Summer Transfer Window 2024

[Bakovnetski]

33 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Had a look on a West brom forum. Consensus is he isn't great. A hard worker who runs a lot but poor finishing. Very similar to Adams in that respect. Has a worse goal scoring record than Adams but tbf is in a worse time. Not overly exciting but if we get Bereton Diaz, might work as backup. 

So, pretty much a direct Adams replacement...we're bound to make a stupid bid then 😉

[washsaint]

55 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Adam Armstrong is not a winger, MLG. If you genuinely think he is a winger then I don't really know what else to say

We have AA who plays on the right, we have SAA who plays there and we also have Dibling who can play there.  Add in Ryan Fraser and that equals more than 0.  I just don't understand this Palace link at all - it will send the completely wrong message to the youth squad ....has this player ever done anything to warrant being brought in?

[westmidlandsaint]

41 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Had a look on a West brom forum. Consensus is he isn't great. A hard worker who runs a lot but poor finishing. Very similar to Adams in that respect. Has a worse goal scoring record than Adams but tbf is in a worse time. Not overly exciting but if we get Bereton Diaz, might work as backup. 

That's interesting living in the west midlands all the Baggies fans I know were banging on about him for most of the season. Fickle now he might be going. 

Not sure he's what we need tho!

[Dellyears]

9 minutes ago, Bakovnetski said:

So, pretty much a direct Adams replacement...we're bound to make a stupid bid then 😉

Is Ross Stewart in contention? Haven't heard much about him recently

[Miltonaggro]

36 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Relevo in Spain saying Saints and Villarreal are accelerating negotiations for Ben Brereton-Diaz. He likes the idea of coming here, Villarreal are happy to let him go back to England as a loan-to-buy or an outright buy now. Ipswich also interested but sounds like Saints is preferential to the player and Villarreal

Pray this comes off.  BBD immediately improves this side and our chances of staying up. 

[hypochondriac]

7 minutes ago, westmidlandsaint said:

That's interesting living in the west midlands all the Baggies fans I know were banging on about him for most of the season. Fickle now he might be going. 

Not sure he's what we need tho!

This discussion was in the close season, before he had been linked with a move away. 

[Kermitzasaint]

On 17/07/2024 at 18:10, Saint86 said:

The current squad is weaker than the one that got relegated (Lavia, Tino, JWP all missing), but the team that got relegated should never have gone down - That was entirely down to SR undermining the manager and coaching setup, sacking hassenhuttle, and then making two terrible appointments.

Against that, I have faith that we once again have an effective style of play and team. The attack is weaker currently - its the same as what came down, minus Che - which is impressive.... but surely this is the window where SR finally buy a good striker?!?!? Surely?!?! Right?!?!?!

The defence is better, and with Downes in midfield, a more structured defence, and the cb's we have for a back 5 - i think we'll be better defensively than when we got relegated.

If we sign a good attacker, and possibly Ramsdale (i can't quite believe he'll go from Arsenal to saints, or that if he is available we'll be the ones to get him), then i think we'll be sound.

Over to SR to finally sign a good striker...

Considering Russell Martin's well known defensive frailties in a lower league, I think you're going to be horrified by what will happen. 

[CSA96]

Now a full article from Relevo: https://www.relevo.com/futbol/mercado-fichajes/brereton-acelera-vuelta-inglaterra-negociacion-20240723114552-nt.html

Translation

Ben Brereton's days at Villarreal are numbered. The talented Chilean striker is working on his return to England and in recent days talks with English club Southampton have intensified. The British club wants the forward and the player knows that he will not have a place at Villarreal this season, so it is a move that could come to fruition.

Ben has not had many opportunities in the yellow club to show his worth either, after a start to 2023/2024 in which his participation was very low. In view of this situation, both club and player decided to go back to England on a mid-season loan in which he regained confidence, scoring 6 goals in just 14 games and showing that he has plenty of quality.

It was all part of the plan. With that loan, either the doors of Villarreal were opened, or he demonstrated in England that he had enough level to play in the Premier. After the unviable first option, as the player already knows, the way to return to the Premier League is more than open. In fact, although last year he played half a season at Sheffield United, with this team relegated to the Championship, Southampton is the one that takes the lead.

They are working on a loan with a purchase option, although at this time even a transfer is not ruled out. The reality is that these are hours of negotiations for a movement that all parties would view favourably. They remain to be finalised, but conversations are currently taking place.

