Summer Transfer Window 2024

[SuperSAINT]

[SaintJackoInHurworth]

I thought the point of selling Alcaraz was to bring in money to cover some of the transfer costs and help us avoid getting into trouble over FFP? Bringing in another player as part payment seems strange - although I suppose it does mean we are not left short in the attacking midfield area. Nevertheless, presumably Hugo is a downgrade on Alcaraz, which leaves us weak in the AM position. Despite his recent improvements, Aribo is not great and Lallana has not really got the legs any more! True, Dibling shows promise in that position, but two promising young players as backup to Aribo is a bit worrying.

I guess the difference is that Martin seems set to play a different system this season - playing Armstrong and BBD as a false nine duo doubling up as wingers, with a back five in a kind of flexible 5-3-2 line-up. However, presumably he will still want the option of switching to the more familiar dynamic 4-3-3 which he utilised for most of last season.

Personally, if all of this is true, then I think it is a big shame as Alcaraz has huge potential and offers something a little different than other players. Also, whatever some people may feel about him not quite delivering everything they were hoping for, his stats are impressive, with nearly all of our wins at the start of last season coming when he started and very few wins being achieved without him until Stu Armstrong was fit.

Edited August 21 by SaintJackoInHurworth
Correcting statistical facts

[SuperSAINT]

2 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

Tricky one, this.  We're seemingly NOT in the race for O'Riley, nut we've now signed Mateus Fernandes & possibly signing this Brazilan lad from Flamengo.

Does this mean we're no longer in the running for Clarke?  Or would we still want a wide-man?  

[The Curse of St Mary's]

4 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

I assume we need to sell the likes of TP and ABK before making an official bid? Sulemanna would raise more than those two but I can only see a Turkish or Saudi club buying him and their windows shut later so time isn't on our side. 

[revolution saint]

Maybe YouTube doesn’t do him justice or I watched the wrong videos but Hugo didn’t really impress me much.  Fairly big fella so could probably handle the physical side of the game but also looked quite slow. Couple of decent goals but think I’d rather take the money.

[Appy]

9 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

Tricky one, this.  We're seemingly NOT in the race for O'Riley, nut we've now signed Mateus Fernandes & possibly signing this Brazilan lad from Flamengo.

Does this mean we're no longer in the running for Clarke?  Or would we still want a wide-man?  

Think Clarke’s price is massively putting us off. Could see us getting someone like Reiss Nelson on loan near the deadline. 

[SNSUN]

I see Abu Kamara has handed in a transfer request at Norwich after recent transfer speculation. Earlier in the summer there were reports Saints were linked iirc.

[revolution saint]

15 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

Sunderland want 25M so almost certain to be rejected. Think Spurs have a 25% sell on clause.

I quite like Clarke but there’s some doubts about whether he can make the step up and by all accounts didn’t show up fantastically well in the fa cup game against Newcastle last season 

[SaintSpank]

Hugo will struggle to get a work permit I would think, so we are just getting in another player for Goztepe I think. Which, if it happens, is actually starting to take the piss a little.

[Saint Matty 76]

1 minute ago, SaintSpank said:

Hugo will struggle to get a work permit I would think, so we are just getting in another player for Goztepe I think. Which, if it happens, is actually starting to take the piss a little.

If he'd struggle to get a work permit here then this is the actual pure benefit of the partnership no?

[SuperSAINT]

8 minutes ago, Appy said:

Think Clarke’s price is massively putting us off. Could see us getting someone like Reiss Nelson on loan near the deadline. 

Was thinking about Nelson earlier when people were talking about Nketiah.  Not been too much chatter about him at all.

Possible option if we have a Prem loan slot available.

Edited August 21 by SuperSAINT

[Luke SkyWalker-Peters]

1 hour ago, The Curse of St Mary's said:

Looks a baller. Unbelievably quick feet. Seems very left footed but very creative and positive on the ball. 

 

 

 

Not sure what the benefit of looking at the lad's academy highlights from 3 years ago is. He's been playing first team football for a while now.

