Dusic

To me it all points towards waiting for a definitive outcome on what happens with Harry Kane (and possibly Erling Haaland & Tammy Abraham) and the knock-on impact of that for various teams. I don't think Ings or Saints will have a strong indication at this point of what will happen. Also, if there are no offers then Ings may opt to wait until next summer when he is a free agent and would be very much in demand. That would be the worst outcome for Saints.

Yes - good article. They have 30 something Eng U15- 21s players and 5 of the 6 Eng age group captains are from City. Absolutely mad. From looking through that Rising Ballers account Villa and Leeds have been very active in signing academy talents this summer. Saints mentioned as interested in a couple but would imagine being in div 2 of PL2 isnt a great selling point - the top talents surely want to play against the best players, Livramento being a good example. The 14-18s is very, very cuthroat in terms of recruitment. If Saints had a top talent in future to the level of a Walcott or Shaw I can't see how we would keep them long enough to get them into the first team. Sad but true, even for a PL side with a strong (if diminishing) Academy reputation. Also re Abdul Abdulmalik, have done some reading on him and seems he is a striker who did well for Millwall U23s last year aged 17/18 but has refused their contract which has pissed of Gary Rowett who thinks he has had some bad advice. He is small but strong and quick. Aside from Mitchell we dont really have any good U23 strikers so can see why we would be keen. Will be interesting to see if he plays in the next B team friendly. Regardless of whether these lads make it to the first team, its very beneficial to be promoted for the reasons above so the stronger the team can be the better, including someone like Lancashire.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CR4ROsuNf9R/?utm_medium=copy_link Seems we have lost defender Max Alleyne to Man City. England youth player, only 15 but made his Saints U18 debut last season.

Seems mad that we will have chased a 3rd choice Man Utd full back for 3 windows in a row and still not signed him. Hope we have some other options we can move on fast as looks like he will be starting the season in Utd's team. Unless we go with Djenepo as LB cover til January and go after Williams for a 4th window...

Don't disagree with Ralph in terms of where we are most light. Attacker wise we could do with another but only if they are better than some of what we have, as numbers wise we have 6 who can play #10 (Armstrong, Redmond, Djenepo, Walcott, Tella, Elyounoussi) and 6 who can play as a striker (Ings, Adams, Obafemi, Long, Tella, Walcott). So I doubt we will sign a #10 even if Elyounoussi leaves. Striker more likely but only to replace Ings when he goes. The kind of depressing thing is that the positions Ralph mentioned (full back, CB, no6) would likely not be signings that come in and improve the starting XI - we can't afford those. I would imagine of any signings we make only Perraud will be a regular starter and he is a replacement for a solid PL player rather than an upgrade in quality. Shows how difficult it is if you can only spend £10-£15m on a single player. We are crying out for a couple of £25m signings at centre back and at #10 to really improve us.

There are a few on this thread who have made themselves look silly, and clearly don't understand the context of this move. Its not about finding the best player, its about the best person. One who can be a good role model, approachable, passionate about doing this very specific role and having high standards to set a good example. Olly Lancashire isn't the greatest centre back the world has ever seen but he has come through the Saints Academy and forged a pro career that has seen him chosen as a captain, certainly at Swindon. That suggests that he was seen to have most of the attributes mentioned above. He is of an age and experience level that is relatable to our players and he has seen the highs and lows of pro football that some of them will experience. If they wanted a coach then Chris Perry aged 48 might be good. If they want someone to actually play then I don't see that there would be many better options than a player who was playing in L1 last season, his experience is very relevant and they obviously think he is the best person for the role, which is more important than his ability IMO.

Good theory behind the concept, the more realism and experience of what it means to be a pro can only help these U23 players, especially someone who was playing in L1 last season. Will be interesting to see whether he ends up registered in our 25man squad, presumably if like usual we don't have 25 then he would be automatically added? Would imagine on the pitch when he plays it would help a lot as the U23 league, esp Div 2 is definitely not L1 level and we surely will want to get promoted as being in div2 must make signing young talents a lot harder. Will be interesting to see how often he plays.

Anyone who thinks we might sign Phil Jones please have a listen to the last fans forum where Matt Crocker explained in detail the recruitment process that is followed and in particular the key criteria that should be met. He said in the past we had veered away from that and made costly mistakes so are looking to stick to it.

Apparently it was going to be Papa Waigo but he has been unsuccessful in getting a work permit. If he didn't have other business interests then Dean Hammond would be a great shout for that type of role.

They have already brought in two replacements for Bissouma (Caicedo and Mwepu) so are in quite a strong position too. They do have a very strong off-field operation with good experience in Paul Barber and Dan Ashworth and an owner in Tony Bloom who is one of the best in the PL. I think if they sign a good striker they could push for top 10 as have good strength in depth in most other positions, and like you say - still a good bit of cash to do more.

Another potential replacement who will likely be gone before we know what is happening with Ings. Shame our contract/financial situation forces us to be reactive rather than proactive.

I think he would probably cost similar to what we will sell JV for. The problem is we have little control over when JV leaves yet clearly need to sell him at some point this summer. In the meantime lots of potential replacement options will have already moved. Thats the issue with 1.) never signing replacements until after the sales have happened and 2.) having a really weak position with key players getting into the final year of their contract and being unwilling to extend it.

If we do sign Armstrong, it will surely only be once Ings is sold given the likely cost. Massive gamble as an Ings replacement given he has only really had one really good season. Could probably get Edouard for a similar fee to what Armstrong will be.

