Summer Transfer Window 2024

[Fabrice29]

30 minutes ago, david in sweden said:

I think a few names are still in " the pending tray" .    It's obviously a tough task to have to release anyone...

especially for Academy boys who might have been with the club for  8-10 years already, and now must look elsewhere for another club .

I recall Gordon Strachan said (in interview)...that when he took over at Coventry, he told a youngster he had to let him go... and the lad burst into tears. 

 

Details usually out around now, but maybe it's " diplomatic"  -  not to sack anyone in the same week that we get promotion?

 

58 minutes ago, Chez said:

When are the "summer departures" usually officially announced?

It’s normally mid June as contracts generally come to an end on the 30th June. 

[Nolan]

7 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

 

It’s normally mid June as contracts generally come to an end on the 30th June. 

last three years It was:

15th June 2023

10th June 2022

  4th June 2021

[Charlie Wayman]

12 hours ago, Chez said:

Forrest had a similar issue with Garner. He was fundamental to the way they played in their promotion season. They tried all summer to sign him from united, eventually failed and it left a gaping hope in their midfield (I guess not too similar to our failure to sign Broja). I hope we have three or four very good options.

Doubt we will need options. The player will have a say in his own future and if he loives it here and loves working with Martin then it will be only a matter of setting the price. WHU saying they want "another look at him" is tantamount to saying we will have to pay top price to get him.

I have no doubt whatsoever that he will be a Southampton player next season.

Edited May 30 by Charlie Wayman

[Whitey Grandad]

10 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

Pretty sure he's recovered now hasn't he? 

Dislocated shoulder recovery time is 12 to 16 weeks.

[Nolan]

29 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Doubt we will need options. The player will have a say in his own future and if he loives it here and loves working with Martin then it will be only a matter of setting the price. WHU saying they want "another look at him" is tantamount to saying we will have to pay top price to get him.

I have no doubt whatsoever that he will be a Southampton player next season.

Burnley may have been equally as confident about Tella last season.

[hypochondriac]

5 minutes ago, Whitey Grandad said:

Dislocated shoulder recovery time is 12 to 16 weeks.

Should be recovered in time for the new season then and a potential loan move.

[WALK DMC]

25 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Should be recovered in time for the new season then and a potential loan move.

I believe Bella Kotchap had the operation in October. I'm not aware of any recurrence of the injury since then.

[hypochondriac]

Just now, WALK DMC said:

I believe Bella Kotchap had the operation in October. I'm not aware of any recurrence of the injury since then.

Even better so he should be fully recovered. 

[Dman]

31 minutes ago, Nolan said:

Burnley may have been equally as confident about Tella last season.

Burnely didn't want to pay the going rate for him, so he went to someone who would. Circumstances are / were very different if WH don't want to sell. 

[DT]

2 hours ago, ScandiSaint said:

Priority must surely be a goalkeeper, a CDM or CM (either instead of or with Downes) and a striker...? 

Our squad did a brilliant job getting up but I suspect a few of the players just won't cut it at that level. As others have said, plenty of players who we still need to shift from our relegation from the Prem still. 

 

A decent goalkeeper is an absolute must. McCarthy saying he's happy to stay as number one but has offers elsewhere is his agent just wanting promises and bumper pay. We shouldn't give him assurances. And Bazanu just isn't good enough, sorry. Butland or a balls out move to get Ramsdale on the basis that he's best mates with Brooks (I know, tenuous). There must be more options. This position cost us badly at times last season and also in the Prem.

[Chez]

2 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Doubt we will need options. The player will have a say in his own future and if he loives it here and loves working with Martin then it will be only a matter of setting the price. WHU saying they want "another look at him" is tantamount to saying we will have to pay top price to get him.

I have no doubt whatsoever that he will be a Southampton player next season.

Hmmm. It's a perfect fit, as it was last summer, but I'm not counting my chickens. West Ham may have seen progression and want to see if that is reflected in performances for them in preseason. We haven't got money to burn, so will want to negotiate reasonably hard. West Ham hold the cards. I'd be amazed if we didn't have some alternative targets - our scouts would not be doing their jobs if they didnt. 

[Chez]

48 minutes ago, DT said:

A decent goalkeeper is an absolute must. McCarthy saying he's happy to stay as number one but has offers elsewhere is his agent just wanting promises and bumper pay. We shouldn't give him assurances. And Bazanu just isn't good enough, sorry. Butland or a balls out move to get Ramsdale on the basis that he's best mates with Brooks (I know, tenuous). There must be more options. This position cost us badly at times last season and also in the Prem.

With you. Once again we have an opportunity to reboot at the position. Let's not `settle'. 

