Summer Transfer Window 2024

[Chez]

8 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

I just think as much as we rightly rate KWP, any club looking at him could easily pivot to another versatile full back because he isn’t a stand out top full back that everyone is desperately wanting now, he’s a good solid squad option that would be nice to have. That leads to clubs stalling at £15m demands and saying we’ll just wait or get someone cheaper now. 

We recently bid 7m for Aarons who is fully contracted up presumably. I’m not sure KWP is really worth two Max Aarons to anyone else right now. 

Late circa 8-10m deal to Spurs or West Ham is my guess. Followed by the management team bemoaning it got to that situation in the first place and saying it was done as a thanks for not forcing it last year. 

That kind of price would be pretty painful, but the club simply can't allow players to walk for free, so we might have to take what is given - as they did with Hoj.

Easy to say on here `for that money we would be better off just keeping him as he will help keep us up', but it would effectively cost us £10m + his wages for 38 prem games. That's about £250,000 a week - serious money for us. Is he worth that to us?

The alternative might be to sell KWP and pay £250,000 a week (wages and loan fee) to loan Ramsdale for a season, although I don't think actually that's a real possibility.

[Chez]

16 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Seeing as we look likely to keep conceding a relatively high amount of goals we really, really need to start adding PL quality in attack to give ourselves a fighting chance of staying up.

Currently our starting wide players didnt do much in the Championship and have only two viable strikers, one who is better from wide and the other being Mara who clearly isn't good enough.

I doubt you will get many arguments about that on here, but boy does it look tough to sign decent strikers these days. 

With one up front, we do need goals from other areas. We have the numbers, but do we have enough quality at left and right wing and in the form of a more attacking central midfielder?
Alcaraz,...
Fraser???, Sulemena, SAA
AA, Edozie, Dibling

Will SAA and Dibling go out on loan? Is Fraser going to be anywhere near as effective in the Prem? Will he be used as a wing back? Can Sulemena offer something? Can AA and Edozie do it in the Prem? A lot of question marks.

[hypochondriac]

16 minutes ago, Chez said:

I doubt you will get many arguments about that on here, but boy does it look tough to sign decent strikers these days. 

With one up front, we do need goals from other areas. We have the numbers, but do we have enough quality at left and right wing and in the form of a more attacking central midfielder?
Alcaraz,...
Fraser???, Sulemena, SAA
AA, Edozie, Dibling

Will SAA and Dibling go out on loan? Is Fraser going to be anywhere near as effective in the Prem? Will he be used as a wing back? Can Sulemena offer something? Can AA and Edozie do it in the Prem? A lot of question marks.

Don't forget Aribo. Getting O'Riley and Bereton Diaz would make a huge difference in attack and if we could combine that with another wide option then even better. Yes there are a lot of unknowns but there's also not masses that needs doing to change the complexion of the team. 

[Master Bates]

Apparently signed Oli Newman.

 

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/oli-newman/profil/spieler/1142183

Edited July 24 by Master Bates

[Toadhall Saint]

11 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Don't forget Aribo. Getting O'Riley and Bereton Diaz would make a huge difference in attack and if we could combine that with another wide option then even better. Yes there are a lot of unknowns but there's also not masses that needs doing to change the complexion of the team. 

Those are the 2 I’m hoping for. Will make a huge difference 

 

really surprised that the BBS link has not got reported elsewhere tho.

Edited July 24 by Toadhall Saint

[sadoldgit]

4 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

I find it funny people think we’re getting big cash for a guy whose contract is nearly up and haven’t been able to sell for a year now. Be lucky to get £15 million.

Given the stupid money that is spent on home grown players by EPL clubs KWP has got to be worth £15m of anyone’s money, even in the last year of his contract. Whether we get it or not is another matter but I don’t blame the club for holding out for decent money for him.

[Dellyears]

18 minutes ago, Master Bates said:

Apparently signed

 

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/oli-newman/profil/spieler/1142183

Signed who?

