Summer Transfer Window 2021

[Dusic]

Might as well look ahead. So, assuming we still don't have much/any cash, what are the key positions we need to be looking at? For me, in order of priority:

1. Striker - with Ings seemingly likely to leave, how we replace him will probably be the single diffefence between being in a relegation fight or not. Even if for some strange reason he stays (objectively why would he really want to sign a new deal if there is higher interest?) we still need to improve here. Adams is ok, but won't be prolific, Long will leave and N'Lundulu and Obafemi are squad players at best.

2. Full Back (both sides) - you can't be a serious PL side and only have one full back for each side. Every other PL side I can think of has a backup for each side for whom it is their actual position. Valery and Vokins are not the answer so signings needed (as per last two windows).

3. Goalkeeper - Forster surely will leave (!) for a chance to play, Lewis the same and it will be interesting to see what we do with Gunn who also needs games. Would make sense to sign a couple of decent prospects, one for bench/challenging McCarthy and another to develop im B team or out on loan.

4. No10 - I think Walcott will probably join on a free unless his injury is very severe and I think that gives enough options considering priority needs as above.

Positions less needed:

CM - arguably need one more but notnas pressing as positions above, assuming nobody comes in for JWP.

CB - fine unless Vestergaard sold due to contract situation.

[SuperSAINT]

Agree with all that.

A bad time financially for us to need so many players.

**MLG DEFLECTOR SHIELD'S UP**

[Convict Colony]

Transfers 

 

 

 

[Baird of the land]

My guess Gunn will stay as backup unless we can sell him. We don't want to be spending money in that position.

I  hope we don't sell Vestergaard but i do wonder if the club will decide to sell a CB  to fund fullback priorities.

[S-Clarke]

I imagine we will need to be creative in our approach to incomings, so the first question - as it always is - is who can we sell to raise the funds? And we'd almost certainly have to sell, and have the money safe in the bank, before we even attempt to buy anyone.

Ings is the only one who springs to mind, could get us £30m to fill out the squad in a few places.

Edited 20 February, 2021 by S-Clarke

[beavis17]

5 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I imagine we will need to be creative in our approach to incomings, so the first question - as it always is - is who can we sell to raise the funds? And we'd almost certainly have to sell, and have the money safe in the bank, before we even attempt to buy anyone.

Ings is the only one who springs to mind, could get us £30m to fill out the squad in a few places.

Majority of the money we’d get for Ings would surely have to go on his replacement?

He’s the one player we arguably have to get someone already proven to replace, and I’d think that Ralph would push for that too given he’s scored most of our goals during his reign. 

[S-Clarke]

Just now, beavis17 said:

Majority of the money we’d get for Ings would surely have to go on his replacement?

He’s the one player we arguably have to get someone already proven to replace, and I’d think that Ralph would push for that too given he’s scored most of our goals during his reign. 

The problem we have then is how do we strengthen the other area's, such as full backs etc? I can't see us spending big on an Ings replacement if he goes, I don't think we can operate like that.

[SuperSAINT]

9 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I imagine we will need to be creative in our approach to incomings, so the first question - as it always is - is who can we sell to raise the funds? And we'd almost certainly have to sell, and have the money safe in the bank, before we even attempt to buy anyone.

Ings is the only one who springs to mind, could get us £30m to fill out the squad in a few places.

Typically saints, but depressing.  How the heck will we replace him?!

We will go into Year #3 of #TheUnsellables too.

• Might be able to add a mini Lemina windfall to the transfer kitty if Fulham stay up.  

• Maybe in with a chance of shifting Moi.

• Hoedt won’t be going anywhere.

[S-Clarke]

4 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

Typically saints, but depressing.  How the heck will we replace him?!

We will go into Year #3 of #TheUnsellables too.

• Might be able to add a mini Lemina windfall to the transfer kitty if Fulham stay up.  

• Maybe in with a chance of shifting Moi.

• Hoedt won’t be going anywhere.

We have to be clever in the market, and to our credit I think we've shown that we can be in the last two windows.

