Dusic

Fair enough. He joined Saints aged 21 and is now 28. With a year left I am sure the club will be trying to get him to sign an extension but he may wish to try something else which is pretty understandable. Hope he stays as is by far our most experienced CB and really improved under RM but if he goes then I think he needs replacing with a CB of similar stature.

For the right kind of fee, e.g under £25m then yes, potentially. Its the hardest position to recruit for and there aren't a lot of options. We are not going to be signing a proven PL player in their prime so these are the types, alongside players like Broja, that I am sure the club will be looking at.

John Halls close to joining from Stoke. Versatile 23yo defender. Doing medical now.

Perhaps but not how I see it. O'Riley (who I doubt we will have a chance to sign anyway) scored and assisted plenty last season whilst I think Camera got 1 goal and 3 or 4 assists in 30 odd games so not likely to come into the PL and do anything like being enough of an attacking force to increase our survival hopes. Re LB, wouldnt be suprising to see Manning leave on loan back to the Championship at some point in August assuming Wellington comes here with Taylor starting. Manning doesn't have the athleticism to play wing back and will be killed 1 v 1 in the PL. Would be plenty that would take him, I'm sure. I think the same about Bree too - clearly not PL level and another awful signing from Jan '23.

Perhaps Lamine Camara from Metz who we are supposedly in for would fit the bill? Seems quite versatile across the various midfield roles.

Our current attacking options are miles off creating/scoring enough goals to have a chance of staying up. Serious work needed now in this area.

Both are meh but made awful by the sponsor logo. But after one game nobody cares what a kit looks like anyway.

Also we don't really have many (any) right sided wide players aside from Arma as all ours seem to prefer playing from the left. Rak-Sakyi is definitely a left footed winger who likes playing from the right. That said, its Nixon who seems to be from the Crook school of transfer reporting (unless its about Blackburn or Burnley for some reason).

Its not just the nature of their business but also the missed opportunity to build something that might vaguely benefit the local community. I work for a company that sponsors another PL team and there is so much community work that is carried out by employees of the sponsor with the club charity, similar to the Saints foundation. Its really co-ordinated, well planned, community focused and genuinely makes a difference. Surely there is a company with ties to the area, that benefits the local economy and which Saints could partner with in a similar way whilst still getting significant amounts of cash (and its not like Rollbit will be paying crazy money anyway)?

Obviously will make more signings but that team would be relegated with less than 20pts.

Horrifically short of PL goalscoring/creative quality in attacking areas - first run of games probably the kindest of the season too... Downes incoming though...

Wilson too unreliable fitness wise IMO. Be lucky to play half the games and will be on big cash at Newcastle anyway. This position is a big worry, especially after missing out on Delap who was clearly very high on our target list.

Well worth watching his full interview via the SaintsApp - definitely one of the best. Seems like a great guy, clued up and highly motivated to join. Hopefully has a good pre season to hit the ground running.

Would have been a good signing 3 or 4 years ago. Was shite last season hence being replaced even as backup.

Would have been a good signing 3 or 4 years ago. Was shite last season hence being replaced even as backup.

https://targetscouting.com/2024/04/16/kuryu-matsuki-fc-tokyo-scout-report/ Hopefully about to finally see the benefits of being in a multi club group. If he can't get a WP then wonder if the same will apply to the 17yo we signed on a pre contract - maybe he will end up at Goztepe first too? I think their promotion back to Super Lig was quite important to us - hopefully they stay up.

Dubravka was pretty awful for Newcastle 2nd half of last season, hence why they have signed other backup keepers. They had a run at some stage where almost every shot on target was going in and some fans were calling for an Academy keeper to replace him.

Of course they talk to various players/agents all the time. But then there comes a point when its decision time and clearly re Delap that has been this week. So pretty logical to deduce we wanted him as were ready to close the deal - I doubt we would have done that if we still had players above him on our list.

FFS...because the fact we agreed a fee for our third choice suggests we also missed our first and second choice. Can also stop thinking about O'Riley - clear we are financially unable to compete for players who are in demand. Broja on a loan with option would be a great deal for us IMO..and I think most loans will open up in Aug. Hard not to be a little pesimistic so far...first XI worse than in May!

Very unlikely because you have to be exceptional and our best U21s have either left or are already in the first team setup. The majority might have careers in football but it won't be PL/Championship.

Huge ask for an SPL striker to make any impact at PL level. Most of SPL is L1 standard at best.

Or just paying the market rate for potential. Seems a few think we will suddenly sign a 25yo striker with 20 goals in a major league last season for a bargain £15m.

Ive seen plenty of Steele as live in Brighton and the only reason he got in the first team at Brighton was because he is good with his feet and De Zerbi values that very highly. Until then he was a clear no2 keeper. McCarthy as an actual goalkeeper is much better. Steele definitely not worth signing, but is pally with Lallana so if he has Russell's ear then perhaps we will go for him. As a no2 behind McCarthy on a loan he would be ok.

If Delap is £15m+ 5m then Broja for £20m or thereabouts looks good value to me.

No great loss perhaps but not a great look to be losing out to Ipswich and seemingly already quite far down our list of striker targets if Ings has turned us down too (and thats just the ones we know about). If we got to the point of agreeing a fee with City then we obviously wanted him. Our best run of fixtures is at the start so vital to have got a decent amount of the business done in time for that and there is a huge amount to do to even have a slight chance of staying up.