Summer Transfer Window 2024

[Lighthouse]

12 minutes ago, SaintsFan86 said:

Just needs that one opportunity, Everyone was quick to right off Fraser the second he came down here.

Worth pointing out Russ has improved alot of players this season., I have confidence he could do the same for Broja.

No they weren’t. There were a few questions over his attitude, after he fell out with Howe and refused to play for Bournemouth during Covid but he wasn’t written off. He was a proven PL quality player when his head was in the right place, so nobody was doubting he had the talent to tear the Championship apart. Broja is completely different. We’re now playing at the same level that he did very little at last season, I think most people would be right to be concerned as to how much he could deliver on the pitch.

TBH this forum’s been a bit weird this last week. I was expecting people to be posting a bunch of YouTube videos of £20-30m players who are great on Football Manager. Instead there seems to be an overwhelming desire to set up some sort of charity home for all of our has been players from years gone by.

[egg]

13 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Didnt his form drop off towards the end of his loan spell cos he got pissed off by Ralph......or did i imagine that ?

Change of tactics I think, but yep, his form did drop. 

[Saint Garrett]

Realistically the following will likely leave, whether thats sold or on loan:

KWP? Downes? Rothwell, Sulemana, Brooks, S Armstrong, Adams, Mara, Onuachu, Perraud, Lyanco, Alcaraz, DCC, ABK, Lis

Will leave us with:

GK: Bazunu, Macca, Lumley - (Need a first choice keeper)
RB: Bree - (Need first choice or get KWP to renew)
LB: Manning, Meghoma, Larios
CB: Bednarek, Stephens, TBH - (Need a new CB possibly 2)
DM: Charles - (Priority position, poss need 2 that can play here)
CM/AM: Smallbone, Aribo - (Need atleast 1 - Lallana?)
Wide: Fraser, Arma, Edozie, SAA - (Need atleast 1)
ST: Stewart - (Need atleast 1)

That's 15 out, and 7 or 8 in.  It's going to be a huge summer. Slightly different if KWP, Stuey, Adams all stay, but there will be big changes.



 

 

[hypochondriac]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

Supposing we have the three that finished the season, Charles and a new bloke (in theory a replacement for Stu) I’d say that’s a reasonable number of midfield options, given how much investment is needed in areas like striker, full back and keeper. Romeu I’m not sure adds anything to that, Charles I’d wager is much more mobile these days if nothing else. If anything I’d hope for some versatile in the AMN mould, but obviously much, much better.

Blimey if we go into the season with Charles as backup to Downes I'd say that relegation would be pretty likely. 

[Saint Garrett]

12 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Blimey if we go into the season with Charles as backup to Downes I'd say that relegation would be pretty likely. 

If it was Downes + another new signing that is primarily defensive, but can also play as an "8" then think that's likely we'll bring 2 in. 

Charles wasn't even trusted to play DM when Downes wasn't fit, Smallbone had to slot in there which doesn't suit him either.

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

If it was Downes + another new signing that is primarily defensive, but can also play as an "8" then think that's likely we'll bring 2 in. 

Charles wasn't even trusted to play DM when Downes wasn't fit, Smallbone had to slot in there which doesn't suit him either.

I agree that is much more likely. Charles should get a loan to play regularly in the championship. 

[Saint_Jonny]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

No they weren’t. There were a few questions over his attitude, after he fell out with Howe and refused to play for Bournemouth during Covid but he wasn’t written off. He was a proven PL quality player when his head was in the right place, so nobody was doubting he had the talent to tear the Championship apart. Broja is completely different. We’re now playing at the same level that he did very little at last season, I think most people would be right to be concerned as to how much he could deliver on the pitch.

TBH this forum’s been a bit weird this last week. I was expecting people to be posting a bunch of YouTube videos of £20-30m players who are great on Football Manager. Instead there seems to be an overwhelming desire to set up some sort of charity home for all of our has been players from years gone by.

Spot on. Watching Saints was by in large completely shit for much of the last 4 or 5 years we were in the Premier League. We just trod water, eeking out enough points to survive year after year until it eventually caught up with us. There were very few players during that time that I remember fondly, and the ones that were consistently good for us are well past it now. 

Hopefully the scouting department have more of imagination and data to go on than our fans do.

