Nolan

Well you start at sites like this https://www.leftbackfootball.com/home/2022/11/18/kuryu-matsuki-fc-tokyos-prodigious-box-to-box-midfielder Doesn't this sound perfect for how Still plays? "Matsuki already possesses some of the essential tools to thrive in modern day European football such as his ability to regain possession in the pressing and counter-pressing phase, marking a man while using his anticipation to push up and make an interception in the opposition half or to stretch one of long legs out to make a clean tackle. In the defensive phase, he can cover space to make interceptions as his physical tools are matched by an intuition for pressing sequences and immense mobility."

They said exactly the same after Kayi Sanda joined in January. Lazy journalism in close season. The players that Southampton bought and put on loan last season were pictured in Göztepe strips and wore civvies in the Saints website pics.

A big Cruise.... But given Early doors started on a cruise liner, and P and O are offering Saints Coaches on cruises this summer, I reckon it could be on the money.

He didn't particularly fit in a Stoilov team, to be fair. He's a player that's good at high press, and quick to recover for defensive options. Arguably very good for a Still team. His year in turkey will help transition to here and Lig 1 is a very combative league so hopefully his physicality is improving.

Whatever you want to call it, It’s not dissimilat to Southampton working in Bristol for feeder academies. Just further afield.

Sport Republic owns Southampton, Göztepe, and Valenciennes. That’s one Premier League hopeful, one Turkish top-flight club, and one French side trying to climb the ladder. The idea? Joined-up football thinking across borders. Now, after Brexit, bringing in foreign players to the UK has more hoops to jump through. You need a work permit, and that’s based on a points system — players need minutes in top leagues, international caps, etc etc. Enter Göztepe. Last season they were in Turkey’s second tier — no help at all for UK permits. But this season they’ve been promoted to the Süper Lig, and suddenly they’re playing in a league that does count. That means Southampton can now loan out young talent, get them playing regularly in a competitive league, and stack up the permit points they need to eventually move to England. So why’s it only starting to help now? Simple: Göztepe had to get promoted first. Without that, the games don't count for much in the FA’s book. Göztepe missed out in the play off final in Sports Republics first year of ownership. But they got straight promotion last year, and Southampton have a proper, strategic route to develop players for future use. Kuryu Matsuki Will hopefully be the first to come through for us. But here’s the other side of it: Göztepe benefit too. They now get access to high-quality young players from Southampton’s system — lads with Premier League potential who can boost their squad, help them stay up, and push for more. It’s not just a loan system — it’s a talent upgrade, with shared incentives. And don’t sleep on Valenciennes. If they can climb up the French Leagues, the same doors open. The aim is surely to get back to Ligue 1 which carries real weight in the permit points system. Once they’re up there, Sport Republic will have another strategic hub to develop and rotate talent. So it’s not just about parking players. It’s about creating a football network that works smarter, gives each club value, and helps move players up the ladder, all within the same system.

Yep. Turkish 2nd division not a high enough quality division to add points for work permits

Worth remembering, that the pathways for player movements only were in place after Göztepe got promoted back to lig 1. In Sports Republics first year of Göztepe ownership they got to the play off final in lig 2, but didn't win that. The club model only became useful with their promotion 12 months ago.

Class this as the second as its more a higher change than before. 1/ Before Feb 25: Sports Republic: Ankersson / Kraft method didnt work with Wilcox / Whoever was leading last year. 2/After Feb 25: Spors Republic: Johannes Spors leading group recruitment and transfer.

Again the differences between this year and last year are HUGE. it is not prima facie. the directorships of the Club and the added shares in Sports Republic. Dirk Gerkens (a trusted employee of Solak over the years) being a shareholder and holding the reigns at Valenciennes. This all shows that furniture has been rearranged. Spors is implementing a clear, centralised football strategy. Šolak is now engaged at the top. He was a more passive owner, now he’s directly installed as Chairman The mistakes are being acknowledged—not repeated. Patience is still needed, but let’s not pretend nothing has changed. It absolutely has.

Moving him up from a tier 5 league to a tier 2 league to see how he goes. Minimal outlay for Saints, and could cement him in the Chilean team to ensure Work Permit requirements are met (current poistion in the national set-up with 5 internationals under his belt already helps his case)

Yes I think it was gross incompetence. That is why I'm happy that Kraft resigned from Sport Republic UK Ltd and that Dragan Solak put himself in as Chair of the Club, limiting Ankerson's role. (he's obviously not going to be able to usurp the money man, and there are more directors directly informing Solak) People with money, like Solak, don't accumulate their wealth down to luck. I'm willing to give the restructure that only started AFTER the Winter transfer window a go.

yep and the minority who seem to live in a vacuum will click the "haha" button on the post....

For F*cks sake, how many times do we have to point out the same thing. yes recruitment lost its way thats why there been all the changes in the last 6 months. For some reason some people continue to ignore what is happening behind the scenes. 15th February 2025: Johannes Spors starts work at Southampton. May 2025: Eliott Stapley and Nikola Laden joined as asst to Spors and head of international Scouting. Tim Lederer coming in to scouting team too. Recruitment lost its way because we we didnt have the right set-up in place. how about we give the new set-up at least a window and see how its going?

Romulo was a direct loan for Göztepe. They chose to fully buy him in January 25 and he has a contract until June 28. I would be surprised if he's sold at all this summer as Göztepe want to build a team around him. And any signing being contingent on coming to us would severely restrict Göztepe's draw. If they did sell him to Fulham or Anderlecht or else where, they would further cement themselves as a good option in the Turkish Lig. Ultimately benefiting the entire Sporting Group.

Put it this way, there could be an argument that Southampton spot talent, but too early. Look at Alcaraz and Danso who remain in the Premier League while we don't. Now with a good club model we both open pathways for players who might not get pathways to English, or place on loan players who may be attracted by Southampton but not necessarily Göztepe or Valenciennes. Imagine the Bristol youth model, but now stationed in France and Turkey, and getting players from world wide. It could go spectacularly wrong, or spectacularly right, but the bigger pool of players we can fish in, the better

Eligibility for Work Permits. Turkish top division is Band 2 for Work Permits Brazilian top division is Band 3 for Work Permits essentially Goztepe is being used to help get promising international players to England, but Juan's Hamstring injury has limited his playing time, which means the amount of points to get to play in England has not been reached. Note Matsuki will also be under this route. Clubs can apply to bypass the 15 points rule for two players with exceptional status. Matsuki is currently in pole position for this due to his place in the Japanese international set-up NB: This is also the answer to "What do Southampton get out of the group model?"

Juan Larios will still count as an U21 player for next season too, so there's more value in attempting to increase value during the year. My preference would be to have Welington as first place LB, with Larios as backup for the season. Allow Taylor and Manning to leave.

The most important thing to note was that he couldn't get the international points needed to get the work permit to play in England. Playing for Goztepe is a method for him that hopefully gets those points.

I would be very surprised if we went with boring stripes two years on the bounce. Especially when it's always said stripes don't sell well for the club.

just looking at Will Stills final formation for Lens' 40 victory against Monaco.... What a statement of intent. Will we be pulling this one out of the bag in 25/26?

Theyre just pretending to be something theyre not. They could easily use the "retweet"/"repost" button to put a story on their timeline, they choose to type it out again.