[VectisSaint]

59 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Even better so he should be fully recovered. 

It's debatable whether you ever fully recover from a dislocated shoulder. Wasn't it Charlie Austin who suffered with this for years after he first did his shoulder? ABK got back in the PSV squad in February and has played 1 minute for football since (he may have played for Jong PSV, can't find data on that). Has he really recovered or is there still some issues there?

David Brooks similar injury is a concern. It occurs to me that this could be related to his cancer treatment. My experience with my family in this area is that chemo can have all sorts of side effects/consequences not least to bone and cartilage strength/structure. Hope this is not the case with Brooksy but it probably should not be discounted. Much as I admire the guy for what he has been through and like the way he plays, I haven't been convinced that he is right for us and to have those niggling concerns about injury makes me nervous about signing him permanently.

[VectisSaint]

1 minute ago, Chez said:

With you. Once again we have an opportunity to reboot at the position. Let's not `settle'. 

Absolutely. Plans for next season must effectively ignore Bazunu, you can't go into a new season in a new tougher league relying on a keeper who will miss the first half of the season (at least). We have to bite the bullet and bring in a new No 1, McCarthy is not the answer, despite his heroics in the last few weeks. We know his weaknesses, time for him to move on with our thanks and good wishes. When Baz is fit again, there needs to be competition for the #1 jersey.

[Chez]

3 hours ago, ScandiSaint said:

Priority must surely be a goalkeeper, a CDM or CM (either instead of or with Downes) and a striker...? 

Our squad did a brilliant job getting up but I suspect a few of the players just won't cut it at that level. As others have said, plenty of players who we still need to shift from our relegation from the Prem still. 

 

If you aint a stand out player and ripping up the championship, then the Prem is going to be extremely tough or even down near impossible.

I think we have three or four that you could make a case for being among the better players in their position in the championship (KWP for example) that will just about make the step up. Even KWP has had periods of poor form in the top flight and he's been just about the best player we have had for the last four years

There are a few that had periods in the Championship when they were in that group (Smallbone and Aribo for example) and a few that have showed flashes here. We have to hope they keep progressing and can make the step up, and by that I mean look comfortable and effective). 

 

[Dman]

As I said at the time, the injury to Bazunu is a blessing. 

I have big doubts we'd have ever been promoted with him in the net but more imnportantly, him being out has forced our hand in the fact we simply have to get a new keeper - which we wouldn't have planned for. 

McCarthy isn't the answer but neither is Bazunu. 

I hope we go for experience rather than young (i.e Trafford)

[Nolan]

12 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

It's debatable whether you ever fully recover from a dislocated shoulder. Wasn't it Charlie Austin who suffered with this for years after he first did his shoulder? ABK got back in the PSV squad in February and has played 1 minute for football since (he may have played for Jong PSV, can't find data on that). Has he really recovered or is there still some issues there?

David Brooks similar injury is a concern. It occurs to me that this could be related to his cancer treatment. My experience with my family in this area is that chemo can have all sorts of side effects/consequences not least to bone and cartilage strength/structure. Hope this is not the case with Brooksy but it probably should not be discounted. Much as I admire the guy for what he has been through and like the way he plays, I haven't been convinced that he is right for us and to have those niggling concerns about injury makes me nervous about signing him permanently.

Looks like the partnership of Boscagli and Ramalho couldnt be disrupted.

and given the results, can you blame PSV...?

.

 

[Dellyears]

36 minutes ago, Dman said:

As I said at the time, the injury to Bazunu is a blessing. 

I have big doubts we'd have ever been promoted with him in the net but more imnportantly, him being out has forced our hand in the fact we simply have to get a new keeper - which we wouldn't have planned for. 

McCarthy isn't the answer but neither is Bazunu. 

I hope we go for experience rather than young (i.e Trafford)

McCarthy deserves credit, he did better than I ever expected, and at a vital time. Couldn't fault him, what a relief after Baz

[LegalEagle]

Never thought I’d hear myself say this but from the time McCarthy came back in after the Bazunu injury, I cannot fault him. If you hadn’t seen him play previously you would wonder why Saints fans are not screaming for him to sign a new contract. For that short spell he was the best we’ve had between the sticks for some time. Perhaps he has reached that GK age of maturity and he’s now at his peak. I would take a gamble and sign him up on a new contract unless of course we can sign someone like Ramsdale. Anyone less than that is probably no better than McCarthy. 