Those are the sorts of signings we'll be looking at - generally unknown, young, need easing into the team type of signings. Even Ralph said he can't see us signing someone who can help us 'straight away' as we don't have the money for that. We've just got to be clever and hope we unearth a gem who can mature/grow into the side.

Couple of shrewd loans thrown in for good measure and it might not look too bad.

Edited 20 February, 2021 by S-Clarke

[SuperSAINT]

8 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

We have to be clever in the market, and to our credit I think we've shown that we can be in the last two windows.

Those are the sorts of signings we'll be looking at - generally unknown, young, need easing into the team type of signings. Even Ralph said he can't see us signing someone who can help us 'straight away' as we don't have the money for that. We've just got to be clever and hope we unearth a gem who can mature/grow into the side.

Couple of shrewd loans thrown in for good measure and it might not look too bad.

IF Utd get a right-back in, they might actually loan out Williams 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

I can never understand why we don't utilise the loan market more than we do. Obviously we have used our quota for the season, but this is the first time I can actually remember us having two loan players in. Possible the scouting team have also been asked to check out players that are known to be on free transfers come July.

[Lighthouse]

Out

•  Ings - assuming he won’t sign his deal, he’ll probably end up at Spurs or Leicester.
• Bertrand - his contract is up. Maybe he’ll sign a deal with someone closer to home in London.
• Long - it looks like the penny may finally have dropped that he isn’t a Premier League player.
• Forster - think he’ll see out his final year on loan somewhere
• Hoedt - one more year somewhere, not that anyone cares
• Lemina - Wouldn’t mind Fulham staying up so that they keep him.
• Valery - I don’t think he has a future here.
• Elyounoussi - Probably another loan

Ive no idea who we’re bringing in obviously but hopefully not Walcott. He’s 32 and really hasn’t been all that for the wages he’s on. Wouldn’t mind Minamino, permanently as a replacement for Ings if we can come to an arrangement with Liverpool - assuming he does enough in the remainder of the season to impress our coaches. We’d need one more attacking player, a LB and someone versatile who can play both fullback slots. Either that or a Telfer/Tessem type who can cover fullback and play further forwards.

[supersonic]

I'd rather we got Ryan Kent from Rangers than Walcott. Yes there's be a transfer fee involved, but his wages would be a fraction of Theo's. He looks talented, runs at people and, more importantly, stays fit.

[skintsaint]

Just now, supersonic said:

I'd rather we got Ryan Kent from Rangers than Walcott. Yes there's be a transfer fee involved, but his wages would be a fraction of Theo's. He looks talented, runs at people and, more importantly, stays fit.

Turnbull another one to look at.

[TWar]

I think we have a chance at signing Minimino and we need to take it. Should be able to get him for about £15-20m but this team needs a player who can finish, everything else can be coached in by Ralph. Aside from that, Elyounoussi has done well at Celtic so I would give him a go over Walcott who I think started brightly but came off the boil massively even before his injury. Armstrong, Minimino, Djenepo, Elyounoussi competing for those two "10" roles with Tella coming through. Then Ings, Adams, Redmond, N'lundulu competing for the two spots up top I think that attack is fine. Do absolutely everything to get Ings to sign a contract. At the back we need a new keeper desperately, maybe try and get Darlow or Dubravka if Newcastle go down. Obviously we need a bit of cover at RB/LB I'd get a young lad to compete with Bertrand who can learn from him and eventually take over and an experienced player who can play both sides to back up RB.

[Billy the Kidd]

25 minutes ago, TWar said:

I think we have a chance at signing Minimino and we need to take it. Should be able to get him for about £15-20m but this team needs a player who can finish, everything else can be coached in by Ralph. Aside from that, Elyounoussi has done well at Celtic so I would give him a go over Walcott who I think started brightly but came off the boil massively even before his injury. Armstrong, Minimino, Djenepo, Elyounoussi competing for those two "10" roles with Tella coming through. Then Ings, Adams, Redmond, N'lundulu competing for the two spots up top I think that attack is fine. Do absolutely everything to get Ings to sign a contract. At the back we need a new keeper desperately, maybe try and get Darlow or Dubravka if Newcastle go down. Obviously we need a bit of cover at RB/LB I'd get a young lad to compete with Bertrand who can learn from him and eventually take over and an experienced player who can play both sides to back up RB.

