Summer Transfer Window 2023

[Convict Colony]

1 minute ago, beatlesaint said:

The Lavia one is fascinating. What will City do? I cant see, if they rate him, them letting Liverpool, United or Arsenal (even Chelsea) snap him up from under their noses.

So does the £40 million 2 year clause get thrown out the window ? I mean are their hands tied a bit because of that or do they just pay over the agreed price if/when the others make a firm bid?

Hope they pay 50 now, but really less after clause, let us have him on loan for the year (or he goes somewhere outside top 6 in EPL on loan) then they move him the city the year after once they've ditched sicknote Phillips and he starts rotating with Rodri.

[Fabrice29]

59 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

The Lavia one is fascinating. What will City do? I cant see, if they rate him, them letting Liverpool, United or Arsenal (even Chelsea) snap him up from under their noses.

So does the £40 million 2 year clause get thrown out the window ? I mean are their hands tied a bit because of that or do they just pay over the agreed price if/when the others make a firm bid?

They let him go a year ago, not sure why anyone thinks they've got some sort of hold over him now just because of a buy back clause that doesn't kick in for another year. 

I think City is the least likely option because they've A) got to convince themselves that the player they let go a year ago is better than the player they signed a year ago B) got to convince their finance people that he's so much better that it's well worth the millions they have already spent and the millions they would need to further spend to get him back and then sell Phillips for a cut down price and C) got to convince Lavia to come back to a club he left a year ago in search of first team football. 

Just seems far fetched to me. Doesn't make business sense, I don't really see how it makes football sense bearing in mind it was the opposite a year ago and I don't think "not letting someone else have him" is a motivation for a club that is already streets ahead of everyone else anyway.

Think it's probably between United and Liverpool based on those being the two teams that need a young CM. Liverpool probably ahead but our relegation seems to have really thrown a spanner in this kids plans weirdly because he's probably too young for a move to a challenging club but probably too expensive for anyone else.

[CB Fry]

I find it highly unlikely that Manchester City inserted a clause into the sale of Lavia to us which states that "Manchester City can activate a buy-back with a specific defined price if Lavia is sold summer 24........but seriously Saints if you want to flog him to Liverpool or Arsenal in summer 23 then crack on don't worry about lads fill your boots no questions asked".

Obviously not. Obviously.

Either City will buy him and loan him to Fulham/Palace/etc, or we loan to Fulham/Palace and sell to city the following summer. Either way he's not going to a direct City rival this summer.

 

 

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, CB Fry said:

I find it highly unlikely that Manchester City inserted a clause into the sale of Lavia to us which states that "Manchester City can activate a buy-back with a specific defined price if Lavia is sold summer 24........but seriously Saints if you want to flog him to Liverpool or Arsenal in summer 23 then crack on don't worry about lads fill your boots no questions asked".

Obviously not. Obviously.

Either City will buy him and loan him to Fulham/Palace/etc, or we loan to Fulham/Palace and sell to city the following summer. Either way he's not going to a direct City rival this summer.

I can’t see Lavia’s agent agreeing to a deal which effectively bans him from signing for anyone but City. It would put them in a much weaker position. None of us know the exact details of this clause but most of the rumours point to a pretty straight forward buy-back fee, starting in 2024.

[Chewy]

7 hours ago, CB Fry said:

I find it highly unlikely that Manchester City inserted a clause into the sale of Lavia to us which states that "Manchester City can activate a buy-back with a specific defined price if Lavia is sold summer 24........but seriously Saints if you want to flog him to Liverpool or Arsenal in summer 23 then crack on don't worry about lads fill your boots no questions asked".

Obviously not. Obviously.

Either City will buy him and loan him to Fulham/Palace/etc, or we loan to Fulham/Palace and sell to city the following summer. Either way he's not going to a direct City rival this summer.

 

 

On what planet would we loan out our best prospect and (when JWP is sold) our only decent midfielder?

The only way he is not playing for us next season is if he’s sold. And if he’s sold it will be for in excess of the 40 million clause.

He probably will be sold, but he absolutely 100% will not be loaned out by us. He’s our player until someone gives us enough money for him not to be. 