[danjosaint]

Not only did it do us a massive favour Bazunu getting injured and forcing our hand to use Alex it also forced RMs hand to change how we play, we seemed loads more resilient and structured,  if Bazunu had been fit I don't think we would've even got out of the semi,  I'd love to see overall stats on our games with Alex versus Gavin 

[Whitey Grandad]

Just now, danjosaint said:

Not only did it do us a massive favour Bazunu getting injured and forcing our hand to use Alex it also forced RMs hand to change how we play, we seemed loads more resilient and structured,  if Bazunu had been fit I don't think we would've even got out of the semi,  I'd love to see overall stats on our games with Alex versus Gavin 

This is the key for me. Instead of using the goalkeeper as an inclusive member of the back 4/5/6 we changed to a structured back line with a goalkeeper behind. Instead of the defenders constantly having to move around changing their position and leaving holes and weaknesses to be exploited they could concentrate on maintaining their relationship to their fellow defenders. At Wembley our defence was like a fortress.

[Saint Matty 76]

This is where we need to stop being so "romantic" as a club.

Thank you very much for stepping up when it mattered, McCarthy. However, you've been more than appropriately compensated for that throughout your contract here and it's time to part ways with fond memories.

We have to get a better goalkeeper now, and we're legitimately fortunate that Bazunu is injured otherwise we'd have unfathomably given him another shot in this league. 

Ramsdale and Ortega are two ambitious (and remarkably unlikely) names of keepers available this Summer. If Ramsdale ends up going to Newcastle, could we get Pope? Di Gregorio was statistically the most impressive keeper this season, so that's a name I wouldn't be surprised to see a link for. Although based on Bazunu, I think SR stop caring about statistics when it's in relation to a Goalkeeper.

I was impressed by Max O'Leary at Bristol City, for a more realistic name.

Brentford & Brighton (the two other similarly ran clubs) pulled their Goalkeepers from Freiburg and Anderlecht last Summer however, so I'm sure we'll end up with a name we've not heard before.

 

 

[northam soul]

Out of our current midfield Aribo IMO is the one who needs upgrading the most.

Despite his almost cult status with some he just doesn’t affect games enough and especially now with the Prem looming.

His goal involvements are not good enough for the position he is playing.

If we want to have any chance next season we need a massive upgrade in firepower.

As far as a goalkeeper is concerned I thought everyone wanted that Rotherham keeper next season.

 

Edited May 30 by northam soul

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

This is where we need to stop being so "romantic" as a club.

Thank you very much for stepping up when it mattered, McCarthy. However, you've been more than appropriately compensated for that throughout your contract here and it's time to part ways with fond memories.

We have to get a better goalkeeper now, and we're legitimately fortunate that Bazunu is injured otherwise we'd have unfathomably given him another shot in this league. 

Ramsdale and Ortega are two ambitious (and remarkably unlikely) names of keepers available this Summer. If Ramsdale ends up going to Newcastle, could we get Pope? Di Gregorio was statistically the most impressive keeper this season, so that's a name I wouldn't be surprised to see a link for. Although based on Bazunu, I think SR stop caring about statistics when it's in relation to a Goalkeeper.

I was impressed by Max O'Leary at Bristol City, for a more realistic name.

Brentford & Brighton (the two other similarly ran clubs) pulled their Goalkeepers from Freiburg and Anderlecht last Summer however, so I'm sure we'll end up with a name we've not heard before.

 

 

Couldn't agree more. Absolute madness to look to renew McCarthy's contract based on a small run of games at the end of a championship season. We have needed a quality goalkeeper since Forster (and arguably during his time as well.)

[Raging Bull]

I don’t really care if ABK stays or goes. But I can’t be the only one that thought that every time the going got tough when he played for us (which was a lot admittedly), he seemed to go a little AWOL

[SotonianWill]

14 minutes ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

Thank you very much for stepping up when it mattered, McCarthy. However, you've been more than appropriately compensated for that throughout your contract here and it's time to part ways with fond memories.

 

Honest question. Do you trust the club to purchase a competent keeper in his place? Gunn and Bazunu still haunt my mind. I’ll add to this Martins insistence on Bazunu makes one doubt his ability to identify a great goalkeeper, if he has any say at all in the process. 

Edited May 30 by SotonianWill

[Saint Matty 76]

1 minute ago, SotonianWill said:

Honest question. Do you trust the club to purchase a competent keeper in his place? Gunn and Bazunu still haunt my mind. 

Absolutely fucking not!

But it truly cannot get much worse.

[ally_uk]

Alfie doughty at left back? Worth a look at ? 

[Chez]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

As I said at the time, the injury to Bazunu is a blessing. 

I have big doubts we'd have ever been promoted with him in the net but more importantly, him being out has forced our hand in the fact we simply have to get a new keeper - which we wouldn't have planned for. 