[Harry_SFC]

3 minutes ago, SuperSAINT said:

Was thinking about Nelson earlier when people were talking about Nketiah.  Not been too much chatter about him at all.

Possible option if we have a Prem loan slot available.

With a keeper seemingly signing permanently I'd be shocked if we didn't wait for the end of the window to see who becomes available on loan.

[revolution saint]

4 minutes ago, SaintSpank said:

Hugo will struggle to get a work permit I would think, so we are just getting in another player for Goztepe I think. Which, if it happens, is actually starting to take the piss a little.

Thought of that but presume Wolves wouldn’t have bothered bidding if that was the case?

[Chez]

5 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Sunderland want 25M so almost certain to be rejected. Think Spurs have a 25% sell on clause.

I quite like Clarke but there’s some doubts about whether he can make the step up and by all accounts didn’t show up fantastically well in the fa cup game against Newcastle last season 

he plays like Lallana did. smooth with the ball, but he lacks a yard of pace. not easy to go past players without that. hes got the ball skills though. can't see us paying £25m for him, but you never know these days. 

[davefizzy14]

Hopefully we are in for Jack Clarke, quality player.

[SuperSAINT]

13 minutes ago, Harry_SFC said:

With a keeper seemingly signing permanently I'd be shocked if we didn't wait for the end of the window to see who becomes available on loan.

Yeah, depending on what position we still need by then.

[SaintsBarry74]

8 hours ago, Saint86 said:

That’s got to be one of the worst injury records for a goalkeeper?. So if we sign him, we’re looking at McCarthy or Baz starting in at least half our games—basically putting us right back to square one.

[revolution saint]

11 minutes ago, Chez said:

he plays like Lallana did. smooth with the ball, but he lacks a yard of pace. not easy to go past players without that. hes got the ball skills though. can't see us paying £25m for him, but you never know these days. 

Yes, agree with that. I think Dibling will develop into a similar style of player too.

[Luke SkyWalker-Peters]

23 minutes ago, SaintJackoInHurworth said:

I thought the point of selling Alcaraz was to bring in money to cover some of the transfer costs and help us avoid getting into trouble over FFP? Bringing in another player as part payment seems strange - although I suppose it does mean we are not left short in the attacking midfield area. Nevertheless, presumably Hugo is a downgrade on Alcaraz, which leaves us weak in the AM position. Despite his recent improvements, Aribo is not great and Lallana has not really got the legs any more! True, Dibling shows promise in that position, but two promising young players as backup to Aribo is a bit worrying.

I guess the difference is that Martin seems set to play a different system this season - playing Armstrong and BBD as a false nine duo doubling up as wingers, with a back five in a kind of flexible 5-3-2 line-up. However, presumably he will still want the option of switching to the more familiar dynamic 4-3-3 which he utilised for most of last season.

Personally, if all of this is true, then I think it is a big shame as Alcaraz has huge potential and offers something a little different than other players. Also, whatever some people may feel about him not quite delivering everything they were hoping for, his stats are impressive, with nearly all of our wins in the relegation season coming when he started and few wins being achieved without him (and take Stu Armstrong out as well and there are almost no wins without him!)

If we are selling and buying two players for the same amount, we are making a profit this year under FFP, because the full value of the sale goes onto the books this season whereas the purchase is spread over the length of the new players contract. e.g. Sell Alcaraz for £20m and buy Hugo for £20m on a 5 year contract. That would be 20-(20/5) = 20-4 = £16m of profit this year.

Hugo might well be a downgrade overall on Charlie, but he is likely a better system fit. Charlie is not good enough with the ball to play CM for Martin. Presumably Hugo is. Charlie has other strengths that made him an effective goalscoring CM for us when he arrived, but it is better to have players that fit the system.