I’d be amazed if Minimino was £15-£20m, with all the finances buggered from CoVid. For me maybe £10-£12m. CoVid weirdly could have worked in our favour, in so much as we have written off most of our flops, and I can see the remaining ones having the final year of their contract paid up, at say 50-75% of cost, allowing them free to join another team.  So the only saleable assets are likely Ings, Bertrand and Vesty (not saying they will all go) but there value wont be affected as much as if they had multiple years of their contract.

I think our approach will be aligned to Spurs, in that we will be looking for frees, or players entering their final year, in the same position as the 3 mentioned above.

I do agree about Tella - think he will have a much bigger impact next year.

[S-Clarke]

38 minutes ago, TWar said:

I think we have a chance at signing Minimino and we need to take it. Should be able to get him for about £15-20m but this team needs a player who can finish, everything else can be coached in by Ralph. Aside from that, Elyounoussi has done well at Celtic so I would give him a go over Walcott who I think started brightly but came off the boil massively even before his injury. Armstrong, Minimino, Djenepo, Elyounoussi competing for those two "10" roles with Tella coming through. Then Ings, Adams, Redmond, N'lundulu competing for the two spots up top I think that attack is fine. Do absolutely everything to get Ings to sign a contract. At the back we need a new keeper desperately, maybe try and get Darlow or Dubravka if Newcastle go down. Obviously we need a bit of cover at RB/LB I'd get a young lad to compete with Bertrand who can learn from him and eventually take over and an experienced player who can play both sides to back up RB.

Minimino hasn't 'yet' done enough for me to want us to sign him permanently. Needs to show more involvement in the game overall, it was like we were playing with 10 men against Wolves.

[nta786]

I hope our transfer policy shifts somewhat in relation to wages. I think we shot ourselves in the foot when we gave ready-made PL wages to the likes of Elyounoussi, Hoedt, Lemina etc etc that rendered them unremovable; and equally those players probably lost their hunger (or in Hoedt's case seemingly it went to his head)

I would guess KWP is on not much more than what he was on at Spurs, and we all know Bednarek started on a low wage and now he has worked his way up to the starting XI and a new contract. Salisu/Diallo I'd hazard are on low wages too.

I mean, sure, there might be some players who won't be willing to join if we only offer a 'paltry £30k-40k a week', but I don't think they are the type of player I want and no one should be on £70k unless they are an actual first team regular who has shown it to us regularly. It also means if they do turn out rubbish, it is far easier to cut our losses. 

Equally; I think there are some shrewd signings to be had experience wise - the likes of Cahill, Evans, Craig Dawson are centrebacks we wouldn't have touched with a bargepole, yet an older pro isn't always the worst signing, especially if it is for a position which doesn't require as much pace but rather a footballing brain. But, we have 4 centre backs now so no need for one of those 

[SKD]

Big summer ahead imo, especially if we want to keep Ralph past next season. I can’t see him putting up with another season of scraping the barrel. I would hope that injuries aren’t as costly as this season. 
 

out

- ings (he’s off, I think that’s clear)

- Bertrand (if he is stalling, withdraw the offer and plan for without him. Tbh wouldn’t mind if he left anyway). 
- hodet (it’ll be a loan if we’re lucky) 

- lemina (let’s pray Fulham stay up) 

- one of the keepers (I’d have Forster as No1 personally)

- Valery

- Long 

- elyounoussi

possibly out

- Vestergaard (contract situation not looking great with him either so may need to cash in) 

- Adams (if someone offers us half decent money, I wouldn’t mind him going either).

we could probably muster up about £40-£50m from that lot and maybe a bit more if we’re forced to sell Vestergaard & cash in on Adams. 
 

In

- Striker to replace ings (has to be someone proven, won’t be cheap, probably looking c.£30m - someone like Edouard from Celtic Ivan Toney, although a risk, would be a good option imo).

- second striker to play to replace long / Adams (wouldn’t mind us taking a look at Diagne who’s on loan at West Brom as a cheaper option, looked pretty lively). 

