Summer Transfer Window 2024

[rooney]

12 hours ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Should also help beef up the defence.

Only if he puts the boot in.

[Chewy]

6 minutes ago, Nolan said:

Sofascore

Directly compare defensive stats to Ryan Manning, and its an improvement.

That’s a low bar to compare against. We’re after premier league quality.

On a more theoretical level, given what everyone is saying about profit and sustainability and how we are in sh1t due to wasting millions with our futile attempt to stave off relegation last time, would I be right in thinking it would be a better financial strategy to invest zilch this summer, get relegated and then get promoted again with a view to being able to invest properly next time?

And if that is the case, what a fucking basket case these rules are.

Strikes me it’s a decent gamble overspending and hoping to amass more than the 10 point (or whatever) deduction as the income stream is that much better in the premier league.

I don’t see how promoted teams have a chance otherwise 

 

[goodymatt]

7 minutes ago, Chewy said:

That’s a low bar to compare against. We’re after premier league quality.

On a more theoretical level, given what everyone is saying about profit and sustainability and how we are in sh1t due to wasting millions with our futile attempt to stave off relegation last time, would I be right in thinking it would be a better financial strategy to invest zilch this summer, get relegated and then get promoted again with a view to being able to invest properly next time?

And if that is the case, what a fucking basket case these rules are.

Strikes me it’s a decent gamble overspending and hoping to amass more than the 10 point (or whatever) deduction as the income stream is that much better in the premier league.

I don’t see how promoted teams have a chance otherwise 

 

It’s crazy how breaking the rules and taking a points deduction seems to be the best way to compete. What a shambles,

[FarehamSaintJames]

Alfie House (The Echo) did a small piece on this weeks TSP saying that it’s absolute garbage that the same rumours come round year after year (Danny Ings, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain) etc and that there is nothing in it aside from lazy journalism.

Says how Lallana was very different and had legs immediately but the rest of these former players coming back is total nonsense.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Alfie House (The Echo) did a small piece on this weeks TSP saying that it’s absolute garbage that the same rumours come round year after year (Danny Ings, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain) etc and that there is nothing in it aside from lazy journalism.

Says how Lallana was very different and had legs immediately but the rest of these former players coming back is total nonsense.

Is that the rumour having legs, or can we be optimistic that Lallana still has some? 🙂

[Saint86]

13 hours ago, hypochondriac said:

Good chance that those loans could be absolutely key to survival. Should allow us to get two top players. I'd go for a defender and AM and save our cash for a striker and Downes. 

Absolutely this. So much pessimism on here regarding "certain relegation" from a few people. But the reality is that we were very savvy in the championship with loans - THB and Downes in particular, as well as Brookes and Fraser. All of them would do a job in the prem for us. Why do people think we are able to make good loan signings in the champ but not in the prem. Especially given Rasmus' connections to his brother's marketplace.

[Saint Billy]

36 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

Alfie House (The Echo) did a small piece on this weeks TSP saying that it’s absolute garbage that the same rumours come round year after year (Danny Ings, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain) etc and that there is nothing in it aside from lazy journalism.

Says how Lallana was very different and had legs immediately but the rest of these former players coming back is total nonsense.

Does Wellington have legs?

[hypochondriac]

33 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

Absolutely this. So much pessimism on here regarding "certain relegation" from a few people. But the reality is that we were very savvy in the championship with loans - THB and Downes in particular, as well as Brookes and Fraser. All of them would do a job in the prem for us. Why do people think we are able to make good loan signings in the champ but not in the prem. Especially given Rasmus' connections to his brother's marketplace.

We have previously done fantastically well with Livramento and getting in the likes of Lavia. If we combine loans and signings of that calibre with known quality of Downes and some experienced Prem heads then we would have a good chance of survival as long as Martin can show he can adapt his style to succeed in the prem. Lots of unknowns right now. 

[Miltonaggro]

Big selling point for Saints in negotiations with Wellington will likely be that we are just over an hour from Waterloo.

[Farmer Saint]

4 hours ago, Chewy said:

That’s a low bar to compare against. We’re after premier league quality.

On a more theoretical level, given what everyone is saying about profit and sustainability and how we are in sh1t due to wasting millions with our futile attempt to stave off relegation last time, would I be right in thinking it would be a better financial strategy to invest zilch this summer, get relegated and then get promoted again with a view to being able to invest properly next time?

