Summer Transfer Window 2024

[Matthew Le God]

9 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

Gets us some capital for an asset we seemingly weren't going to be using much...

Is £15.6m a bit cheap? Probably.

 

2 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

All in we've made about £20m, if you factor in the £5m loan fee to Juventus in January.

That £40m future buy clause was always a funny joke, we were never getting that. Half at best, which is what we've done really.

We are also reported to be including a 20% sell on clause. So if he does get another big move Saints will get a decent amount of it on top of the transfer fee to Flamengo and loan fee to Juventus.

Edited August 28 by Matthew Le God

[hypochondriac]

27 minutes ago, saint michael said:

I’m not sure what Martin sees as success. 
 

he was really pleased with Newcastle result based on the way we played and said on another day we would have scored 3 and won 3 1.  The reason we didn’t is because of the skills and ability of the players we have. He doesn’t seem to connect the two together. Success and failure is a fine line. I wonder if us having 20% possession tonight and winning 1 0 with TP getting a late headed goal from long delivery into box would be a success for him. 
 

I wonder what level of player skill he looks for when you see who we are currently connected to. 

For Martin the result is less important than the way we play. I genuinely think he would prefer not to win playing the way with his principles than win in a different way. 

Edited August 28 by hypochondriac

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, benali-shorts said:

The last time we went down, we had some highly valuable assets to sell (Lavia; Tino; JWP etc).  If we go down, we’ll presumably have to cover this window’s spending,which given lower-value player assets might be very painful. Something to look forward to…….

If they have breakthrough years it could be the likes of Dibling and SAA we say goodbye to. 

[Give it to Ron]

2 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

Okay if people are going to reply to comments can they understand the context what they are replying to first please. 

It is in context and valid don’t be a patronising twat and get the point.

We have the whole world to scout in (work permit providing) yet we still haven’t signed a centre forward Archer to me isn’t a target man - it still irritates me we ignore the Scandinavian market teams like Brentford have.

Edited August 28 by Give it to Ron

[Matthew Le God]

4 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Sadly could be a predictor of where we might be next year. 

So you think Saints have lots of players Premier League teams will want? 😉😇

Edited August 28 by Matthew Le God

[Oldandtired]

3 hours ago, Kermitzasaint said:

Whilst most Saints fan are grateful for the investment, the thing we are not happy about is the ridiculous spending and wastage on players which are clearly not going to work. 

Is it the players or the system though? RM’s system demands cannon fodder not creativity, for me it’s as plain as day that any player who likes to think outside of RM’s box will be tossed aside. 
 

I honestly believe that Ronaldo or Messi in their heyday wouldn’t get a game in the present setup.

Edited August 28 by Oldandtired

[hypochondriac]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

So you think Saints have lots of players Premier League teams will want? 😉😇

At this point next year then quite possibly. Dibling, SAA, THB, Downes, kwp if he stays, Fernandes. They all may perform well enough to have Premier league interest but without collectively performing well enough to keep us up. 

[hypochondriac]

Just now, Oldandtired said:

Is it the players or the system though? RM’s system demands cannon fodder not creativity, for me it’s as plain as day that any player who likes to think out of RM’s box will be tossed aside. 
 

I honestly believe that Ronaldo or Messi in their heyday wouldn’t get a game in the present setup.

It would be interesting if Martin had the perfect players for his system how it would work. I wonder if it would have more of a goal threat in that scenario or if it's simply the system that creates this scenario and not the players. 

[obelisk]

8 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

For Martin the result is less important than the way we play. I genuinely think he would prefer not to win playing the way with his principles than win in a different way. 

Someone should tell RM that there are no extra points awarded for artistic interpretation.

[Matthew Le God]

Just now, hypochondriac said:

It would be interesting if Martin had the perfect players for his system how it would work. I wonder if it would have more of a goal threat in that scenario or if it's simply the system that creates this scenario and not the players. 

