Rate the Summer Transfer Window 2024

[Barsiem]

You know the drill by now.  How are you feeling about the summer business Saints managed.  Please bookmark and come back in 6 months so you can marvel at how wrong you were 😉

Transfer list from https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-southampton/alletransfers/verein/180 (bizarrely they record fees in euros)

INS

Players Club Transfer sum

Taylor Harwood-Bellis Man City €23.00m

Aaron Ramsdale Arsenal €21.40m

Flynn Downes West Ham €17.85m

Cameron Archer Aston Villa €17.60m

Mateus Fernandes Sporting CP €15.00m

Ben Brereton Díaz Villarreal €8.30m

Yukinari Sugawara AZ Alkmaar €7.00m

Ronnie Edwards Peterborough €3.50m

Nathan Wood Swansea €3.50m

Rento Takaoka Nissho Gakuen free transfer

Welington São Paulo free transfer

Adam Lallana Brighton free transfer

Charlie Taylor Burnley free transfer

Ryan Fraser Newcastle free transfer

Maxwel Cornet West Ham loan transfer

Lesley Ugochukwu Chelsea loan transfer

Juan São Paulo ?

Kuryu Matsuki FC Tokyo ?

Total spend €117.15m

 

OUTS

Players Club Transfer sum

Carlos Alcaraz Flamengo €18.00m

Sékou Mara R. Strasbourg €12.00m

Lyanco Atlético-MG €4.50m

Duje Caleta-Car Olympique Lyon €3.59m

Romain Perraud Real Betis €3.50m

Ché Adams Torino free transfer

Juan Göztepe loan transfer

Mateusz Lis Göztepe ?

Shea Charles Sheff Wed loan transfer

Stuart Armstrong Without Club -

Kuryu Matsuki Göztepe loan transfer

Total receipts €41.59m

[iansums]

Shame we couldn’t get a few more out, the squad is huge now.

[Suhari]

Don't forget Jayden M. That was 10M?

Edited August 31 by Suhari

[Baird of the land]

Some good signings but a massive glaring hole as far as centre forward is concerned.

[Gingeletiss]

For the GK alone, I gave an 8.

[Brussels Saint]

7. The question is now, are we better set than 3 other teams. I would say we have more quality than Everton, Leicester and maybe Ipswich. I know that it does not always work out like that and there’s a 1st 11 v squad consideration but we should have enough to stay up imo

[Chez]

Having made, what, 18 signings, I wonder if Forest fans are describing our transfer window as crazy, mental or scattergun? 😉

[Chewy]

So many factors

1) we had a load to do and we did most of it

2) we had two critical positions we haven’t sorted for years, we were late sorting one (gk) and haven’t sorted the other (no. 9). Finding that type of striker is really hard so I sympathize a bit, but we failed. Keeper, although late, is a really really good one

3) we needed to convert Downes which we did and very quickly 

4) We needed to add quality all over and I’d argue we did that. That said, despite the numbers I’m concerned about the quality of our wide players.

5) we needed to add some experience and I’d argue we did that a bit

6) we needed to future proof with the incomings, knowing we’ve a fair chance of being in the championship next season. Won’t know until next summer if it happens but I’m imagine most of this squad will be here next season whatever league we’re in - successful 

7) we needed to avoid letting players enter the final year of contracts and risk losing for free next year. Did that a bit, failed with KWP and Jan

8 ) we needed to retain the squad unity and cohesiveness RM has created (it was a shambles last EPL season) - I’d argue the squad is too big to achieve that. We have 12 defenders for a start, a full 3 teams worth of a defence.

9) (related) we needed to shift a lot of unwanted and loan out some kids, we’ve done a fair amount of that but failed notably with ABK, Tall Paul, Kamaldeen, Edozie. I think it’s obvious we tried here

10) we needed SR to financially support their asset - over £100m spend indicates they have

 

Overall the above is more positive than negative. I’m not going to get carried away by the size and number of cheques written and declare this a ten, but equally I understand we’ve made efforts to address all of the above and largely succeeded.

Where we haven’t it’s been a bit unlucky (like point 9) or just bl00dy difficult (point 2).

Hand on heart, given our status as a newly promoted team, and our PSL impacted finances I can’t think how we could realistically have done much better. But it isn’t perfect and to go into yet another campaign without any attacking focal point is hugely frustrating.

I’ve gone for 8 out of 10, but the missing 2 might be critical. 

