Dusic

Looks where that shot hits the net. Its right in the side netting just next to the post. Excellent finish and to stop that would be a worldie save. More of an issue is how easy it was for a GK to throw the ball and create a 1vs1 situation that lead to the shot. So far this season Bazunu has played well, but understand that because he was unconvincing last time any goal he lets in will be viewed with scepticism. Overall there is a lot of hyperbole right now about SR, Spors etc but the time to judge is next Tuesday once we know what has happened. Still has consistently outlined what he wants and Spors has happily said in public that he is accountable for all football decisions so it will be very clear who to blame if this window does end badly and that clarity of accountability is a good thing that has been lacking here for a while.

The main open links that seem potentially plausible then are: Scienza - right footed creative player mostly from left. V good chance creation and dribbling stats from Bundesliga Azaz - no10. Known quantity for Boro but obviously not one of our primary targets for this position Guilavogui - right sided forward. Powerful and direct if not the most refined. Known to Still but not the most instantly appealing. Spertsyan - clearly the no1 target for no10 but now seems unlikley which is a shame as looks a cracking player I reckon we will end up with two of these four plus a loan that hasn't yet been mentioned.

Still very clear post game that he wants a #10 and a few wingers who can score. One week to get them... Anyone who want a £15m no9 is going to be disappointed and I agree that creativity and overall threat is more of an issue. Still has openly said we are only playing this system because we don't have those players so when we do then its up to him to pick the best forward(s) we have to play with them.

Agree - the Spertsyan situation is fruatrating because he obviously wants to join and Still clearly wants him as top target having also been in for him at Lens. Seems (and always has) highly unlikely, but he does look like someone who would be a gamechanger in our team.

Looks a good fee on paper but in reality he won't be worth less again until he is in his mid 30s and most of the cash will just go on bridging the gap in TV revenue. Hugely talented player - in a year that could look like a great deal for Everton. From our side we had no choice because we got relegated and need to raise cash to plug 100m shortfall which is why Fernandes will also go once offers are upped.

The guy on twitter who @ArmenieFootball gets some of his info from is @gotna. He said yesterday that he and some other journalists should be speaking to Spertsyan today so there might be something later. If he is contuining his lines of speaking to the president, still happy at Krasnodar etc then its obviously done. Feels lile he would need to make it publically very clewr he wants to go for there even to be a chance. Interesting that Still had a chance yesterday to say directly that it wasn't happening and he didn't, so they must feel there is some chance perhaps?

Must be incredibly frustrsting for Spors to get the point of persuading Spertsyan and his agent, checking the financial realities of sending cash to Russia etc and then to seemingly just be fobbed off by Krasnodar despite making good offers. Would think its not entirely unexpected (and is there perogative) but also imagine a huge amount of hours invested...a sign of why he is still there! Guessing unless it gets unlocked somehow by end of the week or very early next we will just go for Azaz because that #10 position is too crucial to risk ending up with nobody.

Solid if not spectacular which is probably what we need for this league. Also slightly suprised its a 4yr deal but seems like a good character and is known for versatility too - decent signing likely for a minimal outlay and should solve a problem posirion with Bree as backup til his deal ends.

He has said the report of the new bid came from Ivan Karpov - an apparently reliable jounalist in Russian football so added to the extensive quotes from the agent earlier it probs has truth to it. The release clause was mentioned by Armeniefootball in a reply to someone so separate source. I imagine he is a fan who might have some limited info but mostly aggregates others as is the case here. Seems clear we want him, he wants Saints but unsuprisingly a Russian club isnt easy to take their best player and captain from.

Azaz seems like an alternative to Spertsyan position wise, albeit a different profile - less creative, more powerful. Good player for this level but not sure he would make much of an impact higher - probably quite far down our original list.

I reckon we will end up compromising with Everton for Dibling. Clear after only loaning Ramsdale that we have banked on cash for either or both of Dibling and Fernandes.

Leeds considering Spertsyan now. No incentive for Krasnodar to have accepted our initial offers this early on. Just as we haven't with Fernandes and Dibling. Doubt we get him but not really the fault of anyone at the club, its hard to sign good players. Farke was manager of Krasnodar in 2022.