[Saint86]

25 minutes ago, Master Bates said:

Apparently signed Oli Newman.

 

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/oli-newman/profil/spieler/1142183

Peachy... 

[Saint86]

18 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

Given the stupid money that is spent on home grown players by EPL clubs KWP has got to be worth £15m of anyone’s money, even in the last year of his contract. Whether we get it or not is another matter but I don’t blame the club for holding out for decent money for him.

Only if the buying team needs a "home grown" wing back...

Personally, if we're down at £8-10M for him, i would throw money at him to keep him and give us 2 very strong wing backs plus Taylor for the season. Obviously that doesn't allow for KWP himself wanting to move.

[Dusic]

33 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Don't forget Aribo. Getting O'Riley and Bereton Diaz would make a huge difference in attack and if we could combine that with another wide option then even better. Yes there are a lot of unknowns but there's also not masses that needs doing to change the complexion of the team. 

Getting those two would help but still wouldn't be enough. O'Riley in a debut PL season would do very well to score 5 or 6 from central midfield, whilst BBD is still unproven at PL level. Added to Mara and Armstrong who couldn't score at PL level then we definitely need another striker too.

Our wide options have basically zero history of providing regular G/A output and are weaker than we were in May.

Look at the wide/forward options of Brentford, Notts Forest and Everton and they are miles better than what we have. To stay up we will likely need to finish above at least one them. 

Loads to do.

[hypochondriac]

1 minute ago, Dusic said:

Getting those two would help but still wouldn't be enough. O'Riley in a debut PL season would do very well to score 5 or 6 from central midfield, whilst BBD is still unproven at PL level. Added to Mara and Armstrong who couldn't score at PL level then we definitely need another striker too.

Our wide options have basically zero history of providing regular G/A output and are weaker than we were in May.

Look at the wide/forward options of Brentford, Notts Forest and Everton and they are miles better than what we have. To stay up we will likely need to finish above at least one them. 

Loads to do.

BBD got 1 in 2 goals and assists in a handful of games for a rotten Sheffield United side. I'd say that's pretty impressive under the circumstances. We will undoubtedly get another striker in addition to that and a winger. I wouldn't say a particular lower prem team has options miles better than ours yet, many of them are unproven. I reckon someone like SAA, Edozie or even this version of Armstrong could surprise us. We don't know for most of them that they aren't up to it, they simply haven't been given the opportunity yet at the top level. 

[Dellyears]

7 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

BBD got 1 in 2 goals and assists in a handful of games for a rotten Sheffield United side. I'd say that's pretty impressive under the circumstances. We will undoubtedly get another striker in addition to that and a winger. I wouldn't say a particular lower prem team has options miles better than ours yet, many of them are unproven. I reckon someone like SAA, Edozie or even this version of Armstrong could surprise us. We don't know for most of them that they aren't up to it, they simply haven't been given the opportunity yet at the top level. 

I know promoted sides have a history of instant relegation and i know its a worry but its a bit obsessive on this site. We had a good spirit and loads of talent in the promoted squad and we've strengthened it in the summer with the possibility of further improvement. why the panic. calm down and enjoy the journey

[davefizzy14]

 

[Kermitzasaint]

23 hours ago, Saint86 said:

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. 

Whilst we were mostly an attacking side we conceded pretty much at will. Our weakness was well known and often exploited by other poorer sides. 

Many fans try and cherry pick results to suit their narrative. Russell Martin has shown the exact same weakness at each side he has coached. To say he is suddenly capable of much better is to claim that our weakness was a coached choice. That argument is nonsensical. Can only judge Russell based on what he has shown so far. Whilst he may improve in time I can't see any sudden improvements especially in a significantly stronger league. 