- a no 10 (minamino or lookman would both fit the bill. No need to sign Theo, unless he’s willing to significantly drop his wage)

- a left back to replace Bertrand

- cover at full back both sides. 

- if we sell JV, perhaps 

 

we’ll probably end up with Theo, a cheap left back and cheap Ings replacement which will leave us in the shit. 

Edited 21 February, 2021 by SKD

[Charlie Wayman]

Nothing wrong with Theo, certainly better than Redmond.

I don't understand why so many people on this forum still imagine that there will be wholesale changes in the summer when recent history has shown the exact opposite. The odd one in, the odd one out is about as good as it is likely to be on our budget and bear in mind many other mid-table clubs are in a similar situation.

We may lose Ings which will be a blow. Liverpool has insisted that Minamino is not for sale. I agree the need for a new keeper to freshen things up at the back. 

[S-Clarke]

1 hour ago, SKD said:

Big summer ahead imo, especially if we want to keep Ralph past next season. I can’t see him putting up with another season of scraping the barrel. I would hope that injuries aren’t as costly as this season. 
 

out

- ings (he’s off, I think that’s clear)

- Bertrand (if he is stalling, withdraw the offer and plan for without him. Tbh wouldn’t mind if he left anyway). 
- hodet (it’ll be a loan if we’re lucky) 

- lemina (let’s pray Fulham stay up) 

- one of the keepers (I’d have Forster as No1 personally)

- Valery

- Long 

- elyounoussi

possibly out

- Vestergaard (contract situation not looking great with him either so may need to cash in) 

- Adams (if someone offers us half decent money, I wouldn’t mind him going either).

we could probably muster up about £40-£50m from that lot and maybe a bit more if we’re forced to sell Vestergaard & cash in on Adams. 
 

In

- Striker to replace ings (has to be someone proven, won’t be cheap, probably looking c.£30m - someone like Edouard from Celtic Ivan Toney, although a risk, would be a good option imo).

- second striker to play to replace long / Adams (wouldn’t mind us taking a look at Diagne who’s on loan at West Brom as a cheaper option, looked pretty lively). 

- a no 10 (minamino or lookman would both fit the bill. No need to sign Theo, unless he’s willing to significantly drop his wage)

- a left back to replace Bertrand

- cover at full back both sides. 

- if we sell JV, perhaps 

 

we’ll probably end up with Theo, a cheap left back and cheap Ings replacement which will leave us in the shit. 

You will not see us spending any more than £15m on a single player any time soon, so we won't be signing a striker circa 30m. Tony and Edouard are already well out of our possibilities.

It'll be unknown/unproven players in the 10-12m bracket, who are not quite ready to start from the off and need to be eased in but will grow into the side - like Salisu/Diallo etc. That method hasn't done us too badly in the last window. The risk comes when you sell some of your core 11 and you never truly replace those with day 1 starters, but I think we're going to need to trust Ralph etc on this one. Let's see how clever we can be.

Edited 21 February, 2021 by S-Clarke

[SKD]

11 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

You will not see us spending any more than £15m on a single player any time soon, so we won't be signing a striker circa 30m. Tony and Edouard are already well out of our possibilities.

It'll be unknown/unproven players in the 10-12m bracket, who are not quite ready to start from the off and need to be eased in but will grow into the side - like Salisu/Diallo etc. That method hasn't done us too badly in the last window. The risk comes when you sell some of your core 11 and you never truly replace those with day 1 starters, but I think we're going to need to trust Ralph etc on this one. Let's see how clever we can be.

I fear you might be right and in the main, I agree. However, you can’t try and be clever when you’re replacing your only goal threat. 
 

ings is the only player we need to invest some serious money in to replace. 
 

it’s also worth saying that those 2 highlighted (I’m sure there are others), would also give us a resell value if they do improve. They’re, on paper, a typical saints type of signing of the past where we were at our best (thinking clyne, Jay-Rod, Wanyama, VVD etc. Best of that retrospective league). Limiting ourselves to £15m in today’s market is bordering on suicidal.  

Edited 21 February, 2021 by SKD

[Suhari]

Could that young lad at Arsenal be an option as striker?

Not as the main man, but an upgrade on our current youngsters.