[Midfield_General]

43 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Realistically the following will likely leave, whether thats sold or on loan:

KWP? Downes? Rothwell, Sulemana, Brooks, S Armstrong, Adams, Mara, Onuachu, Perraud, Lyanco, Alcaraz, DCC, ABK, Lis

Will leave us with:

GK: Bazunu, Macca, Lumley - (Need a first choice keeper)
RB: Bree - (Need first choice or get KWP to renew)
LB: Manning, Meghoma, Larios
CB: Bednarek, Stephens, TBH - (Need a new CB possibly 2)
DM: Charles - (Priority position, poss need 2 that can play here)
CM/AM: Smallbone, Aribo - (Need atleast 1 - Lallana?)
Wide: Fraser, Arma, Edozie, SAA - (Need atleast 1)
ST: Stewart - (Need atleast 1)

That's 15 out, and 7 or 8 in.  It's going to be a huge summer. Slightly different if KWP, Stuey, Adams all stay, but there will be big changes.



 

 

Unless we’re going to stick with 3-5-2 with Fraser as wing back, we need a left back too. Manning would get absolutely destroyed in the Prem and I think we’ll need to do better than Perraud. 

[Master Bates]

Bid apparently accepted for Bittencourt.

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

[hypochondriac]

Just now, Master Bates said:

Bid apparently accepted for Bittencourt.

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

On the face of it that's pretty underwhelming. 

[Dman]

1 hour ago, egg said:

I'm with you on Broja. The talent he had hasn't gone anywhere, and he could be brilliant for us. 

Broja is about the best we can hope for on our budget (considering we'll likley need to strengthen in other area's as well). 

Still not taken my eyes off that lad from aberdeen, but I think theres much less risk in Broja. 

[Dman]

6 minutes ago, Master Bates said:

Bid apparently accepted for Bittencourt.

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

if true, which i'm not convinced it is, if we're looking for a no10, why would we not persist with Charley..? 

[BERMUDASAINT]

4 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Agree with this analysis - it’s very difficult to argue that Mara has anything like what a decent striker needs to operate at Championship level let alone at Prem level when his contribution will be wiped out by much better defenders.

How about your managers opinion of Mara....

He is a really good footballer, a good technician, and a brilliant athlete. I really liked his performance against Walsall.

“I really rate Sekou and he has not had a huge amount of minutes, but he is coming more to the fore now and forcing his way into reckoning.

[SNSUN]

8 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

On the face of it that's pretty underwhelming. 

I know nothing of him but Wikipedia says he's 5'7'' which will enhance our vision to create the World's smallest men's professional football team of all time.

[northam soul]

1 minute ago, SNSUN said:

I know nothing of him but Wikipedia says he's 5'7'' which will enhance our vision to create the World's smallest men's professional football team of all time.

1 goal and 2 assists last season apparently so that’s going to add to our firepower.

[Saint Matty 76]

1 hour ago, Lighthouse said:

No they weren’t. There were a few questions over his attitude, after he fell out with Howe and refused to play for Bournemouth during Covid but he wasn’t written off. He was a proven PL quality player when his head was in the right place, so nobody was doubting he had the talent to tear the Championship apart. Broja is completely different. We’re now playing at the same level that he did very little at last season, I think most people would be right to be concerned as to how much he could deliver on the pitch.

TBH this forum’s been a bit weird this last week. I was expecting people to be posting a bunch of YouTube videos of £20-30m players who are great on Football Manager. Instead there seems to be an overwhelming desire to set up some sort of charity home for all of our has been players from years gone by.

Charity home regarding Broja is pretty unfair. Fair enough with Ings/Lallana etc.

Given the fact he's 22, he actually perfectly encapsulates what has been our most successful business model of the last 10 years. Signing young, promising players who've fallen out of favour at a big club but could do a job elsewhere - KWP, Hojbjerg, Ings, Romeu, Bertrand.

The injury is definitely a worry, as well as the Fulham spell, but I think anyone expecting us to sign a "sure thing" is kidding themselves. If it happens, I'm happy to be of the belief that an actual run playing football could get him back to where he was, rather than the fleeting in-and-out spells he's had both at Chelsea, and at Fulham behind Muniz who was in record-breaking form.

Wouldn't be delighted to throw £20-25m at it off the bat, and would only love the signing if it was on more favourable terms such as a loan with an option/obligation based on performance. However, definitely wouldn't be labelling the move as a charity signing.

Links to players such as Gimenez and Guirassy are just comical, and will never happen within our budget. We have to take risks.

[SNSUN]

1 minute ago, northam soul said:

1 goal and 2 assists last season apparently so that’s going to add to our firepower.

We may have Bitten off more than we can chew

[egg]

17 minutes ago, Master Bates said:

Bid apparently accepted for Bittencourt.

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

A 5ft 7 number 10 doesn't scream "that's just what we need". 