And if that is the case, what a fucking basket case these rules are.

Strikes me it’s a decent gamble overspending and hoping to amass more than the 10 point (or whatever) deduction as the income stream is that much better in the premier league.

I don’t see how promoted teams have a chance otherwise 

 

I made this point the other day

On 16/06/2024 at 09:47, Farmer Saint said:

I don't want to give too much away, as we all know LLSS, but we do not have much money to spend this season due to FFP - capital outlay has been huge over the last 2 seasons with a huge downturn in revenue. This is why teams like Norwich, Burnley and WBA have never been able to break the yoyo cycle (in a positive way). There is some money, just not loads, unless we recoup from sales. 

Please bear in mind the £20m odd for Taylor Bellis, and there is money for Downes, but outside of that it is likely to be free's/low transfer fees. 

 

[John B]

25 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

We have previously done fantastically well with Livramento and getting in the likes of Lavia. If we combine loans and signings of that calibre with known quality of Downes and some experienced Prem heads then we would have a good chance of survival as long as Martin can show he can adapt his style to succeed in the prem. Lots of unknowns right now. 

Currently we have a squad without many decent PL players and a manager with no experience of the PL so I am not particularly confident that we will stay up but who knows

[Farmer Saint]

Does everyone kinda see why I wasn't overly excited about getting promoted last season? This season is going to be a proper slog. 

[Chez]

18 minutes ago, John B said:

Currently we have a squad without many decent PL players and a manager with no experience of the PL so I am not particularly confident that we will stay up but who knows

You are right to lack confidence. Its bloody hard for promoted teams, especially those that haven't got a core of genuinely Prem quality players (and a huge amount of momentum), to stay up. We can do though. Just need to get the signings right, address some of our failings fro last season and then give it a bloody good go. 

[Oldandtired]

3 minutes ago, Chez said:

You are right to lack confidence. Its bloody hard for promoted teams, especially those that haven't got a core of genuinely Prem quality players (and a huge amount of momentum), to stay up. We can do though. Just need to get the signings right, address some of our failings fro last season and then give it a bloody good go. 

.... and not play Bazunu in goal

[VectisSaint]

1 hour ago, Saint Billy said:

Does Wellington have legs?

He has boots so yes I guess he does.

[Toadhall Saint]

4 hours ago, Nolan said:

Sofascore

Directly compare defensive stats to Ryan Manning, and its an improvement.

Mate you could compare me to manning and my stats would be better and I haven’t played competitively in more than 40 years 😂

[Toadhall Saint]

1 hour ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

Is that the rumour having legs, or can we be optimistic that Lallana still has some? 🙂

He’s got legs - just won’t last fo more than 50 mins

[Toadhall Saint]

26 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

Does everyone kinda see why I wasn't overly excited about getting promoted last season? This season is going to be a proper slog. 

I’m hoping for some spirited games - a few wins and a cup run. We might just might stay up but yep it’ll be a slog and probably go to the end of the season (hopefully).

[Dellyears]

16 minutes ago, Oldandtired said:

.... and not play Bazunu in goal

I wanted Baz to succeed, I liked him and I felt sorry for him but I have to admit his injury came at the right moment and McC surprised me, he came out and caught crosses and we hadn't seen that for ages.

[Miltonaggro]

Last time we came up in 2012 during the summer window we bought Rodriguez (£7m Burnley in Championship - 104/26), Steven Davis (£free Rangers Scots Prem - 193/12), Maya Yoshida (£3m Venlo in Eredivisie - 154/6), Nathanial Clyne (£2.5m Palace in Championship - 94/3), and then the last minute Cortese vanity purchase of Ramirez (£12m Bologna Serie A - 48/6) on deadline day.  

I know it's a decade on, but Ramirez aside, it proves that it can be done at SFC, this however was when Paul Mitchell was heading up recruitment.  Double those prices and aside from GR these are the sort of players our scouts need to find in this window, so the best of the Championship, SPL and the Dutch / Scandi leagues.  The worst thing to do would be to overthink, and on past form that's what you'd back them to do, but consolidation on a budget can be done.  

 

[FarehamSaintJames]

I think we’ll still be ok. I think team cohesion counts for a lot in some aspects.

I bet there are Forest fans out there that a few years ago would rather have kept their portion squad together than spunked £100M+ on 374,569,749 players.