The list of suitors for the player is not low, because apart from Southampton, Ipswich Town has shown a firm interest in Ben, but currently negotiations are taking place with Southampton, who have already made Villarreal aware of their intentions and want to get the player before the competition starts.

[northam soul]

Not sure on the Asante link but if there is one thing that a Saints team has been missing for years is someone who is a bit of a handful.

A bit of power coupled with pace we desperately need even if off the bench.

 

[Saint86]

37 minutes ago, Kermitzasaint said:

Considering Russell Martin's well known defensive frailties in a lower league, I think you're going to be horrified by what will happen. 

Since my post was a comparison against the relegation side, i maintain that our defence should be better than that teams defence next year...

Also, i've already broken this down on here, but if you take out the first 6 games (Norwich 4-4, Sunderland 5-0, Leicester 4-1) - when we were changing style and had a hugely unsettled squad - and the Leicester one off game in the run in (which has plenty of mitigations), we were a solid side last season; averaging basically goal against per game whilst also being the most attacking side in the league. The playoffs as well saw us switch to a more defensive shape in which we let in only one goal (vs WBA), which was a consolation goal deep in injury time. Leeds in the final we kept comfortably at arms reach bar a couple of long shots when they were giving it their all.

Seems unreasonable to me to base next season's expectations off of Martin's defensive frailties (with other sides) when he was a very new/young manager, let alone in preference to his time at saints. If he wants to keep it tight, our tactics at the end of last season show we're more than capable of playing that way. 

Edited July 23 by Saint86

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

5 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

if you take out the first 6 games

 

5 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

and the Leicester one off game

That's the thing about statistics - you can use them to make any sort of point you want. In this case, let's just ignore 15% of the league games we played last year. Whichever way you slice it, we let in 63 league goals last season which is an average of 1.4 goals a game, and a win never felt certain even if we were 2-0 up.

Not at all convinced we won't let a shed load of goals in this season.

 

[goodymatt]

16 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Leeds in the final we kept comfortably at arms reach bar a couple of long shots when they were giving it their all.

See what you did there 😉 

[chownie20]

Wonder if Thomas Asante and RMs paths crossed at MK Dons.  Pretty underwhelming really - need to have more about you than power and pace to be effective in the prem.  Although would give us an option we dont really have currently I suppose.

[FarehamSaintJames]

TBA for West Brom seems like a really lazy link

[hypochondriac]

15 minutes ago, chownie20 said:

Wonder if Thomas Asante and RMs paths crossed at MK Dons.  Pretty underwhelming really - need to have more about you than power and pace to be effective in the prem.  Although would give us an option we dont really have currently I suppose.

TBF the only option we currently have in attack "injured" and "shit". Almost any other player would give us a different option. 

[Kenilworthy]

55 minutes ago, northam soul said:

Not sure on the Asante link but if there is one thing that a Saints team has been missing for years is someone who is a bit of a handful.

A bit of power coupled with pace we desperately need even if off the bench.

 

There is a slight link through MK Dons, although the overlap between him leaving in 2019 and RM joining in 2019 must have been quite short

[Toussaint]

4 hours ago, OldNick said:

With that amount of information and input this could mean you are part of the Circle of Trust 

Oh Nick, you are going to look pretty silly when the white text on the white background is eventually highlighted to reveal the player we have signed.

[vectraman]

2 hours ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

I didn't have a problem with us getting Fraser in. Have you seen this lad play? How do you know he is exicting and direct? If Palace rate him so highly why are they letting him leave? They are likely to lose both their wingers this summer, yet are prepared to let this lad leave and spend big on another player. Our track record for signing wide players has been awful over the past few seasons, this one if it happens, has all the hallmarks of another.

Ryan Fraser was a proven premier league performer. This young Palace lad has played 120 mins in his entire career in the premier league over 6 appearances. Ryan Fraser also won’t cost the estimated £12 million being mentioned, far from it. 
We don’t need potential, we need starters, and he clearly isn’t. Yet. 

Assuming we really do have a tight budget, ~£12 million just doesn’t seem sensible. We must get a striker in who will cost big cash. That’s the priority to me. 

[hypochondriac]

10 minutes ago, vectraman said:

Ryan Fraser was a proven premier league performer. This young Palace lad has played 120 mins in his entire career in the premier league over 6 appearances. Ryan Fraser also won’t cost the estimated £12 million being mentioned, far from it. 
We don’t need potential, we need starters, and he clearly isn’t. Yet. 