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, Dellyears said:

I know promoted sides have a history of instant relegation and i know its a worry but its a bit obsessive on this site. We had a good spirit and loads of talent in the promoted squad and we've strengthened it in the summer with the possibility of further improvement. why the panic. calm down and enjoy the journey

I still think we will be more likely to go down than not. Martin has said we are playing his way whatever happens and I don't think that will get us the points required to grind out enough wins for safety. Will probably get us a few wins where we look quality though. Hopefully Leicester do get a hefty points deduction which means we only really have to finish above a couple of others and there's normally at least one team that implodes during a season. 

Martin has earnt the chance to try and survive in the prem playing his way. At least if he fails it will be clear and maybe we will approach any future prem seasons with a bit more pragmatism until we are established. 

Having said that, always a chance we could smash it and finish mid table and Martin waltzes off to Brighton in a year or two. 

[Colinjb]

9 minutes ago, davefizzy14 said:

 

The most sensible thing we could be doing right now.

[le_tiss]

38 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Getting those two would help but still wouldn't be enough. O'Riley in a debut PL season would do very well to score 5 or 6 from central midfield, whilst BBD is still unproven at PL level. Added to Mara and Armstrong who couldn't score at PL level then we definitely need another striker too.

Our wide options have basically zero history of providing regular G/A output and are weaker than we were in May.

Look at the wide/forward options of Brentford, Notts Forest and Everton and they are miles better than what we have. To stay up we will likely need to finish above at least one them. 

Loads to do.

 

Did he not score 6 goals in the Premier League in 14 games in a shit Sheffield Utd side or does that not count?

His goal and assist stats are decent and he has played with AA before

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/ben-brereton-diaz/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/426192

 

Edited July 24 by le_tiss

[SambaMaverick]

Still think we need one more striker even if we get BBD, working on the assumption Tall Paul will be out

[revolution saint]

BBD looks like he'd throw his grandmother under a bus to score a goal.

He's a decent Che replacement at any rate - scored roughly the same as you would expect Che would in less than half the games.

[Chez]

1 hour ago, hypochondriac said:

Don't forget Aribo. Getting O'Riley and Bereton Diaz would make a huge difference in attack and if we could combine that with another wide option then even better. Yes there are a lot of unknowns but there's also not masses that needs doing to change the complexion of the team. 

I intentionally didn't include Aribo as I am not sure he's an attacking midfielder anymore. He and Smallbone seemed to have similar roles in central midfield. A little more freedom that Downes, but certainly not free roles. The formation we are going with will obviously determine if that role even exists. If we sign O'Riley, we'd need to have a formation that suited him. 

I'm with you though. We need a focal point of attack and Brereton might be the ticket. Another wideman too with the type of quality Asprilla offers.

[Chez]

8 minutes ago, SambaMaverick said:

Still think we need one more striker even if we get BBD, working on the assumption Tall Paul will be out

if we play one striker, then BBD, Stewart, Mara and AA in reserve seems like more than enough bodies, assuming Stewart's fitness record improves. Unless we play two up front or Mara goes, I can't see us signing two strikers in this window.

[SambaMaverick]

1 minute ago, Chez said:

if we play one striker, then BBD, Stewart, Mara and AA in reserve seems like more than enough bodies, assuming Stewart's fitness record improves. Unless we play two up front or Mara goes, I can't see us signing two strikers in this window.

Christ I forgot about Stewart. Feels like a decision needs to be made about whether we can actually count on him this season before the window closes, to be honest.

[Chez]

36 minutes ago, davefizzy14 said:

 

Sounds promising. Glad our scouts have finally got around to viewing the 2019 HCDAJFU thread. 

[Chez]

4 minutes ago, SambaMaverick said:

Christ I forgot about Stewart. Feels like a decision needs to be made about whether we can actually count on him this season before the window closes, to be honest.