I'm not sure why you have forgotten Ugochukwu and Fernandes. Both are an improvement on Smallbone, Aribo and Alcaraz in Martin's system. Yes, Ugochukwu is a more natural DM, but he has all the tools to play as a box to box 8 for Martin - athletic but surprisingly good with the ball given his size. He didn't get loaned here to sit on the bench behind Downes - he could have done that at Chelsea. He's here to start. Fernandes isn't going to be sitting behind those others for long either. He is too talented.

You are using Alcaraz's time before Martin to justify keeping him. I don't think anyone is suggesting Charlie is a bad footballer, but he is not suited to the extreme possession style of football that Martin is trying to play. It is better for the club and for Charlie if we sell him and reinvest that money on a player that suits our system more and he goes to a club that plays to his strengths more. He wasn't a regular starter for Martin in the Championship, he would just sit on the bench for most of this season in the Premier League.

[Ball boy]

10 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Yes, agree with that. I think Dibling will develop into a similar style of player too.

Similar but better as he has the ball skills but he also has the size strength (for his age) and pace.

i like Clarke but there are better uses for the money and we have to trust Dibling (et al) at some point or we won’t have a decent academy.

[Saint Scott]

26 minutes ago, Chez said:

he plays like Lallana did. smooth with the ball, but he lacks a yard of pace. not easy to go past players without that. hes got the ball skills though. can't see us paying £25m for him, but you never know these days. 

We won't be spending £25m on Clarke. If we had that amount to spend on one player it would of been O'Riley

[Wade Garrett]

10 minutes ago, Luke SkyWalker-Peters said:

If we are selling and buying two players for the same amount, we are making a profit this year under FFP, because the full value of the sale goes onto the books this season whereas the purchase is spread over the length of the new players contract. e.g. Sell Alcaraz for £20m and buy Hugo for £20m on a 5 year contract. That would be 20-(20/5) = 20-4 = £16m of profit this year.

Hugo might well be a downgrade overall on Charlie, but he is likely a better system fit. Charlie is not good enough with the ball to play CM for Martin. Presumably Hugo is. Charlie has other strengths that made him an effective goalscoring CM for us when he arrived, but it is better to have players that fit the system.

I'm not sure why you have forgotten Ugochukwu and Fernandes. Both are an improvement on Smallbone, Aribo and Alcaraz in Martin's system. Yes, Ugochukwu is a more natural DM, but he has all the tools to play as a box to box 8 for Martin - athletic but surprisingly good with the ball given his size. He didn't get loaned here to sit on the bench behind Downes - he could have done that at Chelsea. He's here to start. Fernandes isn't going to be sitting behind those others for long either. He is too talented.

You are using Alcaraz's time before Martin to justify keeping him. I don't think anyone is suggesting Charlie is a bad footballer, but he is not suited to the extreme possession style of football that Martin is trying to play. It is better for the club and for Charlie if we sell him and reinvest that money on a player that suits our system more and he goes to a club that plays to his strengths more. He wasn't a regular starter for Martin in the Championship, he would just sit on the bench for most of this season in the Premier League.

Tell me what the fucking point is in selling Alcaraz and getting a player worse than him in return.

Tell them if they haven’t got the cash for the deal to take a walk.  We don’t want their shit cast-offs.

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Tell me what the fucking point is in selling Alcaraz and getting a player worse than him in return.

Tell them if they haven’t got the cash for the deal to take a walk.  We don’t want their shit cast-offs.

Maybe he is a better player in Martin's system? And the money in this year will allow us to strengthen in other areas so that overall the team is better? 

[EBS1980]

46 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Sunderland want 25M so almost certain to be rejected. Think Spurs have a 25% sell on clause.

I quite like Clarke but there’s some doubts about whether he can make the step up and by all accounts didn’t show up fantastically well in the fa cup game against Newcastle last season 

So Sunderland expect a buying club to pay over the odds for him so they can pay Spurs their slice and Sunderland walk away with the amount they want. 