[CB Fry]

22 minutes ago, Chewy said:

On what planet would we loan out our best prospect and (when JWP is sold) our only decent midfielder?

The only way he is not playing for us next season is if he’s sold. And if he’s sold it will be for in excess of the 40 million clause.

He probably will be sold, but he absolutely 100% will not be loaned out by us. He’s our player until someone gives us enough money for him not to be. 

Well, there is a planet where the European Championships are at the end of this season. Lavia will want to play in them and he will want to play in the Premier League to facilitate that. That planet.

I think you need to get your head out of your arse that we are sitting on all the cards here and we control where he goes or if he leaves at all. He will not be playing for us any more.

Of course there could be a route where we get a £xx million loan fee to a Prem Club for one season ahead of selling him to Man City the year later. That kind of thing might work nicely for Lavia, us and City.

[CB Fry]

7 hours ago, Lighthouse said:

I can’t see Lavia’s agent agreeing to a deal which effectively bans him from signing for anyone but City. It would put them in a much weaker position. None of us know the exact details of this clause but most of the rumours point to a pretty straight forward buy-back fee, starting in 2024.

So the sell on deal was engineered as a way for Lavia to have a defined period where he can jump the fence and escape the clutches of Manchester City who are powerless to stop him?

Not so sure about that.

[Chewy]

10 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

Well, there is a planet where the European Championships are at the end of this season. Lavia will want to play in them and he will want to play in the Premier League to facilitate that. That planet.

I think you need to get your head out of your arse that we are sitting on all the cards here and we control where he goes or if he leaves at all. He will not be playing for us any more.

Of course there could be a route where we get a £xx million loan fee to a Prem Club for one season ahead of selling him to Man City the year later. That kind of thing might work nicely for Lavia, us and City.

It doesn’t work for us at all. I fully understand players have far too many of the cards these days and can push things. I also fully expect Lavia will not be with us next year because he’s too good.
But it will not be a loan.
Your fixation on Man City controlling this is badly skewing your logic here. We are not loaning him out because it doesn’t work for us. It doesn’t work that well for the player either. Man City are not obliged to buy him - if he wants a move he’ll want the shiny new contract that sets him up for life which a loan to Palace doesn’t give him. 

He is not leaving on loan.

[CB Fry]

18 minutes ago, Chewy said:

It doesn’t work for us at all. I fully understand players have far too many of the cards these days and can push things. I also fully expect Lavia will not be with us next year because he’s too good.
But it will not be a loan.
Your fixation on Man City controlling this is badly skewing your logic here. We are not loaning him out because it doesn’t work for us. It doesn’t work that well for the player either. Man City are not obliged to buy him - if he wants a move he’ll want the shiny new contract that sets him up for life which a loan to Palace doesn’t give him. 

He is not leaving on loan.

"Set him up for life?" he's 19 mate.

What he needs next year is regular top flight football so he gives himself the best chance to get to the Euros.

The move from Saints to someone else for the 23/24 is not the "set him up for life" transfer. He's got a career in front of him and bigger contracts and more money in the next decade if he plans his career right. 

[Wade Garrett]

The idea of any team loaning out their best player is laughable.  We bought Lavia to sell him in 2 seasons.  That was clear with the buy-back clause.  This will obviously be accelerated by a season because of relegation.  But we bought him to sell on for a big profit.  Not loan him out.

[Lighthouse]

43 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

So the sell on deal was engineered as a way for Lavia to have a defined period where he can jump the fence and escape the clutches of Manchester City who are powerless to stop him?

Not so sure about that.

I think the buy back deal was mutually beneficial to all parties, without the need for an exclusivity clause. Lavia gets first team Prem football, we get a decent player and City get the chance to buy him back at a reasonable price should they choose. I think the two year thing was probably because we wanted to get a second, decent season out of him, before being poached back by City.

 

Like I said, I just can’t see Lavia and his agent agreeing to what you’re suggesting. Supposing he’s on £40kpw here, he could put in two absolutely sensational seasons, be in the PL team of the year both times, and City can effectively say, “here’s £40,000.10, take it or leave it.”

 

I’m only suggesting what seems most logical to me, I guess we’ll all find out in due course.