If we keep a lot of the squad from last season I’d say we’ve done really well.

[FarehamSaintJames]

If you’re expecting us to sign a whole new squad and be challenging for Europe having spent £150M then you’re deluded.

[Lighthouse]

3 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

If you’re expecting us to sign a whole new squad and be challenging for Europe having spent £150M then you’re deluded.

Who's said that?

[Miltonaggro]

Shaqiri looking fitter and stronger at Euros than he has in years, four years younger than Lallana and at the end of his contract.  Him, Armstrong and Fraser would be fun to watch for Saints, like a swarm of angry red and white bees.  

[Bakovnetski]

2 hours ago, Miltonaggro said:

Big selling point for Saints in negotiations with Wellington will likely be that we are just over an hour from Waterloo.

Handy for spurs when he's had enough

[FarehamSaintJames]

4 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Who's said that?

There’s some on here that are implying it’ll be a slog, a shit season, not ambitious enough etc, etc. 

Some people need to maintain a bit of positivity. It’ll be a tough season but if we can keep a core of those players that got us promotion then I think that’ll be a strong foundation to start.

Team cohesion counts for a lot. 

[Lighthouse]

7 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

There’s some on here that are implying it’ll be a slog, a shit season, not ambitious enough etc, etc. 

Some people need to maintain a bit of positivity. It’ll be a tough season but if we can keep a core of those players that got us promotion then I think that’ll be a strong foundation to start.

Team cohesion counts for a lot. 

That's a complete non-sequitur then. I think the vast majority of Saints fans will have a pragmatic view that next season is going to be a very tough fight against relegation. We're going to have to spend around £40m just to keep the squad that finished fourth in the Championship, let alone improve. That doesn't mean anyone is expecting a big-spending push for the European places, I haven't seen that suggested or even implied on here.

[John B]

19 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

That's a complete non-sequitur then. I think the vast majority of Saints fans will have a pragmatic view that next season is going to be a very tough fight against relegation. We're going to have to spend around £40m just to keep the squad that finished fourth in the Championship, let alone improve. That doesn't mean anyone is expecting a big-spending push for the European places, I haven't seen that suggested or even implied on here.

Yep that is how  see it lets hope we can do an Ipswich and continue on from last year

[Osvaldorama]

I’m hoping for some more points deductions for other teams. Could make it the easiest season to stay up of all time if it keeps happening. 
 

All we can do is enjoy the ride and hope we make some clever signings. I hope the fans stick with the club though, even if we do have a bad season. 
 

Negativity around st Mary’s won’t help 

[JRM]

1 minute ago, Osvaldorama said:

I’m hoping for some more points deductions for other teams. Could make it the easiest season to stay up of all time if it keeps happening. 
 

All we can do is enjoy the ride and hope we make some clever signings. I hope the fans stick with the club though, even if we do have a bad season. 
 

Negativity around st Mary’s won’t help 

I noticed Leicester have appointed a new manager and no mention of the points deduction, is it actually going to happen? 

[Verbal]

1 hour ago, Toadhall Saint said:

He’s got legs - just won’t last fo more than 50 mins

Jeez, so what does an hour's worth of legs cost in the Prem these days?

[hypochondriac]

5 minutes ago, JRM said:

I noticed Leicester have appointed a new manager and no mention of the points deduction, is it actually going to happen? 

Why would they mention the points deduction before it has happened? 

[Danbert]

https://www.footballinsider247.com/exeter-bristol-rovers-lincoln-in-race-for-southamptons-lewis-payne-sources/

[Chez]

4 hours ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

There’s some on here that are implying it’ll be a slog, a shit season, not ambitious enough etc, etc. 

Some people need to maintain a bit of positivity. It’ll be a tough season but if we can keep a core of those players that got us promotion then I think that’ll be a strong foundation to start.

Team cohesion counts for a lot. 

It will be tough, every single game will be extremely hard. If we have a season like Sheff United, it will be shit, but I don't think people have made their mind up yet as to how we will go.

I may have missed posts implying a lack of ambition. The window has only just opened, so it's impossible to know how much we will spend and ergo how "ambitious" the owner is (you don't need to spend gazillions to be ambitious). We have a limited budget, but we will spend every penny of it. Not concerned about the owner taking funds out and he seemed to be happy to spend to try to avoid relegation last time. How we spend it is what matters to me.