If we don't think we can, can we afford to stockpile another striker? Someone or more importantly, the wages of someone will need to be offloaded. I wonder if we might loan him back to Sunderland. Not ideal for our finances, and I suspect he'd be desperate to stay and fight for some game time in the Prem

Edited July 24 by Chez

[SambaMaverick]

1 minute ago, Chez said:

If we don't think we can, can we afford to stockpile another striker? Someone or more importantly, the wages of someone will need to be offloaded. I wonder if we might loan him back to Sunderland. Not ideal for our finances, and I suspect he'd be desperate to stay and fight for some game time in the Prem

No-one is going to take him, realistically. If he can't prove himself fit before September then we'll have to take our medicine and maybe ship Mara out.

[Chez]

2 minutes ago, SambaMaverick said:

No-one is going to take him, realistically. If he can't prove himself fit before September then we'll have to take our medicine and maybe ship Mara out.

the Bourdeaux friendly would be a good time for Mara to have a decent game.

[GastonRamirez]

58 minutes ago, Dellyears said:

I know promoted sides have a history of instant relegation and i know its a worry but its a bit obsessive on this site. We had a good spirit and loads of talent in the promoted squad and we've strengthened it in the summer with the possibility of further improvement. why the panic. calm down and enjoy the journey

I really hope the atmosphere doesn't go sour like it has been a lot as soon as the team start to get battered by a few of the bigger sides. I've always felt like our fanbase recently seems to just give up (obviously not surprising given our last few years). 

Just mainly hoping for the fans not to start booing after losses again, we are going to get a lot and it won't instil confidence in any of the new signings or existing players.

We should just enjoy being back.  

[SaintLondon]

7 minutes ago, Chez said:

the Bourdeaux friendly would be a good time for Mara to have a decent game.

Ummmm it was this morning and he scored... 

[Bad Wolf]

49 minutes ago, Chez said:

the Bourdeaux friendly would be a good time for Mara to have a decent game.

I have some news...

[kenneth_kenobi]

56 minutes ago, SaintLondon said:

Ummmm it was this morning and he scored... 

But did not really look much apart from that.  Dibling looked good, as did Suga, but no other real standouts. Great goal from SAA.

 

[rooney]

2 minutes ago, kenneth_kenobi said:

But did not really look much apart from that.  Dibling looked good, as did Suga, but no other real standouts. Great goal from SAA.

 

Dibling's first touch was excellent throughout the game.

[S-Clarke]

Think we were linked with this kid, but he's going to Spurs -

 

Tottenham are close to signing South Korean youngster Min-hyuk Yang. 

[Ken Tone]

I notice Brereton Diaz is often referred to as a winger.  Is he another of these half winger, half striker players? Or is he really a 'proper' striker?

[Saint86]

3 hours ago, Kermitzasaint said:

Whilst we were mostly an attacking side we conceded pretty much at will. Our weakness was well known and often exploited by other poorer sides. 

Many fans try and cherry pick results to suit their narrative. Russell Martin has shown the exact same weakness at each side he has coached. To say he is suddenly capable of much better is to claim that our weakness was a coached choice. That argument is nonsensical. Can only judge Russell based on what he has shown so far. Whilst he may improve in time I can't see any sudden improvements especially in a significantly stronger league. 

Alright mate, to each their own, but a significant proportion of our goals against occurred in 4 games. 3 of those were at the very start of the season when we completely changed the style of play, had to tackle squad morale, and had a hugely unsettled squad generally - with players arriving and leaving en mass. That made it a difficult period to bed in the team/tactics. If people want to consider those games as a basis for Martin's defensive record then that's up to them, but i don't personally. Similarly the Leicester game at the end of the season is quite clearly an anomalous result - intensive fixture run in (due to two postponed games), bad injuries to key figures in the squad, and our automatic promotion hopes were all but ended. Its really not that surprising what happened, albeit still disappointing. 

As for, "coached choice", its an interesting  choice of phrase given martin very clearly chose to switch to a back 5 for the final 4 games of the season, which saw us conceded 2 goals in 4 games vs Leeds and WBA. Consider as well that the WBA game was a total consolation goal where everyone had switched off - including the wba fans themselves 😄.... To quote the commentator, "i've never seen a goal be less celebrated".