[AlexLaw76]

2 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I think the buy back deal was mutually beneficial to all parties, without the need for an exclusivity clause. Lavia gets first team Prem football, we get a decent player and City get the chance to buy him back at a reasonable price should they choose. I think the two year thing was probably because we wanted to get a second, decent season out of him, before being poached back by City.

 

Like I said, I just can’t see Lavia and his agent agreeing to what you’re suggesting. Supposing he’s on £40kpw here, he could put in two absolutely sensational seasons, be in the PL team of the year both times, and City can effectively say, “here’s £40,000.10, take it or leave it.”

 

I’m only suggesting what seems most logical to me, I guess we’ll all find out in due course.

And he could leave it and get £100k a week elsewhere

[CB Fry]

Sorry I didn't realise that most people don't realise that loan fees exist. There's been £10m loan fees knocking about for a few years now.

But yeah, let's just pretend there's nothing in it for us to loan him to a Premier League club for a year. Alright lads 👍👍👍

[Lighthouse]

8 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

And he could leave it and get £100k a week elsewhere

I think you need to read back a few more posts. That’s the whole point I was arguing against, if the clause is that none of City’s rivals can buy him, he can’t go elsewhere and get anything.

[AlexLaw76]

12 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I think you need to read back a few more posts. That’s the whole point I was arguing against, if the clause is that none of City’s rivals can buy him, he can’t go elsewhere and get anything.

oh right.

seems a pointless debate really

[CB Fry]

30 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I think you need to read back a few more posts. That’s the whole point I was arguing against, if the clause is that none of City’s rivals can buy him, he can’t go elsewhere and get anything.

Except that's not what I am saying. All I am saying is City don't become completely helpless bystanders while we merrily flog him off to whoever we like because check the small print and the calendar it's not 2024 yet lads and the world's richest club slinks off into the background, utterly helpless.

Pretty sure whatever deal we did with City had an assumption that we wouldn't shit the bed and be immediately relegated. If the intention from City was for Lavia to get two seasons of middling Prem football then probably City may have a view on maintaining that notion, just not with us. 

The party who have not fulfilled their part of the bargain here is us because we are going down. Lavia did his bit, City havent done anything wrong.

The idea that turns into ha hah hah ha fuck you City we're flogging him to Liverpool and you get no say now fuck youuuuu seems fanciful to me.

I think City will still have skin in the game even though it is 2023. Just that small thing.

 

But we're not on a slave ship here, ultimately the player gets to play for who he wants, but if you are presenting the whole buy back deal as a clever scheme for Lavia to escape Manchester City then why didn't the player just refuse any buy back deal last year? If your whole argument is the player has the power then well he had the power last year as well.

You know, whisper it quietly but maybe Lavia aspires to actually be a Man City player? Maybe that?

Edited 28 May, 2023 by CB Fry

[Saint-Reece]

Theo has announced on his Instagram a few mins ago that he is leaving and will be last appearance today: https://www.instagram.com/p/CsyCbLVsDgf/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

[FarehamSaintJames]

13 minutes ago, Saint-Reece said:

Theo has announced on his Instagram a few mins ago that he is leaving and will be last appearance today: https://www.instagram.com/p/CsyCbLVsDgf/?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Waiting on the same announcements for Elyounoussi, Diallo, Armstrong, McCarthy. 

Probably 95% of our players, regardless of whether their contract is up on not. 😂

The majority have been crap this season and can’t cut it at top level.

[hackedoff]

1 hour ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Waiting on the same announcements for Elyounoussi, Diallo, Armstrong, McCarthy. 

Probably 95% of our players, regardless of whether their contract is up on not. 😂

The majority have been crap this season and can’t cut it at top level.

Got serious doubts that the majority can cut it at Championship level either,struggled against all of the lower league teams they faced this season.

Anything short of a major rebuild and I suspect further failure.

 

[Saint86]

4 hours ago, CB Fry said:

Except that's not what I am saying. All I am saying is City don't become completely helpless bystanders while we merrily flog him off to whoever we like because check the small print and the calendar it's not 2024 yet lads and the world's richest club slinks off into the background, utterly helpless.