In some ways I think we are in the best place we have been for a very long time regarding the level of deadwood/dross. Acknowledging the very specific ABK situation I find it hard to get worked up about the likes of Aribo or Smallbone, both of whom were very good last time at this level. Due to contract length it represents a good business time to move them on but if we end up with Aribo for another season we wil certainly find a use for him and he seems a good character. BBD and the couple of RBs would be ideal candidates to move on if we could but as with Aribo & Smallbone they are largely players who can do a job at this level rather than being a total waste of space. All clubs talk about getting rid of their dross but not sure we are any different than the norm tbh. The sales that will make more of a difference to who we bring in will be Dibling and Fernandes.

On Spertsyan - not sure why we would identify someone as a top target, seemingly convince the player of the move, make a bid to a team that will obviously be difficult to deal with (he is their best player afterall) and then just walk away before either he stays at his current club or moves elsewhere? Yes you would maneouvre some kind of contingency plan but would be bizarre to just call it quits with this long left of the window and clearly a lot of effort invested.

https://fbref.com/en/players/79b51257/scout/365_m1/Morgan-Guilavogui-Scouting-Report Interesting looking at the percentile chart here, he is obviously a physical player who can be a goal threat from wide. Ranks highly for non pen goals and XG alongside off the ball metrics but very low for creative attributes like progressive passes and carries. A very different profile from Spertsyan and Scienza. If we can get Spertsyan he would in theory combine nicely with a more physical forward like Guilavogui and someone technical like Robinson behind a striker. Way too early to judge anything yet, fhe last two weeks of the window are pretty much equivalent to the two months prior. As ever, judge after it shuts.

He just waved to someone with a half and half Lens and Porto scarf. Its over.

This saga just feels like one that won't end in us signing him.

We know from Parsons at the Solent forum that both are for sale for the right price. We just havent been offered that yet and could also reduce our demands. We know from recent example that relegated teams need to raise a lot of cash to balance the loss in PL revenues. We know that we have only loaned Ramsdale and haven't yet sold THB so we clearly need to sell at least one of Dibling or Fernandes to raise some big cash. We know that if Dibling and or Fernandes stay then they would start every week so signing anyone for a lot of money who plays the same position would be a little silly. Based on all of the above I think its almost certain that one of Dibling or Fernandes goes and very likely that both do, which then enables more incomings for us.

Feels to me like we need to sell Dibling or Fernandes to fund a couple more moves. We would prefer to sell Dibling as pure PSR profit and his value will start to diminish but Fernandes more likely to attract offers. The longer it does the more clubs know we need to sell one of them so no real incentive for them to offer much more than they are now. Will we call their bluff and keep both? Very unlikely. Incomings wise Spertsyan seems to have 'new contract or wait til Jan' vibes so the Brazilian guy makes sense - cheaper and from a market that is well known to our Sporting Director and Chief Scout. Don't see us spending what Cov would want to get Rudoni - he surely isn't worth £15-£20m?

Amazing how much more aggressive Sunderland in particular have been in the transfer market than what we did last summer. Will be interesting to see how they get on in particular. I see a lot of the table predictions have Leeds to stay up but the expense of West Ham or Wolves but not really sure that is based on much, they haven't made any particularly impreasive moves IMO.

Likely implication for Edozie sale. Supposedly he had chosen Brugge over Strasbourg but they are signing their alternative target.

New contract incoming!

Reading between the lines it seems the club would happily sell Dibling for a fair price and if we do play hardball with Fernandes then we probably need to sell Dibling, especially if we want to make at least a couple of sizeable signings of our own. I wonder how much we can do on incomings without a big sale first, or the knowledge one will happen? Especially as we didnt get big cash for Ramsdale.

From watching a good amount of clips of Rudoni, he definitely isnt a central midfielder for Cov in the way Downes is for us. Almost all of his assists are crosses, either from right side or from set plays. He has a nice left foot and takes a good inswinging corner. Most of his goals are from inside the box, often arriving to get on the end of crosses usually running from a central or inside-right position. Can finish well off both feet. Seems very different from Spertsyan who looks like a traditional number 10 creative player. Rudoni strikes me more as someone who could play off the right and drift infield and would give space for a fullback to overlap. But isn't really a huge ball carrier - so might balance nicely with a player like Robinson on the other side - although potentially a lack of pace across the front positions. Getting business done before selling Dibling I imagine.

Will be nigh on impossible to keep him but at least we should be set for a big fee given the amount of interest in him. So far he has personally seemed to handle it all very well which is an exception rather than the rule these days. Couldn't begrudge him a move to somewhere like Atletico Madrid. Top player and funny that despite some of the horrific business SR have done they have also managed to find the odd absolute gem. Seems mad that we weren't especially challeged to sign him last summer.