I think most posters are pretty content and relatively positive right now. There seems to be some reality as to how hard it is to add Prem quality on a budget these days, but also optimism that we bring in some quality (even if its on a relative shoestring), if not in every position. Not getting a new keeper may dampen things.

I think with Burnley coming unstuck, there is some nervousness that we can play the same way at the higher level, but it's certainly intriguing  

With only three senior players out of contract (and possibly leaving) and the previously loaned out players looking most likely to depart, it doesn't feel like we are dismantling the side, so cohesion won't be a problem, especially if Downes is acquired.  

Edited June 20 by Chez

[Chez]

1 hour ago, Miltonaggro said:

Last time we came up in 2012 during the summer window we bought Rodriguez (£7m Burnley in Championship - 104/26), Steven Davis (£free Rangers Scots Prem - 193/12), Maya Yoshida (£3m Venlo in Eredivisie - 154/6), Nathanial Clyne (£2.5m Palace in Championship - 94/3), and then the last minute Cortese vanity purchase of Ramirez (£12m Bologna Serie A - 48/6) on deadline day.  

I know it's a decade on, but Ramirez aside, it proves that it can be done at SFC, this however was when Paul Mitchell was heading up recruitment.  Double those prices and aside from GR these are the sort of players our scouts need to find in this window, so the best of the Championship, SPL and the Dutch / Scandi leagues.  The worst thing to do would be to overthink, and on past form that's what you'd back them to do, but consolidation on a budget can be done.  

 

Good post. Some very astute signings. Clyne especially, who had the pace, technical ability and experience to make the jump seamlessly

So, we need to look for a highly regarded, but unproven young championship attacker. Someone like Clarke perhaps? I think we `stole' Davis as Rangers were fucked financially, so maybe one of the FFP sides could be exploited this time around. Then a very talented young defender from the Championship (that everyone could see would be able to make the step up). Would Gray from Leeds fit that criteria or maybe Greaves from Hull? An international from an unfashionable country, but playing in Europe. I will need help here. And finally, some South American flair. 

  

[FarehamSaintJames]

I’ve seen a couple of people moan today (on Twitter) that Leicester have Steve Cooper and we don’t. 😂

[Miltonaggro]

7 minutes ago, FarehamSaintJames said:

I’ve seen a couple of people moan today (on Twitter) that Leicester have Steve Cooper and we don’t. 😂

Are they BUPA dentists?

 

[steve green]

16 minutes ago, Chez said:

Good post. Some very astute signings. Clyne especially, who had the pace, technical ability and experience to make the jump seamlessly

So, we need to look for a highly regarded, but unproven young championship attacker. Someone like Clarke perhaps? I think we `stole' Davis as Rangers were fucked financially, so maybe one of the FFP sides could be exploited this time around. Then a very talented young defender from the Championship (that everyone could see would be able to make the step up). Would Gray from Leeds fit that criteria or maybe Greaves from Hull? An international from an unfashionable country, but playing in Europe. I will need help here. And finally, some South American flair. 

  

I think we gave them money we didn't have to for Davis. Partly because he wanted it, but also we're just really nice.

Rangers fans remember that to this day, one of the reasons they quite like us as everyone else were shafting them.

 

Edited June 20 by steve green

[Turkish]

7 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

Downes for less than £15 million would be an absolute steal. I'd pay £20 Million so if we end up getting Ings thrown in as well for that price, it's worth it IMO

Do you have £20m?

[Miltonaggro]

9 minutes ago, Chez said:

Good post. Some very astute signings. Clyne especially, who had the pace, technical ability and experience to make the jump seamlessly

So, we need to look for a highly regarded, but unproven young championship attacker. Someone like Clarke perhaps? I think we `stole' Davis as Rangers were fucked financially, so maybe one of the FFP sides could be exploited this time around. Then a very talented young defender from the Championship (that everyone could see would be able to make the step up). Would Gray from Leeds fit that criteria or maybe Greaves from Hull? An international from an unfashionable country, but playing in Europe. I will need help here. And finally, some South American flair. 