People may not like it (whatever their reasons), but if you allow for just a few clear outliers our defence starts to look a lot more respectable. If you then look at the games where we set up actively to be more defensive we looked very solid.

To come full circle - Martin's time with saints (and his maturing tactics and drilling of the team) is surely a better basis for next season than his earliest seasons as a manager with MK Dons and Swansea 🤷‍♂️. Obviously time will tell, but i can see us employing a mixture of attacking and defensive styles next year - and all that ultimately matters is that we get the points. If that means we tactically go for it in a few games and win 4-3, i don't have an issue, but equally i'll happily play a back five and get 1-0 wins or low scoring draws - martin has shown he's capable of either in the champ.

Edited July 24 by Saint86

[S-Clarke]

38 minutes ago, Ken Tone said:

I notice Brereton Diaz is often referred to as a winger.  Is he another of these half winger, half striker players? Or is he really a 'proper' striker?

He's not a proper striker in the traditional sense, he can play anywhere across the front.

If we signed Brereton Diaz we would almost certainly still need a proper number 9, or we'd still be incredibly short.

[VectisSaint]

4 hours ago, Saint86 said:

Peachy... 

Bloody hell, he's getting on a bit these days. Still, at least he knows how to take a penalty and can defend better than Manning.

[jemanson]

4 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

Bloody hell, he's getting on a bit these days. Still, at least he knows how to take a penalty and can defend better than Manning.

As it's 'summer', am I allowed to add he was also a more than decent opening bowler in one match I played in.

[Saint_clark]

5 hours ago, sadoldgit said:

Given the stupid money that is spent on home grown players by EPL clubs KWP has got to be worth £15m of anyone’s money, even in the last year of his contract. Whether we get it or not is another matter but I don’t blame the club for holding out for decent money for him.

I also understand other clubs hesitancy to be fair. He was part of a team that got relegated and last season he only got 2 goals and 4 assists in the championship as an attacking fullback in one of the highest scoring sides. We also conceded quite freely as others have mentioned. 

We love him but to anyone looking from the outside he isn't a sure thing. 

Edited July 24 by Saint_clark

[hypochondriac]

Apparently had a 14 million plus add ons bid rejected for O'riley. Come on saints that's just silly. 

Edited July 24 by hypochondriac

[Saint_clark]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

Apparently had a 14 million plus add ons bid rejected for O'Neil. Come on saints that's just silly. 

Depends on the add ons to be fair. 

Also think if that's our budget now it possibly shows we had our priorities wrong with Downes.  

[AlexLaw76]

53 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Alright mate, to each their own, but a significant proportion of our goals against occurred in 4 games. 3 of those were at the very start of the season when we completely changed the style of play, had to tackle squad morale, and had a hugely unsettled squad generally - with players arriving and leaving en mass. That made it a difficult period to bed in the team/tactics. If people want to consider those games as a basis for Martin's defensive record then that's up to them, but i don't personally. Similarly the Leicester game at the end of the season is quite clearly an anomalous result - intensive fixture run in (due to two postponed games), bad injuries to key figures in the squad, and our automatic promotion hopes were all but ended. Its really not that surprising what happened, albeit still disappointing. 

 

You make out that bar these 4 games, we were pretty tight in defence. This is simply not true.

Outside of Leicester Home, Leicester away, Sunderland away and Norwich Home...see more stats for games outside of these 4...

we only kept 12 clean sheets (29%)

7 games we conceded 2 goals or more (17%. 24% if you include the 4 above)

our longest run of clean sheets is 3 games (7%)

We had the weakest keeper in the league who the club seem to think will be a world beater (gazzilion %)

[Wsaint]

4 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Apparently had a 14 million plus add ons bid rejected for O'Neil. Come on saints that's just silly. 

Who's O'Neil?

[Sheaf Saint]

3 minutes ago, Wsaint said:

Who's O'Neil?

Some bloke who's got a house in Winchester as far as I know.