[beatlesaint]

I've gone for an 8 which would have been higher had we gotten a Centre Forward through the door, thats my main worry but hopefully Archer or one of the wide players who can play through the middle can step up. I dont want to see that U shaped formation again.

[Farmer Saint]

9 for the club, a resounding 10 for CoT. 

You're welcome. 

[bpsaint]

Good window, but would have been a great window if we had recruited for that one position that’s more important than all, a proven striker.

I’m not given a mark out of ten as it didn’t work out too well last time 😂

[egg]

22 minutes ago, Chez said:

Having made, what, 18 signings, I wonder if Forest fans are describing our transfer window as crazy, mental or scattergun? 😉

Ha!! I was thinking this earlier. We slaughtered Forest last year, but we've signed enough to put a whole new team, and some subs. Our first team squad ain't a million miles from Chelsea's 43 or whatever it is! 

[Baird of the land]

34 minutes ago, Brussels Saint said:

7. The question is now, are we better set than 3 other teams. I would say we have more quality than Everton, Leicester and maybe Ipswich. I know that it does not always work out like that and there’s a 1st 11 v squad consideration but we should have enough to stay up imo

We don't have enough up front.

[egg]

1 minute ago, bpsaint said:

Good window, but would have been a great window if we had recruited for that one position that’s more important than all, a proven striker.

I’m not given a mark out of ten as it didn’t work out too well last time 😂

I think are overlooking Archer. The lad was first pick for England u21, and can clearly finish. Palace paid £30m for Nketiah. We paid half that for Archer and I think he's at least as good. 

We've done all right, and yep, I'd have liked a CF who could throw his weight about and bring others in, but Archer and BBD are decent and personally I think we'll do ok. 

[egg]

Just now, egg said:

I think are overlooking Archer. The lad was first pick for England u21, and can clearly finish. Palace paid £30m for Nketiah. We paid half that for Archer and I think he's at least as good. 

We've done all right, and yep, I'd have liked a CF who could throw his weight about and bring others in, but Archer and BBD are decent and personally I think we'll do ok. 

Forgot to rate it. A solid 8. Would have been a 9 with a proper 9. A 10 if we'd managed to trim the wage bill more and shift some unwanted players as well. 

[Farmer Saint]

A lot of people are saying a proper 9 is needed - but who do you think we should have gone for? I've not really seen any going to clubs of our size over the Summer. 

[notnowcato]

8 given no proven centre forward through the door. That said, Archer could well be decent striker for our battle ahead. 

[egg]

Just now, Farmer Saint said:

A lot of people are saying a proper 9 is needed - but who do you think we should have gone for? I've not really seen any going to clubs of our size over the Summer. 

That's the issue. Who? I'm no scout so can't say, but it doesn't alter the fact that our squad would be better with one. That said, I'm very happy with what we have, and there's still TP. 

[Midfield_General]

32 minutes ago, Chewy said:

So many factors

1) we had a load to do and we did most of it

2) we had two critical positions we haven’t sorted for years, we were late sorting one (gk) and haven’t sorted the other (no. 9). Finding that type of striker is really hard so I sympathize a bit, but we failed. Keeper, although late, is a really really good one

3) we needed to convert Downes which we did and very quickly 

4) We needed to add quality all over and I’d argue we did that. That said, despite the numbers I’m concerned about the quality of our wide players.

5) we needed to add some experience and I’d argue we did that a bit

6) we needed to future proof with the incomings, knowing we’ve a fair chance of being in the championship next season. Won’t know until next summer if it happens but I’m imagine most of this squad will be here next season whatever league we’re in - successful 

7) we needed to avoid letting players enter the final year of contracts and risk losing for free next year. Did that a bit, failed with KWP and Jan

8 ) we needed to retain the squad unity and cohesiveness RM has created (it was a shambles last EPL season) - I’d argue the squad is too big to achieve that. We have 12 defenders for a start, a full 3 teams worth of a defence.

9) (related) we needed to shift a lot of unwanted and loan out some kids, we’ve done a fair amount of that but failed notably with ABK, Tall Paul, Kamaldeen, Edozie. I think it’s obvious we tried here

10) we needed SR to financially support their asset - over £100m spend indicates they have

 

Overall the above is more positive than negative. I’m not going to get carried away by the size and number of cheques written and declare this a ten, but equally I understand we’ve made efforts to address all of the above and largely succeeded.

Where we haven’t it’s been a bit unlucky (like point 9) or just bl00dy difficult (point 2).

