Dusic

In: None Out: Lemina (foreign loan), Carrillo (foreign loan), Elyounoussi (foreign loan), Austin (domestic loan) Overall window: 5/10. Good start but ultimately another poor one.

Clearly its linked. Equally clearly Ralph said we would make an additional signing so something we expected must be not happening. To have a Manager as good as RH and then provide him with just two new signings across two transfer windows to invigorate a poor team is just such a waste of what he can do. Now is the time to back the Manager with just one more signing as he is actually competent. One more signing that every single fan, and every coach can see we need. They know they can reduce the wage bill and also reduce the squad numbers because clearly there is a market for Lemina & Boufal and they managed to do it, albeit temporarily, in January. Austin could go on loan until the end of his contract and worst case scenario we either sell Carrillo on the cheap or loan him out again. European teams will get desperate towards the end of their window and players like Hoedt or Cedric will then probably have a market even if they don't now. Its not that much of a risk to get one more player, surely? Or perhaps this is also case of where the staggered window closure screws us ovee as we arent willing to assume we can get rid of players after buying so always want to sell first?

True but at the Fans Forum he was 100% certain and just replied "yes" to the question of "Will there be more signings?" For that to turn out to be a no, something has gone wrong. They knew and acknowledged during the same forum that it would be hard to get rid of players but they didn't suggest at all that it was down to a one in, one out scenario. Its slightly confusing. The key issue is wages and not wanting to have too many high earners. We know that Austin could easily find a loan move and his deal is up end of season so we could more or less get shot of his wages. Carrillo we can let go outside the window, and could even sell for a paltry fee of £3m or £4m if we are prepared to cut our losses. Likewise Boufal surely could raise £7m or £8m. Given the sales already done, and the huge amount of TV cash, surely we can get one more player in, given CB is such a glaring weakness and the extent to which the right signing would improve the team. Its not like we have spent ludicrous net sums this summer and already brought in 7 players. I would also slightly question the priority this summer as personally would have put a CB over the signing of Djenepo - although an established PL club should be able to sign 3 £15m players in a summer without too many issues.

If we don't manage to sign a decent CB it will almost be more frustrating because we actually have a good Manager, probably only for this season if he does well, and we could have a really well balanced side with a really good signing in that position. Still no links, although at the fans forum RH was pretty certain we would sign more players, although no guarentee it would be a CB of course.

Exactly. There are no links, just fantasy. RH said to Adam Blackmore just days ago that we would never be spending £30m on a player, its not the way we would do things. Absolutely zero chance we could sign Upamecano for less than that sort of figure. Saliba was over £30m and has only played about 15 pro matches. Eleven days to go...getting to crunch time. On the outs its looking pretty dismal at this stage. Ins....nothing being mentioned yet and the last time we signed anyone without some strongs links beforehand was probably Mane.

I haven'y seen any genuine Upamecano links. Where are they?!

MLG - assuming we want to play a 4-2-2-2 then I would say Armstrong and JWP are really competing for the middle 2 rather than the defensive 2. Smallbone has historically been a no10 so falls into the same category and Slattery has barely been with the squad in pre season. Only Romeu and Hojbjerg really fit that position, so we are definitely one short there. Re Gunn, surely the point being made is that we have two GKs on massive wages who won't actually be playing. Thats a **** up, no question about it.

I definitely thought there would have been more of an overhaul this summer than there has been so far. The squad needed/needs freshening up. Not Villa style with 11 new players but with four or five rather than two. Ultimately, most of our current squad have only known failure at Saints.

So no Stephens, Romeu or Moi in the Feyenoord squad. Romeu only just trained the other day after missing some so presume he has a knock. Possibly the other two are lined up to leave?

Maybe one for Over Land and Sea: How do we look right now in terms of 25 man squad, factoring HG and underage? How many senior pros would currently be left out?

Must be injured.

Interesting one this. No doubt Josh Sims has made an impact from the bench on a handful of occassions, notably against Spurs last season. But he never particularly seems to kick on from those cameos and doesnt seem to have been overly impressive so far in pre season. With competition from Redmond, JWP, Armstrong, Djenepo and possibly Obafemi, Elyounoussi and Boufal, does anyone really see him getting many minutes or starts this season? He is 22, has made probably 15-20 appearances for Saints and about the same at Reading. In another two years would I see him being a regular starter for Saints? If we are in the PL, I would say no. If we keep Boufal, then I wonder if we would consider another loan for Sims?

14 days to go. Needed outs: Austin, Lemina, Carrillo, Stephens or Hoedt, Forster or McCarthy, Elyounoussi, maybe Cedric Ins: CB, poss CM, poss RB

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/17795712.boca-juniors-expected-make-offer-southampton-striker-guido-carrillo/ Tomorrow: Boca Juniors offer £800k for Guido Carrillo, which is significantly under Saints £15m valuation.

Our bargaining position is pretty poor on this one as we have made clear we don't want him and he has somewhat severed any relationship with Saints fans. Wonder though, if nobody makes a suitable offer to buy him whether we would prefer to get him out on loan, or would try to re-integrate him? Also, with neither JWP nor Romeu training this week, presume injured, would this make any difference to the above?

JWP and Romeu seem to have picked up injuries.

If you thought one thing it should have been: thats true.

Hasenhuttl about 2 days ago: I can guarentee we will not be spending £30-£40m on on one player. Saints fans: Seriously talking about signing Upamecano. Heads gone.

Spotted Vestergaard in pics today but no sign of the other three. Stephens played vs Preston but not seen since. JWP and Romeu didnt play that game but may have played versus Brentford perhaps. Doesnt seem like they are training in Ireland and no official squad released. Possible injuries there?

He is obviously still being lined up to be sold...

Couldn't see JWP, Stephens, Vestergaard or Romeu in the Dublin pics but assume they are there, unless injured. Interesting no squad list announced for that group...

It wasn't his height that was the problem, it was his lack of stamina that meant he was done after 60mins.

Original said we have paid up a portion of his remaining year: https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/1198724778/az-haalt-clasie-binnen?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=seeding-televoetbal Costly mistake this. How our Scouts couldnt see within minutes that he was physically miles off PL level is a mystery. Worse that we didnt learn and brought in Elyounoussi who has the same problem.

https://www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-bournemouth-in-advanced-talks-to-sign-huddersfield-midfielder/ Bmth going for Billing from Huddersfield. He was one of the few bright spots for them last year. Do like the business Bournemouth do, and they use the Championship well. Getting £35m for Mings and Mousset is great business as well.

I think if we get any offers for Cedric we will obviously consider them, but if not and if his attitude is good, which it appears to be then he is a good member of the squad for this season, an experienced PL player and suits the style we play well. I think Valery will be first choice, but Cedric would represent far, fsr better cover than the likes of Pied or Martina.