Chez

Why aren't Sunderland signing him? Do they feel he is not good enough for the Prem?

Makes more sense. The two clubs will have already agreed any deal before allowing him to do a medical. So it would be unlikely that the "deal" breaks down at that point unless there is an issue with the medical.

They have a squad good enough for this league, momentum and owners looking to get to the PL quickly. Back to back promotions is very feasible as we well know.

19 league goals in 31 games isn't bad. Five more in the efl cups. Brum played very much like us under Martin. Complete domination in terms of possession first, creating chances second. He's a decent player. Caused us problems two seasons ago. Brum were incredibly strong last season. The centre halves they signed were top notch. All the talk is of them signing players good enough for the PL. Under the new owners they mean business. If they get one or two of those type of players, I fancy them to win the league.

2022 summer we signed experienced pros too. Aribo, Caleta-Car and Maitland-Niles. Not marquee though. We realised we could not afford to compete in that market so went the 'buy top young talent' route instead. Made sense, but risky when your senior pros were lacking.

yes. Signed a four year deal in 2022. We are not the only side that gives players long contracts and then grows to regret it.

Seemed a very valuable squad player for them last season, but Bournemouth won't stand still. He's only got a year left of his contract, so moving him on now might make sense, but I can't imagine WBA have the budget to pay him PL wages this season (which they'd need to do)

...bet you couldn't score the blinder he got at ST Andrews though.

I don't hate any Saints players. That terminology is reserved for the likes of Heath and Bailey. That said, I never really liked Claus. I wasn't a big fan of Frannie either. There, I've said it. Claus, how can I say it, looked a bit gormless and played that way sometimes. Him and Bednarek seem very similar to me. I struggle to warm to CBs at the best of times. Yeah, I know, proper club man and all that.... I've nothing against Frannie - and I really like how he presents himself and represents the club now. He's a top guy. However, at the time, I thought he was out of his depth in the top flight and having mediocre (at best) players like him explained why we struggled year on year.

Not paying them is a breach of contract, but I suspect the players others would want, and with value, Djeidi Gassama, for example, will be paid first and so probably won't be available on a free.

Saints pay Charles his wages directly - so he wont have been impacted at all. SWFC pay us a fee equivalent to his wages. Not sure how/when that is paid, but potentially there will be a debt. As we know from our own history, the other football clubs get paid first, the other non football debts get settled afterwards.

we must see Bree/Sugawara as 'OK' otherwise RB would have been deemed 'critical'.

Seems a good price. I guess we think Sugawara will work out.

It will be interesting to see how much they and Sunderland spend in total this summer and on how many players.

Looks like Demarai Gray might be going back to Brum. I'm a long time admirer - he always seems to cut us to ribbons - but the timing (of his transfers) has never been quite right for Saints.

Ghana soccernet says Sulemana's medical is this Sunday https://ghanasoccernet.com/kamaldeen-sulemana-cuts-short-ghana-holiday-to-undergo-atalanta-medical-after-e21-5m-deal

Not sure if this was posted earlier in the week, but I see Lumley got a gig at Bristol City. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ce83m37023ko

Not necessarily. What if the contract offer was way below the level he could get elsewhere?

Went over this at the time - he did provide end product, it's just that some fans don't really understand what that means. Personally I am disappointed to see him go. Edozie and Fraser are not as good.

We were told we could sign three players without having to sell and then if players leave we can potentially sign others.

another winger `fails' at Saints.

If he hasn't got a relegation release clause in his contract, then any angst (and there won't be) should be put at his agent's door. Can't see him going to Turkey. Bournemouth need a keeper.

Emegha signed for Strasbourg for quite a decent sum £11m. They'd probably want double what they spent, which might be an issue. Right age and profile. I know jack about Edon Zhegorova other than he missed most of last season through injury. I think Santos was similar. Didn't he do his cruciate? Seem to recall Lamine Camara was mentioned on a transfer thread last season or the season before? Central midfielder with one really great long range goal on his youtube video and a shed load of sliding tackles.

If Ramsdale sees his wages cut by 40% (assuming he has a contract reduction similar to other Saints players), then if we loan him out , he will only get paid (by us) that much lower amount. I would imagine he'd much prefer to continue to get the full 100% amount, so unless the PL agrees to pay more (thus matching his wages from last season), he might push for transfer that would probably ensure the PL size wage.

I don't think championship sides sign players that, on paper, are good enough for the Prem. If they were "good enough", that's probably where they would plying their trade. That means you either sign players on loan that can't get in a PL team, like we did with Brooks, or sign players we think/hope can make the step up. I don't think we will be spending £15m on "championship players" like Sargent or £10m on Maja to get us up fully expecting they won't cut the mustard in the PL. We will invest in players that we feel can get us up and then compete in the league above. You could argue that we already have the tried and trusted "championshp" players like Edwards, Charles, Downes, Armstrong etc. In the end, the club just need to sign the very best they can. The league we are in (and budget available) will dictate that.