Can’t see anyone paying £25M for him tbh

[revolution saint]

4 minutes ago, Saint Scott said:

We won't be spending £25m on Clarke. If we had that amount to spend on one player it would of been O'Riley

I actually don't think anyone is paying 25M for Clarke and the closer it gets to the end of the window the more the price will come down.  Sunderland played hard ball last summer when Burnley were sniffing around but he had three years left on his contract then.  I don't think they'll want to go to another window with less than two years and he's made it pretty clear he isn't going to sign a new deal.

We've been linked quite a bit before so we may be interested but we've also been linked with fairly cheap winger options like Rak-Sakyi and the Norwich lad (albeit they prefer to play on the right) so I'm not sure how much we put a value on a winger.  I guess if we can't afford O'Riley then we may have a bit more money.

[FarehamSaintJames]

Were we ever in for Jack Clarke? I mean really?

Is someone keeping a tally of all these players we’ve been “in for”?

It would be fascinating if at the end of the window Russ held up a sheet of paper with the names of every player that they’ve had contact with over this window. 
I imagine all the ITK’s would suddenly pipe down.

Going by this forum and social media we’ve been close to signing near a hundred players this window. 😂

[Luke SkyWalker-Peters]

1 minute ago, Wade Garrett said:

Tell me what the fucking point is in selling Alcaraz and getting a player worse than him in return.

Tell them if they haven’t got the cash for the deal to take a walk.  We don’t want their shit cast-offs.

Why are you so desperate to keep a player that couldn't get in the starting XI in the Championship?

Simply put, Charlie is worth far more to other teams than he is to us as he just can't play well in Martin's system. He can press and he can score a goal, but he just loses the ball far too frequently to work for Martin.

We are getting a younger player, who fits the system more and by all accounts isn't a "cast-off", Wolves tried to sign him for £20m last summer and got rejected.

This is likely a situation where both clubs feel they are getting the "better" player for their needs. We will likely bag some cash as well to help improve other areas.

I'd rather have a player that is more likely to break into the starting XI under our current manager, than a player that was on the bench in the Championship. It just makes no sense to keep Charlie at all. By all accounts, we are going to get a good fee for Charlie considering he was not a consistent starter for us or Juventus last season.

[SambaMaverick]

Just now, Luke SkyWalker-Peters said:

Why are you so desperate to keep a player that couldn't get in the starting XI in the Championship?

Simply put, Charlie is worth far more to other teams than he is to us as he just can't play well in Martin's system. He can press and he can score a goal, but he just loses the ball far too frequently to work for Martin.

We are getting a younger player, who fits the system more and by all accounts isn't a "cast-off", Wolves tried to sign him for £20m last summer and got rejected.

This is likely a situation where both clubs feel they are getting the "better" player for their needs. We will likely bag some cash as well to help improve other areas.

I'd rather have a player that is more likely to break into the starting XI under our current manager, than a player that was on the bench in the Championship. It just makes no sense to keep Charlie at all. By all accounts, we are going to get a good fee for Charlie considering he was not a consistent starter for us or Juventus last season.

Based on what? He can't even get a game in Brazil. 

I'd much rather keep Charly. Martin just has to fit him in somehow, the talent is there. Then we'll have a £50m player.

[Wade Garrett]

8 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Maybe he is a better player in Martin's system? And the money in this year will allow us to strengthen in other areas so that overall the team is better? 

Can’t see it.  It’s like trying to buy a car and trying to trade an old banger in for £10k.

 

[revolution saint]

1 minute ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Were we ever in for Jack Clarke? I mean really?

Is someone keeping a tally of all these players we’ve been “in for”?

It would be fascinating if at the end of the window Russ held up a sheet of paper with the names of every player that they’ve had contact with over this window. 
I imagine all the ITK’s would suddenly pipe down.

Going by this forum and social media we’ve been close to signing near a hundred players this window. 😂

Christ's sake people are speculating - that's what happens in a transfer window.  Just like you speculated that JWP "wasn't going anywhere".  Don't read the speculation if you don't like it.

[Wade Garrett]

3 minutes ago, Luke SkyWalker-Peters said:

Why are you so desperate to keep a player that couldn't get in the starting XI in the Championship?

