Flynn Downes - Official: Signs 4 Year Contract

[Obstacle1]

On 07/05/2024 at 08:08, Badger said:

Not only back up, but I’d like to see Downes playing with a bit of a ball winning ‘enforcer’ next to him. A ‘Wanyama’ or ‘Romeu’ type with Downes the more creative one of the duo

Absolutely. Downes reminds me of Schneiderlin at times, always in the right position

[JustinR]

Happened to sit next to Flynn's agent on the way to Wembley yesterday. 

A lovely bloke, very humble. Was interesting to hear what he had to say about Flynn and the summer.

Nothing earth shattering but that if we go up (yay!) it makes it easier to keep him. That Flynn loves it here. That the problem will be West Ham now they have only a few central midfielders. But this will likely only delay it rather than stop it. 

He also gave an insight into Flynn's mentality for big games like this. 

He also represents Steven Schumacher and confirmed he was gutted he didn't get the job and was interviewed.

[Saint Matty 76]

Just a brilliant player. I think him and THB can very comfortably slot in as top league players, we just need to sure up the defence & midfield around them both.

Fingers crossed we can get it locked in for anything around £15m~.

[CB Fry]

He's a West Ham fan of course bit hopefully he can see (and be convinced) that his best chance of regular PL football is with us.

[SaintsFan86]

West ham are going to rinse us here I feel. They will know how pivotal he is to us.

[Disco Stu]

Not only the change of manager, but the Paqueta situation may affect this transfer as well. He was looking likely to leave, and they were probably hoping for £80m to reinvest with. Now they may be forced to look at what they already have.

[SaintsLoyal]

The fact hes done so well i suspect hes going to be fully assessed by the new manager.

Im sure the tossers at the athletic will be wanting to claim a story.

[Scully]

Really hoping we can sign him but understand West Ham wanting to keep him. We looked a lot worse when he didn't play so if we don't sign him we'd need someone in the same role.

[davefizzy14]

Really hoping this is our top priority for the summer and we can get Downes tied up permanently 🙏

[Jack]

Very mixed views on the WHU forum on whether they should keep him or cash in. I guess they want someone higher profile if they’ve got aspirations of pushing on from this season. 
 

One point that I agree with is it’ll be interesting to see how he gets on in a team that’s going to have more like 40% possession compared with the 65% we’re used to. I think we’re also going to need a Romeu type player in there next season, regardless of whether we sign Flynn. That said, we didn’t have much of the ball in the Leeds game but he was still excellent 

[S-Clarke]

4 hours ago, Jack said:

Very mixed views on the WHU forum on whether they should keep him or cash in. I guess they want someone higher profile if they’ve got aspirations of pushing on from this season. 
 

One point that I agree with is it’ll be interesting to see how he gets on in a team that’s going to have more like 40% possession compared with the 65% we’re used to. I think we’re also going to need a Romeu type player in there next season, regardless of whether we sign Flynn. That said, we didn’t have much of the ball in the Leeds game but he was still excellent 

Don't WHU always want someone higher profile? They flashed their bits around in the summer trying for Ruben Amorim, but ended up with Lopotegei.

From a natural pov I think they'd be nuts to give away Flynn, a proper fan of the club, a really good footballer - could build a decent PL midfield with the likes of him, Suceck and JWP - but like you say, they will want 'high profile' for no real reason other than an ego stroke.

I obviously hope that happens for our benefit, but I think we'll have to be very patient for Flynn - end of August is when this will move if it does.

[saintant]

2 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

Don't WHU always want someone higher profile? They flashed their bits around in the summer trying for Ruben Amorim, but ended up with Lopotegei.

From a natural pov I think they'd be nuts to give away Flynn, a proper fan of the club, a really good footballer - could build a decent PL midfield with the likes of him, Suceck and JWP - but like you say, they will want 'high profile' for no real reason other than an ego stroke.

I obviously hope that happens for our benefit, but I think we'll have to be very patient for Flynn - end of August is when this will move if it does.

But if last season Downes was playing for a club such as say Leeds I don't think West Ham would have the slightest interest in him. 

[Jack]

3 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

Don't WHU always want someone higher profile? They flashed their bits around in the summer trying for Ruben Amorim, but ended up with Lopotegei.

From a natural pov I think they'd be nuts to give away Flynn, a proper fan of the club, a really good footballer - could build a decent PL midfield with the likes of him, Suceck and JWP - but like you say, they will want 'high profile' for no real reason other than an ego stroke.