  

That's the rub I suppose, and the expertise we were paying for with the much lamented Mitchell.  Gray at Leeds would be a great shout, and in terms of the positions we most need and Melton most likely to have scouted / longlisted, Patterson, Clarke and Bellingham (Sunderland), Hackney (Boro), O'Hare (Coventry), Cabango and Wood (Swansea). SPL maybe Mitov (St J), O'Reilly, Scales (Celtic), Spittal (Motherwell), Shankland (Hearts - now more likely than Miovski in my view).  Loans will be absolutely crucial to get right and I think we would get better bang for buck looking at Netherlands and Scandinavia than Germany (too dear) or France / Italy (hopefully lessons learned).  Whether our current black-boxers feel the same is another matter.      

[Forester]

2 hours ago, Miltonaggro said:

Last time we came up in 2012 during the summer window we bought Rodriguez (£7m Burnley in Championship - 104/26), Steven Davis (£free Rangers Scots Prem - 193/12), Maya Yoshida (£3m Venlo in Eredivisie - 154/6), Nathanial Clyne (£2.5m Palace in Championship - 94/3), and then the last minute Cortese vanity purchase of Ramirez (£12m Bologna Serie A - 48/6) on deadline day.  

I know it's a decade on, but Ramirez aside, it proves that it can be done at SFC, this however was when Paul Mitchell was heading up recruitment.  Double those prices and aside from GR these are the sort of players our scouts need to find in this window, so the best of the Championship, SPL and the Dutch / Scandi leagues.  The worst thing to do would be to overthink, and on past form that's what you'd back them to do, but consolidation on a budget can be done.  

 

Yes some very good signings.  Think we also converted Cork’s loan to permanent, which was good, and signed a useless African striker who barely played 

[SaintsFan86]

7 minutes ago, Forester said:

Yes some very good signings.  Think we also converted Cork’s loan to permanent, which was good, and signed a useless African striker who barely played 

Cork was a permanent from Chelsea in the Summer of 11/12. He was signed for £750K. 

Ah Yes, Mayuka - What a gem. I still remember those hot coals in pre - season, Quite possibly the highlight of his.

[sfc4prem]

8 minutes ago, Forester said:

Yes some very good signings.  Think we also converted Cork’s loan to permanent, which was good, and signed a useless African striker who barely played 

Mayuka!

[S-Clarke]

2 hours ago, Miltonaggro said:

Last time we came up in 2012 during the summer window we bought Rodriguez (£7m Burnley in Championship - 104/26), Steven Davis (£free Rangers Scots Prem - 193/12), Maya Yoshida (£3m Venlo in Eredivisie - 154/6), Nathanial Clyne (£2.5m Palace in Championship - 94/3), and then the last minute Cortese vanity purchase of Ramirez (£12m Bologna Serie A - 48/6) on deadline day.  

I know it's a decade on, but Ramirez aside, it proves that it can be done at SFC, this however was when Paul Mitchell was heading up recruitment.  Double those prices and aside from GR these are the sort of players our scouts need to find in this window, so the best of the Championship, SPL and the Dutch / Scandi leagues.  The worst thing to do would be to overthink, and on past form that's what you'd back them to do, but consolidation on a budget can be done.  

 

It was a pretty well executed window that, the only issue I think fans had at the time was the lack of a left full back signed - I 'think' we tried to sign Buttner if you remember him, but he went to Utd shortly after.

This season we could do with a Clyne at LB to replace Manning, a young Champ attacker to replace Adams and maybe that Soule guy from Juve as our vanity South American signing of the window.

If Ipswich hadn't been promoted I'd have been all over Leif Davis, I'm not sure who else I'd look for at LB. I'd be tempted to look abroad or a PL loan.

Someone in the Champ who reminds me of Jay Rod was Jay Stansfield (not just because of his first name!). Plays very similar, presence to him and is a pretty tidy player. I'd be all out for him if we were a Championship club...but not quite sure if he's ready 'yet', maybe another season in the Champ before I could say he's worth a sniff.

[Turkish]

2 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

Mayuka!

my god he was shite, remember when he came in from no where to start a game and he was absolutely shite, just ran around a lot.

[Miltonaggro]

6 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

It was a pretty well executed window that, the only issue I think fans had at the time was the lack of a left full back signed - I 'think' we tried to sign Buttner if you remember him, but he went to Utd shortly after.

This season we could do with a Clyne at LB to replace Manning, a young Champ attacker to replace Adams and maybe that Soule guy from Juve as our vanity South American signing of the window.

