Dusic

In theory, our best for a while I think, although it largely depends on how Danso turns out which is a bit of an unknown quantity. Assuming he is good enough to start, I think we are probably only a little light in central midfield. Attack as been freshened up nicely with Adams, Djenepo and the return of Boufal. Outs wise, great to get rid of Austin who has been a poor signing. If we can lose Carrillo permanently and Elyounoussi/Hoedt on loan by the end of August then I would give it an 8/10.

Peach saying season long loan with exclusive option to buy, which sounds like a great deal for us. Not sure he comes into the starting XI straight away, but definitely seems to have different attributes to our other CBs and is high potential.

Fantastic news about Redmond, and well deserved. Protects the value of an asset that must now be worth about £50m in todays market. I would be very suprised if Reed went out on loan. Without him and Lemina, our midfield numbers look very light, Hojbjerg, Romeu and JWP (who has never really suited that position) plus Smallbone and Slattery. Getting Austin out on a perm would be good, as presumably not paying any of his wages then. Just seen the Notweigan Journo whose articles were quoted here yesterday saying Mboro have made an offer for Moi (presume loan). By the end of the Aug window our wage bill will be quite reduced.

Hard to be overly pleased at this unless it allows us to sign someone, which doesnt look at all likely. The club have said we need to reduce the wage bill to be able to sign more players. Looks like they will achieve one but not the other, which does not help the first team win more games.

Saints to local/favoured media tomorrow am: Tweet something like: "A quiet day is expected at St Mary's where the focus is on reducing the wage bill and squad size. If some signifcant sales were to occur Ralph Hasenhuttl may look to bolster his defence." ---------------------- We won't sign anyone. Austin will stay and sit out his last year. Use the rest of the European window to try and sell Carrillo, Lemina, Hoedt and Elyounoussi and if not loan them out. Then the key objective has to be to extend the contracts of Hojbjerg and Redmond or we will have to sell them in January or next summer when they would just have one year left. It will be good to just get on with the season, with a good Manager and better attacking options than last year, but overall a poor window as we haven't resolved our biggest weakness. I would put us in the 13th to 16th range. Extremely difficult to finish higher with the quality of our central defenders and lack of good options in defensive midfield.

If we are going to sign anyone then I would imagine a firm link will emerge today as there are extremely few deals that suddenly emerge in the media and are confirmed within one day. Still don't see us signing anyone, which is clearly not what the club, nor Ralph envisaged. 5/10 window with big flaws in the squad still remaining and an excellent Manager not backed with the change that was needed. Without Adams, who looks like a good signing, it would be 2/10.

https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2019/another-day-of-wolves-lille-talks-for-boubakary-soumare/ Wolves after another central midfielder apparently...

The coub have made clear through the Echo numerous times that Adams and Djenepo were the two top targets. Multiple club pushed pieces said we were now moving on to a CB. Ultumately IMO if we were to sign a decent CB then its an 8/10 window. Without one its 4 or 5/10 - it was such an obvious and crucial need.

Hasenhuttl, our best Manager for a few years, will have signed just two players across two transfer windows and none in defence or midfield. What a disappointment this summer has been in terms of refreshing a stale squad that has narrowly avoided relegation twice.

Oh yeah, the guy they want £30m for. Sure our bid will be made once we loan Lemina out for £1.5m.

What is the point of loaning him without a guarenteed purchase? A year ago he would have been in most people's list of our top 3 or 5 players and now we are about to loan him to a PL rival seemingly without a guarenteed purchase. We look very light in that position unless Reed becomes a viable option and I bet we won't replace Lemina. JWP better more advanced and we know Romeu will get suspensions. Seems a poor deal unless it allows us to make a move.

