Ready reckoner on who Saints can buy players from

[Giordano]

A reasonable way of quickly working out what players we can loan/buy and who we can buy from can be deduced from looking at a number of factors for the teams in each of the major leagues. In doing so i will be deliberately ignoring south america, asia and africa for this as well as "minor" european leagues, mainly because it makes this easier for me plus i know very little about those leagues and players. Im also ignoring EPl and CCC players as everyone knows them.

 

First of all:

 

Look for "good" teams that have either just missed CL qualification or just qualified for Europa league.

Look for "good" teams that just missed out of Europa League altogether.

Look for Internationals not playing for top teams in those leagues.

 

We are not in Europe next year so in general "top" players would not normally forfeit a CL season for a season with a team like saints (unless we wave loads of cash at them). Even Europa league is something, still better than no Europa league Southampton.

 

In Italy : easy examples are Inter Milan, Roma, Lazio, cagliari, These will not play in europe next year, are full of good players on high wages but that the teams probably will not want to be paying wages for this year and who might unload a good player for a season or a good transfer fee. These might be good for loans or for buys.

 

In Spain quite frankly any team below Athletic Madrid is approachable so players from Malaga, Seville, Espanyol,Valencia etc are all options as above.

 

In Germany it gets a bit harder but teams like Wolfsburg, Stuttgardt and Hannover are options.

 

In Holland its the likes of Utrecht, Vitesse Arnhem and Twente. With hard cash even the Ajax, PSV and Eindhoven might sell to us. Belgium id say all players all team are all available for the right price- even from Anderlecht.

 

France. Another toughie but id say below Marseille,Lyon, newly promoted Monaco and PSG anything goes. Even Lyon might sell to us..

 

In Portugal its teams like Braga and Sporting as i don't think we could afford Porto or Benfica star players, which im sure are available at the right price.

 

So....we have a list of about 60 clubs i think with perhaps 100 players amongst them that are worth having at saints.

 

Of those 100 only a certain number are centre-backs- an obvious need. There's around a dozen -18 that might be good in those...then you take your pick....

 

Id be interested to see hoe many of our recruits materialize from this way of assessing it.

Edited 23 May, 2013 by Giordano

[derry]

Thanks for that, a well thought out assessment, time will tell.

[Saint Garrett]

Very interesting research there are certainly a lot of players who i hope we've been keeping eyes on over the last few months.

 

Crazy to think that a club like Inter, won't even be in the Europa.

[Lallana's Left Peg]

Fairly logical however don't forget about the considerable number of other clubs in Europe who can either offer as much (if not more) money than us for players and / or are better than us.

 

So that trims down the viability of the targets at financially challenged clubs.

[hutch]

Cross off all those with greedy agents that Cortese won't touch with a bargepole, and you're left with about 10.

[suewhistle]

Fairly logical however don't forget about the considerable number of other clubs in Europe who can either offer as much (if not more) money than us for players and / or are better than us.

 

Apart from the known factor of EPL clubs, I'm not sure there are that many clubs with lots more money. The Germans have bigger crowds (and presumably commercial receipts) but I don't know how their TV money compares. Italian and Spanish clubs are generally in the merda financially - I believe Cagliari for example were playing away from their home ground, for example - and their economies aren't helping! France has low crowds although they have their own citeh in PSG.

 

To be honest I don't know how we compare, but it's certainly not a straightforward situation and makes things interesting.

[Giordano]

Given the origins of our manager, and that of NC plus the perilous financial state of both Italian and Spanish soccer I would guess that there is a very strong probability that we will be raiding some of the Italian and Spanish teams mentioned for players.

 

I know it's something of a stereotype that evidence will probably back up, but I would NOT be going to Spain for a central defender - every week I see Spanish teams getting mullered by the usual name forwards whereas in Italy even superstar attackers have to sweat their nuts off for even a sniff of a chance....Italy would be my number one destination for a central defender as it seems to be bred in the DNA of most Seria A defenders to know how to stop players scoring effectively ~ but on the other hand I WOULD be looking at Spain for forwards and attacking / defending midfielders of which there seems an abundance in La Liga.

 

So my best guess would be to see a CB arriving from an Italian club and an attacking MF and a defensive MF arriving from Spain.

[tajjuk]

Currently financially, reputation wise, and exposure Premier > Every other league. (not quality/ability mind)

 

It means basically we are a better proposition over most other mid table clubs in other countries and may allow us to punch a bit above our weight in the transfer market. Similar circumstances that saw us get Ramirez.

[Giordano]

So far so good- with the purchase of Dejan - without being too specific the little ready reckoner managed to narrow down our likely purchasing criteria sufficiently to venture that " even Lyon might sell to us.."

Given the nature of this purchase ( age, position, cost,troubled recent nature of the player at his club, injuries, discipline, country playing in and level etc) we now have further evidence of the " type" that we will buy so we can refine and draw the net in even further...An AM seems next so will have a look... There can only be maybe two dozen in the right areas for us...

[suewhistle]

You sure you didn't edit your original post -"even Lyon"?

 

No, good analysis. It's also interesting that all our signings have obviously been given the same story of ambition: Lovren "I’ve spoken a lot with the Chairman and the coach, and this is a great project. ,SNIP> I have it in my mind to do something big, and I see the same thing in the Club. We are a young team, and I am a young player also so I hope I will stay here for a long time."