If Ipswich hadn't been promoted I'd have been all over Leif Davis, I'm not sure who else I'd look for at LB. I'd be tempted to look abroad or a PL loan.

Someone in the Champ who reminds me of Jay Rod was Jay Stansfield (not just because of his first name!). Plays very similar, presence to him and is a pretty tidy player. I'd be all out for him if we were a Championship club...but not quite sure if he's ready 'yet', maybe another season in the Champ before I could say he's worth a sniff.

Stansfield another good shout, and my goodness we dodged a bullet with Buttner!  I think with our rapid rise L1 and Champs that the fanbase were upbeat and happy to give SFC recruitment the benefit of the doubt, currently it's the opposite and we could do with a summer 2012 type window to reset.  You would imagine a proper clear out of remaining loanees and fringe, whilst they get Fraser and Downes done, thereafter some interesting deals in the Gray / Stansfield mould.  Juve will probably ask for £50m plus Alcaraz for Soule...  

[goodymatt]

 

GK - Struggling for ideas, a loan of an experienced player not starting or Kelleher?

CB - Rodon at £12-£15m seems reasonable. Could keep ABK and avoid spending here.

LB - I’m struggling to think of sensible options. Targett return wouldn’t be the worst idea. We have been linked with Aarons again, maybe KWP to LB?

CDM - Downes on a perm. Experienced utility player for cover, can Ghodos play there?

AM - O’Reilly would have been a perfect option, knows Martin etc but the price seems way too high. Jobe Bellingham also looks to have a high ceiling as an alternative. O’Hare on a free is the cheap option here. We also have Lallana who will likely come off the bench to support this role.

LW - Jack Clarke, he looked great until his injury last season.

ST - I think Archer (Villa) or Nelson (Arsenal) would be good striker options. Could be a loan opportunity?

Surely that’s not impossible if a couple are loans? Some players will move on. Maybe Aarons would replace the outgoing KWP but I hope we find a way to keep him.

Edited June 20 by goodymatt

[S-Clarke]

9 minutes ago, Miltonaggro said:

 Juve will probably ask for £50m plus Alcaraz for Soule...  

This is the tricky situation we're in now, the days of getting someone like Clyne or Jay Rod for £10-12m a pop is gone - the equivalent now is probably £25-30m and we are not in a position to stick that sort of money this year on single players. 

We were very clever in our use of loans last year, they were the successes of our transfer window - so I'd be content with another approach like that, looking at experienced/good quality on loan rather than blasting through £100m (which we can't do anyway). The only thing with that is we'll need to sit tight, as we saw with THB and Holgate (lol), you have to wait until the end of the windows for lots of loans to materialise. The first month could be a case of going with what we have today, so thankfully the fixture list isn't ''too daunting'', but by the same token you could say we'd be missing some opportunities to hit those games hard.

We'll see how it pans out, but even after 12 years since our last promotion the change in the financial picture is huge - not in terms of us being more skint than we were then, but just how much more expensive it is to compete for anyone bar the big boys. And if you do dare try to compete, i.e Villa, Forest, Everton etc, you are slapped with every punishment they can think of.

Edited June 20 by S-Clarke

[John B]

1 hour ago, Osvaldorama said:

I’m hoping for some more points deductions for other teams. Could make it the easiest season to stay up of all time if it keeps happening. 
 

All we can do is enjoy the ride and hope we make some clever signings. I hope the fans stick with the club though, even if we do have a bad season. 
 

Negativity around st Mary’s won’t help 

Not negativity just realism

[lambtiss]

3 hours ago, Miltonaggro said:

Last time we came up in 2012 during the summer window we bought Rodriguez (£7m Burnley in Championship - 104/26), Steven Davis (£free Rangers Scots Prem - 193/12), Maya Yoshida (£3m Venlo in Eredivisie - 154/6), Nathanial Clyne (£2.5m Palace in Championship - 94/3), and then the last minute Cortese vanity purchase of Ramirez (£12m Bologna Serie A - 48/6) on deadline day.  

I know it's a decade on, but Ramirez aside, it proves that it can be done at SFC, this however was when Paul Mitchell was heading up recruitment.  Double those prices and aside from GR these are the sort of players our scouts need to find in this window, so the best of the Championship, SPL and the Dutch / Scandi leagues.  The worst thing to do would be to overthink, and on past form that's what you'd back them to do, but consolidation on a budget can be done.  

 

Great reminder Milton