[Neef]

Quietly optimistic about the summer. 

Realistically, think we may see an upgrade on #10, potentially a striker (or two depending on Ings) - and then some fullback cover. 

We're not far off a decent squad that can push for Europe. We'll hopefully get a better pre season than last year too. 

[tajjuk]

If Ings goes we will need a striker and that will become priority number one. 

If he doesn't we'll still need a second, could be someone like Minamino, I reckon Liverpool will want to raise funds to refresh their team after this clearly poor season for them (where they could even fail to make top 4) and they'll see him a sellable asset I reckon despite what Klopp says about 'developing him'.

A no. 10 upgrade is needed IMO.

And full back cover is also essential. 

I'd like to see a new no.1 keeper but I doubt that will happen. 

2-3 in I reckon, 3-4 out, hopefully some of the loans like Lemina, Mo, Hoedt will get turned into permanent moves even if the fees relatively small. 

[Lighthouse]

2 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Nothing wrong with Theo, certainly better than Redmond.

I don't understand why so many people on this forum still imagine that there will be wholesale changes in the summer when recent history has shown the exact opposite. The odd one in, the odd one out is about as good as it is likely to be on our budget and bear in mind many other mid-table clubs are in a similar situation.

We may lose Ings which will be a blow. Liverpool has insisted that Minamino is not for sale. I agree the need for a new keeper to freshen things up at the back. 

Apart from being 32, sporadic fitness issues, high wages, a significant lack of composure and poor decision making. There’s a reason a bottom half Everton squad didn’t have room for him. As he gets older he’ll just get more niggling injuries and lose his main asset - his pace. I’d prefer we didn’t sign our own version of Defoe or Gary Cahill.

 

Put it this way, if Walcott had no previous connection to the club and had put in the same performances for Newcastle this season; would you be happy to hear we were signing him in summer?

[aintforever]

I would have Theo in the side over Redmond or Moussa any day.

[Lighthouse]

2 minutes ago, aintforever said:

I would have Theo in the side over Redmond or Moussa any day.

That’s not the choice on offer. The other two players have contracts, plus they’re five and ten years younger respectively.

[aintforever]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

That’s not the choice on offer. The other two players have contracts, plus they’re five and ten years younger respectively.

What’s the choice then?

[Trout-Tickler]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

You will not see us spending any more than £15m on a single player any time soon, so we won't be signing a striker circa 30m. Tony and Edouard are already well out of our possibilities.

It'll be unknown/unproven players in the 10-12m bracket, who are not quite ready to start from the off and need to be eased in but will grow into the side - like Salisu/Diallo etc. That method hasn't done us too badly in the last window. The risk comes when you sell some of your core 11 and you never truly replace those with day 1 starters, but I think we're going to need to trust Ralph etc on this one. Let's see how clever we can be.

Yep, agree with pretty much all of that. Nothing wrong with working in the £15 million bracket but whereas that used to buy a player who could come in and play from day 1 (like a Mane, Tadic or Pelle), now it really only buys you potential. 

I do wonder if we'll look at some of the younger players from bigger clubs who haven't really broken through or are looking for a move in order to get first team football. KWP is certainly a great example. Whatever happens I hope we've done our scouting and have our targets lined up!

[stknowle]

17 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

I imagine we will need to be creative in our approach to incomings, so the first question - as it always is - is who can we sell to raise the funds? And we'd almost certainly have to sell, and have the money safe in the bank, before we even attempt to buy anyone.

Ings is the only one who springs to mind, could get us £30m to fill out the squad in a few places.

Fill out the squad in a few places? That £30M (if we get that, and I have my doubts) will be needed to plug the massive gap in the squad him leaving will leave us with. I don't fancy starting next season with Adams as our main striker with Obafemi and N'lundulu as back up and maybe Walcott as an option one tiny little bit. If we did - and I am sure we won't -  I would fully expect us to go down.  

