Dusic

Anyway. In terms of the CBs that have been mentioned I would lean towards Tosin. Experience of the PL, 6'5 but also mobile. Its so important to be physically capable in the PL both in terms of strength but also pace and he can cope with both. Would be peak Saints though to not be able to agree a fee for a player who had a £10m release clause valid until mid July! Strange Sheldon said we might be keen on Phillips on loan but seemingly not on a perm deal. The £12m-£15m Liverpool want is within our range and either we think he is the one for us or not, loan vs perm shouldn't change that. Shame the Small link is from FI as sounds like he would be an ideal 2nd LB. I did wonder if Ralph putting Livramento straight in was also a way of sending a message to other, similar transfer targets...

League starts last 3 years for Newcastle: 22, 18, 13 (last season) Aged 29, poor injury record. No chance we go after him and nor should we.

https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-35000-a-week-deal-offered-to-rangers-and-southampton-target-cahill/ One year contract on the table for Cahill according to Wayne Veysey. Must admit I don't know much on the reliability of this guy but do recall MLG talking him up, so probably pretty genuine. Personally feel Cahill would have been a good signing when Palace got him, but would be a cheap option now, and probably a squad option rather than a regular starter. Wouldn't be very pleased if he replaced Vestergaard.

I remember that lad who we sold to Villa played like that too. Danny something.

Why? They aren't going to be thrown into a debut after 2 days training. Most important to get the right player, no need to panic buy.

Would imagine Caleta-Car would have better options than Saints, plus I am sure Marseille are not the easiest club to deal with! Championship is a good place for us to shop, players are used to English football, and if it doesn't work out there is a much easier exit route than for the likes of Hoedt, Lemina, Clasie etc. Just need to pick the right ones. Personally I don't think we will sign a player who goes straight into the team anyway.

Absolutely astonished we haven't really done any U18-23 recruitment this summer. Can only think that either: 1.) We have no budget for it 2.) Good players don't want to play in the 2nd division PL2 3.) Below the U23s they feel there is enough talent that will emerge quickly in the next 18months. Lets hope its #3.

He said again, as recently as Thursday, that he would ideally like the CB to be capable of playing as a #6 too if needed.

Surely we don't need to be replacing £15m Vestergasrd with a free agent who is without a club for a reason. Sure we could use a player who has some experience in a top league and shows leadership qualities but that doesnt need to be a 35 or 36 yo. We should be able to find someone decent with the £15-£20m that we have from the Vestergaard and Ings sales. The lack of concrete links suggests things are still being worked on.

Don't really see the fuss: - Stephens and Salisu the best pre season pairing - Walcott more of a goal threat than the other #10s which is even more important having lost Ings - Gives a few who have been used to starting every game a bit of a kick - Very strong bench - Livramento obviously impressed and also sends out a good message that Saints will give young players a great pathway to PL football

There is no crystal ball but most on here could see that Clasie and Elyounoussi were too weak and slow within 10mins of their debuts so really they should never have been signed, ditto Carillo. And Im not suggesting we hand out 5yrs to everyone, but as an example Joe Willock just signed a 6yr deal at Newcastle. They will have no pressure to sell him for four years, and based on his loan are obviously confident he won't flop. Saints will never be able to sell Salsiu or Diallo for £40m unless they improve to that level this season and we sell this summer. Not impossible, but even by then they will only have a max of about 50 PL games. Once next season starts their value will begin to drop... If we keep buying lads who need a year to settle on 4 yr contracts then it will be very rare that we actually get a chance to sell big because by the time other want them their value will be dropping. We have to get out of the cycle of buying for £15m and then needing to sell to bigger clubs but only for £15m as that doesn't enable any progression.

Cahill is 36 in December, so would be a very short term option. I wouldn't think we would go for that, but you never know. Considering we have £15m or thereabouts there must be a good option in Europe that we could sign for that, and we offer a platform in the PL which is highly sought after. The timing is a shame as both Guehi and Andersen would have been great signings that would have been affordable I think. Ajer too.

Phillips wouldn't be an exciting signing but having thought about it, we probably need reliable and competent more than exciting at this point, and he does have a few things going for him: - Experience of PL football, no adaptstion time unlike many of our signings - Experience of a similar style at Liverpool and Klopp likes him - Confidence from a really good finish to last season, and I am sure a desire to keep playing games now he had a taste of it - English player where we have lost a couple, also meaning it would be easier to shift him if it didnt work out - Height both defending and attacking set plays

To be really good selling club, you need to sell for as much as you can. That is obvious, and means we could then spend more on better players, or buy more players. If we look at our recent major sales: Hojbjerg - £15m Ings - £30m Vesteragaard - £15m All of these were down to one year left on the contract, and only Ings really generated a profit, albeit we would clearly rather have kept the player. Hojbjerg probably the worst due to his age. I imagine his value now is at least £35m. Whilst clearly a player cannot be forced to sign a new contract, we have to change something to stop these scenarios (Clyne and Wanyama before them) from continually happening again, otherwise we aren't really being effective at our stated aim. Take Salisu and Diallo for example. They signed 4yr contracts last year which was a settling season for both. They have three years left, which is essentially two years as clearly we won't let them leave on a free transfer. To get the best fee we would need to sell them at the end of this season, yet it feels like they have barely played for us. Its quite possible both will be very good players but I think they will need a couple more years of playing regularly to really show that and and maximise their value. Unless we extend their contracts at some stage this season, the most likely scenario is exactly the same as the others, their contracts will get to <18mths they will stall on a new one and then we will sell for less than they are worth to avoid them expiring. I really hope once the window is shut the club tries to have a rethink on what they are trying here. At other teams, players often get a new deal after one season when they have shown their quality. Wonder if we would try similar with someone like KWP, or Salisu if he starts the season well? Especially so the players who join on 4yr deals. Hard to know what the solution is, but we cannot be considered as a good selling club if we continually have to sell our best players for medicore sums because they get into the last year of their contract and we are backed into a corner.