Simply put, Charlie is worth far more to other teams than he is to us as he just can't play well in Martin's system. He can press and he can score a goal, but he just loses the ball far too frequently to work for Martin.

We are getting a younger player, who fits the system more and by all accounts isn't a "cast-off", Wolves tried to sign him for £20m last summer and got rejected.

This is likely a situation where both clubs feel they are getting the "better" player for their needs. We will likely bag some cash as well to help improve other areas.

I'd rather have a player that is more likely to break into the starting XI under our current manager, than a player that was on the bench in the Championship. It just makes no sense to keep Charlie at all. By all accounts, we are going to get a good fee for Charlie considering he was not a consistent starter for us or Juventus last season.

I’m not desperate to keep him, but why replace him with someone worse?

[FarehamSaintJames]

Just now, revolution saint said:

Christ's sake people are speculating - that's what happens in a transfer window.  Just like you speculated that JWP "wasn't going anywhere".  Don't read the speculation if you don't like it.

That was a rattled reaction, very Fabian Schar-esque. 😁

[revolution saint]

Just now, FarehamSaintJames said:

That was a rattled reaction, very Fabian Schar-esque. 😁

Fucked off with you moaning is all mate.

[Chez]

5 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Were we ever in for Jack Clarke? I mean really?

Is someone keeping a tally of all these players we’ve been “in for”?

It would be fascinating if at the end of the window Russ held up a sheet of paper with the names of every player that they’ve had contact with over this window. 
I imagine all the ITK’s would suddenly pipe down.

Going by this forum and social media we’ve been close to signing near a hundred players this window. 😂

the links to players are pretty light on here and usually create a fun discussion. maybe you should just knock twitter on the head?

[hypochondriac]

4 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Can’t see it.  It’s like trying to buy a car and trying to trade an old banger in for £10k.

 

Is this player really that bad? I'll be honest I really don't know much about him but it's not like if Alcaraz stays he will be playing much anyway. 

[Convict Colony]

deleted am in a different timezone and this joke has been flogged to death already

Edited August 21 by Convict Colony

[hypochondriac]

Not sure where to put this but found it in a box this evening. How do you think this team compares to today's one? We had a fair bit of shite back then! 

Edited August 21 by hypochondriac

[revolution saint]

3 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Is this player really that bad? I'll be honest I really don't know much about him but it's not like if Alcaraz stays he will be playing much anyway. 

He didn't look that great to me BUT the quality of the videos wasn't that good and half of them were highlights of youth football so it's hard to tell and probably shows up the limitations of YouTube more than anything else. 

Based on what I saw it's a surprise that Wolves bid 20M (suspect it was probably less) so they must have seen something they liked.  One worry I'd have is that he probably isn't a player we've directly scouted and more a way of Flamengo getting the price down to something they can afford so I think I'd rather take the money.

[a1ex2001]

5 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Not sure where to put this but found it in a box this evening. How do you think this team compares to today's one? We had a fair bit of shite back then! 

Back four and front two are solid and jones wasn’t bad on his day the midfield is dire with Oakley the only half decent player!

[Lighthouse]

Jones, Richards, Oakley, Kachloul, Tiss and Pahars all walk into our current team. Claus would probably edge out JS if I had to choose a back three.

[revolution saint]

10 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Not sure where to put this but found it in a box this evening. How do you think this team compares to today's one? We had a fair bit of shite back then! 

Le Tiss, Pahars and Richards would/should get into our team.  Jones would be equally shite with the ball at his feet but at least as good as McCarthy otherwise.  Proper 4-4-2 formations too, none of that fancy continental bollocks.  I must have been there for that game but can't remember for the life of me when Stuart Ripley ever got man of the match.

[woodsaint1]

40 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Not sure where to put this but found it in a box this evening. How do you think this team compares to today's one? We had a fair bit of shite back then! 