[stknowle]

5 hours ago, TWar said:

I think we have a chance at signing Minimino and we need to take it. Should be able to get him for about £15-20m but this team needs a player who can finish, everything else can be coached in by Ralph. Aside from that, Elyounoussi has done well at Celtic so I would give him a go over Walcott who I think started brightly but came off the boil massively even before his injury. Armstrong, Minimino, Djenepo, Elyounoussi competing for those two "10" roles with Tella coming through. Then Ings, Adams, Redmond, N'lundulu competing for the two spots up top I think that attack is fine. Do absolutely everything to get Ings to sign a contract. At the back we need a new keeper desperately, maybe try and get Darlow or Dubravka if Newcastle go down. Obviously we need a bit of cover at RB/LB I'd get a young lad to compete with Bertrand who can learn from him and eventually take over and an experienced player who can play both sides to back up RB.

Minamino I can see as potentially being the Ings replacement, clearly a bit of class about him. Elyounoussi competing for the one of those 2 "10" roles though? Nah, not for me. He is utterly hopeless at this level. 

[Lighthouse]

44 minutes ago, aintforever said:

What’s the choice then?

Well, we can either:

• Sign him on considerable wages, knowing we’re going to see diminishing returns on a player who was never anything special to begin with.
• Sign Minamino permanently, if Liverpool’s price is reasonable.
• Sign another player, from abroad or the lower leagues, who’s probably ten years younger - if our finances will allow for a reasonable transfer fee.
• Sign nobody and make do with Redmond, Djenepo, Armstrong and Tella in those positions. Obviously not a popular option but if finances are limiting it might be what we end up with.

[woodsaint1]

The longer it drags on, the more likely that Ings and Bertrand will both be gone in the summer. Hopefully we can also shift the majority of Lemina, Elyonnoussi, Hoedt (can always hope), Long, Valery, Gunn and Forster for reduced fees.

In terms of incomings, which will dependent solely on money made above (Gao wont be investing anymore if hes looking to sell), I think we would need the following -

GK - McCarthy is ok but as we've seen his distribution is poor and hes made a few glaring errors this season. He should be a backup as opposed to a number 1. We were linked with Dragowski at Fiorentina before. Would be the sort of GK to improve us.

2x LBs - Rico Henry at Brentford is a fantastic player and should be our aim. I've seen price comparisons with previous Brentford sales - Benrahma, Watkins etc but they were goalscorers who will always attract bigger fees. Brentford could have their hand forced if they miss out on promotion. Would obviously need another as backup as Vokins does not look like the answer.

RB - Backup to KWP is a must this window, no fannying around. Still surprised Ralph hasnt ventured into the German or Austrian leagues for signings yet - could hopefully pick up an option there for a low fee or somebody out of contract. Although a different league, West Ham picked up Coufal for 5m so it shows there is bargains out there.

AM/No 10 - Would like to see us look at Pereira from WBA once they're relegated. Could be the Tadic style player we've been crying out for. Walcott could be another addition on a free. Cant see us pursuing Minamino if Liverpool are looking upwards of 20m. Tempt them to loan him again, but who knows

FW - Will be the most important and likely the difference between us being midtable or relegation candidates should Ings leave. Not sure who we should be looking at but we'll likely need to reinvest the majority of any Ings fee to find a decent replacement.

Yes I know we're skint, with an owner wanting to sell, but we can always dream. Who knows, we mIght a new owner by the summer. COYS.

 

 

[Convict Colony]

If I was going to play the make believe game.

 

Id have a better ball playing GK who has good hands.

Younger LB to replace betrand

Back up for Armstrong

Keep Mini and Theo

Buy a cheaper replacement if Ings goes (Daka from RB Salz)

[Matthew Le God]

13 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

Back up for Armstrong

Keep Mini and Theo

How many 1st team number 10s do you want? 

[the saint in winchester]

I thought we had an agreement with Liverpool that the price for Minamino would be £10M. Not an exercisable option admittedly. Of course, now Sevilla have declared an interest the price may rise. But they are offering €10M, so we can beat that offer.

For me:

* Minamino - up to £15M

* Walcott on a free (but I'd look into that Ryan Kent suggestion if his wages are significantly less)

* RB

* LB

Sell Ings, Redmond.

 

[trousers]

45 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

How many 1st team number 10s do you want? 

Based on this season's injury record, about 17 I would venture...