Assuming we really do have a tight budget, ~£12 million just doesn’t seem sensible. We must get a striker in who will cost big cash. That’s the priority to me. 

If the rumoured deal is as mentioned, it wouldn't be 12 million until next year. So would effectively cost us nothing this year in the eyes of FFP. 

[saintwbu]

43 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

TBA for West Brom seems like a really lazy link

What makes something a ‘lazy link’? He’s not a player that’s been mentioned anywhere, there’s no tie to our club or anyone at our club that stands out. Surely a ‘lazy link’ is more like Danny Ings being linked because he played for us previously…

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, Golac's Cunning Stunts said:

 

That's the thing about statistics - you can use them to make any sort of point you want. In this case, let's just ignore 15% of the league games we played last year. Whichever way you slice it, we let in 63 league goals last season which is an average of 1.4 goals a game, and a win never felt certain even if we were 2-0 up.

Not at all convinced we won't let a shed load of goals in this season.

 

I mean, you're more the one using statistics here Golac 😆. I'm just using a bit of judgement / reasoning to say that certain games weren't very reflective of the overall team performance... You're taking the actual data and repeating it verbatim to produce a 1.4 goals per game average 🙃

Plus ofc, we managed all of that with the bazunu factor between the sticks. Thats actually a very solid outfield 10 👀 (reaches for coat before i get lynched for doubting baz).

Edited July 23 by Saint86

[HKsaint]

I am afraid we will become MK Donsea in the premier league. 

[Saint Matty 76]

Brereton Diaz, alongside one other forward has looked like a no brainer all Summer, so I'd be happy to get that one over the line on the loan w/ option.

My best Football Manager brain also leads me to believe that we'd still be able to make two Premier League loans (@Matthew Le God?) as Diaz would be coming in from abroad. 

Ramsdale (loan), O'Riley (£22m), Diaz (loan) and Broja (loan). We take that?

[Holmes_and_Watson]

3 hours ago, ErwinK1961 said:

I guess the argument is we have an exciting young RW already, why block his pathway by signing another young unproven winger, whilst simultaneously wasting a domestic loan space for another position we desperately need strengthening.

I have no issue btw in signing someone better than SAA, but it should really be someone ready to start every week in the Prem, not another SAA equivalent.

Agreed.

The gaps we have in the squad are for players expected to play a lot of first team minutes, replacing Stu, Che, Fraser and Brooks.

If RM and SR decide that Alcaraz, Edozie/Sule and SAA are able to step up, then that's their decision.

If they aren't at that level, then bringing in direct competition just risks doubling up players, none of whom will keep us up.

If their development is to support more experienced, developed players, then we have to bring in that standard, not others that block their path.

[hypochondriac]

Ramsdale (loan) 

Palace winger (loan) 

Bereton Diaz (loan) 

Fraser 

O'Neil (25 million) 

Ghoddos (free)

A.N.OTHER striker 

Players out

ABK 7 million

Onuachu 7 million

Kwp 15 million

Sulemana 6 million 

 

Happy with that? 

Edited July 23 by hypochondriac

[CSA96]

10 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Ramsdale (loan) 

Palace winger (loan) 

Bereton Diaz (loan) 

Fraser 

O'Neil (25 million) 

Ghoddos (free)

A.N.OTHER striker 

Players out

ABK 7 million

Onuachu 7 million

Kwp 15 million

Sulemana 6 million 

 

Happy with that? 

PL clubs are only allowed a maximum of two loan players in the first-team squad at any one time. So one of Ramsdale/Rak-Sakyi/Brereton-Diaz would need to get done as a permanent to facilitate all three coming in. Although I do quite like the look of that and the numbers don't feel unreasonable. Think we would probably still need another CM and another forward, though

Edited July 23 by CSA96

[St. Neil]

Think you can only have 2 domestic loans but more from abroad and maximum of 5 in a match day squad maybe.

[CamSaint]

3 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

PL clubs are only allowed a maximum of two loan players in the first-team squad at any one time. So one of Ramsdale/Rak-Sakyi/Brereton-Diaz would need to get done as a permanent to facilitate all three coming in.

From the PL website:

'- Premier League clubs may not register more than two players on loan at any one time.'

'With the exception of Welsh clubs competing in the competitions listed under Rule V.6.2, loans from a club in membership of another National Association do not count towards the above quotas.'

So in this case, as the BBD loan would come from a different country it wouldn't be counted.