[DT]

I think he'll buy a house in Bitterne

[Dman]

2 minutes ago, egg said:

A 5ft 7 number 10 doesn't scream "that's just what we need". 

especially given we don't really play with a number 10. 

[egg]

1 minute ago, Dman said:

especially given we don't really play with a number 10. 

Exactly. We'd need to change our style to accommodate him. Our style is all but built around a deep lying midfielder, not someone floating behind a centre forward. 

[washsaint]

Strange link that one re. Bittencourt.  Not torn up any trees and will be 31 in December so would question if he has the legs for the Prem.

As for Broja, massive no.  People are deluded if they think he would be a good buy.  His form fell off a cliff for us and he has done nothing since and could not get a game at Fulham.  When he played for us he was a very selfish player and when you take away his purple spell of 6-8 games he did nothing.

[trousers]

31 minutes ago, Master Bates said:

Bittencourt

[Saint Garrett]

Bittencourt seems a really strange signing if true...wrong side of 30, small, and plays in a position we don't have. We dont need squad players next season, we need a few top quality players who improve the first XI. I hope we don't underestimate the step up, and end up panicking at the end of august when we have 0 points after 4 games.

[Doctoroncall]

2 hours ago, egg said:

One plus Charles isn't enough for me. Two as a minimum. It's such a crucial role, and if you take the main man out, another is needed. There's a young lad at Chelsea coming back from injury who'd be ideal on loan. 

One reason why Poch left is Chelsea’s desire to use the young players they bought for multimillions which includes Lavia. We’ll have to look elsewhere. 

[gio1saints]

11 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Bittencourt seems a really strange signing if true...wrong side of 30, small, and plays in a position we don't have. We dont need squad players next season, we need a few top quality players who improve the first XI. I hope we don't underestimate the step up, and end up panicking at the end of august when we have 0 points after 4 games.

Oh the shirts are gonna fly out the club shop “ Once Bitten” 😂

Maybe the attraction is that he costs £15 and they will chuck in his uber fare to the station plus a case of Budweiser - and some track suits. And is hungry. If we  get the track suits as well that might swing it. 

Edited May 31 by gio1saints

[SNSUN]

9 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Bittencourt seems a really strange signing if true...wrong side of 30, small, and plays in a position we don't have. We dont need squad players next season, we need a few top quality players who improve the first XI. I hope we don't underestimate the step up, and end up panicking at the end of august when we have 0 points after 4 games.

If our first 4 games are City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, that probably wouldn't be a bad start! 😀 But yes I hope we have the bulk of our business done before the season starts. It wasn't long ago we were concerned about whether this team would do well in the Prem and, as lovely as promotion via the play-offs was, those concerns do remain, especially as it wasn't long ago we were losing to the like of Bristol City and getting spanked by promotion rivals Leicester.

If the Bittencourt transfer is true then it does indicate that we are looking to do early business this summer, which is promising.

[egg]

2 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Oh the shirts are gonna fly out the club shop “ Once Bitten” 😂

Maybe the attraction is that he costs £15 and they will chuck in his uber fare to the station plus a case of Budweiser - and some track suits. And is hungry. If we  get the track suits as well that might swing it. 

Rumour has it that he's twice shy, so he won't like that. 

[SNSUN]

Leandro Bittencourt, aka Bitty.

[Badger]

11 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

 

If the Bittencourt transfer is true then it does indicate that we are looking to do early business this summer, which is promising.

Only if we're signing the right players though

[Badger]

50 minutes ago, SNSUN said:

I know nothing of him but Wikipedia says he's 5'7'' which will enhance our vision to create the World's smallest men's professional football team of all time.

Larios will be captain, and commentators will call him a giant amongst men

[gio1saints]

I’m more worried that Chelsea will throw £25m at us for KWP and he’s gone fast as you can say “we are stuffed at FB now”. 

[JRM]

32 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Bittencourt seems a really strange signing if true...wrong side of 30, small, and plays in a position we don't have. We dont need squad players next season, we need a few top quality players who improve the first XI. I hope we don't underestimate the step up, and end up panicking at the end of august when we have 0 points after 4 games.

At least the season starting on 17th August there's nor long before end of the window, nothing could be worse than the panic buys we made deadline day Jan 2023 , they must have learnt from that 

[JRM]

5 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

I’m more worried that Chelsea will throw £25m at us for KWP and he’s gone fast as you can say “we are stuffed at FB now”. 

