Dusic

The guy is on fire...and not just goals, his work rate and stats for ball winning is right at the top of the league as well. Aged 28 later this month, but with less miles on the clock due to injuries he is in his prime now. With two years left on his contract, Saints are in a good position as if any of the big clubs seriously wanted him then surely we could start the bidding at £60m, but would he have much of an interest in moving? Surely no coincidence that he has hit this form by being a key player, starting every game and playing under a Manager who gets the best out of him and looks to be building a decent team. Being 'at home' must also be great personally for him. Why would he want to change anything just now? He is a professional though and all players are ambitious to play at the best level they can. He probably feels so unlucky with what happened at Liverpool and may have some sense of unfinished business at a top club, and with England. Saints are a selling club, and we have not been able to keep high profile, high performers before - so its a valid question to ask. Can't help but feel a nice pay rise and a contract extension would be a great reward for him, and also sends a nice message to fans by keeping a top quality player for once. Lets hope it goes like this. Have to add, he seems like a top guy as well, which really adds to his appeal.

Ings will obviously get the headlines but there were lots of good performances. The whole back four was dominant, Bertrand v clever vs Sarr and KWP assured. JWP is class and a very consistent performer now. Armstrong and Adams made a great impact from the bench which made a big difference. Two comfortable away wins in a row, even vs poor opposition, shows our progress. I reckon under MP and MH we barely had a comfortable league win in 18 months.

Hasenhuttl pretty clear in part two of yesterdays presser that we will be active in the positions that are a problem for us (RB and CB) plus needing to replace Hojbjerg. He also said of KWP something along the lines of him being hard to sign permanently, presumably because his price is unrealistic, but that he will get a chance to play. Interesting that is now near the end of June and no sign of the RB we identified (presumably Zeefuik). https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/18492337.soutampton-want-bolster-ralph-hasenhuttls-defensive-options-month/

Hasenhuttl: "As always, I don’t want to speak about any rumours [on Pierre], any possibilities. But you can be sure there are a few clubs around this." https://www.hampshirelive.news/sport/football/football-news/southampton-tottenham-hojbjerg-transfer-news-4269196

Likely scenario, IMO: Carillo - loan til ens of his contract in 2021 Lemina - two more years of loan til his contract ends in 2022 Hoedt - as above Elyounoussi - 3 more years on loan til his contract ends in 2023 Forster - loan most likely for two more years til end of contract. Vestergaard - probably a loan as well Boufal - will probably sell to any bidder to avoid losing him on a free next summer. At least we can sell Adams most likely, but the above shows what a shitshow our recruitment has been.

Tell that to the Managers and recruitment teams of Everton, Leicester and Spurs.

Valery just looks so timid. PL a hard place if you are so short of confidence and experience. Bednarek is shocking on the ball, always plays crap passes and gives the ball away when trying anything difficult. Ralph subs telling - he has a relatively small pool of players he trusts and without Djenepo there was nobody to really add anything, which is quite damning when you have 9 subs to pick from. Clearly the likes of Adams has no future here.

Possibly but woukd have thought we are looking for a young player with a bit more experience. The likes of Zeefuik and Maehle have played at least a couple of seasons as a starting player. Shame if Zeefuik goes to Berlin as for that kind of price (less than €6m) he looks a good buy!

Rennes Sporting Director said in a press conference yesterday that they had agreed a deal for Salisu with Valladolid but he wants to go to the PL because he is an English speaker. Said they don't want to force anyone to join them and they have other targets. On that basis, Salisu's agent must be confident he could get a WP in the UK. Strange story this, but pretty clear Saints have a strong interest here.

Well yes but when the article suggests his people have realised he may not get a WP then surely thats including any appeals, otherwise its not a problem. Djenepo had played for Mali. Salisu has no apps for Ghana at all, and only came to Europe in 2017. Regardless, with these solid links to Salisu and Disasi its pretty clear we want a young CB - hopefully we get one of them as both look to be Saints of the Mitchell era type targets.

Seems stupid that a young player from La Liga may not be able to get a WP in the UK, but those are the rules...and if you true you would think it would have stopped PL teams being interested all along. Unless they wished to buy and loan out, playing the long game.

Could potentially be as high as 30oC at kick off on Thursday. There will definitely be rotation between Thursday and Sunday. I think he will start with a very similar team on Thursday and then change if for Watford. Wouldn't suprise me to see Ings and Long vs Arsenal and then Adams and Obafemi vs Watford. I think RH sees Ings and Adams as link players and Long and Oba as runners and he likes a blend of the two. I think only McCarthy, Bertrand, Stephens, Bednarek, JWP, PEH and Redmond are likely to start both games.

JWP used to be average. For at least the last year I think he has been quality. Barely ever gives the ball away, loads of nice one touch play, chips in with goals occassionally, great weight of pass. Also runs further than most others and never needs to be subbed, whilst carrying out the Managers' tactics to the letter. Hojbjerg different type of player but also very effective hence better teams wanting him. Watch back our third goal, late in a game we were coasting in and see the role JWP plays to drag defenders away leaving Redmond free. Pogba he is not, but JWP and Hojbjerg "incredibly average" and central midfield options "really poor"? Makes you look foolish IMO.