[Turkish]

6 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

PL clubs are only allowed a maximum of two loan players in the first-team squad at any one time. So one of Ramsdale/Rak-Sakyi/Brereton-Diaz would need to get done as a permanent to facilitate all three coming in. Although I do quite like the look of that and the numbers don't feel unreasonable. Think we would probably still need another CM and another forward, though

Breaton Diaz plays for Villareal so wouldn't count as a domestic loan

[Turkish]

26 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Ramsdale (loan) 

Palace winger (loan) 

Bereton Diaz (loan) 

Fraser 

O'Neil (25 million) 

Ghoddos (free)

A.N.OTHER striker 

Players out

ABK 7 million

Onuachu 7 million

Kwp 15 million

Sulemana 6 million 

 

Happy with that? 

yes although i'd prefer Breaton-Diaz to join permanently. I think he'd be a good signing for us.

[verlaine1979]

Just watched BBD's goals for Sheffield. Some good movement and sharp finishing. Promising.

[hypochondriac]

16 minutes ago, Turkish said:

yes although i'd prefer Breaton-Diaz to join permanently. I think he'd be a good signing for us.

Agree. We can probably afford him too. 

[hypochondriac]

11 minutes ago, verlaine1979 said:

Just watched BBD's goals for Sheffield. Some good movement and sharp finishing. Promising.

Also Sheffield were absolutely crud in the prem. His stats show he scored all the chances he should do. Hopefully we could create a bit more for him. 

[davefizzy14]

Bereton-Diaz would be a quality signing.

[CSA96]

48 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Breaton Diaz plays for Villareal so wouldn't count as a domestic loan

Oh nice, that is a good bonus... I was slightly worried that loaning Rak-Sakyi and Brereton-Diaz would block out our chance of getting a solid #1 for the season

Thanks CamSaint too. I read that same page and totally missed the national association line 

[manji]

On 18/07/2024 at 13:38, Owen The Saints said:

Happy to see RM has confirmed Che has gone. it must be hard for the youngsters to accept their progress to the 1st team squad was blocked by some-one who is 2 grades below useless. We badly need 2 proper centre forwards who will bust a gut to get into decent attacking positions for the wingers and who can score goals. The main reason we went down was lack of goals. Adams got 5 and Adam Armstrong 2. We need 2 forwards who will get at least 30 goals between them

I’m fairly confident that has been taken into consideration…… but thanks for joining.

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

8 hours ago, spyinthesky said:

Apparently Ipswich keen on Sammy Szmodics from Blackburn at £7m.
Thought he would be the type of player in the right price range for us.

I agree. I like Szmodics, he is in our price range, and he should be on pre-season tour with us in Spain right now.
I'm getting tired of Ipswich, but I understand why they want to use a good chunk of that fortune of money, that has rained down on them from being promoted.
They will probably want to buy 10-20 new players. 

Can't believe they managed to do what we did -> getting promoted 2 seasons in a row. 

[S-Clarke]

3 hours ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

TBA for West Brom seems like a really lazy link

Agreed, I'd be absolutley devastated if we were interested in him as a promotion chasing Championship team! 

An incredibly average lower league player, no more.

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

4 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

TBF the only option we currently have in attack "injured" and "shit". Almost any other player would give us a different option. 

Ross Stewart and Sekou Mara....,  Yes, Mara has disappointed a LOT and I can't see him help us at all at prem level.
However, Stewart is not injured anymore I don't think.

When I saw "Sunderland till' I die" on netflix (about their escaping League 1 in 21/22), I noticed a Sunderland staff member / leader describe Ross Stewart as 
"clearly the best striker in League 1 for many years".
Ross started on fire in the Championship in 22/23 with 10 goals in 13 matches and two caps for Scotland before he did his achilles tendon. The Loch Ness Drogba.

I try to think of Ross Stewart as a new signing for us 😎 with a not so bad (could be worse) pathway towards becoming a prem footballer with what he has achieved so far in his career, but because of his injury history we have to buy a striker, who is before him in the pecking order and use Ross from the bench.

Edited July 23 by Kristian Loekkegaard

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, Kristian Loekkegaard said:

Ross Stewart and Sekou Mara....,  Yes, Mara has disappointed a LOT and I can't see him help us at all at prem level.
However, Stewart is not injured anymore I don't think.

When I saw "Sunderland till' I die" on netflix (about their escaping League 1 in 21/22), I noticed a Sunderland staff member / leader describe Ross Stewart as 
"clearly the best striker in League 1 for many years".
Ross started on fire in the Championship in 22/23 with 10 goals in 13 matches and two caps for Scotland before he did his achilles tendon. The Loch Ness Drogba.