MLG notes: that was tongue-in-cheek. Deactivate literal interpretation module 

Edited 21 February, 2021 by trousers

[SuperSAINT]

47 minutes ago, trousers said:

Based on this season's injury record, about 17 I would venture...

MLG notes: that was tongue-in-cheek. Deactivate literal interpretation module 

😂

Mini & Theo are great options for Ralph as they can play in different positions. 

[aintforever]

2 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

Well, we can either:

• Sign him on considerable wages, knowing we’re going to see diminishing returns on a player who was never anything special to begin with.
• Sign Minamino permanently, if Liverpool’s price is reasonable.
• Sign another player, from abroad or the lower leagues, who’s probably ten years younger - if our finances will allow for a reasonable transfer fee.
• Sign nobody and make do with Redmond, Djenepo, Armstrong and Tella in those positions. Obviously not a popular option but if finances are limiting it might be what we end up with.

I’d probably take Mini over Theo if it is an option but not sure it will be, and I expect his wages wouldn’t be much different. Without knowing the finances and what options there are it’s impossible to say but Theo was a mainstay of the side that took us to the top of the league and beat Liverpool, Arsenal etc so giving him another year or two makes sense to me.

[Barsiem]

1 hour ago, the saint in winchester said:

I thought we had an agreement with Liverpool that the price for Minamino would be £10M. Not an exercisable option admittedly. Of course, now Sevilla have declared an interest the price may rise. But they are offering €10M, so we can beat that offer.

For me:

* Minamino - up to £15M

* Walcott on a free (but I'd look into that Ryan Kent suggestion if his wages are significantly less)

* RB

* LB

Sell Ings, Redmond.

 

Where did you hear the £10m?  Regardless if he did well we were never going to get him for that price and Liverpool never sell players cheap.  That’s why it needed to be an option, and if he does well Liverpool will want to keep him anyway.  Their fans are keen to see him have a proper run out for them

Edited 21 February, 2021 by Barsiem

[SNSUN]

Walcott is a weird one because I personally wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole in the summer and yet I reckon he’s almost definitely going to join us on a permanent. Just a feeling. Depends on the wages I guess. But I just reckon the club as a whole would want him back permanently as squad filler.

 

Brexit and having no money are the main issues we face this summer, combined with keeping the stars as usual. Ings will go I think, and we can at least use the money elsewhere. The Crown Jewels I hope we can keep (the future of this club if we want to progress) are KWP, JWP, Diallo, Salisu, Vestergaard, Bednarek and Armstrong. Build the team around those and we could definitely make a sustained challenge to the top 6.

Here are my positional reviews, trying to stay as realistic as possible.

 

GK: Yes long term we need an improvement in this position, but both Fraser and Alex have another year left on their contracts. Even if we let one leave, we still have Gunn on the books. Ergo I see no movement here, unless we manager to offload two goalkeepers.

RB: KWP is our number one right back which makes bringing in another right back tricky, as they’d be cover. Still it needs to be done - personally I’d try and sign a highly rated youngster and tell him to push KWP for the first team spot, but I think we will just see a loan.

LB: Our trickiest slot to predict as we don’t even know if Bertrand will be here. Personally even if he is, I’d be looking to bring in a long term first choice left back. A left footed KWP if you will. Maybe Jeremi Rodriguez can be longer term back up if we don’t trust Vokins.

CB: Barring anyone leaving or being sold (looking at you Jannick), I think we are set here. Bednarek, Vestergaard, Salisu and Stephens. Can a team like Southampton do much better than that?

 

CM: JWP, Diallo, Romeu. Keep them and we don’t really need anyone. It can be improved upon but I don’t think we have the cashola so it’s make do time. Will Jankewitz be here to back them up? I hope so, I hope he gets another chance.

AM: An area I think we have quantity over quality. Armstrong and Djenepo are two keepers, and probably Redmond and Smallbone won’t be going anywhere. Tella? Not sure. AM is definitely upgradable but it depends if we have the money to do so when other areas are more important to strengthen. We may even see Moi back to strengthen. 