 

 

sure, but has it forced our hand to give McCarthy another contract. That would be my concern.

I do wonder how highly RM rates Baz. Certainly higher than most on this forum, but is it higher than the average Saints fan? 

[Chez]

39 minutes ago, Raging Bull said:

I don’t really care if ABK stays or goes. But I can’t be the only one that thought that every time the going got tough when he played for us (which was a lot admittedly), he seemed to go a little AWOL

You are not the only one, but I don't share that opinion.

He got injured in both Forrest games, which were key games. Both were really bad performances from us and the defeats were nails in our relegation coffin. He didn't go AWOL when it got tough. He did his knee in the first game. He slipped just of the edge of the pitch on the astro and you could see straight away it was nasty. To slate him for that (as Doswell did) doesn't make sense to me. He pulled a muscle in the second game which put him out for the rest of the season. The injury happened when Johnston skinned him, but to suggest he feigned the injury strikes me as just confirmation bias.

[Chez]

36 minutes ago, ally_uk said:

Alfie doughty at left back? Worth a look at ? 

He had one hell of a fantasy football season, so was obviously involved in lots of goals. Did his performances match the fantasy figures? Only watched the odd Luton game.

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

1 hour ago, northam soul said:

Out of our current midfield Aribo IMO is the one who needs upgrading the most.

Despite his almost cult status with some he just doesn’t affect games enough and especially now with the Prem looming.

His goal involvements are not good enough for the position he is playing.

If we want to have any chance next season we need a massive upgrade in firepower.

As far as a goalkeeper is concerned I thought everyone wanted that Rotherham keeper next season.

 

Annoyingly, I think I read somewhere the Rotherham goalie has already joined Stoke?

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Possibly much of this close season's transfer policy will be dictated by how loyal Martin remains to the squad. He already said how difficult it was to leave Mara out of the play off squad. Equate that to actually telling him he has no future with us, and we could be retaining players that we need to get rid off. 

[SaintsFan86]

3 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Possibly much of this close season's transfer policy will be dictated by how loyal Martin remains to the squad. He already said how difficult it was to leave Mara out of the play off squad. Equate that to actually telling him he has no future with us, and we could be retaining players that we need to get rid off. 

 

Mara was linked to Gotzepe on loan.

[Lighthouse]

15 minutes ago, Ivan Katalinic's 'tache said:

Annoyingly, I think I read somewhere the Rotherham goalie has already joined Stoke?

I would hope we're aiming a lot higher than the bloke who just conceded the most goals in the Championship last season.

[OldNick]

50 minutes ago, Chez said:

He had one hell of a fantasy football season, so was obviously involved in lots of goals. Did his performances match the fantasy figures? Only watched the odd Luton game.

He created chances but wasnt really that good defensively IMO. I assume Bree may have been in front of him 

[OldNick]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

I would hope we're aiming a lot higher than the bloke who just conceded the most goals in the Championship last season.

He did have a rubbish defence in front of him and was very impressive in many matches, but I think your point is valid

[saintant]

3 hours ago, LegalEagle said:

Never thought I’d hear myself say this but from the time McCarthy came back in after the Bazunu injury, I cannot fault him. If you hadn’t seen him play previously you would wonder why Saints fans are not screaming for him to sign a new contract. For that short spell he was the best we’ve had between the sticks for some time. Perhaps he has reached that GK age of maturity and he’s now at his peak. I would take a gamble and sign him up on a new contract unless of course we can sign someone like Ramsdale. Anyone less than that is probably no better than McCarthy. 

Alex is on massive money. I'd only offer him pay per game at much lower amount. We need to free up his salary for other players.

[Master Bates]

On 29/05/2024 at 09:25, Master Bates said:

Saints scouting Loum Tchaouna

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loum_Tchaouna

Tchaouna offered contract by Lazio, €8m bid.

[gio1saints]

If Rasmussen has the influence everyone says in this regard I expect BIG and MANY changes.

He is a firm believer in not resting on your laurels. Of getting ahead of the curve.
 

Just doing what we did last year, playing the way we did, with the same players (see Burnley) is already bang out of date - so the theory goes - and will have been sussed out by the competition already ( also see Saints v the lower ranked teams that easily beat our system towards season end ) 

In order to survive and thrive we must evolve and improve and upgrade. That’s unlikely to be achievable organically ( ie our academy kids and some fringe players are not all of a sudden gonna be EPL standard- and neither will some - or more truthfully even most, of our first team squad. 