Thats made up, there is no report. With three weeks til the start of the season we really need to step it up, certainly with full back cover that we have needed for 18 months.

I think its more of a depth thing. We only have 3 CMs plus Armstrong who is a first choice in another position. JWP has been a freak availability wise but surely at some stage he will miss games. We don't seem to have any U23 CMs who are anywhere near first team ready. Some PL teams have 5 or 6 players for that position so whilst we aren't going to be spending big there it would be a position we could do with one more - a similar signing to Simeu would probably fit the bill, i.e to replace Jankewitz.

Interesting that we have been linked with a few centre mids but as you say, assuming we do the more pressing business we have I don't see how we have the cash to make an expensive signing in that position. Palace, through barely having spent the AWB money and having so many players out of contract have a decent opportunity this summer to make a real change to their squad - like their deals so far.

Lets be clear - we deserved to be relegated under Pellegrino/Hughes and were saved by Swansea's utter implosion and the Gabbi goal. I dread to think what that would have led to, despite a small minority on here suggesting it wouldn't be a bad thing. Last season we started well, but the second half of the season, over a long period we were statistically the worst team by quite a distance. Without a purple period in autumn we would have been relegated. I have said a few times but Ralph has been able to sign 7 players on permanent deals (Djenepo, Adams, KWP, Diallo, Salisu, Walcott and Perraud) and I think is entering his 6th transfer window. In the same time, a Manager like Dean Smith or Graham Potter has probably signed double that. We are soon to be rid of the unsellables, but when you think of the fees and wages on Forster, Boufal, Hoedt, Clasie, Lemina, Carillo, Elyounoussi and the fact we will have recouped less than £10m in getting rid of them is absolutely ridiculous for a club of our size. In the Ralph era the perm signings like any club have had various levels of success but there has definitely been an improvement and that needs to continue. I have to say the full back backup situation is baffling though. With worldwide scouting and PL appeal surely we can find a couple of cheap but promising players to develop? That and GK situation are the most frustrating, but we are stuck re GK until we get Forster's wages off the bill next summer. Another factor is that we were a bit ahead of the game signing young promising players from other leagues whilst West Ham and Sunderland signed Man Utd rejects and PL has beens. Unfortunately all the mid and smaller clubs have cottoned on and are looking for the same profile of player. Our market is reducing as we cannot afford the best Championship players anymore.

Surely there is no way we offered Forster an extension. Having spent 3 yrs trying everything to get rid of him I havent seen anything to suggest we should be trying to keep him. I would hope we may still be looking to shift him this summer and bring in another keeper, but probably unlikely. One of the ultimate unsellables and surely will leave on a free next summer. For a club that needs to sell to buy, the amount of flops we have ended up losing money on is utter madness. Thank god for Swansea's implosion and Gabbiadini because we would probably be back in administration in L1 without it.

Nobody is going to be giving us £8m for a player that has one year on his contract and we have no desire to keep. We would have ended up loaning him out if we had to. Any fee is a bonus but no chance it will be £8m, as proven by Crook reporting it.

Still don't see the point of that if its a loan with no option, considering it would cost about £5m incl wages just for one season of a backup full back and then probably another £15m if we wanted to sign him permanently. Thats in total more than we will get for selling one of the best strikers in the PL! Someone like Livramento would have been a great signing for us unfortunately!

Nothing to dislike about this signing, exactly the type we should be looking to make more often. Re Salisu & Bednarek partnership the bit that is really lacking for me is ability on the ball. Bednarek is a very safe passer and Salisu seems the same. Can imagine oppo just letting them have the ball and covering their passing options and they would really struggle to initiate moves. Thats where Vestergaard does excel.

First game on Saturday will be interesting if we get a teamsheet. I imagine Adams, Armstrong and Bednarek won't play. Ings hasnt been in the last couple of training videos or pics so he probably won't either. Otherwise probably 45mins for a most of the squad, including a few who about 3 weeks ago seemed unlikely to ever pull on a Saints shirt again.

Not bothered re AMN. He would probably cost at least £20m and wouldn't be a starter for us unless JWP were to be sold. Livramento is frustrating as he seems an ideal signing for us and the exact profile of player we should be targetting, especially with Crocker (and Skyrme) having a great knowledge of the England Youth players. There is a clear and obvious pathway at Saints given our lack of numbers at full back, but being a Croydon lad and having seen Lamptey make the same move successfully then you can see why he has picked Brighton. Equally their U23s are good and ours are shite and got relegated so seeing as he will likely start at that level maybe it is a factor too? These lads want to be playing the best players in their age group not against the dross. Big shame to miss out on him to a direct rival, but our recruitment between 16-22yrs seems very lacking the last few years, and no sign of that changing unfortunately. We are trading off an ageing rep in terms of youth development whilst others have gone past us.

Thats why I think we will end up keeping Obafemi as we really needed an extra striker even of Ings stayed, but obviously we will only get Armstrong if Ings goes. Tella is clearly considered a striker, so I reckon we will end up with Adams, Armstrong, Tella and Obafemi with Walcott an additional forward option. A struggle ahead as we are poor at keeping goals out and are set to lose our main proven goalscorer, replacing likely with someone totally unproven at PL level.

Who knows? It won't be easy for City to sign him I don't think and Levy isn't a pushover. Probably depends whether Kane is prepared to ruin his image and be an arse.