Dusic

Wishful thinking re Hojbjerg, we cannot sell him to a club he doesn't want to join. The other clubs are irrelevant, he will go to Spurs because he wants to. He can go for free in less than a year so Sainta not in a strong position and eventually will take what they can.

We won't offload Valery and even if we did we wouldn't be spending up to £15m on a backup RB. I hope we get KWP. He has proven his suitability, which would be rare for a Saints signing as so often we require adjustment from either a different country, lesser league, or both. KWP is as close to a no-brainer signing as Saints will be able to make, and IMO about £15m is reasonable fee.

Obviously we wouldn't need KWP and Cash so will be interesting to see what happens. By all accounts Cash is a good player, hence other PL interest, but we know KWP fits to our system so hopefully we can agree a deal for him. Interesting that both would cost easily double what our seeming first choice (Zeefuik) would have done if he wanted to join.

I think there is probably a deal to be done with Vestergaard. He won't want to be 4th choice and is doubtless on decent money that Saints would be happy to shift. I'm sure we have a young player or two lined up in the event that he goes, and clearly not a senior, £15m plus signing that some goosers suggested.

Sorry - seems it was a fake account of the Leicester writer for The Athletic saying they are pursuing a deal for McKennie and likely to beat Saints to his signature. School holidays...

Presuming he had visited Staplewood before agreeing to join (which he seemingly did a while ago) I doubt quarentine rules make a difference as he doesn't need to be in the UK, just like Djenepo wasn't last summer. According to AS he did his medical in Spain at least a week ago, and presumably is off on holiday somewhere or back home in Ghana. https://as.com/futbol/2020/07/25/primera/1595699835_322531.html Sure it will be announced next week as it seems to be a done deal.

All the reports from Spain say its done from their side and they are waiting for Saints to announce it. Covid backlog for what exactly?! You only get one shot to impress, Jimbo.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/12040157/folarin-balogun-arsenal-demand-8m-for-brentford-target Can't see us paying that kind of cash for what would be a 5th striker. Assume with Long contract and Adams form that we aren't going to be adding in that position. Also zero chance Obafemi goes out on loan - would pretty much go against the whole ethos of Saints. Besides i.) He has shown he can contribute at PL level ii.) With his history of hamstring injuries he probably isn't suited to being a Saturday/Tuesday starter at the moment.

Clasie in the top 10 flops for sure, but not top 10 players under 5'7.

Forged a good career for himself after making 31 apps for Saints between 2005 and 2010. Standing at just 5'6 he is probably in our top 10 post war players under 5'7, maybe Duncan can confirm.

Might as well sell Boufal if we can as he only has a year left anyway and we obviously won't be extending his contract. Suspect we may loan him and then let him go on a free as the type of teams who will want him won't be able to pay us and pay his wages. Djenepo has shown that there is something to work with. Boufal is talented but over a number of seasons (and one at Vigo) has shown he is entertaining but doesn't have enough end product. He will always be like that unless in a weaker league.

Was obvious it would go down this route and it will almost certainly happen in the end. Just have to hope it doesn't also mean we have to wait to sign KWP and Hojbjerg replacement, although we usually sell before replacing.

Valladolid reporter: The transfer of Salisu has been closed since last weekend, the #pucela cannot announce it, Southampton will do so when it sees fit, but everything is signed.

And no mention of the actual left sided CB that we have supposedly already signed. File under lazy Sky dross alongside needing a winger for the front 3 that we don't play with.

https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2020/07/29/report-southampton-agree-5-5-deal-to-sign-target-but-agent-could-scupper-deal/ Zeefuik is obviously the player Saints briefed the Echo about when they ran the article about us expecting to sign a RB in June from a league that had stopped playing. Obviously it hasnt turned out like that. https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/18492337.soutampton-want-bolster-ralph-hasenhuttls-defensive-options-month/ Assuming we sign KWP it will be for up to about £10m more than Zeefuik would have cost so I wonder if that will change the plans we had in other positions possibly, as I doubt we just suddenly find that cash lying around?

Are people seriously talking about signing a 4th choice CB for upwards of £15m, like Disasi or Colley? I think you will find that Saints positioning to a player like Saliau, Disasi etc is to come here because you will get a chance to play regularly in the PL at a young age. Not come here and be 4th choice. Furthermore, our 4th choice this season, Kevin Danso, played a grand total of zero PL games as a centre back. For those who think we are suddenly going to bump Bednarek or Stephens to 4th choice...you are clueless. Salisu seems a great signing and he will have come knowing he will get games competing with Stephens and Bednarek. A 4th CB we sign will not be costing £15m and will not be someone who expects to play every week.

There were a few links to Jake Cooper from Millwall in March. Clearly we aren't going to spend big on a 4th CB so could fit the bill and wouldn't join expecting to start games. https://www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-southampton-want-to-blow-aston-villa-out-of-water-to-sign-25-yr-old/ Edit: Scrub this as he signed a new contract a month ago. Seems the links helped him out! https://www.millwallfc.co.uk/news/2020/june/jake-cooper-pens-new-long-term-deal/

McKennie has been linked with bigger, wealthier teams than us, so whilst I am not suprised we are interested, I am sure it would be a difficult deal to actually make happen. US players also sought after for commercial reasons I am sure. Anyone know why he would be available from Schalke for a reasonable sounding fee? Doesn't particularly sound like an upgrade to move from there to a mid table PL side. Edit: just noticed in the video above he spoke about wanting to move to a PL side in the CL/Europa League.

Bit of a nothing game, good to get a win and great for Che to build confidence. Redmond good, especially during the spells in first half when the rest weren't and considering he has played almost every minute since lockdown. If it wasn't the end of the season it would definitely be time for a thread on McCarthy's kicking though...thats gonna cost us points next season.

Surely a new contract on the horizon for Bednarek? Presumably was on relatively little money when we siged him and is now a PL and Intl regular whilst still a young player. He is probably quite a valuable asset so definitely should be agreeing something this summer to avoid the inebitable stories if not.

Agree, whilst the fact its done early, and January links, also point towards him being a key target which bodes well. If he does well initially then hopefully we give him a pay rise and add anither year or two to his contract to avoid another Clyne, Wanyama, Hojbjerg sale where the fee is reduced due to only having a year left. We have clearly been burned on long contracts to poor players, but I think we can be a bit more aggressive once a player has shown they are good enough. Bednarek for example. Leicester have done this well, with Chilwell and now Maddison signing new deals which basically guarentees a monster fee when they are sold. VVD a good example for us.

3 year contract for a player who hasn't made more than 5 PL starts in the last three seasons and no sell on value. Big risk for Brighton, who must be hoping they can keep him fit, as no doubting when fit he is a quality player. Be interesting to see how he does. Feels like a long time ago that he was a good PL player.

Let us know who and then we can answer the question better.

Plus the transfer window officially opens on Monday so no real need to announce anything before then. From the Echo article thats the case with Salisu, will likely be announced next week. New contracts obviously don't count as transfers. Personally don't think there are any real ITKs on here apart from KBilly and Guan, whilst Appy is very good on the early team sheets, probably from a media angle.

The white one is so much better than the actual home one, which is awful. But only a kit so doesn't really matter.