Pretty sure whatever deal we did with City had an assumption that we wouldn't shit the bed and be immediately relegated. If the intention from City was for Lavia to get two seasons of middling Prem football then probably City may have a view on maintaining that notion, just not with us. 

The party who have not fulfilled their part of the bargain here is us because we are going down. Lavia did his bit, City havent done anything wrong.

The idea that turns into ha hah hah ha fuck you City we're flogging him to Liverpool and you get no say now fuck youuuuu seems fanciful to me.

I think City will still have skin in the game even though it is 2023. Just that small thing.

 

But we're not on a slave ship here, ultimately the player gets to play for who he wants, but if you are presenting the whole buy back deal as a clever scheme for Lavia to escape Manchester City then why didn't the player just refuse any buy back deal last year? If your whole argument is the player has the power then well he had the power last year as well.

You know, whisper it quietly but maybe Lavia aspires to actually be a Man City player? Maybe that?

City are rumoured to have first refusal on any accepted offer, and they have a buy back clause (rumoured at £40M) that comes into affect next summer. They're also rumoured to have a sell on clause. 

Whatever happens they have the option to match (and likey get an effective discount on) whatever any "rivals" may pay this summer. But saints still hold the cards - we can decide to keep him if we wish (knowing we'll still be able to demand £40M next summer), or we can cash in now... City don't get a say. Also didn't lavia sign a 5-6 year deal when he joined? If we can afford it, we should put our foot down and keep him - unless someone offers silly money. 

But this stuff you're saying about saints breaking the 'deal' because we get relegated, and for city then having some controlling say over saints' transfer policy because we're relegated... that is just pie in the sky talk. Its also bordering on 3rd party ownership to say stuff along the lines of, "city won't be happy with him playing championship football" etc etc. He isn't their player anymore, regardless of what securities they have in place to facilitate a buy back.

Edited 28 May, 2023 by Saint86

[AlexLaw76]

4 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

City are rumoured to have first refusal on any accepted offer, and they have a buy back clause (rumoured at £40M) that comes into affect next summer. They're also rumoured to have a sell on clause. 

Whatever happens they have the option to match (and likey get an effective discount on) whatever any "rivals" may pay this summer. But saints still hold the cards - we can decide to keep him if we wish (knowing we'll still be able to demand £40M next summer), or we can cash in now... City don't get a say. Also didn't lavia sign a 5-6 year deal when he joined? If we can afford it, we should put our foot down and keep him - unless someone offers silly money. 

But this stuff you're saying about saints breaking the 'deal' because we get relegated, and for city then having some controlling say over saints' transfer policy because we're relegated... that is just pie in the sky talk. Its also bordering on 3rd party ownership to say stuff along the lines of, "city won't be happy with him playing championship football" etc etc. He isn't their player anymore, regardless of what securities they have in place to facilitate a buy back.

We may wish to keep him, but we wont.

[Saint86]

6 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

We may wish to keep him, but we wont.

I'm merely saying the option is there. Nothing I've seen from SR makes me believe we'll ever keep hold of a player when we can sell them for a profit 😢

Reality is that with the wage cuts, a few high earners leaving, selected transfer sales, and parachute payments - we should be able to keep our best young prospects - they're on comparatively low wages and on long contracts. If we wanted to do well in the champ we'd fight tooth and nail to keep our best players... But yes, agree, I don't think it will happen. Suspect we're still in the "break it" phase, and only when everything has been rebuilt in rasmus' brentford mould will Rasmus be able to say that his plan works. 

Edited 28 May, 2023 by Saint86

[Nolan]

It's going to be interesting to see what Saints do with the transfer dealings.

If we got in 80-100 million for say JWP, Lavia, Tella how much upward pressure would that put on potential incomings price?

Is it wise to sign incomings first?

[Dusic]

8 minutes ago, Nolan said:

It's going to be interesting to see what Saints do with the transfer dealings.

If we got in 80-100 million for say JWP, Lavia, Tella how much upward pressure would that put on potential incomings price?

Is it wise to sign incomings first?

I think so yes. The club know there are 4 or 5 players who can be sold for good fees without question so there shouldnt be a doubt about what can be raised.