Ripley motm 😱

[Patches O Houlihan]

Watching videos of Victor Hugo just now a thought struck me:

Maybe KWP was reticent to commit to Saints because he expected us to have an underwhelming transfer window and effectively be fighting with one hand tied behind our backs for the season. RM seemed more confident that Bednarek would commit to a contract but he may have been worried too.

So the question is; does the addition of BBD, Archer, Fernandes, Big Les, Bijlow, and possibly Hugo change their thinking and persuade them to stay?

Our new midfield has the potential to be quite handy... and I'm reasonably happy with the defence if Bednarek and KWP stays. 

Plus it feels like Saints always try to pull a rabbit out of the hat on deadline day and we still have a PL loan available.

I guess to sum up I think our odds of staying up have improved a fair bit in the last 10 days, and we did OK at Newcastle with the old squad and newbies not used to our play.

Am I being a 'Lego Head loving happy clapper' or is there room for some positivity?

[petermcpete]

I asked my Flamengo supporting mate, he said: "He reminds me of Paqueta, but without the dribbling. He is less skillful but with a lot of game awareness."

Just got to hope he doesn't also like a flutter 😬

[Crouchie's Lawyer]

I guess it depends on how we are looking to play attacking wise but it seems to me that we will either be set up in a similar fashion to last season where we will be playing two wide forwards (BBD and Arma) with a central attacker (likely to be Archer) or how we initially set up on Saturday with BBD and Arma occupying the two attacking roles with 3 CM's (Downes, Aribo and Smallbone on Saturday) with Suga and KWP playing the wing back roles with a back three.

 

There is a lot of clamour for wingers but I'm not really seeing the dire need perhaps in comparison to that out and out striker we have been begging for (I think Archer may perhaps be more suited to a wide forward role from what I have read). If we play with the two attackers like we seemed to have set up with on Saturday then we don't really play with wingers as Suga and KWP kind of do that side of the attacking and assuming we hold on to KWP then they will be nailed on to start in my opinion (was surprised to see Suga get subbed at half time on Saturday as I felt he was one of the better players for us in that half).

I believe Russ switched to a three pronged attack given how dominant we were in the game and he felt it was perhaps a little wasted having (technically) 5 defenders (two of which were wing backs) so opted to bring on Edozie to switch to a more conventional back 4 with the 3 in the middle then the 3 attackers with BBD eventually being replaced and Archer coming on.

 

Archer is a different kind of player to what Che was and for all his flaws at not perhaps being the most prolific, what Che did have was physicality and the ability to hold up the ball. Whether BBD can do that job, I don't know. He is certainly built similar to Che physically, albeit perhaps a little taller. I do still think we are missing that out and out striker though, not one who can play anywhere across the front three. I know that having those types of players does give us a bit of flexibility but I would rather a 'specialist' than a jack of all trades as I think we have those boxes ticked with Arma and BBD who both appear to prefer the wide attack roles than the focal point up top.

 

if we do bring in a winger then if it is a player who is a walk-into-the-first-11 quality player, it will leave a question over where he plays and in what system? It wouldn't work for how we were set up to begin with against Newcastle and if we go with a three pronged attack as we did with Edozie coming on at half time on Saturday then that would mean one of Arma or BBD would not play in that wide attacker role as the winger would surely occupy that, they would have to go central. As referenced above, that central role is neither of their preferred positions as I understand and we all know Arma in a central role just does not work as well as him being out on the wing so I'd personally prefer we focussed our efforts (and funds) on a proper striker who can play as one of the front 2 if that's how we set up (with BBD or Arma taking a bench space) or the main central guy if those two play as the wide attackers.

 

We have Edozie, Sam Amo and Sulemana (hopefully he gets sold as it simply hasn't worked for him here though) who can all play a winger role (Edozie and Sulemena preferred on the left with Sam Amo preferred on the right) on top of BBD (left) and Arma (right) so it's not like we are desperately short of those positions. Archer can even play that wide attacker type role too.