 

Time for someone from Serie A perhaps? Presumably, like the rest of this bloomin' economy, football works 'in nero', and now the Guardia di Finanza are clamping down perhaps working abroad holds more interest. Boh? If only there were a decent Italian restaurant in Southampton!

[Giordano]

Thank you Suewhistle....you can narrow it down further if you spot the common denominator between our last five signings ( Mayuka, maya, dejan, gaston, forren). - age internationals etc.

I think with 15 minutes research online i could give this forum the template of how our recruitment team shortlist our next targets in most positions.

Edited 15 June, 2013 by Giordano

[SuperSAINT]

Thank you Suewhistle....you can narrow it down further if you spot the common denominator between our last five signings ( Mayuka, maya, dejan, gaston, forren). - age internationals etc.

I think with 15 minutes research online i could give this forum the template of how our recruitment team shortlist our next targets in most positions.

 

Interesting to see what happens when you break down stats like that, Giordano.

 

Crazy to think that we stayed up last season with a defence that probably cost less than Lovren himself.

[Turkish]

You sure you didn't edit your original post -"even Lyon"?

 

No, good analysis. It's also interesting that all our signings have obviously been given the same story of ambition: Lovren "I’ve spoken a lot with the Chairman and the coach, and this is a great project. ,SNIP> I have it in my mind to do something big, and I see the same thing in the Club. We are a young team, and I am a young player also so I hope I will stay here for a long time."

 

Time for someone from Serie A perhaps? Presumably, like the rest of this bloomin' economy, football works 'in nero', and now the Guardia di Finanza are clamping down perhaps working abroad holds more interest. Boh? If only there were a decent Italian restaurant in Southampton!

 

You've obviously never been to Ennios.

[david in sweden]

A reasonable way of quickly working out what players we can loan/buy and who we can buy from can be deduced from looking at a number of factors for the teams in each of the major leagues. In doing so i will be deliberately ignoring south america, asia and africa for this as well as "minor" european leagues, mainly because it makes this easier for me plus i know very little about those leagues and players. Im also ignoring EPl and CCC players as everyone knows them.

 

First of all:

 

Look for "good" teams that have either just missed CL qualification or just qualified for Europa league.

Look for "good" teams that just missed out of Europa League altogether.

Look for Internationals not playing for top teams in those leagues.

 

We are not in Europe next year so in general "top" players would not normally forfeit a CL season for a season with a team like saints (unless we wave loads of cash at them). Even Europa league is something, still better than no Europa league Southampton.

 

In Italy : easy examples are Inter Milan, Roma, Lazio, cagliari, These will not play in europe next year, are full of good players on high wages but that the teams probably will not want to be paying wages for this year and who might unload a good player for a season or a good transfer fee. These might be good for loans or for buys.

 

In Spain quite frankly any team below Athletic Madrid is approachable so players from Malaga, Seville, Espanyol,Valencia etc are all options as above.

 

In Germany it gets a bit harder but teams like Wolfsburg, Stuttgardt and Hannover are options.

 

In Holland its the likes of Utrecht, Vitesse Arnhem and Twente. With hard cash even the Ajax, PSV and Eindhoven might sell to us. Belgium id say all players all team are all available for the right price- even from Anderlecht.

 

France. Another toughie but id say below Marseille,Lyon, newly promoted Monaco and PSG anything goes. Even Lyon might sell to us..

 

In Portugal its teams like Braga and Sporting as i don't think we could afford Porto or Benfica star players, which im sure are available at the right price.

 

So....we have a list of about 60 clubs i think with perhaps 100 players amongst them that are worth having at saints.

 

Of those 100 only a certain number are centre-backs- an obvious need. There's around a dozen -18 that might be good in those...then you take your pick....

 

Id be interested to see hoe many of our recruits materialize from this way of assessing it.

 

 

 

Impressive assessment -but you're ruling out the idea of signing any BRITISH players, then ?

[Giordano]

David- i do think that actually but i deliberately excluded the EPL and CCC players as we all know who they are. Said said as much first para if you reread.

Its highly unlikely ( imo a low probability ) we buy any first team English players this year - squad and academy - certainly, but first 15 - v. Unlikely - for 3 reasons- cost and quality and availability. When we can get quoted£4m for an ok - ish CCC left back at Ipswich for example and you can get internationals from northern& Southern Europe on "free" it makes no sense.

 

I just wanted to see if there was a logical way to identify likely candidates from European leagues. Ever Bonega was in the net as a possible MF from the approach. If we get him that just leaves a wide player, another FB or two and a CF.

 

We getting the team sorted from the back upwards as i expect from an ex CB manager.

 

Fwiw it seems clear to me we WILL be buying a "modern" centre forward. He will be an international or at very least an u21 international. He will cost £15-£20m. He will blow our minds.

The out and out wide player may be a luxury as im not sure our future playing style will really demand it - but we absolutely require at least one FB probably 2 who can run fast overlap and play as wingbacks....all from usual criteria previously outlined.

[CeeBee]

Hope we would look at Michu. Would be a good fit IMO.

[david in sweden]

[quote=Giordano;171429 We getting the team sorted from the back upwards as i expect from an ex CB manager.

 

 

Fwiw it seems clear to me we WILL be buying a "modern" centre forward. He will be an international or at very least an u21 international. He will cost £15-£20m.[/b] He will blow our minds.

 

 

Yes OK Giordano - I get your point, but I got worried when I read this line .....it almost fitted the description of ....Danny Welbeck If we signed him I'd blow my brains out .......

Edited 18 June, 2013 by david in sweden