Chez

I guess it depends on what you think of Redmond and Dejenpo (and to a lessor degree Vokes).

thought signing injured players was our speciality? 😉 No reason he won't be fit by January.

cant see anything on the website except the old interview about wanting 3 platers in. They report the fee as £12m too, but guess they just got that from the French reports rather than their own sources. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11700/12087775/ibrahima-diallo-southampton-agree-12m-deal-for-stade-brestois-midfielder

I guess its just as well my HCDAJFU was not on our radar, as Leeds' deal for Cuisance fell apart https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54387920 but we should keep a close eye on him, as might be a smart move in January. Great left foot and a Tadic-like eye for a pass.

I know it's bobins in todays transfer market, but with the financial difficulties right now, that fee feels a tad steep. I guess the Prem have to pay a premium.

the tracked for years thing always sounds a stretch to me. I have no doubt a lot of the players we are linked to in the press (aided no doubt by agents who will find out what scouts fro what clubs come to games) are indeed players we have watched, but just how big is our European scouting network?

Absolutely. I thought McTominay was extremely highly rated at Manure and only injury kept him out of the first 11 last season? I'd of thought Chelsea would be looking for transfer fee for RLC not a loan.

I thought I read comments posted on here from someone at Saints, the manager even, that basically said he ain't ready for Prem football yet - doesn't have the legs or the defensive facets required.

not directly from UK. If he was coming from some places in the EU he'd just have to take a test. Only if he came from Romania, Brazil...would he need to isolate for 14 days.

Palace played him off the striker, so not sure he is going to play next to JWP, unless there is someone behind them? I'd of thought RLC career at Chelsea was done. I am guessing everyone wants him as a cheap loan, but Chelsea want someone to step up with a transfer payment - hence no movement as yet.

we haven't tried to sign all the players we have been linked with.

how do Le Telegramme get that information? Agent fed story IMO.

We didn't sign players early to boost season ticket sales. We signed players to fill voids and have not filled the last void (CM) because we were gazzumped by Juve and then who nows after that. Can't blame club for who we are linked to.

he doesn't look like the dominating (do everything) central midfielder we are after to me. Good, but not good enough perhaps?

interesting that my evaluations of Sangarre and Diallo based on a three minute youtube highlights videos match their stats. Maybe not terribly difficult, but does show it is possible to learn something from those videos if you are hypercritical. Veerman stats look decent. I watched two videos of him. The first video I totally discounted him, because the opponents looked woeful. Zero pressure on the ball etc. allowing him years to make decisions/pick a pass. Impossible to say if he was good enough or not. The second showed games that were much faster and he looked strong offensively and physically - both born out in those stats. Interesting that we are linked to such very different types.Maybe we are after two?

2011–2015 Estudiantes 118 (28) 2015–2016 Monaco B 1 (0) 2015–2018 Monaco 65 (15) Were there? Interesting to look back at that thread. Personally, I looked at his wikipedia page at the time and the goals to games ratio made me very concerned. Obviously you get your James Beattie's that take a while before becoming prolific, but you don't break your transfer record on the chance he `might' come good. You spend it on a goalscorer, with a decent record in a lessor league.

Hoedt and Lemina signed five year deals, I think, so he might be with us until 2022, unless it all goes well with their loans...

scrub that, fee now appears to be £9m. This is in our price range, we have previous dealings for Bayern, we need midfield creativity...

it suggests we will hold out for a loan until the window closes and if nothing happens we will make some sort of agreement with him. It also suggests our loan demands have put a few off. I wonder what terms he will agree to? 75% of his wages for the final 11 months of his contract? If thats the case, then it means we can't even get someone to pay more than 25% of his wages. Now clubs know we will pay him off, they will just wait for that to happen.

some on here would take Neil Shipperley.

he was bloody amazing against us a couple of seasons ago at SMS. Best player on the pitch by a country mile. Perhaps that was as good as it got?

looks like he can dribble and forge into the open space which Hoj wasn't great at. Not sure I saw much in the way of through balls and shooting. Whether he gives the ball away as often as Hoj does, I doubt it.

I think hen you watch these videos, which are to make them look as good as possible, you have to be hypercritical and note what is not being shown as much as what is. He isn't a powerhouse in the air, is one footed, doesn't have a killer pass and offers little going forward...possibly.

Leeds agree a £20m fee for Michael Cuisance. I like the look of him a lot. Not a holding midfielder we need, but technically really good.

looks like he covers the ground well, a decent athlete, puts his foot in, and will mop a lot of stuff up. He looks very comfortable on the ball, and more than happy to dribble the ball. Not much in the way of flair or array of passing in that video. Nor heading ability. Looks like he can a job though. Not every job, but a job.