I think the 433 he used for most of last season would have a lot more goal threat, whilst still being able to use the possession style he wants. I can understand using the 352 away at Newcastle and in other games home/away vs the top teams. But vs Forest at home, we should have used the 433. I'd rather he didn't try to shoehorn Stephens into the team at the expense of an attacking player vs teams we have a decent chance of beating.

[Saint_Ash]

 

 

[Suhari]

30 minutes ago, notnowcato said:

TP is just not mobile enough, and would require a dramatic change in the team’s philosophy to bring him into the game. We are going to continue to play the way we’ve played since the beginning of last season, to rip that up is no guarantee of success. 
 

The performance at Newcastle was ok, although having seen them at Bornmuff I’m not convinced it was as good as I first thought. Forest was largely disappointing but if you change your philosophy following such a performance you’ll run out of options very quickly. Stick with what we know, support the boys in what was always going to be a difficult season. 

He likely isn't mobile enough to play the 90 minutes, but as a last 15-20 minutes when we face a backs-to-the-wall low block - like Newcastle and Forest - he doesn't need to be. His sheer size plumbering around a crowded last third/18 yard box would cause problems.

With 5 subs available, it seems crazy to discount him as an option. Could be the source of a few points to keep us up.

[Wade Garrett]

11 minutes ago, jamesfp1 said:

Any keeper rumours?

Peter Shilton shagged some bird in the back of a mini.

[SaintsFan86]

Ramsdale, a RW and a CF to end the window then. 🤞👌

[beatlesaint]

1 minute ago, Wade Garrett said:

Peter Shilton shagged some bird in the back of a mini.

Tina! Tina! Tina!

[Lee On Solent Saint]

2 minutes ago, Saint_Ash said:

 

 

Understand the project? Keep the ball out of the fuckin net should be his only concern for a year's loan.

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

I think the 433 he used for most of last season would have a lot more goal threat, whilst still being able to use the possession style he wants. I can understand using the 352 away at Newcastle and in other games home/away vs the top teams. But vs Forest at home, we should have used the 433. I'd rather he didn't try to shoehorn Stephens into the team at the expense of an attacking player vs teams we have a decent chance of beating.

I agree it was an odd choice. Can I also add that it's much more pleasant to interact with you when you give your opinion in this manner and leave the pedantry behind. 

[S-Clarke]

2 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Understand the project? Keep the ball out of the fuckin net should be his only concern for a year's loan.

Welcome to modern football, all about 'projects' and fluff words like that. It doesn't really mean anything.

I wonder what project Koeman sold Pelle/Mane/Tadic? ''Just win games and create goals'' I'd guess.

[Give it to Ron]

7 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

I think the 433 he used for most of last season would have a lot more goal threat, whilst still being able to use the possession style he wants. I can understand using the 352 away at Newcastle and in other games home/away vs the top teams. But vs Forest at home, we should have used the 433. I'd rather he didn't try to shoehorn Stephens into the team at the expense of an attacking player vs teams we have a decent chance of beating.

Or at least switched to it when obvious what we were doing wasn’t working and waiting until they scored.

Why didn’t we at least switch wingers, move BBD central for 15 to mix it up not just leave them 60 yards apart(or whatever the pitch width is at SMS)

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

Welcome to modern football, all about 'projects' and fluff words like that. It doesn't really mean anything.

I wonder what project Koeman sold Pelle/Mane/Tadic? ''Just win games and create goals'' I'd guess.

Yep, Utter horseshit. 

[Saint NL]

7 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

wonder what project Koeman sold Pelle/Mane/Tadic? ''Just win games and create goals'' I'd guess.

Come to England and we'll double your weekly wage would have been a plus for the "project" 

[saintant]

11 hours ago, Galway saint said:

I don’t think 10mil gets you much these  days

think we paid £12million for Edozie and he has been a poor acquisition 

 

Depends how good your scouting system is.

