Chez

21 years old with a better than one in two goal scoring record. Nice. I have no idea how good this guy is, but at least he has some kind of track record for putting the ball in the onion bag. That is exactly the sort of stats I'd expect to see when we break our transfer record for a striker, not some 26 year old fella that has scored a goal every 4.5 games.

he looked as dodgy as ever. I shudder at the thought of a him and Vestergaard pairing. Carthorse slow...

having a five man defence makes it ****ing easy if you ask me, but quite simply neither our back four or nor our holding midflelders were good enough to go toe to toe with opponents. Not sure its much better now either.

dare I say it, that was what Sunderland fans were saying the summer before their relegating season. Ducked a bullet then failed to reload correctly. Have we really found any ammunition this summer?

do you see a dominating centre back in there somewhere? Would be nice if there was otherwise we will have the same old problems and need to hide him and others in a very restricting five man defence.

Higgins found guilty on one count of indecently assaulting a young trainee, not guilty of another and no verdicts on 48 other counts https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-44688435

Quite a lot of fans on here have been reluctant to accept that we pay massive massive wages. If the players are worth it you can live with it, but they aren't. That new contract for Forster was one the most stupid decision in living history though. He had had a pretty poor season yet we chose to extend his deal. Utter madness and one that takes a long time and money to recover from.

its not easy finding buyers for unwanted gifts if those items are shoddy. Trialling before buying makes a lot of sense and might be something we ought to consider assuming we have learnt from the Toby situation.

Agreed. He wont go this season. I think other teams will be a bit like our fan base - see the talent, but also aware that he has good and bad games. I think they'd need to see more consistency before they put in a large bid. And they'd need to, because I suspect our management can see that he is a real talent and with a decent season will be worth £50-60m. Also, it feels too late in the day, unless of course there have been extensive VVD type discussions and video presentations going on all summer.

Was very disappointed we did not sign him back in the day. That amazing second half display away at Orient showed what a threat he was. Power, pace and headed goals. What's not to like, apart from lots of little injuries?

the squad maybe bloated, and that needs sorting, but having one right back of reasonable quality is not sufficient. We were at our best when we had Clyne and Chambers at the club. We must strive for those heights again, not settle for mediocre. As I have said, if Valery can genuinely challenge Cedric for his place then we don't need to enter the market, but if not then we must consider it. As for a club of our size, I thought we had the 20th biggest turnover of any club worldwide? is that not sufficient to justify having two right backs? Not sure why you re so concerned with the happiness of Cedric. If he is unhappy at being a reserve he can fight for his place or **** off. He's here to serve the club. The club is not here to pay him fortune and keep him sweet.

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/pompey/portsmouth-born-mason-mount-signs-for-derby-county-1-8570516 Brilliant. From Pompey, gave them a look, went elsewhere, yet the Skate news still think it worthy of a story

looks a lot thinner. Maybe he has knuckled down over the last month.

Why can't we sign someone better than Cedric? He's decent, but he has several weaknesses not least strength and ability in the air - both still important. if we manage to sign someone better than Cedric (that is a big if) and he becomes a reserve so be it. Middling teams signing squad players is folly. Every signing should be equal or better than we have or at least has the potential to become better.

Agreed. He had some poor games, which he must hold his hand up to, but the massive lack of talent in front of him (in the final third) and had him holding the ball far too long waiting for them to show for him.

Mitrovic's finishing at Newcastle has been poor. He looked a handful during the world cup, but he didn't change my mind about his finishing. Is that anyone better we can attract with Premiership wages?

£8m for a rapidly ageing Fonte was fair enough IMO as was the £15m for no where near as good as he was Rodriguez.

in the current market that's hard to disagree with.

Hell yes. At his best last season he was superb. At his worst he disappeared in games and on the odd high profile occasion he got caught in possession leading directly to goals. He should not take all the blame for that. He was not helped by team mates offering nothing. I'm excited to see what he does this season. Hopefully consistently brilliant which will have the top six swarming.

take Forster out of that equation somehow and it becomes quite a vibrant list of young talent. Keeper has been an especially problematic area for Saints in terms of developing talent (through academy or buying very young) so clearly they are giving it some focus.

looks like he is going to just see his highly paid contract out at United. Gives him an extra year to get into shape. What a waste of talent.

Cedric gets injured and we have stop gaps. Signings don't have to be average. Club found Cedric and can sign another, maybe better right back. Do that and the first team improves and we have more chance of winning games. If Valery is good enough to start pushing Cedric then no worries...

Like the sound of that. is he regarded as highly as, dare I say it, Bale/Shaw/Bridge or more along the lines of Targett/McQueen?

amen.

I've seen Mousa Dembele linked with non-premiership clubs like Besiktas (who have to pre-qualify for Europa league) this week and makes me wonder how much he will want paying to leave Spurs? Probably too much, otherwise he's simply sign a new deal with them. Putting that to one side, although into the latter part of his career, I thought he was phenomenal last season. That midfield area is till as important as ever and as much as I like Romeu, Lemina and Hoj at their best, personally I think we lack the height, strength and domination Dembele offers. Total pipe dream I know, but it's an internet forum. so I'm just putting it out there.