It will be important to get a good start, especially to get the fans behind Martin, and in some positions (central midfield especially) we will be massively short.

Will be important to have a few leaders in for pre season too as minus a couple of the experienced guys this is still such a tame group.

Imagine some stuff will happen pretty quickly though, its so obvious the likes of Lavia, JWP, KWP, Salisu, Adams etc will be going and teams have had ages to know we are going down and to sort deals out with those players. Assuming we are realistic on prices then most of these can be done before pre season, which is better for everyone.

Edited 28 May, 2023 by Dusic

[SuperSAINT]

1 minute ago, Dusic said:

I think so yes. The club know there are 4 or 5 players who can be sold for good fees without question so there shouldnt be a doubt about what can be raised.

It will be important to get a good start, especially to get the fans behind Martin, and in some positions (central midfield especially) we will be massively short.

Will be important to have a few leaders in for pre season too as minus a couple of the experienced guys this is still such a tame group.

Imagine some stuff will happen pretty quickly though, its so obvious the likes of Lavia, JWP, KWP, Salisu, Adams etc will be going and teams have had ages to know we are going down and to sort deals out with those players. Assuling we are realistic on prices then most of these can be done before pre season, which is better for everyone.

If not, we are going to have about 800 players turning up for pre-season training.  Going to be fun keeping track of who’s on the plane (or bus) to our pre-season camp.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

The disappointment will be more about who we keep. Hopefully Ely & Diallo have seen how Theo has done the right thing but I also don't want AA, ABK, Salisu, Tall (Bingo) Pall, Orsic, Aribo, AMN wearing a Saints shirt again. Horrid, horrid uncaring squad.

[Umlaut]

9 hours ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

The disappointment will be more about who we keep. Hopefully Ely & Diallo have seen how Theo has done the right thing but I also don't want AA, ABK, Salisu, Tall (Bingo) Pall, Orsic, Aribo, AMN wearing a Saints shirt again. Horrid, horrid uncaring squad.

Once a saint, always a saint. With the exception of Ely, Diallo, AA, ABK, Salisu, Paul, Orsic, Aribo, AMN.

[WALK DMC]

11 hours ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

The disappointment will be more about who we keep. Hopefully Ely & Diallo have seen how Theo has done the right thing but I also don't want AA, ABK, Salisu, Tall (Bingo) Pall, Orsic, Aribo, AMN wearing a Saints shirt again. Horrid, horrid uncaring squad.

Why would you want ABK to leave ?   He is only 21 years old and a German international. From where I was sitting he always tried hard and showed good potential with strength, size and a decent amount of pace. He did have moments when his inexperience was shown, but centre halves usually take time to mature. I'm sure that he'll be a very good player in the years to come. 

I wish he would stay, but unfortunately I suspect that he will have a decent list of suitors in the summer and will be off. 

[Badger]

1 hour ago, WALK DMC said:

Why would you want ABK to leave ?   He is only 21 years old and a German international.

Answers your own question I’d have thought. 

[mitch01]

As I see it there are a fair few who will almost certainly be off (JWP, KWP, ABK, Lavia, Orsic, Theo, Elyonoussi, AMN, Salisu). I'd also like to see Diallo and McCarthy say goodbye.

But also plenty who can be part of a promotion campaign. We should stand firm and keep Alcaraz, Sulemana, Adams and Tella assuming there's no contractual reason we have to sell.

Added to that core, Edozie, Djenepo, Bazunu, Tino, Bree, Larios, Aribo, A. Armstrong could all benefit their careers with a strong season in the league below.

Stu and Jan Bednarek will probably have decisions to make too but conceivably could be important players for us next year.

Some wise recruitment using the money we bring in and blooding 3-4 from the academy (Doyle, Ballard, Sam A-A, Dibling) and I'm confident we can see a totally freshened up team and something we all actually enjoy getting behind next year. Which would make a very welcome change.

[Pilchards]

My fears are Drago is putting them all up for a fire sale.

Recoup what he put into the club and rebuild from scratch with an average manager. 

That way no pressure on him as the expectations won’t be great.

Personally he don’t give a fuck about us fans but more about getting himself more money.