[gio1saints]

13 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

I think the 433 he used for most of last season would have a lot more goal threat, whilst still being able to use the possession style he wants. I can understand using the 352 away at Newcastle and in other games home/away vs the top teams. But vs Forest at home, we should have used the 433. I'd rather he didn't try to shoehorn Stephens into the team at the expense of an attacking player vs teams we have a decent chance of beating.

100% agree. Playing Jack Stephens versus Forest was one defensively minded player too many, one attacking minded player too few. 
By all means play the five at the back in those tough matches but in the “ winnable” we have to try get the first goal at least before playing that way and that’s in the 433 as MLG notes.
Cardiff away is interesting because my head would say play the five to start with and weather any early Cardiff storm then switch up - but my frustrations from first two matches say go 433 and more offensive from the start and see how that pans out. The latter is my preference. 

[BARCELONASAINT]

So many on here are ready to have a pop at the club or RM in their frustration that we are either letting go off players the club have deemed are no longer required or we have not signed a striker or goalkeeper.

Alcaraz the vast majority of us love his unpredictability, his obvious skill and potential to unlock a defence BUT the club have decided to call time on his stint here. Why? Looking at it without being emotional I would say the player has failed to settle in the UK, he does not speak the language and RM has been frustrated by his lack of desire to learn English. For all his skill he gives the ball away far too much in very dangerous positions and for me has never looked like he would make it as a Premier League player....do we have an Alcaraz replacement....yes we do i would say, Tyler Dibling!

Tall Paul......again has any other Premier League team come in for TP?? NO! He really is not a Premier League player, he makes Peter crouch look a world beater. Our desperation for a striker is making some irrational in their thought process.

Do you those slating the ownership and club not think we have been doing everything we can to bring in a striker and a goalkeeper?? Be realistic we are Southampton, we have just been promoted and are favourites to go straight back down, we dont have the millions to spend to compete against the likes of Bournemouth let alone Brighton. We have a wage cap we wont break, which is sensible. It will be an extremely hard sell to convince players we would all like to see here and then even if we convince the player we have the nightmare of clubs thinking because we are a Premier League club we can be held to ransom over the fee. 

[Saint NL]

https://x.com/David_Ornstein/status/1828511624787022323?t=fcdHJRw5nwEMDUiRSZvqxQ&s=19

Chiesa to Liverpool for €15m.

Goes to show that there are still bargains for the magical "15m" price tag (granted he's had a few injuries etc)

[Matthew Le God]

1 minute ago, Saint NL said:

https://x.com/David_Ornstein/status/1828511624787022323?t=fcdHJRw5nwEMDUiRSZvqxQ&s=19

Chiesa to Liverpool for €15m.

Goes to show that there are still bargains for the magical "15m" price tag (granted he's had a few injuries etc)

He is cheap on his transfer fee because his wages are £150,000 per week. Which makes him hard to shift.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

3 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

https://x.com/David_Ornstein/status/1828511624787022323?t=fcdHJRw5nwEMDUiRSZvqxQ&s=19

Chiesa to Liverpool for €15m.

Goes to show that there are still bargains for the magical "15m" price tag (granted he's had a few injuries etc)

I would imagine that wages would be an issue for us, should we be interested in signings like that.

[saintant]

3 hours ago, SNSUN said:

Tolu Arokodare at Genk. 15 goals last season, 4 already this season, 6'6" 23 year old. The next Tall Paul. 😁

Someone else who might get on to the stream of crosses we put into the box - that would be radical and some might even call it sensible. Not going to happen however good this guy might be.

[Ted Bates Statue]

56 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Strike me a bit confused, but how are Leicester doing this - what with all the financial restrictions around them?

Leicester set to sign El Khannouss in £19m deal from Genk

Latest from Sky Sports News' Lyall Thomas:

Bilal El Khannouss is expected to have a medical with Leicester today.

The Foxes have agreed a deal at just over £19m to sign the attacking midfielder from Genk.