Hand on heart, given our status as a newly promoted team, and our PSL impacted finances I can’t think how we could realistically have done much better. But it isn’t perfect and to go into yet another campaign without any attacking focal point is hugely frustrating.

I’ve gone for 8 out of 10, but the missing 2 might be critical. 

Agree with all of that, and I’d also add:

11) Kept KWP, which is a huge boost, at least until January

7 from me, because I’m not convinced we’ve got the goals at this level. Really hope Archer proves that completely wrong though. 

Still totally buzzing over Ramsdale. I think he’ll turn out to be our most important signing for many, many years.

It’s great that the owners have backed the manager and have really invested in the squad. Over to RM now to see what he does with them. 

One thing’s definitely changed though and that’s that I now feel excited for the season rather than the deflation that came after the Forest game. There’s a bit of a feel-good factor, for me at least… until 4.45 this afternoon anyway 

COYS

Edited August 31 by Midfield_General

[CSA96]

I think it has to be an 8. Can't give them higher because they didn't get that No. 9 presence up top and we didn't get enough of the deadwood out the door (just yet)

Did more than the average/I expected so won't go as low as a 7 which for me is basically par 

[CB Fry]

27 minutes ago, egg said:

Ha!! I was thinking this earlier. We slaughtered Forest last year, but we've signed enough to put a whole new team, and some subs. Our first team squad ain't a million miles from Chelsea's 43 or whatever it is! 

I think that is overegging how much we are like that Forest summer two years ago. We're nothing like it at all.

There will be a reason why their window in 2022 was a national media talking point/standing joke and ours will elicit zero response from the same quarters.

We signed players that played for us in the Wembley final weeks earlier. Forest basically binned off their Play off team and bought new twice over.

[gio1saints]

1 hour ago, Baird of the land said:

Some good signings but a massive glaring hole as far as centre forward is concerned.

Agreed. But obviously the thinking is that Archer can and will be tried to do it, or that we will not play like we did v Forest ever again, and /or our mf especially Dibling and Mateus to fill that space in penalty area. Or a combo including trying out BBD and AA at times in that central focus position rather than exclusively wide. 

And if all those fail then we have Tall Paul. And of course the return of that injured other CF we bought. Last resort it’s a Jan window buy. So there are options I guess although not entirely satisfactory but can’t have it all! 

Edited August 31 by gio1saints

[Convict Colony]

Honestly I think aside from potentially striker (archer to be confirmed) our spine of our team looks very nice.

[sadoldgit]

1 hour ago, Gingeletiss said:

For the GK alone, I gave an 8.

For the keeper alone I would give it a 10. After a long period of whinging about the lack of quality in goal we have signed someone who is still a decent age and could easily fill the number 1 spot for a top 6 PL club. Not only that but he looks like a big personality too which can only help in the dressing room and in training.

For a club in our position this is an incredible signing and I still can’t quite believe it has happened.

I’m not going to cast my vote until I see what score Batman gives it though 😉

Edited August 31 by sadoldgit

[trousers]

4/10

[CB Fry]

I am saying 7/10. Goalkeeper signing is outstanding but beyond that a lot of running to stand still. Apart from the keeper it doesn't feel like we have leapt forward to Premier League quality.

If we finish fourth bottom then mission accomplished. Not sure we have the squad to score the goals do it at this point.

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

I am saying 7/10. Goalkeeper signing is outstanding but beyond that a lot of running to stand still. Apart from the keeper it doesn't feel like we have leapt forward to Premier League quality.

If we finish fourth bottom then mission accomplished. Not sure we have the squad to score the goals do it at this point.

Completely agree. Remains to be seen if some of these players can combine in Martin's system to actually be successful in this league. I have my doubts to be honest and I'm still not convinced we will have much of an attacking threat. Some very decent defensive signings though 

[sfc4prem]

I've given 6/10. We're a newly promoted club, so the signings we've made are of our level, bar Ramsdale who is an excellent addition above our station.

I can't give more than a 6 because a lot of the players that we've brought in have no or little experience of the PL, and thus don't necessarily inspire that winning, battling confidence needed.

We shall see how this young team gets on.

[Patches O Houlihan]

15 minutes ago, trousers said:

4/10

ISWYDT 😉

[Harry_SFC]

7 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Completely agree. Remains to be seen if some of these players can combine in Martin's system to actually be successful in this league. I have my doubts to be honest and I'm still not convinced we will have much of an attacking threat. Some very decent defensive signings though 

At least we are better off on paper than 2 years ago. We had a poor defence and attack then. 

