Dusic

Ralph has mentioned we want a CB who can also play as a #6. One name springs to mind that totally fits to our usual signing principles...Ethan Ampadu. - Plays both of those positions - 25 apps for Sheff Utd last season - 26 caps for Wales - Still only 20yo Came on as a sub in Chelsea's last friendly but surely would be available on a loan with option or a permanent move with a buyback option for Chelsea. Needs a longer term home as unlikely to get many minutes for Chelsea but is still a very highly rated player.

From a sensible perspective its surely at a stage where you hope we can sell Vestergaard in this window as we should at least get our money back. Fail to do so and its probably £5m or so in January or nothing next summer, with potentially a season of an unsettled player. Get it sorted now and move on.

Initially it was stated that he was expected to be back in training the morning after the Cardiff game. So it is somewhat strange, and seemingly a worse injury than they realised...if indeed there even is an injury.

Will be interesting what Ralph says as usually this week he will be specifically asked about it. Of course, he may be genuinely injured but it seems too convenient at the time he is most strongly linked with a move away. Would be a shame, actually very poor, if our captain doesn't play in the majority of the friendlies and the first league game because of transfer interest.

Trialist A who is still unknown (its not Ethan Ross the Aberdeen guy) scored just after HT to make it 2-0 to Saints. Olaigbe got the first. Now 2-1 pen rebound after a Simeu handball. Triallist B now on, seems to be Abdulmalik.

Think Bednarek will move to take #3. On Obafemi - I would try to extend his contract and send him out on loan to the Championship if we do get another striker. If we don't then we will need him anyway. Reason for it is purely business, if he did well out on loan he would be worth a lot more than £6m and it would seem crazy to sell a young striker with some obvious attributes who has scored at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge for an amount like £6m. To become the club we want to be we really need to get better at selling players and that starts with not letting them run contracts down to less than one year.

How does this play out then? At the moment it appears the situstion is: - Villa have been interested since the start of the summer but have chosen to make an official bid recently. - At around the time of that bid JWP hasn't been training with the squad or playing in the friendlies - and is surely unlikely to play in tomorrows game as nothing has seemingly changed. - Villa have had ample time to be informed by JWP that he isn't interested, which added to the above suggests that he is. - Saints are adamant they don't want to sell him, but history shows that if a player strongly suggests they want to go then we will sell for a fair price. My opinion: - This has probably been rumbling in the background for a while and isn't going away any time soon. - Very interesting that there were no quotes from Ralph after the Swansea game about the whole situation, almost as if the club don't want it leaking out that JWP is kicking up a fuss. Blackmore obviously knows something he isn't releasing. - Something will surely develop in a big way this week as we can't have a situation where the captain isn't playing for basically a whole pre-season. Wouldn't suprise me if there is a national report about him wanting to leave in the next few days. - If he doesn't play the next two friendlies then surely he won't play the first league game whatever happens.

Will be interesting to see if thats it now in terms of full back cover. Livramento definitely right sided, but KWP has played a fair bit at LB so if Perraud is unavailable then KWP can shift across and Livramento could play RB. Then you have the likes of Djenepo, Diallo, Salisu, Stephens who become 3rd/4th options. I think we will stick with that now.

Strong argument that if Chelsea end up buying him back and he goes on to play for their first team then that shows other young talents that a move to Saints has played out absolutely perfectly, and starts to rebuild our rep as a strong developmental club. If he turns out to be a player Chelsea want back then he will have done very, very well for us and will have cost just £5m. With a 5 year contract we are well protected too so its a no brainer.

This is exactly the kind of signing we should be making! Very highly rated player so a good boost that he sees the best pathway at Saints, and that will definitely catch the eye of other players which could benefit us in the future. He will surely get a decent amount of games and that is our USP - we will give players a chance in the first team that they won't get at other clubs. Buy back clause doesn't bother me as quite simply without agreeing to one I doubt Chelsea would have accepted our offer. If he does well and they want him back for a lot more than we paid then fair enough - it would be a sign all round that the move is the right one for him at the right time. Surely curtains for Valery, and makes you wonder if we will bother signing a specific LB cover or if we will use Livramento for that, with Djenepo and Salisu as other options?

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/sport/19483897.walker-peters-wants-saints-keep-hold-top-player-james-ward-prowse/?ref=twtrec Somewhat strange that KWP was asked about JWP but not Hasenhuttl - surely he would have had a question on it...

£20k a week extra is over £5m across the duration of a 5yr contract. Thats a lot to pass off as not being a factor! I highly doubt JWP's agent is working behind his back to try and get a move that his client has zero interest in. We will see what happens, but whilst he isnt playing friendlies and Villa keep bidding it doesn't scream to me that JWP isn't interested.

Why no reference to the ultimate factor of anyone in a job: how much cash you get paid? His agent has obviously told Villa its worth their time bidding, otherwise they wouldn't be wasting their time. I'm sure he is happy at Saints but that doesn't mean he wouldn't move, we know that from the recent past.

If Villa keep bidding then they obviously feel that stance can be changed. We will sell if JWP makes it clear he wants to go. History tells us that.

As ever, it will be down to the player. If JWP wants to move to Villa then it will happen because they have the cash to significantly up their first bid (which never gets accepted). The only reason they make a second bid is if they have been encouraged that JWP would welcome the move. It will come down to how strong a desire that is. The timing of his injury is an unfortunate coincidence I'm sure...

If Saints know that he wants to go to Villa then I'm sure they would consider any bid upwards of £40m if it were structured right. Whether Villa would go that high, who knows? For the club it wouldn't be a great look to lose him to a team that finished 11th last season! Not convinced by his injury in light of this.

Second bid expected suggests Villa have been encouraged, plus a current niggly injury. Every player has a price, especially if they push for a move.

We will obviously replace Ings when he goes. But wide attacker we have Armstrong, Redmond, Walcott, Djenepo, Tella and Elyounoussi who play there plus even Smallbone when he is fit again. Not saying we shouldn't target that position but we would surely need to let two of those go first? Personally I don't think Elyounoussi deserves another chance, nothing against him but its a tough business and he 100% isn't good enough to have an impact at PL level. If we got him out on loan then I could see another loan for Minamino late in the window. But for a permanent signing I don't think we could afford what it would take to sign a starting player...and its the one position where we have plenty of cover.

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.