 

Str: An area that would need sorting even if Ings stays. I like Adams for work rate and technique but he doesn’t score enough, and the fact Ralph has dropped him of late speaks volumes. I’d keep Adams but he is saleable. He’ll stay if we sell Ings though. Long needs to go, which leaves us with N’Lundulu and Obafemi as back ups. We definitely need a first choice striker, possibly even an extra squad striker, even if one is a loan or promising youngster.

 

To conclude, I’d be bringing in a cover right back, first choice left back, first choice striker and, if money allowed, a first choice AM. Let’s hope we can find £70 odd million down the back of the sofa then! Or, more likely, make some astute decisions along the lines of Diallo and Salisu last summer. That seems to have been good scouting.

 

 

 

[trousers]

2 hours ago, SNSUN said:

Walcott is a weird one because I personally wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole in the summer

Since Walcott signed...

Saints points per game when Theo's played = 1.33

Saints points per game when Theo hasn't played = 0.88

Can I borrow your barge pole...?

Edited 21 February, 2021 by trousers

[bpsaint]

I’d offer Theo a pay as you play contract at our average wage, all he can do is say no. Other than that it’ll be a drop to the Championship as I can’t see any Prem club coming in for him. We’re a better side with him in the starting XI than Redmond as the points show.

I expect Ings to go, and wouldn’t be surprised if Vestergaard was poached too. Hopefully the money from those two could fund some decent replacements. Can’t see Kane wanting to put up with another season of mediocrity, he’ll become another Shearer otherwise, so can easily see Ings going there as his replacement. 

 

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, bpsaint said:

I’d offer Theo a pay as you play contract at our average wage, all he can do is say no. Other than that it’ll be a drop to the Championship as I can’t see any Prem club coming in for him. We’re a better side with him in the starting XI than Redmond as the points show.

I expect Ings to go, and wouldn’t be surprised if Vestergaard was poached too. Hopefully the money from those two could fund some decent replacements. Can’t see Kane wanting to put up with another season of mediocrity, he’ll become another Shearer otherwise, so can easily see Ings going there as his replacement. 

 

Pay as you play deals stopped in about 1986. Of course a premier league club will have him, he’s a proven, good experienced player who will easily be a good squad player at half the teams in the division for a couple of seasons. Two year deal with option of another year on £40-50k a week is a good deal for all parties. 

[Matthew Le God]

6 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

I’d offer Theo a pay as you play contract 

They aren't really a 'thing', certainly not at PL level.

Edited 21 February, 2021 by Matthew Le God

[bpsaint]

 Isn’t Andy Carroll on one at Newcastle?

[benjii]

On 21/02/2021 at 02:08, beavis17 said:

Majority of the money we’d get for Ings would surely have to go on his replacement?

He’s the one player we arguably have to get someone already proven to replace, and I’d think that Ralph would push for that too given he’s scored most of our goals during his reign. 

What does "already proven" mean in the context of a Premier League striker?

Anyone proven to score goals regularly in the PL will be well out of our budget. So, what, Glenn Murray, Chris Woods, Ashley Barnes?

We won't be signing a "proven" striker. 

Frankly, if Ings is leaving then as soon as we get a few more points on the board we should Hojbjerg him and give Tella and Nlundulu as many minutes as possible to see what they can do.

[Danbert]

We're going to need replacements for Ings and probably Bertrand, and with very little money, this will be tough. However, we've made some very astute purchases recently so I'm optimistic.

[SKD]

2 hours ago, benjii said:

What does "already proven" mean in the context of a Premier League striker?

Anyone proven to score goals regularly in the PL will be well out of our budget. So, what, Glenn Murray, Chris Woods, Ashley Barnes?

We won't be signing a "proven" striker. 

Frankly, if Ings is leaving then as soon as we get a few more points on the board we should Hojbjerg him and give Tella and Nlundulu as many minutes as possible to see what they can do.

One that can come in and start from day dot would be a start. If we have a salisu incident with ings replacement we’ll be in the shit. 
 

I really think Ings (or any main goal scorer) isn’t the sort of position we can try and be clever with. 
 

There must be some Ings / Minamino type players out there who aren’t quite good enough to break in to a top 4 team, but would score a few for us.. Origi or something.