Would imagine we would be looking for a left sided centre back so we retain the balance of two left and two right. Not necessarily left footed but like Vestergaard comfortable on that side. At the bottom of the Mail article it said we were looking at various options in Europe. We had been linked with this guy previously, obvs not for first team. Probably got Simeu instead: https://www.footballinsider247.com/sources-medical-booked-as-leeds-united-finalise-seventh-summer-signing-hjelde/#Echobox=1628759585

The chat has been we want a CB who can also play #6. If that is still the same then Phillips is out the question. Personally I would avoid Phillips. He did ok but had low expectations given Liverpool's injuries and he isnt good on the ball. We already have Bednarek and Salisu who are uncomfortable in possession. Annoying timing as Guehi would have been ideal.

They key question is where are these stories being repeatedly driven from? Hard to believe there hasn't been some encouragement from JWP and his reps somewhere along the line... Would be interesting to know whats happening behind the scenes as there is obviously something to it, or at least a/some parties want there to be.

The key to it is two things: 1. Picking when to go forward and timing the run well. 2. Recovery pace and the desire to run backwards. Bertrand was very good at #1 but in the last couple of years less good at #2. Semmens basically said in the forum last night that physically he couldn't do what was needed anymore so they were happy for him to move on. I feel KWP is good at both of these elements. He is extremely fit so can get up and down all game, but the timing (and stealth) of his runs is excellent, meaning he is often unmarked. He also has a good first touch to take down a long pass. If Perraud can do these things in a similar way then great. I am more concerned with a partnership of Salisu and Bednarek that they don't have the technical quality to find them like Vestergaard did on a regular basis.

So sounds from the forum like the following from here til end of window: - CB only if Vestergaard leaves and seems like they will (rightly) sell if we get an offer and he won't extend. Replacement would be a young player to develop i.e another Salisu type - LB more likely to be a B team player who could possibly step up, as Ralph happy with Livramento or Djenepo (or KWP moving across) as backup to Perraud. Clearly they will want to give Livramento games so I reckon KWP moving across and Tino at RB would be first option if Perraud misses games. - No mention of a #6 but previously Ralph said any CB would likely also be able to play there. - Ralph said at #10 we have enough good options, which is certainly true numbers wise so can only see something there is either Moi goes or suddenly something exceptional came up on loan. - No GK. Semmens mentioned a three window strategy, I think GK will be in the third of those when contracts expire. To be honest, numbers and depth wise that all makes sense. Obviously always a desire to add quality but there isnt really one position we are short of options aside from LB, and that is addressed as above.

Times saying Richarlison forgoing holiday and will be in the squad and DCL likely to be fit. Somewhat changes things as they are a good pair and Richarlison always causes us hassle. Seem to recall DCL giving Salisu a torrid time las year.

Would doubt there will be, in part because Chelsea wouldn't really know where to set it. They would have a much better sense of his worth after seeing him play PL football and at his age and with a long contract there is no rush, they could loan him out for two more seasons and he would only be 21. I think we just need to see how he goes but not put too much of a futire view on this one.

Like the look of this lad. Considering there is unlikely to be an option to buy and also that he is unlikely to get a huge amount of starts (you would think), its an intriguing move from Saints but also from the player and Chelsea. Chelsea are probably the best team to be a loan affiliate of, so hopefully it goes well - and even if no option they have a history and of course present reputation of selling good players who just aren't quite good enough or flavour of the month enough for their first team. Adams, Armstrong, Broja and Tella is a promising and varied group of strikers - but well short on top level goals and that will be the big question mark. At least one of Armstrong and Broja will need to come off or it will be a painful season, but positive signs and signings whose profiles make a lot of sense given our style and existing squad.

Lets hope we get it over the line and he doesn't stall and wait to see if anyone else will match our bid. Certainly suits Blackburn to push him our way as the best offer and fact they want Obafemi. Like the fact he can finish well off both feet and he seems a natural goalscorer whereas none of our other forwards really are. Glad to hear Mowbray say that he is suited to a pressing style and he also looks confident on penalties too. In recent years there have been a few Championship top scoring players step up to the PL: Maupay, McBurnie, Watkins, Adams. It will obviously take him time to adjust but if he can get 10 PL goals then that is a good return.

Seems like Broja will happen. Could be a nice bench option as a but different to our other forwards but unless there is an option/obligation to buy it seems a bit odd in that it cannot be too difficult to find a young forward who we feel we can develop but who is actually our own player and one we can increase the value of. On the flipside, if there is one PL club to become a favoured loan club for it is probably Chelsea. With Armstrong, Edouard, Sorloth and Abraham unlikely it will be interesting to see which other names pop up. At this stage it would suggest that we will sign someone as yet unnamed...

Exactly. They would have targets for various scenarios and at various value points. Ralph was still talking about signing a couple even before Ings went so there is obviously some cash about, as the initial bod for Armstrong shows. At the point we knew Ings was going I would hope we started advancing things with our preferred targets. If we havent then its poor planning. Just seen Edouard has picked up an injury in the warm down after Celtic's game.