There’s going to be a lot of hard decisions being made. If RM got upset over dropping Mara for the Final I can’t think what he’s going to be like when he has to do that x 10 or more players pre season…and with no DOF to blame either. 
I think the right call is to spend and upgrade. The Romantic call is to keep most the players that got us up together in this epl season. But that’s not the right call. That’s heart over head. 
I wonder what will win when they have the chats…head I think and there will be tears…

 

Edited May 30 by gio1saints

[Matthew Le God]

10 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Just doing what we did last year, playing the way we did, with the same players (see Burnley) is already bang out of date

Burnley spent alot, on a lot of players...

[SaintsFan86]

5 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Burnley spent alot, on a lot of players...

Realistically we will need to spend near that amount to compete IMO.

[The Kraken]

Burnley had a really poor window, spent all that money but their team never really looked all that much better than the one that got promoted.

[Toadhall Saint]

7 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Burnley spent alot, on a lot of players...

Good to have you back MLG.

[Saint_clark]

1 hour ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Possibly much of this close season's transfer policy will be dictated by how loyal Martin remains to the squad. He already said how difficult it was to leave Mara out of the play off squad. Equate that to actually telling him he has no future with us, and we could be retaining players that we need to get rid off. 

Mara shouldn't be sold, he's only 20 and I firmly believe there is a player in there particularly if we go down again. 

But a loan out somewhere he'll start every game would be ideal. Lower championship or even league one, most important thing for him now is starting significant amounts of games.

[Matthew Le God]

3 minutes ago, SaintsFan86 said:

Realistically we will need to spend near that amount to compete IMO.

We spent more than that in our last PL season, was circa £140m under Sport Republic in 2022/23. Not well spent, but still spent.

[SaintsFan86]

I hope the club offer Romain Perraud a new deal, You aren't going to find such good value at LB than what we have in him.

[SaintsFan86]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

We spent more than that in our last PL season, was circa £140m under Sport Republic in 2022/23. Not well spent, but still spent.

Yeah, We are going to have to find the right balance too. Fortunately for us we re-couped alpt back in Lavia, JWP, Tino Tella. 

Tella and JWP was pretty much pure profit, not bad either oj Tino too when he only cost us £5M

[Lighthouse]

2 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

Mara shouldn't be sold, he's only 20 and I firmly believe there is a player in there particularly if we go down again. 

But a loan out somewhere he'll start every game would be ideal. Lower championship or even league one, most important thing for him now is starting significant amounts of games.

He’s shown no progress or sign of developing at all in the two years he’s been here. Worse than that he seemingly doesn’t even look interested half the time. I’ve no idea why you would want to keep him, aside from the fact that he’s 20, which every footballer in the world was at some point. We can’t just hang on to substandard players in the hope that maybe in five years they’ll be a reasonable Championship player, if we go down again.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

11 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

If Rasmussen has the influence everyone says in this regard I expect BIG and MANY changes.

He is a firm believer in not resting on your laurels. Of getting ahead of the curve.
 

Just doing what we did last year, playing the way we did, with the same players (see Burnley) is already bang out of date - so the theory goes - and will have been sussed out by the competition already ( also see Saints v the lower ranked teams that easily beat our system towards season end ) 

In order to survive and thrive we must evolve and improve and upgrade. That’s unlikely to be achievable organically ( ie our academy kids and some fringe players are not all of a sudden gonna be EPL standard- and neither will some - or more truthfully even most, of our first team squad. 

There’s going to be a lot of hard decisions being made. If RM got upset over dropping Mara for the Final I can’t think what he’s going to be like when he has to do that x 10 or more players pre season…and with no DOF to blame either. 
I think the right call is to spend and upgrade. The Romantic call is to keep most the players that got us up together in this epl season. But that’s not the right call. That’s heart over head. 
I wonder what will win when they have the chats…head I think and there will be tears...

While Forest brought in a shedload of players and stayed up...

SR seemed to be keen on getting ahead of the curve by trying to bring in young players, who would be in other teams, but who were at decision points having been in top academies.

Also data influenced signings of other players, influenced a bit from them being gems in other countries, talented youngsters as above there, or slightly more risk based signings of players - injury, fallen out of favour etc.

All while building up our academy and lowering our wage bill.

All of the above cost controlled to maximise sell ons ( even if false economy by multiple January signings).

We've got 6 natural gaps already in the side. We need a DM over and above that.

While, of, course, we can look at upgrading as well, we have to make sure we're not left overstaffed in one area, unable to move on others, while also being understaffed elsewhere. For example, we bring in 2 left backs, Bree and Manning stay and we struggle to get a Che replacement in, partly due to budget/ PRS constraints.

If Martin is still in charge, and if he wants to play his system, it makes more sense to keep the core of players who got promoted playing it, than start the season with 11 Holgates. Practical, rather than romantic.