[Hopper]

3 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

I've given 6/10. We're a newly promoted club, so the signings we've made are of our level, bar Ramsdale who is an excellent addition above our station.

I can't give more than a 6 because a lot of the players that we've brought in have no or little experience of the PL, and thus don't necessarily inspire that winning, battling confidence needed.

We shall see how this young team gets on.

I was looking at this and actually thought we've done well in bringing in experience. Especially given most of these were on a free.

• Aaron Ramsdale Arsenal €21.40m
• Adam Lallana Brighton free transfer
• Charlie Taylor Burnley free transfer
• Ryan Fraser Newcastle free transfer
• Maxwel Cornet West Ham loan transfer

All bring in a good deal of premier league experience and I think the mix is pretty good now. 

[Saint Fan CaM]

9. Would have been 10 with a CF striker signing however, just one word to ‘compensate’ - Ramsdale. Let that sink in…we’ve got Aaron Ramsdale in goal…that’s massive for a team just promoted. Not only that - we’ve signed some good attacking skill in BBD, Archer and Cornet, let alone Fernandes who can obviously score goals. 

Lastly, isn’t there the opportunity to sign non-UK/Euro players for a time? It’s still being reported that we’re in for Pedro from S. America. 

Edited August 31 by Saint Fan CaM

[Master Bates]

What about Traore?

[CB Fry]

7 minutes ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

9. Would have been 10 with a CF striker signing however, just one word to ‘compensate’ - Ramsdale. Let that sink in…we’ve got Aaron Ramsdale in goal…that’s massive for a team just promoted. Not only that - we’ve signed some good attacking skill in BBD, Archer and Cornet, let alone Fernandes who can obviously score goals. 

Lastly, isn’t there the opportunity to sign non-UK/Euro players for a time? It’s still being reported that we’re in for Pedro from S. America. 

Only free agents like when we signed Caseres all those years ago.

The main thing we will be doing is selling as other windows (eg Turkey) are open.

[sfc4prem]

12 minutes ago, Hopper said:

I was looking at this and actually thought we've done well in bringing in experience. Especially given most of these were on a free.

• Aaron Ramsdale Arsenal €21.40m
• Adam Lallana Brighton free transfer
• Charlie Taylor Burnley free transfer
• Ryan Fraser Newcastle free transfer
• Maxwel Cornet West Ham loan transfer

All bring in a good deal of premier league experience and I think the mix is pretty good now. 

Realistically, though, out of those four, is there a player there who will a) be a starter for us or b) has recent & regular PL experience? 

[Hopper]

I mean you can move the goalposts if you want 😂

All of them have considerable experience in this league and whether on the pitch or in the dressing room there is a lot of value in having them at the club.

Ramsdale is a nailed on starter.

I would expect one of either Fraser or Cornet involved most weeks. C.Taylor is only not in the team because experienced PL fullback KWP is playing ahead of him and Lallana was brought in specifically BECAUSE of his experience to help both on pitch and develop SAA and Dibling.

Im not sure what you are expecting of them 🤷‍♂️

[AlexLaw76]

8 / 10

Kept the required pace - good effort.

Lets hope we do not deploy the new signings in a mess of a system like Forest at home.

[ButtikonSaint]

8/10

For a newly promoted team without petro dollar backing, have to be impressed by the first team squad we've built with plenty of investment in the women and academy teams as well as the stadium / day match experience. 👍 

Argument could be made for missing a leading CF (Archer has real potential and we still have Ross to bed in ) and a bit of a bloated first team squad (at least until the  Turkey transfer window closes).

From the media snippets I've seen,  the mood at the club feels vibrant and engaged whilst us fans seem pretty happy for now.

Just need some results on the pitch, starting this afternoon.

COYS

Edited August 31 by ButtikonSaint

[sfc4prem]

1 minute ago, Hopper said:

I mean you can move the goalposts if you want 😂

All of them have considerable experience in this league and whether on the pitch or in the dressing room there is a lot of value in having them at the club.

Ramsdale is a nailed on starter.

I would expect one of either Fraser or Cornet involved most weeks. C.Taylor is only not in the team because experienced PL fullback KWP is playing ahead of him and Lallana was brought in specifically BECAUSE of his experience to help both on pitch and develop SAA and Dibling.

