Dusic

Bild reporter suggested heart issues - which if true is a.) not really something that should be in the public domain and b.) purely from a Saints perspective a disaster in terms of selling him on a favourable deal. Fingers crossed its a minor issue that can be resolved otherwise big consequences.

Also weird as he would only have a year left on his contract by next summer so unless he had an absolutely storming season his value will be even less and we will likely just get teams ask to loan him til his deal expires. At least we presumably still have the £12m we budgeted for him to use elsewhere!

Judging by this summer so far its hard to be overly bothered about players linked/offers rejected until fees are agreed and they are travelling for a medical. I think we have likely missed out on many of our preferred targets - as a fair few have been made public - either due to FFP constraints on fees or players having better options within the PL where we are scrapping with Ipswich right at the bottom of the food chain. All our completed transfers so far have been 'easy' in the sense that they were either free involving no selling club, for players with contracts running down or players largely unwanted at their current club, with Downes the only slight exception. This current group (Parsons, Bitcon, Mowbray) still have a bit to prove to show they can get things over the line when its not so straightforward.

He will leave, its just negotiation. Be amazed if he plays a minute for us before then.

Even on loan it seems quite unlikely as: a.) we won't cover his full wage and I'm sure someone else (e.g Forest) would happily do so b.) he will have a whole heap of European clubs to pick from if available on a loan deal favourable enough for us to even be an option Interesting to hear the Newcastle fan on TSP laughing at the idea Dubravka would be a good option for us - as I said when he was first mentioned he was awful for them last season to the point where fans were suggesting an Academy keeper should be brought in at one point. Keeper will be interesting as our whole situation (Baz, AMC new deal, likely relegation, tight budget) points towards a loan without any obligation being by far the best option. One thing for sure - any keeper we get has to be good with their feet given how we play.

Usual stuff overall but thought Jack Stephens came across very well: seems a good, grounded bloke and clearly cares.

Removing the promoted clubs, how many of our players would get in other teams? Probably KWP for most and potentially Downes for one or two. I don't think a good argument can really be made for many/any others. Flip it and look at how many Forest, Wolves, Brentford etc players would get in our team and its probably 8 or 9 of their starting XI. Really very hard to see us finishing ahead of any of those- and just as we will still strengthen, so will they - and in the case of Carvalho & Brentford its with a player we also wanted. Any indepdendent prediction that is not for us to be relegated would be frankly ludicrous based on pretty much every available method of analysing it.

Hopefully they can sort somehow but sounds like it would take drastic action at the end of the season. If we have a wet and cold winter it could look and play awfully come January.

Disagree that it plays well, pretty much every pass yesterday bobbled about and it makes some lose pace and then get intercepted. Obviously no fault of any individual but less than ideal for a team who seeks to play short passing, possession football. And it looks shit.

No wonder misinformation is such an issue in society - some people are so easily taken in by clear and utter dross. Mods should start issuing bans for people posting this shit (or posters stop posting out of embarassment for having no common sense).

Apologies for the long post and appreciate I may be in the minority here but I am of the view that Broja would be a good signing, and here is why: - He has shown that when fit and in good form he can really trouble the best defenders in the league. During the purple patch he had for us he really looked like a top striker. Remember he had great games versus West Ham and Man Utd, bith away, where their defenders couldnt live with him. Clearly a small sample but he showed a level that others strikers (Adams, Arma etc) just aren't capable of. - Around that time he looked like a £30m+ player and Chelsea then wanted him back and weren't keen on a sale (at least Saints and WH were very keen). He then got a bad injury but one that these days the vast majority of players recover very strongly from. - So the issue is, has his injury significantly changes the potential he showed? Obviously scouts and prosective buyers would have more data/medicals etc to truely determine that, but he hasnt really played enough for Chelsea (basketcase club with no patience) and Fulham to say that it has. He barely played for Fulham largely because Muniz suddenly went on a great run and made himself undropable (whilst probably tripling his value to Fulham). - Then there is the question of what other options we have at that price bracket. The answer is not many and pretty much anyone will be flawed in some way, either just not being PL quality, being injury prone or totally unproven. At least with Broja we know that at his best he has a high level where he could create and score out of not a lot - we don't have anyone like that. Anything in that position will be a punt and I think Broja still has the potential to be good now and develop further into a really good PL player. He is only 22 so even if he disnt do well but largely retain his value at £20m. He needs to find a home where he is wanted and trusted and can settle and find that level again. Would certainly rather spend £20m on him than another Onuachu type from a poor league. Of course a loan with option or obligation depending on apps would be ideal and realistic IMO.