Lets see how this pans out?

 

* Ignore the fire sale bit as he wouldn’t sell any player at half price but every player is free to go if we get a good offer.

Edited 29 May, 2023 by Pilchards

[hypochondriac]

4 minutes ago, Pilchards said:

My fears are Drago is putting them all up for a fire sale.

Recoup what he put into the club and rebuild from scratch with an average manager. 

That way no pressure on him as the expectations won’t be great.

Personally he don’t give a fuck about us fans but more about getting himself more money.

Lets see how this pans out?

What evidence do you have for any of that? 

[Badger]

12 minutes ago, Pilchards said:

My fears are Drago is putting them all up for a fire sale.

Recoup what he put into the club and rebuild from scratch with an average manager. 

That way no pressure on him as the expectations won’t be great.

Personally he don’t give a fuck about us fans but more about getting himself more money.

Lets see how this pans out?

Fucking hell Pilchards, over the years you’ve been one of the better, more sensible, and reliable posters on here, but since the impending arrival of Martin, have you become a hybrid of Victor Meldrew and Private Frazer ? 
 

Mind you, given the SR track record you’ve every right to doubt the fuckers 

7 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

What evidence do you have for any of that? 

Play the MLG card on this one: burden of proof, and all that… 

 

Edited 29 May, 2023 by Badger

[Nolan]

13 minutes ago, Pilchards said:

My fears are Drago is putting them all up for a fire sale.

Recoup what he put into the club and rebuild from scratch with an average manager. 

That way no pressure on him as the expectations won’t be great.

Personally he don’t give a fuck about us fans but more about getting himself more money.

Lets see how this pans out?

A fire sale involves selling something at less than the value of that item.

 

It's not close to happening with Southampton

[Weston Super Saint]

33 minutes ago, Pilchards said:

My fears are Drago is putting them all up for a fire sale.

Recoup what he put into the club and rebuild from scratch with an average manager. 

That way no pressure on him as the expectations won’t be great.

Personally he don’t give a fuck about us fans but more about getting himself more money.

Lets see how this pans out?

Ridiculous.  Why would he invest £400m in to the club in the last month?

[Ed Rooney]

Oh no, not the firesale conspiracy again 

[CB Fry]

1 hour ago, Pilchards said:

My fears are Drago is putting them all up for a fire sale.

Recoup what he put into the club and rebuild from scratch with an average manager. 

That way no pressure on him as the expectations won’t be great.

Personally he don’t give a fuck about us fans but more about getting himself more money.

Lets see how this pans out?

 

* Ignore the fire sale bit as he wouldn’t sell any player at half price but every player is free to go if we get a good offer.

One day into the close season everyone.

One fucking day.

Jesus wept.

[Pilchards]

1 hour ago, Nolan said:

A fire sale involves selling something at less than the value of that item.

 

It's not close to happening with Southampton

Ignore the fire sale  comment but every player will be free to go at a price.

Wait and see us sell/loan 21 players this window.

[manji]

2 minutes ago, Pilchards said:

Ignore the fire sale  comment but every player will be free to go at a price.

Wait and see us sell/loan 21 players this window.

Utterly ridiculous comment.

Edited 29 May, 2023 by manji

[FarehamSaintJames]

I think we’ll loan out a fair few senior players.

We won’t be recouping money on Onuachu, or Caleta-Car or maybe even Diallo.

Orsic I think will be sold, it’s been in the pipeline for some time.

People forget that this isn’t FIFA where you’re guaranteed to get an offer as soon as you put them up for sale.

These players are poor, and have very high wages. They won’t be easy to shift on.

It’ll be like when we loaned out Hoedt, Carrillo, Lemina etc.

[Lighthouse]

2 hours ago, Pilchards said:

My fears are Drago is putting them all up for a fire sale.

Recoup what he put into the club and rebuild from scratch with an average manager. 

That way no pressure on him as the expectations won’t be great.

Personally he don’t give a fuck about us fans but more about getting himself more money.

Lets see how this pans out?

 

* Ignore the fire sale bit as he wouldn’t sell any player at half price but every player is free to go if we get a good offer.

I fear you may be getting altitude sickness up that tree.

