Chez

We will spend some. As always, some of the transfer income will need to cover the annual operating losses. Perhaps we ought to pay down some of the debt so we stop spunking £10m a year on interest payments.

if you are talking abut homegrown players losing Gareth Bale, Walcott and Oxlaid-Chamberlain was a real shame, but Channon, MLT, Wallace, Shearer, Kenna, Bridge, Lallana and JWP all played for many seasons.

My advice is to wait until he has actually kicked up a fuss before we get angry about him kicking up a fuss.

How the hell does this dinkle know what advice Dibling's agent is giving him? Even if it were true, why would the agent reveal it to anyone else? This transfer is like all the others. Buyer wants to get a player for the least possible, seller wants to get as much as possible. When the parties don't find a middle ground the agent and player get frustrated. Saints are making a shed load off the players back and they get annoyed their move might not go through and the player misses out. Standard policy is to not go to training to put pressure on the selling club. It happens time after time with these hard to agree deals. Unless Everton are suddenly happy to take on Grealish' £300k a week contract, they will find the funds.

His confidence is just fine. He doesn't need to drop down a division to build it up. He's the real deal and has shown it already. The idea that the championship is a more physical league than the PL is bollocks. The players in the PL and bigger, faster and better. You have to be strong, fast and absolutely spot on with your touch and decision making. How do you know he won't play most weeks for Everton? Even if he only plays half the games, he'll benefit from playing against better players more than outclassing championship defenders. He's been in the limelight for some time - a whole season in the PL in fact. He's played at places like Old Trafford. You talk like he maybe can't handle the pressure and needs to be eased in. He's already been eased in (when we are in the championship) and then been given his opportunity last season and thrived. Playing for Everton isn't going to phase him. Of course money is a factor, but playing in the PL is also key. If we had survived and looked to kick on, then he may well have signed a new deal. But we fucked it and our window of opportunity was lost. He backs himself fully. I think you misunderstand what it takes to become a professional footballer.

I meant the detail being given by the journalists like Ornstein via their twitter accounts.

Are these transfer rumour articles all written by AI these days or perhaps written in one language and then translated using AI? Who the hell writes: "Whether or not the Saints can do the needful in securing Harrison, let's see." Utter drivel.

Blimey. They literally have no other RW. I didn't realise that. Perhaps they will sign another in that position. The flip side to that is when you join a new club you want to be fully involved, right from the off, with the full backing of your manager, not stuck on the sidelines, wondering if you made the right move and if the manager has complete faith in you.

Not the easiest club situation to join, but if he went almost anywhere with a £50m fee on his back, there would be pressure for him to perform immediately.

I'd say exactly the same for Aribo, ABK, BBD and Armstrong. They all need and probably want a fresh start. Will Still's arrival could provide them with a clean slate, but I just feel when a player has been sent out on loan, the bond between player and club may have gone. I might be wrong.

For the last decade or so there always seems to be about at least 1000 at northern games like these, with no doubt a lot of them living North of the Watford gap. I guess selling out depends on the allocations we take. We're not taking both tiers at brammall lane for instance. Usually plenty of space at 'ull too if required.

Everton are the ones pushing for the transfer.

I think the journalists need to be a little more inquisitive when told a player "has a problem" or "has a knock", but cubs no longer need the press, so difficult for them to probe or press otherwise they might lose their access.

I was going to say the terminology could be open to interpretation, and may not relate to an injury, but because the whole thing is about injuries, you'd have to surmise he has one too. *just seen the Smirking_Saint post about him getting injured in Girona

Can't see that happening. Unlike some young players, he's ready to play games right now.

Is any of this "transfer negotiation detail" actually coming from the clubs or is it just made up/assumed? I am minded of all the bollocks that was written/posted when Lavia was departing. He'd signed about 8 times with Liverpool before the actual signing with Chelsea happened.

Found his post. He said: Forest, West Ham, Fulham, Porto, Galatasary, Al-Qadsiah, Juventus, Inter, Atalanta and Monaco. Having read the Paul Pogba article on the BBC website, Monaco seems very unlikely due to overall lack of funds and desire to add a little more experience to an extremely young squad. Porto are not spending £50m. Juve spent £48m on Koopmeiners last summer. Have they given up on him already?

no one, yet. The bought Larsen outright. They have been linked with Amine Adil from Leverkusen.

and the long contract (and other sales) means SFC hold pretty much all the cards. Maybe that's why the player is now suddenly "ill".

Google has Leeds, Villa, Palace, Forest, West Ham, Juve, Athletico linked. Not sure who the other half dozen are. The £50m price tag will see a lot of those interested parties disappear. Who is realistically left?

Fair point, but I'd say the ability to go past players is a move valuable/expensive trait.

The info coming from SFC/Echo has been pretty consistent "Saints want £40-£50m for Dibling". First time I've seen them say the same about Fernandes. IDo you know who is leading the chase/made actual bids for him? I've lost track.

I don't doubt they want the move, if they didn't, nothing would be happening, but why on earth would they do that? He will lose potentially millions in lost loyalty bonus (assuming he has something in his contract to that regard) by doing so. Besides, we want the move too. If we didn't, we would have trotted out the £100m line all summer. It will all be worked out soon. It's the usual transfer game. The only difference is that Orstein appears to be on speed-dial.

Absolutely, but the "best players" can't play if they have a "knock" or are "ill".

Anyone that watched the Sunderland documentary will know how buyers get obsessed with a player and find it almost impossible to walk away. Admittedly the folks at Everton are not a complete bunch of clueless amateurs like they were at Sunderland, but still...