 

https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/135231-new-sponsor-bcgame/page/11/#comments

Some of their fans think it's their own version of our LD Sports (except of course, their owners will actually make sure the club gets the cash - unlike us having to scramble for a "legit" sponsor in Sportbetio)

A points deduction may be coming their way but they only need to finish with a cushion above us + 2 other teams, so it's all fine.

[S-Clarke]

11 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

https://x.com/David_Ornstein/status/1828511624787022323?t=fcdHJRw5nwEMDUiRSZvqxQ&s=19

Chiesa to Liverpool for €15m.

Goes to show that there are still bargains for the magical "15m" price tag (granted he's had a few injuries etc)

He's got a year left on his contract at Juve, that's why he's valued so low. This is why we got Suguwara fairly cheap as he was into his final year.

I'd argue that the £10-15m signings are out there, but for the level we need, they're only going to be at that value if they are 1) into their contract rundown or 2) have injury history.

In general terms, signing an established player with no injuries and a few years on his contract, like Mane or Tadic in this market today would be £25-30m easily.

Edited August 28 by S-Clarke

[OldNick]

4 minutes ago, BARCELONASAINT said:

So many on here are ready to have a pop at the club or RM in their frustration that we are either letting go off players the club have deemed are no longer required or we have not signed a striker or goalkeeper.

Alcaraz the vast majority of us love his unpredictability, his obvious skill and potential to unlock a defence BUT the club have decided to call time on his stint here. Why? Looking at it without being emotional I would say the player has failed to settle in the UK, he does not speak the language and RM has been frustrated by his lack of desire to learn English. For all his skill he gives the ball away far too much in very dangerous positions and for me has never looked like he would make it as a Premier League player....do we have an Alcaraz replacement....yes we do i would say, Tyler Dibling!

Tall Paul......again has any other Premier League team come in for TP?? NO! He really is not a Premier League player, he makes Peter crouch look a world beater. Our desperation for a striker is making some irrational in their thought process.

Do you those slating the ownership and club not think we have been doing everything we can to bring in a striker and a goalkeeper?? Be realistic we are Southampton, we have just been promoted and are favourites to go straight back down, we dont have the millions to spend to compete against the likes of Bournemouth let alone Brighton. We have a wage cap we wont break, which is sensible. It will be an extremely hard sell to convince players we would all like to see here and then even if we convince the player we have the nightmare of clubs thinking because we are a Premier League club we can be held to ransom over the fee. 

Having a centre forward who can for the last 15 minutes who can shake up the opponents when we need a goal is what we called out for in the last 2 games. 

I dont want to play hoof-ball but I do want us to actually make the opponents defence feel they have had a game. This was not the s=case Saturday. Their centrehalfs were smoking cigars in comfy chairs all game

[Billy the Kidd]

39 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

So you think Saints have lots of players Premier League teams will want? 😉😇

I wasn’t aware, genuinely, how many of Burnley’s players are now playing in the EPL. I don’t count Charlie Taylor btw, as we signed him as a free agent, therefore not from Burnley.

[Saint Matty 76]

A report from a decent Arsenal source saying we're in for Ramsdale this morning.

Can't help but read into RM's comments about wage structure yesterday though and refuse to believe in this one.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, Saint Matty 76 said:

A report from a decent Arsenal source saying we're in for Ramsdale this morning.

Can't help but read into RM's comments about wage structure yesterday though and refuse to believe in this one.

It's been picked up by a journo or two as well that we're back at the table. Already spoken to Ramsdale etc. (and sold him the project, or equal nonsense  )

[saintant]

1 hour ago, ally_uk said:

In all honesty why can't we say give Tall Paul five games up top and see how he actually gets on before writing him off?

If he gets a couple of goals happy days. 

Would add another dimension to the attack worth a go surely ? Just seems silly just to have him here and not utilise him properly mind you I felt the same about Alcarez.

One of the best technically gifted, forward driven midfielders who isn't afraid to break out the system and actually attack..... What are we trying to do?

Sell the guy 

Can somebody actually just explain such baffling decisions properly ? 