[Chez]

2 hours ago, Pilchards said:

My fears are Drago is putting them all up for a fire sale.

Recoup what he put into the club and rebuild from scratch with an average manager. 

That way no pressure on him as the expectations won’t be great.

Personally he don’t give a fuck about us fans but more about getting himself more money.

Lets see how this pans out?

 

* Ignore the fire sale bit as he wouldn’t sell any player at half price but every player is free to go if we get a good offer.

The club has little value in the Championship. He, more than any other person wants/needs a return to the Premiership and will be doing everything to achieve that. He doesn't make money by stripping the club of its assets, however, the budget will be significantly smaller and we need to cut our cloth accordingly.  If we can sell/offload the underperforming senior players and  retain the younger (cheaper) talent we could come back stronger. 

[Chez]

1 hour ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Ridiculous.  Why would he invest £400m in to the club in the last month?

He's invested £400m? I missed that. Can you share a link to that story?

[Dusic]

Will be an interesting summer, keep the crackpot conspiracies coming and maybe one of them will stick.

All IMHO of course,

Morph

[Chez]

30 minutes ago, Pilchards said:

Ignore the fire sale  comment but every player will be free to go at a price.

Wait and see us sell/loan 21 players this window.

That's a lot of players to depart, but we do have a huge squad, so that could happen, especially if you count some of the young pros.

[Fabrice29]

Am I the only one who would absolutely love a fire sale then?  

Genuinely only care about watching Lavia, Alcaraz and the kids again in a Saints shirt. Obviously Lavia won't be seen again and a complete overhaul isn't going to happen but I'd shrug my shoulders if you told me every other first team player in the squad would be sold this summer. Some really talented players in there, some really good people too and obviously some of them will hopefully go onto be part of a team who will get us promoted and we'll learn to love but right now... all a bit meh apart from a very select few. 

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Pilchards said:

Ignore the fire sale  comment but every player will be free to go at a price.

Wait and see us sell/loan 21 players this window.

I've been told 10-15 leaving which would be kind if remarkable but I'd not really have a problem with almost anyone going. 

[CB Fry]

1 hour ago, Pilchards said:

Ignore the fire sale  comment but every player will be free to go at a price.

Wait and see us sell/loan 21 players this window.

 

23 minutes ago, Chez said:

That's a lot of players to depart, but we do have a huge squad, so that could happen, especially if you count some of the young pros.

Yes absolutely we are likely going to move on/sell/loan a lot of players. We're all expecting that, and many of us will welcome it.

It's not quite the same as what @Pilchards was getting at in his first "fire sale" / "fear" / "low expectations" doom scenario post.

The fanbase are expecting a proper promotion challenge and the club messaging has been all about going for that to. And if the only thing Dragon only "gives a fuck about" is "more money" then maybe get promoted to the richest league in the world, yeah?

Don't even bother trying to do "told you so" stuff when we start selling players Pilchards. We all know we are going to. We all know.

Edited 29 May, 2023 by CB Fry

[Chez]

5 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

I've been told 10-15 leaving which would be kind of remarkable but I'd not really have a problem with almost anyone going. 

Out of contract: 1. AMN, 2. Eli, 3. Theo, 4. Cabellero
5. JWP, 6. Orsic and 7. Salisu are gone.
8. McCarthy, 9. Diallo, 10. Adams, and 11. DCC look highly likely to depart, although not certain.
12. Stephens, 13. KWP, 14. ABK and 15. Lavia - it would not surprise anyone if they left.

The likes of AArmstrong, SArmstrong, Djenepo, Perraud, Tella, Bednarek and Onuachu could stay or go.

It would take serious bids for Sulemana and Alcaraz to go...which might not happen as they perhaps have not done enough.

Maybe sent out on loan again...Nlundulu, Simeu, Vokins, Chauke, Simeu and Small

 

 

[sfc4prem]

Hangers on like Nlundulu, Small and Vokins need to be offloaded.

I'd like to keep Adams and Armstrong, but offload Onuachu.

I'd not be fussed if all of them left, really. Saddened by James leaving, but as with Lavia and a few others, it was bleeding obvious they would if we dropped.