The only player of theirs that I would take in that type of deal (that is potentially realistic) is Harry Winks. But I doubt they would be offering him or that he would agree to it. Tricky one for Saints, the worst thing is to lose him on a free, but if say we could only get £10m then maybe that wouldn't be so bad? I guess we won't want this dragging on too long as will clearly need to replace such a key player, but with the market like it will be for most teams, nobody is going to come in with an offer we find acceptable until quite far down the line. Expect it will rumble on.

Surely the point of playing him is to have our best chance of winning? Hojbjerg is so key to how we play, we dominated Norwich in the middle and it will be a key area vs Arsenal. As long as PEH is putting the effort in, which there is no suggestion that he is not, then he plays most games as he is a big part of our best lineup. If we want teams to spend £35m on him then let him showcase his abilities.

Given that it is troublesome to let key players go into the last two years of their contracts then Semmens and Crocker have quite a lot of work to do this summer. I make it that the following first teamers, and this is what I would do, obviously if those players want to sign extensions: Key Players: JWP (2022) - look to extend, sounds like its in progress. Interesting for JWP as he is in his prime (will be 26 in November). Will he ever move to a higher level? If so, now is probably his time. Ings (2022) - surely worth an extension to reflect what he has done and stop what will probably be inevitable speculation about him moving to a bigger club? Bednarek (2022) - ever present under RH and experienced for a young player. No brainer extension. Stephens (2022) - Good player, good character. Obvious to extend. Bertrand (2021) - Try to extend and have him here til the end of his career Hojbjerg (2021) - obviously on his way. Massive job to replace him, a player ideally suited to our style, experienced in big leagues, 90min player every game. Not too many of those around in our price range. Others: McCarthy (2022) - I would probably leave it for now. Romeu (2021) - Good guy and good player but not really suited to our style now. Ideally would sell this summer and replace but seeing as we have to do that with Hojbjerg I think its more likely he will stay and maybe sign a one year extension. Obafemi (2022) - given his age and potential probably worth an extension but could maybe wait til mid way through next season to see how he is doing. Boufal (2021) - sell this summer for whatever we can get. Such a disappointment. Vestergaard (2022) - look to sell, obviously. U23s - quite a few who have been near the first team who have contracts ending in 2021 so will be interesting to see who stays and who goes.

Such a big difference in our team when Redmond plays. That couldn't really have gone much better. For those being critical of Obafemi - worth remembering he is 19 and his only experience of pro football has been in the PL, he is learning on the job in one of the best leagues in the world. He clearly has good attributes and there is a lot to work with. Hopefully his composure and knowledge of his position will increase with experience and game time - which is basically the blueprint of what Saints and Ralph want to do. I see similarities with someone like DCL who has played most of his career in the PL and after a long time of seeming mediocre has developed into a really good striker this season, aged 23. If Ralph thinks he deserves to play then thats enough for me.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/everton-join-race-demand-real-22221813 Think Everton have lost out on Gabriel, another left sided CB, to Napoli.

Big chance for Obafemi to get ahead of Long for most of the rest of the season tonight. Lets hope he does well. I believe all his Saints goals have come away from home.

https://www.mundodeportivo.com/futbol/atletico-madrid/20200618/481832046382/salisu-examen-en-el-metropolitano.html Says Atletico made a bid for him before lockdown and he has a chance in his next game vs AM to show why he is rated as one of the best young CBs in La Liga and possibly still of interest to them. Meanwhile in France the word still seems to be that Rennes are in the race still. €12m seems to be an utter bargain...for someone, so if we are in pole position hopefully we wrap it up soon. (Also not sure how he would get a work permit in the UK?)

Thought it was strange that Saints briefed the Echo about signing a RB this month from a team whose league has ended. Makes total sense to get someone in early but just talk about it once its done! With Genk seeming pretty sure Maehle isn't going anywhere, I don't recall us linked with any other RBs. We have also briefed that we don't want to sign KWP permanently, so would be interesting if there is a u-turn there at all.

Hanley has a knee injury.

What about if a top six team signs him? Surely then he IS a top six signing.

Bargain fee for a player with that profile. Worth remembering that the Saints leak came from the Valladolid end, and its in their interests for a bidding war. One decent French journo said last night the player had agreed terms with Rennes and they will likely up their offer. Believe they are in next seasons Champions League too. Saints have been linked with him since at least January though and certainly need a left sided CB. Still a bit to run in this one I think.

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/18475570.southampton-aware-celtic-midfielder-olivier-ntchams-availability/ I've seen Ntcham a few times in European/Old Firm games and he clearly has ability. Powerful player, a little bit Lemina like but not as good as Lemina's top level. Have to wonder why he doesn't always start for Celtic but probably worth a gamble in a swap for Forster. Not a Hojbjerg replacement though as is better on the ball than off it and PEH is so key in our press.