Got to be worth £40M surely in modern market 

[JRM]

26 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

Oh the shirts are gonna fly out the club shop “ Once Bitten” 😂

Maybe the attraction is that he costs £15 and they will chuck in his uber fare to the station plus a case of Budweiser - and some track suits. And is hungry. If we  get the track suits as well that might swing it. 

If he's coming from Bremen I'm pretty sure it will be a case of Becks 

[SNSUN]

16 minutes ago, JRM said:

Got to be worth £40M surely in modern market 

Contract is up next summer so doubtful we'd get that.

[gio1saints]

13 minutes ago, JRM said:

Got to be worth £40M surely in modern market 

£25m and he’s gone IMO -  if it’s to Chelsea. Would be his last big career move and he would on way more money than at saints. 
Maresca is a fan and will know KWP can play the PB style. He’s perfect in that regard. Get rid of mudryk and spend the money on Kyle easy concept. Obvs I hope not and want him to stay at Saints! 

[sfc4prem]

16 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

£25m and he’s gone IMO -  if it’s to Chelsea. Would be his last big career move and he would on way more money than at saints. 
Maresca is a fan and will know KWP can play the PB style. He’s perfect in that regard. Get rid of mudryk and spend the money on Kyle easy concept. Obvs I hope not and want him to stay at Saints! 

Equally, would Maresca shop at a club his team rinsed by an aggregate 9-1 scoreline this season?

[egg]

9 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

Equally, would Maresca shop at a club his team rinsed by an aggregate 9-1 scoreline this season?

Yes. He's not buying the whole team. 

[sfc4prem]

2 minutes ago, egg said:

Yes. He's not buying the whole team. 

I doubt Chelsea will buy KWP. He's not on their level for potential purchases.

[egg]

Just now, sfc4prem said:

I doubt Chelsea will buy KWP. He's not on their level for potential purchases.

I agree, but I don't agree with your point that Maresca wouldn't buy from us just because Leicester spanked us last season. 

[Dman]

1 hour ago, Saint Garrett said:

Bittencourt seems a really strange signing if true...wrong side of 30, small, and plays in a position we don't have. We dont need squad players next season, we need a few top quality players who improve the first XI. I hope we don't underestimate the step up, and end up panicking at the end of august when we have 0 points after 4 games.

Whilst I agree that everything else doesn't make sense, if you read reports, SR acknowledge that lack of 'experience' killed us last time round, so I'm not surprised by the links to 'older players'. 

That being said, if we're going to go for 'experience', I'd rather it was PL experience..  

[sfc4prem]

4 minutes ago, egg said:

I agree, but I don't agree with your point that Maresca wouldn't buy from us just because Leicester spanked us last season. 

Fair enough!

[JRM]

11 minutes ago, egg said:

I agree, but I don't agree with your point that Maresca wouldn't buy from us just because Leicester spanked us last season. 

Didn't Leicester buy two of our back four they beat 9-0 so you never know 

[egg]

Just now, JRM said:

Didn't Leicester buy two of our back four they beat 9-0 so you never know 

They sure did. Hopefully that's Baz and Manning getting their dream moves 🤞🙏🤞

[Chez]

2 hours ago, Saint Garrett said:

If it was Downes + another new signing that is primarily defensive, but can also play as an "8" then think that's likely we'll bring 2 in. 

Charles wasn't even trusted to play DM when Downes wasn't fit, Smallbone had to slot in there which doesn't suit him either.

He was of little use last season and that was in the Championship. In the Prem he will have less time, space and room for error.

If we could find a buyer, we should sell Charles and use the money to get a player RM trusts. Realistically, no one is spending £10-15m to recoup our outlay on him at this moment in time, so we either loan him or hope he makes great strides over the next six months so that we can use him when Downes is tired/injured.

Really he needs to be playing week in week out next season to aid his development - so a loan might be the best plan.

[Turkish]

24 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

I doubt Chelsea will buy KWP. He's not on their level for potential purchases.

Not when they’ve got Reece James already there who IMO is the best right back in the country. Possibly even Europe ahead of Alfonso Davies 

[sfc4prem]

2 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Not when they’ve got Reece James already there who IMO is the best right back in the country. Possibly even Europe ahead of Alfonso Davies 

Do they still have Chilwell and Cucurella at LB?

[egg]

12 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Not when they’ve got Reece James already there who IMO is the best right back in the country. Possibly even Europe ahead of Alfonso Davies 

James is perpetually injured though, and will probably slide Infield as a CB or midfielder. KWP going there wouldn't surprise me. 

[SNSUN]

9 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

Do they still have Chilwell and Cucurella at LB?

And Maatsen who is about to play in the Champions League final for Dortmund.