out - Livermore (Hull), Gomes (Watford), Lancaster (released) West Brom: In - Gardner (Sunderland, free), Lescott (Manchester City, free), Baird (Burnley, free), Pocognoli (Hannover, Undisclosed), Ideye (Dynamo Kiev, £10m), Davidson (Heracles, undisclosed), Gamboa (Rosenborg, undisclosed) Out - Ridgewell (Portland Timbers, Jones (Sunderland), Reid (Burnley), Gayle (released), Lugano (released), Gera (released), Allan (released), Anelka (released) West Ham: In - Kouyate (Anderlecht, £7million), Zarate (Velez Sarsfield, undisclosed), Cresswell (Ipswich, undisclosed), Poyet (Charlton), Valencia (Pachuca, £12m) Out - Cole (Aston Villa), Taylor (Burnley), Collison (released), McCartney (released), Driver (released), Spence (released)

You've probably all seen this, but another good picture!

I've really warmed to Koeman already. He has got such a calming authority. Have heard some really positive things about him from my Dutch colleague and in the press and various other places reading about him, and I think things are really not as bleak as some are making out. New manager who is revered and respected, a quality (looking) new signing and lots of positive noises coming from the club. Even Alpine has admitted excitement! genuinely buzzing for next season now - 39 days to go!

I think you get your name put on Mr Important's list on that other thread

From OS: Dušan Tadić said: “It is a really nice feeling to sign. This is a really nice club of which I have heard a lot of good things about. “I have already seen the beautiful training centre and there are lots of nice people that work here including the coaches so I am really happy to be here. “I watched a lot of [southampton’s] games last season and saw that the club plays really nice football which will suit me because I like to play in the same way. “The manager obviously knows me from the Dutch league so, when he called me and told me his plan, it was an easy decision to make. “I know the manager well because he is one of the biggest Dutch legends in football – everyone knows him. “He is a really good coach and you can always expect his teams to play well because he is leading them and because he is so good tactically. I am really excited to start playing for the club.” First Team Manager Ronald Koeman added: “It was very important to get this signing done – not only for me, but for the rest of the squad and for our fans. It’s fantastic news. “We’ve lost some good players but we want to continue the ambition and philosophy of the club, so it’s a great signal to have brought in our first player. “He’s a great player. I know him very well from Holland, where he had a great season last year. “We now look forward to bringing in more players because we want to continue and maybe even better what Southampton did last season.” Read more at http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/news/article/08072014-statement-southampton-football-club-signs-dusan-tadic-1727227.aspx#UyrXaw0KeeHICEM4.99

Looking at the deluge of replies Alpine got earlier, I think they fit the first definition of unanimous in the link you posted: They all seemed to share the same opinion and view that alpine was being over the top, no? Interview with Tadíc coming up shortly according to Jim Lucas, am looking forward to seeing what he says / has said.

I wouldn't touch her with yours.

Here's an update from known ITK Slick_Rick85 (Well, he must both be known by someone, and in the know about something...)