Dusic

Vitinha - would be my preferred option but if Brighton are in its sadly a no-brainer to go there Onuachu - in his prime and excellent record. Would massively help defending set plays too so can see why we want him. Question marks on whether he will step up to a much higher level and also if he is suited to playing up front on his own. Would we end up just aimlessly hoofing to him? Sulemana - would be a great addition if we got one of the strikers as well. A little less so if just him but equally we don't really have a player of his profile so wouldn't say no. Of these it seems Onuachu is by far the most attainable for us, even more so given Rasmus links. Probably the cheapest too. However we are in prime "Southampton agreed a deal and the player was happy to make the move but <<<selling club>>> were unable to source a replacement so this is maybe one to revisit in the summer.>>> territory. Also, its clear we will just be getting one of these at most. Just for the slightly more deluded amongst us.

They are just quoting Football Insider who are a fairly dreadful source reliability wise. Hard to get top excited as we have seen it all before and some of the sources that gain a lot of traction on Twitter especially are very questionable.

Exactly. On the face of it a player with a contract rapidly expiring would be much better advised to sit it out and have more of a pick rather than rushing to join the bottom of the PL club right at the end of the window. If he does join, I reckon he would have an easily achieved get out clause if we go down, so perhaps on those terms it wouldnt be so stupid as at least would give him a shop window for a few months to attract PL offers.

Via David Ornstein, The Athletic (we all know how this ends): Everton are also sure to be active in the last hours of the window. Buoyed by the £40million they received from Newcastle United for Anthony Gordon, they are attempting to reinvest some of the money straight away and buy a direct replacement in Rennes winger Kamaldeen Sulemana (top-right photo). Everton made a verbal offer on Sunday and were waiting for a response from Rennes, who want in the region of €30m to get the deal done. Southampton, who are also trying to bring in a forward before the window shuts, have already had a €20m bid rejected but remain keen to recruit the 20-year-old Ghana international, while Bournemouth showed interest as well.

Surely if anyone comes in from outside of the UK it will be known about by tomorrow morning at the latest as would need time to travel and do medicals etc. Hard to keep any deals from being reported these days so will be a concern if no concrete news soon.

I think he is saying there are some fans that didn't get thst at 1-0 down and 5mins to go with 10men the key thing was to go into the second leg with something to play for rather than go 2-0 down and game over chasing an unlikely equaliser. Totally sensible yet clearly some fans, emotionally or whatever, expected us to pile forward. Regardless of what you think of NJ he is correct here 100%.

You will be disappointed Davey. It will be either a £20m or so wide player or a £20m or so striker. Beto probably is too expensive to be either, but no chance we get both.

One of Lecce's other midfielders went off injured in their game tonight. Doubt that would help our already slim chances of getting Hjulmand in this window. In the written section of Jones press conference he said we know who we want (Sulemana) and also the selling clubs that have been seeking a higher price know time is running out. Said we want either a striker or someone who can play across the front and will create different types of chances to what we do now. He kind of suggested that if/once we sort the priority player (Sulemana) then perhaps something else might happen too.

Seems Sulemana is the one we want. Very pacy, different to any of our other players and his dribbling stats are excellent. No real goal record and some injury concerns though. For 20m we aren't going to find some kind of superstar goalscorer so presumably they feel with some different attributes it may help to create a higher volume of chances, which would certainly help although obviously they need to be taken. If we were to sell Adams we would certainly want at least £20m which kind of highlights our problem. Lets hope we get Sulemana done if indeed he is the primary target.

Seeing as most transfers these days, certainly the big ones, are in the media at least 2 or 3 days before they get done, we should hear something soon if we are actually going to sign a forward or it will be quite worrying. If there is nothing known by end of day Sunday then I think its unlikley anything of note will materialise, certainly in terms of a non UK based player. Will be interesting to see what Jones says in the press conference today - after the game on Tuesday he sounded convinced that we will get someone in, so hopefully he still is.

I doubt we will sign another midfielder now that Alcaraz has started well and Diallo has had a couple of slightly better games. Unless it was someone who would come into the starting XI then its kind of pointless as we have AMN kicking about too. Surely we will sign some kind of attacker....surely? They may say there is no point in signing someone unless they are better than what we have but it almost feels like they have to regardless just to show willing. Would be a terrible look if we literally spent £5m on Orsic and watch others improve their attack with big money deals (Cunha - £50m, Rutter - £35m, Ouattara - £20m to name a few). The likes of Wolves, Leeds and potentially Bmth look set to record mega spend this January, unprecedented level really for bottom half sides. Wolves could be close to £100m and Leeds over £70m if they get McKennie.