One thing for sure, RH expected to sign a CB. The puff pieces in June and early July all stated it and at the Fans Forum he said with certainty that there would be at least one more signing and seemingly he doesn't feel he can play his preferred formation with the options he currently has - which is a shame. Not looking good currently: - Liverpool not moving for AMC, hard to see a senior GK being shifted - Newcastle not looking for another striker, no other Austin links - Lemina, supposedly lots of interest, Wolves the strongest, but only a loan initially. Surely he needs replacing too? - Moi linked with Besiktas loan. Will probably be loaned out for the next 3 seasons Carrillo - Leganes will take him again on loan. Boca per mentioned. Think this will end up being another loan. Stephens/Hoedt - nothing mentioned Boufal - interest from Nice but may stay now The window started well but since the start of July has just fizzled out into another disappointment (with a few days left).

https://www.fanatik.com.tr/iste-besiktastan-elyounoussi-icin-istenen-rakam-2080500 Besiktas want Konoplyanka on loan from Schalke but if they cannot get him then Elyounoussi is their second choice. Saints want €1.5m for a season long loan. Absolutely **** signing.

Still very few firm links in or out. Hoping for busy few days, but not really expecting it. Shame we didnt get a chance to hear from RH after the friendly to get a sense of what the situation is.

Did Ings and Obafemi pick up knocks?

Lacking depth big time in central midfield, and quality in defence.

I hope whatever deal we do for Lemina allows Hasenhuttl to strengthen our team. Otherwise it just makes us weaker and another PL side stronger.

Turkish media saying Besiktas want him ....on loan of course. Can see this happening, especially if we keep Boufal. Elyounoussi up there with Carrillo for me, and he was given a 5 year deal versus Carrillo's 3 and a half. Can forsee plenty more loans for him.

Their only (big) difference is an owner who wants to, and can, spend big.

The worst case scenario is neither having Lemina nor the cash from a sale, ime if he were to move on loan to a foreign side. That seems quite likely to be at this stage and would really do very little for us apart from save his wages. He is really the only saleable asset we would be happy to let go, so a bit of a disaster if he is isolated from the squad and then doesnt end up being sold. Austin slightly less so as can easily loan him last minute for til his deal is up - which is presumably what he wants, to be a free agent next summer.

Highlights the danger of overhyping Academy players with little evidence beyond the tepid U23 league of how good they really are. Other recent examples: Seager, Olomola, Jones and to a lesser extent, Hesketh. Its bloody difficult for a player to break into a PL first team. For every JWP or Shaw there are thousands of Ryan Doble's and Richard Bakary's. Will be interesting to see whether the likes of Vokins, Slattery and Smallbone make the grade...but absolutely no guarentee they will.

Don't doubt the info but when you see the prices this summer I would imagine they would want easily £40m plus for him, possibly a lot more. No way he fits our budget, we won't spend £30m on one player any time soon, let alone what it would take to sign Upamecano. Only a week to go now and still quiet on serious chat of ins and outs. Window started well, but if it ends without much more its a 5/10 for me - expected a lot more change to the squad.

What sort of fee would we be looking at, as far as you know? Presumably significantly upwards of the £30m Arsenal paid for the vastly less experienced Saliba and what Badiashile is being touted for after 15 pro appearances? According to Bild in Germany earlier this year it would have to be VVD type money: https://m.sportbild.bild.de/bundesliga/vereine/bayern-muenchen/fc-bayern-dayot-upamecano-rb-leipzig-verteidiger-transfer-ausstiegsklausel-59958892.sportMobile.html Unless something significant has changed since then it would appear miles out of our league regardless of being able to flog Lemina, Carrillo and Austin.

Dominic King: Everton are keen to sign Mario Lemina and have made contact with Southampton but a deal is not close. Things are moving in the right direction with Moise Kean but weekend looks likely for completion of deal. Nathan Broadhead is getting a new deal and will then be loaned out [emoji838] -------‐-------- Good NW source. Would be a boost to agree a deal for Lemina to go, although Everton are signing another CM from Germany for 30m so hard to see why they would want both plus Delph and Gomes. But King very ITK there. Wouldn't be overly suprised to see a foreign loan move for him which would probably be the worst outcome. A fit and focused Lemina is a good asset for a club lacking in genuinely quality players so a sale only good if it allows us to recruit one in defence, and it leaves us with quite a few one paced central midfielders, which was why we signed him in the first place. But he has probably ended things for himself here, hence the loan when nobody makes a suitable offer to buy.

Why would we sign Bowen if we also keep Boufal and Elyounoussi plus have added Adams and Djenepo. (Aside from where the money comes from) Answer: we wouldn't. Have another go.