A week to go before the first PL game, so a good time to review what we have done. 1. Have we improved our starting XI vs the team that finished 4th in the Championship: Lallana - no Taylor - slightly although not suited to wing back role Wood - no Edwards - no THB - no Downes - no Sugawara - no (will do well to equal KWP) BBD - probably Overall verdict: Minimal improvement vs last season and largely based on hoping BBD maintains form he showed across a very small sample size 2. Has squad depth improved? GK - no CB - yes Full back - minimally Midfield - no Wide - no (worse) Forward - no Overall - aside from CB, not really Summary - a hell of a lot to do otherwise nowhere near good enough to compete at this level

I know there is an element of frustrstion about the lack of clear improved quality in the starting XI, but one area where we have bossed this window is the wholesale and partner market. We have got Etonridge over the line, a brand we had been tracking for a long time and who chose us despite lots of competition which bodes well. https://wholesalemanager.co.uk/etonridge-confirmed-as-official-water-supplier-of-southampton-fc/ We have also signed a deal with Home Leisure Direct who were sought after a few years back and could be a shrewd deal although only a one year deal so hopefully we have an extend option incase they really cook: https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/home-leisure-direct-becomes-regional-partner The one that probably gets the most tongues wagging is the deal agreed with 2cl to officially sign as Venue Security Technology Supplier - from a quick browse on some other club forums there is a lot of jealousy about that deal, mostly because their digital radios are top notch - and a few clubs seem lacking in that area. https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/2cl-become-official-venue-security-technology-supplier Hopefully a few more to come in before the end of the window and look forward to hearing more about these at the Phil Parsons fireside chat with Adam Blackmore next week.

Sounds like we have missed out on Ollie Rathbone - having a medical at Wrexham.

I think come the last week of Aug anything above £10m surely? Sure he will be keen to link up with his best pal Solanke at Spurs if they get shot of Emerson Royal.

Surely something will happen with KWP soon as obviously a lot of interest in the background and imagine at this point, having already replaced him, the club will just want to move him on. Not overly far fetched that Brighton waiting to get O'Riley before giving us some cash for KWP that might possibly allow us to compete for him (though I think he is who RM refered to about moving on) - any suitor knows we are desperate and don't want to lose him for free next summer so we aren't in a strong position with him at all, and he is our most sellable asset. Will be interesting to hear the chat in Phil's EMEA Townhall on Monday...RM usually fairly open so imagine we will know a fair bit more after that.

I don't think he knows to that level of detail, I mean its kind of obvious that we want ins and outs every week now until the window shuts. From RM comments about moving on from targets and how much Downes/THB cost etc I thinknwe can rule out O'Riley - he will simply cost too much which is ironic given the club briefed to Alfie House earlier in the summer that agreeing a fee with Celtic would be the easy bit! GK a big concern but surely a loan better than spending another £10m on potentially a short term option? Attack should be the focus of the cash we have left - we just dont nearly have the quality or depth to have a chance as it stands. Taking Lallana out, its scary how few PL goals we have in our squad.

You would assume wrong with £60m! Poor recruitment and contract management means we will probably be lucky to get £12-15m for KWP and pretty little else - certainly nowhere near £60m.

Have we still got the pitch disease from 2023? Considering a whole summer off it looked awful tonight. Used to be one of the best in the PL a few years ago but like most stuff at Saints is a shadow of its former self!

Imagine loan with option offers.

Fraser may well not be pursued (although I think he will) but regardless don't see why Dibling would be a factor in that as he plays different positions to Fraser, either as a no 8, false 9 or coming from wide right whereas Fraser has almost exclusively played as a left winger for us.

What do people think about Ryan Fraser? Seemingly Newcastle willing to let him go for free but Fraser wants his contract paying up which they havent agreed to. Feels like he would be a good squad player and handy he can do a job as a wing back if needed but on the other hand he wouldnt really improve the starting XI to the extent needed. Sure he will end up here on a free after we have played Newcastle.

I like Adam Blackmore and he does have a good relationship with the club so gets fed info but in this segment there was quite a bit of joining some dots that were quite far apart. On O'Riley specifically...his suggestion that Celtic should just hurry up and sell him to Saints is pretty bizarre. Its their perogative to do what they like with a player who they have signed to a long contract. With for absolute definite as a minimum Saints, Atalanta and Brighton in for him then the onus is surely on those clubs to push Celtic by making an acceptable offer rather than on Celtic to cave in with virtually a month left of the window? In the end someone will make that offer and I am pretty doubtful that it will be us which is a shame as the RM relationship gives us a potentially significant edge. All our deals so far have been easy ones aside from possibly Downes (and even then WHU were clearly open to sell to fund their spree). Everyone else it was either unwanted players, frees or players with a year left on contracts.

Buonanotte is a decent prospect but using a PL loan spot on a Brighton squad player without any kind of option to buy really shows where we are in the PL food chain. Come on you phytoplankton!

Brighton have already spent £30m or so on two players this summer and probably still have a good chunk of the Caicedo/Cucurella cash left over. As ever, the player will ultimately move where he wants to go and I'm sure if that isnt to Saints then RM will know as imagine MOR would treat him respectfully - and if thats the case we can go after others. Shame if that does happen as he seemed ideal but we probably aren't that attractive considering we are likely to get relegated again.