Well yes. Koeman was right that for the need, (main striker to replace Lambert) Pelle was the right player. Maybe Jones is right that for the need (full back cover, who will possibly not play a huge amount), Bree might be the right player. There is no reason for Jones to sign someone that he knows will not be good enough for what we need. Hence why we havent been linked with any other Luton players. ------------- On Semenyo: - Looks two footed, some great finishes off both sides and means he is unpredictable for defenders as can drive inside or outside whereas all our forwards are very one footed - Seems strong even if not really tall, brushes players off quite easily - Used to the physicality of English football so less adaptation time potentially than a player from Europe

I can also remember when we signed Graziano Pelle because of Ronald Koeman. Not sure why signing a cheap cover player who the manager knows the attributes and personality of is being seen as such a bad thing. Unless of course you are looking for any possible reason to slag that manager. If Bree comes in, starts every game and is awful then of course criticise. But he is clearly being brought in aa cover due to Livramento being injured and iur huge reliance on KWP.

Bree seems like a low risk signing that makes sense given Livramento is surely not going to be up to speed quickly enough to throw into a relegation battle this season. If KWP gets injuted again we are screwed so seems sensible. His numbers for chance creation are good (he takes the set plays for Luton), he knows what the manager wants and is experienced in English football which is quite rare for a Saints signing. Seeing as he only has a few months on his contract he will be cheap and probably on sensible wages too whilst not expecting to play every week.

https://theathletic.com/4102884/2023/01/25/southampton-and-bournemouths-and-the-battle-for-nicolas-jackson?source=user-shared-article Pretty much as expected, we dallied and haggled and Bournemouth came and offered the cash needed. Also says Ankersen spoke fsce to face with Antoine Semenyo last week... Palace now linked:

Could we tempt Craig Mackail-Smith for one last hurrah? For all Jones says we are improving, he is being let down by SR for failing to improve his attacking options. I was happy with Jackson, who would have added pace, power, height and something different to our existing options. We clearly wanted him having been in talks since almost the start of the window so a big blow to see him go to a direct rival, despite the people on here who think £20m gets some kind of 1 in 2 striker from a top league.

Considering the number of very presentable chances they had we were lucky they only scored one. Armstrong handball slightly unlucky but the ruling on that is clear, despite what the hapless Don Goodman was babbling. Positives...Alcaraz. Looks forward and lasted 90mins in a frenetic game. He is a nailed starter in our best team. Negatives...the woeful composure on the ball in both halves but especially when attempting to play out from the back. Salisu at LB. Having a penalty area player like Orsic and not ever getting him the ball in a dangerous area. Also...Lyanco is just awful.

What do you think £20m gets? A young Intl with pace and physically strong, making regular apps at a decent La Liga side, I would say £20m is par for the course

Moussa Dembele 2 goals, 0 assists in 14 league games Nicolas Jackson 2 goals, 2 assists in 14 games One we "don't need". One we need to "smack down £25m-£30m" on. The madness of the transfer window.

Good news for those who have written off Jackson as an absolute waste of money. #hopeful

Very fair point, although interestingly the one position Brighton (and many other 'smaller' clubs) have never got right is centre forward. Fair to say its the most difficult position to recruit - Man Utd for all their wealth have gone for Weghorst and clubs like Leeds and Wolves have spent huge sums in January on players with very mediocre goal records.

If McCarthy does ok in some of the cup games I'm sure he will stay in.

But what if they feel they can get a wide forward for now who is better than our other wide forwards or a striker who is the same as our other main striker?

Presumably they feel our budget allows for a bigger upgrade in the wide areas than it would get us in the striker position where there are few good options for a reasonable price. Wolves paying nearly £45m for Cunha and Leeds £35m on Rutter are good examples of that. Clearly they are trying to add goal threat in attack. Does it matter if that comes from a central striker or a player who starts in a wider position?

I think we all expected to get some forward players in, absolutely. Orsic a good start (on paper at least) and clearly seems like more will follow. But what exactly do you mean by "top striker"? I don't think £25m these days will get you a top striker, and certainly not one that would fit Saints from a wage perspective. Wolves spent upwards of £40m on Cunha, Leeds have just spent over £30 on Rutter from Hoffenheim. Bournemouth spent £20m on Ouattara. Moffi (who doesn't want to move to England anyway) is being touted for £30m. I'm sure none of these are what you think of as "top strikers". You clearly don't rate Adams, fair enough. What I am sure about though is that if we were to sell him, we would be looking for about £20m, only £5m less than yoy think we can get a "top striker" for. Personally I don't think someone like Chris Wood is any better than Adams, they are probably of a similar level and he didnt have a good goal record at Newcastle. Ings potentially could have been a good option but three things we know" 1. He turned down our biggest contract offer to leave for more money at Villa. Judging by Emery's comments I doubt West Ham are paying him less 2. He isn't in the form he was when he left us and is 2 years older 3. He is better suited to playing in a front 2 whereas Jones is setting us up with one striker to be a focal point. Summary: for the money we have to spend, the types of players we are being linked with is exactly what you get. Either a decent Championship player, player who has scored goals in a poor league or a promising player with potential from a better league. If there was a "top striker" available for £25m and sensible wages then all the bottom half teams plus the likes of Brighton would be all over them.