I obviously hope that happens for our benefit, but I think we'll have to be very patient for Flynn - end of August is when this will move if it does.

Agreed but having finished 9th under a manager they decided was trash from the start, they’ll be looking to improve on that. If that means Downes is surplus to requirement then I’ll be over the moon, but don’t most clubs in 9th place with significant financial backing think they should be pushing on for better things? 
 

In the middle of our 4 years in 6-8th position in the prem, we’d have been calling for better than someone who was at a championship playoff side last season 

[Tommy Mulgrew]

My son spotted him in Westfield before the Leverkusen game and got a photo with him. 

Really nice guy who was happy to take the time to speak to us, said his plans for next season were definitely to come back and fight for a place in the squad unless the manager decides otherwise. 

Looks like he's had a great season for Southampton, I think he would have got plenty of minutes with us the way the season shaped up.

Saw that on the WH forum.  Unless he has changed his mind since then, it seems FD prefers to stay at WH, where he would be uncertain of starting games, instead of almost certainly starting for us.  Unless their new manager does not like what he sees, I think we need to look elsewhere.  (The COT might think differently, of course.) 🤐

[Dusic]

Think its pretty obvious what the situation is. He is a WH guy on a long contract there with likely most of his family living in Essex (think he is from Brentwood). If he has a chance of course he would love to make it there - why wouldn't he? The fact they have a new manager means he has probably a better shot at it than if Moyes stayed (and also would be less threat of being a championship player again in a year).

Should it become clear he isnt going to feature enough there for his liking he has a 2nd option here that I am sure he would be keen on, and which is also fairly possible.

Nothing will happen until much closer to the start of the season, or possibly after that as of the 3 parties involved, we are the only one that wants it all sorted ASAP and barely anything happens til July anyway as everyone is on holiday now.

From his perspective he has two good options so is in a strong position with no need to rush anything or make public statements when he himself doesn't know what will happen.

Edited 12 June, 2024 by Dusic

[Pwoite]

9 hours ago, Dusic said:

Think its pretty obvious what the situation is. He is a WH guy on a long contract there with likely most of his family living in Essex (think he is from Brentwood). If he has a chance of course he would love to make it there - why wouldn't he? The fact they have a new manager means he has probably a better shot at it than if Moyes stayed (and also would be less threat of being a championship player again in a year).

Should it become clear he isnt going to feature enough there for his liking he has a 2nd option here that I am sure he would be keen on, and which is also fairly possible.

Nothing will happen until much closer to the start of the season, or possibly after that as of the 3 parties involved, we are the only one that wants it all sorted ASAP and barely anything happens til July anyway as everyone is on holiday now.

From his perspective he has two good options so is in a strong position with no need to rush anything or make public statements when he himself doesn't know what will happen.

Downes certainly went to school in Brentwood, but whilst I agree he has two options, a failure to take our one could see his choices halved, if he go elsewhere. Can see some brinkmanship coming into play on this one, and us potentially lining up our own Plan B, to push forward a conclusion.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, Pwoite said:

Downes certainly went to school in Brentwood, but whilst I agree he has two options, a failure to take our one could see his choices halved, if he go elsewhere. Can see some brinkmanship coming into play on this one, and us potentially lining up our own Plan B, to push forward a conclusion.

Since we need re-enforcements there anyway, and relied on Downes being fit last season, hopefully the plan B option is well underway.

[West end Saints]

Although he was superb last season, and clearly a player RM likes, I hope we don't wait too long for him.

I had never heard from him 12 months ago, and as a 25 year old who has played more in league 1 them prem , I'm sure there are plenty of DM available of similar level.

[swannymere]

9 minutes ago, West end Saints said:

Although he was superb last season, and clearly a player RM likes, I hope we don't wait too long for him.

I had never heard from him 12 months ago, and as a 25 year old who has played more in league 1 them prem , I'm sure there are plenty of DM available of similar level.

I'd usually agree but its finding one who slotted in as seamlesly as he did.

[West end Saints]

Just seen how late seasons starts, maybe 3 games before window shuts??

Suppose not too bad to wait, if he comes as he knows RM's style, but I do worry about signing a player , for a role pivotal to our style, without a preseason

[CSA96]

Returning on a permanent and will be a Saints player in time for the first game of pre-season. Dharmesh Sheth saying the deal is £18m and no suggestion it includes Kyle Walker-Peters. Downes travelling from Austria back to the UK and given permission to undertake a medical. Personal terms agreed a few weeks ago

[SNSUN]

It's not often a transfer is almost universally praised by the fans of both parties but Downes appears to be it. We get a midfield key cog for money that is probably a decent amount for him, they sell a squad player for a profit. In fact on KUMB the only negative mention is that they thought they'd get more for him. 