Im not sure what you are expecting of them 🤷‍♂️

I'm not expecting huge amounts from them, I'm just saying we have a relatively inexperienced and young team, and we'll see how they get on. In key positions, central midfield, central defence, upfront, we have young and relatively untested players at PL level - THB, Downes/Lesley, Archer.

[AlexLaw76]

Are we now Chelsea lite?

[trousers]

7 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

8 / 10

Blimey... Can I borrow your stock post in December when it all goes tits up...?

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, trousers said:

Blimey... Can I borrow your stock post in December when it all goes tits up...?

Don't worry, last time we were in this league, I rated the windows 9/10s....

[Hopper]

7 minutes ago, sfc4prem said:

I'm not expecting huge amounts from them, I'm just saying we have a relatively inexperienced and young team, and we'll see how they get on. In key positions, central midfield, central defence, upfront, we have young and relatively untested players at PL level - THB, Downes/Lesley, Archer.

I think they are more experienced than you'd imagine.

THB
Downes
Archer

I believe all three have around 100+ Senior appearances each. Not at this level obviously but it's not the same as when we brought in Edozie, Charles, Bazunu etc. who all had very few senior matches to their names.  

Edited August 31 by Hopper

[coalman]

8/10

Ramsdale took it from a 6 to an 8. We're stronger in every department. But still some doubts over who is going to score the goals to keep us up.

[sfc4prem]

3 minutes ago, Hopper said:

I think they are more experienced than you'd imagine.

THB
Downes
Archer

I believe all three have around 100+ Senior appearances each. Not at this level obviously but it's not the same as when we brought in Edozie, Charles, Bazunu etc. who all had very few senior matches to their names.  

Fair enough. I've my fingers crossed it proves enough.

I hope you're clear that I think those players mentioned, THB, Downes, Lesley and Archer are really promising and have great potential to become good PL players.

I really hope they do well for us and we stay up as next season they'd be brimming with confidence.

[sfc4prem]

5 minutes ago, coalman said:

8/10

Ramsdale took it from a 6 to an 8. We're stronger in every department. But still some doubts over who is going to score the goals to keep us up.

Reckon this sums it up quite succinctly!

[Hopper]

1 minute ago, sfc4prem said:

Fair enough. I've my fingers crossed it proves enough.

I hope you're clear that I think those players mentioned, THB, Downes, Lesley and Archer are really promising and have great potential to become good PL players.

I really hope they do well for us and we stay up as next season they'd be brimming with confidence.

Absolutely mate. We're all pulling for the same team. I was just trying to illustrate how hopefully it will be different to last time. 🤞

[sfc4prem]

1 minute ago, Hopper said:

Absolutely mate. We're all pulling for the same team. I was just trying to illustrate how hopefully it will be different to last time. 🤞

I so hope it is. The main thing is the togetherness, team spirit and especially the manager are all very strong. That is distinctly different to last time.

[S-Clarke]

What we lost in the summer - (players leaving/loan expiring)

Che, Stu, Rothwell, Brooks, Charly, Mara, Charles, THB, Downes, Fraser

What we added to replace those lost -

Archer, Fernandes, Lesley, Cornet, BBD, Lallana, THB, Downes, Fraser

Other positions -

We added extra quality at full back in Yuki and Charlie Taylor. Added more depth at CB in Edwards and Wood (and ABK, weirdly). Fairly sure Yuki and Taylor were signed to aid  the impending exit of KWP, but now we have a nice problem of having them all here.

Added extra quality in goal with the addition of Ramsdale.

Undeniably we've raised the level of the team with the additions that replaced the 'lost' players, that's all you can ask for with that really. We also have the interesting conundrum of ABK and Onuachu still here - so you have to count them as more options, if we can register them that is.

In my mind we had 3 priorities going into the window and we've attacked them all pretty much bang on.

1) - Sort out the GK position. We did that and then some

2) - Sign Flynn Downes and other key loanies to continue squad unity - Sorted

3 - Add quality/strikers to the attack. Somewhat sorted with Archer, BBD - but I still feel we missed the trick with a proper number 9, but I do still feel we have goals in the side with what we've added so it's not as catastrophic as it could have been.

So we're in a good place, didn't lose anyone we wanted to keep, raised the level of the squad and threw our hat into the ring of PL big spenders again. We've given ourselves a good chance.

I'm not giving a score as we've all been bitten by that before  

Edited August 31 by S-Clarke

[Galway saint]

Ramsdale the obvious standout signing and solid elsewhere but still feel we have a very average attack and are missing a quality no 9