[sadoldgit]

16 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

I also understand other clubs hesitancy to be fair. He was part of a team that got relegated and last season he only got 2 goals and 4 assists in the championship as an attacking fullback in one of the highest scoring sides. We also conceded quite freely as others have mentioned. 

We love him but to anyone looking from the outside he isn't a sure thing. 

Fair comments, but he was quality for us previously in the EPL so they would be buying a proven player.

[S-Clarke]

47 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

Depends on the add ons to be fair. 

Also think if that's our budget now it possibly shows we had our priorities wrong with Downes.  

Priorities wrong with Downes?

He was a critical signing. Had we not got him over the line there would have been pitchforks on here.

[vectraman]

1 hour ago, Saint86 said:

Alright mate, to each their own, but a significant proportion of our goals against occurred in 4 games. 3 of those were at the very start of the season when we completely changed the style of play, had to tackle squad morale, and had a hugely unsettled squad generally - with players arriving and leaving en mass. That made it a difficult period to bed in the team/tactics. If people want to consider those games as a basis for Martin's defensive record then that's up to them, but i don't personally. Similarly the Leicester game at the end of the season is quite clearly an anomalous result - intensive fixture run in (due to two postponed games), bad injuries to key figures in the squad, and our automatic promotion hopes were all but ended. Its really not that surprising what happened, albeit still disappointing. 

As for, "coached choice", its an interesting  choice of phrase given martin very clearly chose to switch to a back 5 for the final 4 games of the season, which saw us conceded 2 goals in 4 games vs Leeds and WBA. Consider as well that the WBA game was a total consolation goal where everyone had switched off - including the wba fans themselves 😄.... To quote the commentator, "i've never seen a goal be less celebrated".

People may not like it (whatever their reasons), but if you allow for just a few clear outliers our defence starts to look a lot more respectable. If you then look at the games where we set up actively to be more defensive we looked very solid.

To come full circle - Martin's time with saints (and his maturing tactics and drilling of the team) is surely a better basis for next season than his earliest seasons as a manager with MK Dons and Swansea 🤷‍♂️. Obviously time will tell, but i can see us employing a mixture of attacking and defensive styles next year - and all that ultimately matters is that we get the points. If that means we tactically go for it in a few games and win 4-3, i don't have an issue, but equally i'll happily play a back five and get 1-0 wins or low scoring draws - martin has shown he's capable of either in the champ.

The reason we looked tighter in the play offs was McCarthy in goal. We stopped pissing about at the back playing tippy tappy crap and cleared the ball forwards because he’s not comfortable with the ball at his feet as Baz is. But he is better at stopping shots which is pretty critical as a keeper compared to Baz. If we revert to type and play tippy tappy ball out from the back we will get destroyed very often. If we play a more pragmatic style as we did in the play offs, we have a chance (albeit slim). It’ll be down to the manager how we go. 
As 4th best team in the championship we have an awful lot to do to be slightly competitive in the top flight. Burnley pissed the champ and were crap in the prem. trying to play pass it out football. If we try the pretty football route we will get absolutely destroyed. No question. 
Solid, resolute, quick break style is our only chance against probably 15 of the sides. 
Fingers crossed we have a pragmatic RM not an obstinate non flexible one…

[Harry_SFC]

51 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Apparently had a 14 million plus add ons bid rejected for O'Neil. Come on saints that's just silly. 

It's only the Sun but *if* it's true then that's dreadful. We know what price Celtic want and I'm all for negotiation but it's rather insulting to go in that low. 

 

[Saint Matty 76]

A tier 1 Besiktas source stating that an English club have submitted a £3m bid for Ox. I wonder.

[vectraman]

4 minutes ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

A tier 1 Besiktas source stating that an English club have submitted a £3m bid for Ox. I wonder.

God I hope not. 

[skintsaint]

1 hour ago, hypochondriac said:

Apparently had a 14 million plus add ons bid rejected for O'Neil. Come on saints that's just silly. 

Wouldn't want to pay too much more than that tbh.