Surely we should be playing to both strengths.... 

 

 

 

In the case of Tall Paul my guess is that a lot is to do with the fact that he is not a RM signing. Can't come up with any other reason not to at least give the guy a try - it's not as though we have a squad packed with quality or even average strikers.

[Ken Tone]

1 minute ago, Saint Matty 76 said:

A report from a decent Arsenal source saying we're in for Ramsdale this morning.

Can't help but read into RM's comments about wage structure yesterday though and refuse to believe in this one.

Structure it so we don't pay huge wage ...arsenal do, but we pay them a bigger loan fee.

[LordHester]

Can we just play Tall Paul in goal, then we'll solve two problems in one go?

[Fabrice29]

44 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

It is in context and valid don’t be a patronising twat and get the point.

We have the whole world to scout in (work permit providing) yet we still haven’t signed a centre forward Archer to me isn’t a target man - it still irritates me we ignore the Scandinavian market teams like Brentford have.

The point I was making was a semi jokey response to someone who suggested we should sign more players like Sugawara as if he was some hidden gem when in fact he was a starter in a European qualified team and top league. You replied as if I’m narrowing our scouting to Europe so no… it wasn’t in context and yes I will continue to be patronising where valid. 

I don’t really have an opinion on if we sign a striker or care where they should be from if we do but having a pop at me for suggesting we narrow our network only to Europe but then having a go at the club for not exploring Scandinavia is quite special and totally in keeping with you being unable to grasp words and context (and yes that’s me being a patronising twat again).

[Fabrice29]

9 minutes ago, saintant said:

In the case of Tall Paul my guess is that a lot is to do with the fact that he is not a RM signing. Can't come up with any other reason not to at least give the guy a try - it's not as though we have a squad packed with quality or even average strikers.

Have you considered he has seen him in training every day for two pre seasons now and thinks he’s not very good as ‘any other reason’?

[Give it to Ron]

6 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

The point I was making was a semi jokey response to someone who suggested we should sign more players like Sugawara as if he was some hidden gem when in fact he was a starter in a European qualified team and top league. You replied as if I’m narrowing our scouting to Europe so no… it wasn’t in context and yes I will continue to be patronising where valid. 

I don’t really have an opinion on if we sign a striker or care where they should be from if we do but having a pop at me for suggesting we narrow our network only to Europe but then having a go at the club for not exploring Scandinavia is quite special and totally in keeping with you being unable to grasp words and context (and yes that’s me being a patronising twat again).

CBA

Edited August 28 by Give it to Ron

[saintant]

Just now, Fabrice29 said:

Have you considered he has seen him in training every day for two pre seasons now and thinks he’s not very good as ‘any other reason’?

Not really because I imagine the way we train pre-season gives him very little chance to show what he can do. The rest of the time he's been mainly on loan. 

[saintant]

1 hour ago, SaintLondon said:

I actually agree that we might as well give TP a go if Trabzonspor are effing about with low fees it's worth a shot.

I can't remember what game it was but at the tail end of the relegation season he came on and caused all sorts of problems and hit the crossbar with the header. (Or am I looking back with hopeful memories?)

You're probably thinking of the West Ham game. I wonder if RM has even bothered looking at tapes of that game - probably not.

[beatlesaint]

2 minutes ago, saintant said:

Not really because I imagine the way we train pre-season gives him very little chance to show what he can do. The rest of the time he's been mainly on loan. 

Well we will soon know by whether TP is involved in any way tonight I guess.

[saintant]

1 minute ago, beatlesaint said:

Well we will soon know by whether TP is involved in any way tonight I guess.

On the bench at most is my guess. Don't think RM will start him.

[wild-saint]

30 minutes ago, BARCELONASAINT said:

So many on here are ready to have a pop at the club or RM in their frustration that we are either letting go off players the club have deemed are no longer required or we have not signed a striker or goalkeeper.