I try to think of Ross Stewart as a new signing for us 😎 with a not so bad (could be worse) pathway towards becoming a prem footballer with what he has achieved so far in his career, but because of his injury history we have to buy a striker, who starts before him in the pecking order.

Ross Stewart is only considered not injured by me when he can complete two games in a row. 

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

Ross Stewart is only considered not injured by me when he can complete two games in a row. 

Fair enough 😎 I really hope he can put all the injury sh*t behind him and produce for us.

[SaintsFan86]

2 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

Ramsdale (loan) 

Palace winger (loan) 

Bereton Diaz (loan) 

Fraser 

O'Neil (25 million) 

Ghoddos (free)

A.N.OTHER striker 

Players out

ABK 7 million

Onuachu 7 million

Kwp 15 million

Sulemana 6 million 

 

Happy with that? 

Can't say I've heard of O'Neil tbh.. O'Riley would be fantastic.

I don't think Ghoddos comes here personally, don't think we would want him either.

BBD would be a really excellent addition.

Also, No way in hell do the club accept as little as 7 for Kamaldeen.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

10 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Ross Stewart is only considered not injured by me when he can complete two games in a row. 

I can only hope the pressure of such a high burden of proof doesn't impact his recovery. 🙂

[ErwinK1961]

5 hours ago, CSA96 said:

Now a full article from Relevo: https://www.relevo.com/futbol/mercado-fichajes/brereton-acelera-vuelta-inglaterra-negociacion-20240723114552-nt.html

Translation

Ben Brereton's days at Villarreal are numbered. The talented Chilean striker is working on his return to England and in recent days talks with English club Southampton have intensified. The British club wants the forward and the player knows that he will not have a place at Villarreal this season, so it is a move that could come to fruition.

Ben has not had many opportunities in the yellow club to show his worth either, after a start to 2023/2024 in which his participation was very low. In view of this situation, both club and player decided to go back to England on a mid-season loan in which he regained confidence, scoring 6 goals in just 14 games and showing that he has plenty of quality.

It was all part of the plan. With that loan, either the doors of Villarreal were opened, or he demonstrated in England that he had enough level to play in the Premier. After the unviable first option, as the player already knows, the way to return to the Premier League is more than open. In fact, although last year he played half a season at Sheffield United, with this team relegated to the Championship, Southampton is the one that takes the lead.

They are working on a loan with a purchase option, although at this time even a transfer is not ruled out. The reality is that these are hours of negotiations for a movement that all parties would view favourably. They remain to be finalised, but conversations are currently taking place.

The list of suitors for the player is not low, because apart from Southampton, Ipswich Town has shown a firm interest in Ben, but currently negotiations are taking place with Southampton, who have already made Villarreal aware of their intentions and want to get the player before the competition starts.

Does anyone know how reliable Relevo is? BBD would seem a very good signing if this is true. Should know Arma as well?

[hypochondriac]

Getting a proven player like Diaz in will put significantly less pressure on whoever else we get to play up front. 

[Saint Matty 76]

I imagine we'll loan Sulemana to a favourable league (Eredivisie?) this year in the hope that he can have a solid year to raise his value. However, my hopes aren't too high given his lack of impact on the Championship.

Similar to what just happened with Minteh will be our goal, I'd guess.

Edited July 23 by Saint Matty 76

[SaintsFan86]

Just now, Saint Matty 76 said:

I imagine we'll loan Sulemana to a favourable league (Eredivisie?) this year in the hope that he can have a solid year to raise his value. 

Similar to what just happened with Minteh.

Send him to PSV, Would be a decent place for hopefully the young lad to improve his final third ability.

[CSA96]

Sunderland Echo say Ipswich and Saints both keen on Jack Clarke but Sunderland’s asking price is £25m, due to a 25% sell-on which is held by Tottenham

[hypochondriac]

8 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Sunderland Echo say Ipswich and Saints both keen on Jack Clarke but Sunderland’s asking price is £25m, due to a 25% sell-on which is held by Tottenham

No chance is he worth that at all. Certainly won't be paying that for him and o'riley. 

[skintsaint]

10 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Sunderland Echo say Ipswich and Saints both keen on Jack Clarke but Sunderland’s asking price is £25m, due to a 25% sell-on which is held by Tottenham

Pass