 

I'd even go as far as saying a clear upgrade on Aribo (who, to be fair I think played quite well on Saturday) may be a better use of funds but that could be Fernandes. I guess its the unknown regarding these younger players from abroad that's the problem here and that's where we have to place our trust in Russ and the scouting team. He could be the next Bruno Fernandes or he could be the next Sulemana who looks exciting but fails to deliver and doesn't improve us.

[CSA96]

Eredivisie discussion from some Dutch fans on the idea of Bijlow to Saints - some interesting comments if you run through translation in browser: 

 

[Giuseppe9!]

Hi guys, I am from Brazil and have been a flamengo supporter for as long as I can remember. Since 2015 I've started watching Southampton games and have followed the team since.

I've followed Victor Hugo's career in Flamengo since 2021, when the team won the under 17 league with him. Matheus França, who plays for Cristal Palace now, was his teammate and Victor Hugo played like a number 8 with França playing more like a number 10.

After that, in 2022, he started playing for the first team at just 18 years old and in the second semester of that year seemed like Flamengo's next big gem. In 2023 he was a starter for the first team, playing in a midfield trio more from the right. He even started Brazil's final domestic cup at home in Maracanã in September and was playing really well. Here was his best match as a Flamengo player, in a cup semifinal away against Gremio. 

After that, however, Flamengo's head coach Jorge Sampaoli was sacked and when Tite, the current coach, took charge, Victor Hugo was dropped from the team and hasn't been able to recover form since.

He is a very technically gifted left-footed midfielder, is strong and has a good passing range. He is not fast and may struggle as a winger. He can play well in the number 10 role or as a number 8.

To sum up, having him as a sweetner in a Alcaraz sale is very good value, because I can really see a path for him to become a starter here. He was almost sold for 20m a year ago and I believe that he has the potential to recover that form. He just need a good system and a coach that trusts him. I don't think that the Saints have a player like him in the squad.

Sorry for any mistakes as english is not my first language.

On to next game!

 

 

 

[Kristian Loekkegaard]

5 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

Can’t see it.  It’s like trying to buy a car and trying to trade an old banger in for £10k.

 

Nicky Banger  

[Sheaf Saint]

2 hours ago, Giuseppe9! said:

Hi guys, I am from Brazil and have been a flamengo supporter for as long as I can remember. Since 2015 I've started watching Southampton games and have followed the team since.

I've followed Victor Hugo's career in Flamengo since 2021, when the team won the under 17 league with him. Matheus França, who plays for Cristal Palace now, was his teammate and Victor Hugo played like a number 8 with França playing more like a number 10.

After that, in 2022, he started playing for the first team at just 18 years old and in the second semester of that year seemed like Flamengo's next big gem. In 2023 he was a starter for the first team, playing in a midfield trio more from the right. He even started Brazil's final domestic cup at home in Maracanã in September and was playing really well. Here was his best match as a Flamengo player, in a cup semifinal away against Gremio. 

After that, however, Flamengo's head coach Jorge Sampaoli was sacked and when Tite, the current coach, took charge, Victor Hugo was dropped from the team and hasn't been able to recover form since.

He is a very technically gifted left-footed midfielder, is strong and has a good passing range. He is not fast and may struggle as a winger. He can play well in the number 10 role or as a number 8.

To sum up, having him as a sweetner in a Alcaraz sale is very good value, because I can really see a path for him to become a starter here. He was almost sold for 20m a year ago and I believe that he has the potential to recover that form. He just need a good system and a coach that trusts him. I don't think that the Saints have a player like him in the squad.

Sorry for any mistakes as english is not my first language.

On to next game!

 

 

 

Obrigado Giuseppe. No meed to apologise - your English is better than many regular site users! 😅

Looks as though he is good at receiving the ball in tight spaces and making an accurate pass to a team mate, which is exactly what our manager wants from his players.

I hope Alcaraz is a success for you. I always liked him and it's not his fault that we changed manager and drastically changed our system after he signed, meaning he didn't quite fit despite his obvious quality.