Alcaraz the vast majority of us love his unpredictability, his obvious skill and potential to unlock a defence BUT the club have decided to call time on his stint here. Why? Looking at it without being emotional I would say the player has failed to settle in the UK, he does not speak the language and RM has been frustrated by his lack of desire to learn English. For all his skill he gives the ball away far too much in very dangerous positions and for me has never looked like he would make it as a Premier League player....do we have an Alcaraz replacement....yes we do i would say, Tyler Dibling!

Tall Paul......again has any other Premier League team come in for TP?? NO! He really is not a Premier League player, he makes Peter crouch look a world beater. Our desperation for a striker is making some irrational in their thought process.

Do you those slating the ownership and club not think we have been doing everything we can to bring in a striker and a goalkeeper?? Be realistic we are Southampton, we have just been promoted and are favourites to go straight back down, we dont have the millions to spend to compete against the likes of Bournemouth let alone Brighton. We have a wage cap we wont break, which is sensible. It will be an extremely hard sell to convince players we would all like to see here and then even if we convince the player we have the nightmare of clubs thinking because we are a Premier League club we can be held to ransom over the fee. 

I agree with you about Charly and would prefer to see Dibling start to be fair. Id also add that i think RM is concerned about his temperament as we have seen on numerous occasions. There is a fine line between heart / fighting and being a liability to the team.

[Fabrice29]

1 minute ago, saintant said:

Not really because I imagine the way we train pre-season gives him very little chance to show what he can do. The rest of the time he's been mainly on loan. 

Yeah I imagine pre season is a waste of time as well actually and definitely not an opportunity for people to impress and force themselves into the team. Anyway on a completely unrelated note, Dibling starts tonight…

 

[The Kraken]

30 minutes ago, Give it to Ron said:

Or at least switched to it when obvious what we were doing wasn’t working and waiting until they scored.

Why didn’t we at least switch wingers, move BBD central for 15 to mix it up not just leave them 60 yards apart(or whatever the pitch width is at SMS)

 

21 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

100% agree. Playing Jack Stephens versus Forest was one defensively minded player too many, one attacking minded player too few. 
By all means play the five at the back in those tough matches but in the “ winnable” we have to try get the first goal at least before playing that way and that’s in the 433 as MLG notes.

Russ Martin has shown us in two consecutive games that his priority for those has been to have 3 CBs on the pitch.  I think it's going to be his thing that he won't let go of easily.

Against Newcastle, once they had a man off it was Sugawara that made way, not a centre back.  Martin's logic was that he wanted Edozie as a genuine wide player in there instead of Suga pushing forward on the right and KWP doing his thing filling in midfield.  We dominated possession but didn't do much with it.

Against Forest, again the 3 CBs for all game until we went 1 down then switched out THB for a midfielder.

I genuinely think Martin painted himself into a corner by naming Stephens skipper then loaning THB back at the start of last season.  When Stephens is fit Martin can't bear to drop either of THB, Stephens or Janny B.  Martin has said this himself on a number of occasions, he wants to find a system to play them all as all three "deserve to be on the pitch".  

[saintant]

1 hour ago, saint michael said:

I’m not sure what Martin sees as success. 
 

he was really pleased with Newcastle result based on the way we played and said on another day we would have scored 3 and won 3 1.  The reason we didn’t is because of the skills and ability of the players we have. He doesn’t seem to connect the two together. Success and failure is a fine line. I wonder if us having 20% possession tonight and winning 1 0 with TP getting a late headed goal from long delivery into box would be a success for him. 
 

I wonder what level of player skill he looks for when you see who we are currently connected to. 

I know we play a different style now but having watched this club since 1965 my take is that we have always been most successful when playing a tall centre forward.

[Give it to Ron]

2 minutes ago, beatlesaint said:

Well we will soon know by whether TP is involved in any way tonight I guess.

Well as not been on bench would imagine not and we are waiting for Trabsonspor to offer sensible amount but it could be last minute loan again.

[sfc4prem]

Trabzonspor will come back in with a decent bid, I'm certain of it.