[Jimmy_D]

One of those rare transfers that makes sense for everyone involved  

[Saint Scott]

Edited 15 July, 2024 by Saint Scott

[Colinjb]

A critical signing, mainly for just ensuring that we are entering the new season at least as strong as we finished in May.

[Saint86]

Is this going to be clever accounting - i.e. we sign Downes so WHU can bank a larger fee and we can split the transfer spend over 4 years etc... and they sign KWP the same way around... or are we in with a chance of lining up with KWP and Sugar as our wing backs next year...

Or has a bigger club come in for KWP  

[Miltonaggro]

14 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Is this going to be clever accounting - i.e. we sign Downes so WHU can bank a larger fee and we can split the transfer spend over 4 years etc... and they sign KWP the same way around... or are we in with a chance of lining up with KWP and Sugar as our wing backs next year...

Or has a bigger club come in for KWP  

Think it’s an attempt at creative accountancy and Walker Peters to West Ham will be announced as soon as Downes confirmed post medical. 

[notnowcato]

Such an important signing for us. Get in. 

[goodymatt]

Sky reporting he’s completed his medical and just finalising contract details, announcement could be in next 24 hours

[kitch]

If KWP leaving was inevitable, then this is about the best possible outcome we could hope for. 

[Hopper]

Too soon to put the armband on him? 🤔😂

[danjosaint]

7 minutes ago, Hopper said:

Too soon to put the armband on him? 🤔😂

Have u forgotten Jack Beckenbauer 

[CSA96]

Medical passed, apparently  

[beatlesaint]

36 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Medical passed, apparently  

He will be THE player wearing the new kit at the Puma Event as a double whammy to announce his signing and show off whatever abomination (or not) they'll be wearing this season !! 

[Sunglasses Ron]

1 minute ago, beatlesaint said:

He will be THE player wearing the new kit at the Puma Event as a double whammy to announce his signing and show off whatever abomination (or not) they'll be wearing this season !! 

I'd much rather we had great players wearing a horrible kit than the other way round.

Of course, we outdid ourselves two years abo by having horrible players and horrible kits.

Downes is definitely a step in the right direction!

[SNSUN]

Echo signing headline: Saints Find Their Flynnspiration!

[The Curse of St Mary's]

 

 

[S-Clarke]

I imagine his announcement will come with him in the kit, good timing and all that. Hopefully he'll make it look a little less bland.

[SNSUN]

13 minutes ago, The Curse of St Mary's said:

 

 

Guaranteed first teamer signing number 3 after Taylor and Sugawara (assuming KWP goes and we aren't expecting Edwards or Wood to be starters). A striker, one more attacking midfielder/winger, a GK and maybe a CB to replace Jan and we have our starting line up!

[Wade Garrett]

Signed

[CSA96]

Official.

 

[HarvSFC]

Yes, he's back! Love it.

[sambosa75]

Great bit of business.

[CSA96]

[S-Clarke]

We did really well to get that over the line this soon, right in time for pretty much all of pre-season.

I thought this would drag on, but I think Flynn equally pushed hard for this.

[Toadhall Saint]

Welcome back FD. You are more than welcome aboard!

[davefizzy14]

Get in! 😊 the biggest priority for me getting Flynn back permanently and just watching the kit launch on the app, seeing Flynn step out was just pure class 😊

Edited 16 July, 2024 by davefizzy14

[Saint Scott]

Found it interesting during Russell's interview when he said he and Matt Gill didn't think it would happen, but then Flynn saw the "light"

I guess if you are a boyhood West Ham fan and get the chance to play for them it's hard to distance yourself from.

Top news anyway, our most important signing, so far

[Saint NL]

Best news of the summer. Welcome back.

[Saint Matty 76]

Just now, Saint Scott said:

Found it interesting during Russell's interview when he said he and Matt Gill didn't think it would happen, but then Flynn saw the "light"

I guess if you are a boyhood West Ham fan and get the chance to play for them it's hard to distance yourself from.

Top news anyway, our most important signing, so far

Interesting as it's just come out that Ipswich pushed at the last second, so maybe he spoke to them but chose us in the end.