CSA96

Potentially interesting nuance to consider - Ché Adams and Cameron Archer both have the same agency representing them. They will be more than aware of the club's stance of 'Ché can't leave unless we can get one of our preferred replacements in' - and it might give them a chance to do a second deal. Now whether Archer is on that list of preferred replacements is another thing, but you would assume from his profile that he very much fits with what Saints and Martin like.

Martin was delighted the club were able to complete the move and he is excited about the qualities Downes will add. "He's a brilliant character, he's a winner, someone who's aggressive and a brilliant athlete too,” he said. “We've got a great relationship, myself, Gilly, him and the rest of the staff, so he knows what he's coming into and that will speed him up, because he knows the work and he's done it before. “He's a real winner, a brilliant teammate and someone who's got a lot of quality on the ball, which is obviously why West Ham took him to the Premier League and I think he feels really hungry to get playing football again because he hasn't played as much as he would have liked in the last year. “So he has hunger, he has character, he has a lot of talent and he has a lot of physicality as well. “He was a massive favourite with the players, the staff and the fans at Swansea and I'm sure he'll be the same here.”

I'm only having luck when it's a Twitter URL and I am posting from desktop by copy and paste.

“It’s been a tough week, struggling with illness a little bit, but it feels good to finally be here, to get it over the line, and I’m just excited to get going,” he said. “I was hoping to be involved on the weekend. Long story short, I had a bit of dodgy food off my own back – I’m not going to blame the missus. I got food poisoning, felt like I was on my deathbed, lost a lot of weight, so it’s not ideal, but it is what it is. I’m over it now, we live and we learn, I won’t be eating raw chicken liver ever again!” “That was the best year I’ve had in my career,” Downes said of his Swansea spell. “The way we played suited me down to a tee and I just found I slotted right in. I loved coming in every day – I think that’s a big thing. “It’s a good watch, I’m sure all the fans are happy with it. It’s a great style of play – what team doesn’t want to dominate the ball like Man City? I think every team wants to be like that. “I feel like I’m an all-round type of player. I suppose I like to do a bit of everything – I like to defend, pass the ball, win the ball back, dribble with it, so a bit of everything really. “I spoke many times with the West Ham gaffer and I came to the conclusion I wanted to play week in, week out. Obviously I know West Ham have signed a lot of midfielders, so I knew that would be tough, but I think a lot of things just appealed to me here. “The ambition for the club is obviously to get promoted, to get back in the Premier League, and that enticed me a lot. You look at the squad we’ve got here, I think we’ve got a very, very good chance of that, so it’s looking good.”

Official.

Boehly needs to get his hands in his pockets if he's going to build a side that can compete with West Ham

Ché Adams is not turning down a 4yr/5yr contract on PL terms (for now, anyway) when he's 27 and has 1yr left on his current deal (which has fallen by 40% due to relegation). And nor should he be.

Done deal, agreed tonight. £53m guaranteed with £5m bonuses. Saints give permission for Chelsea medical to be tomorrow. https://x.com/david_ornstein/status/1691549210057863429?s=46&t=f0hgNyKSvvOD5qjGLJhsXQ

https://x.com/jacobsteinberg/status/1691010818349928448?s=46&t=f0hgNyKSvvOD5qjGLJhsXQ

Must be a deep fake. FarehamSaintJames told us it wouldn’t happen

I actually quite like it too, sue me

Based off the state of play today and all we know at this point - with the huge caveat that people are liable to come/go - I'd go with: Bazunu Walker-Peters Bednarek Stephens Manning Downes Charles Tella Alcaraz A. Armstrong Adams

Leeds losing Jack Harrison to Everton.

Oh, interesting. I’m one of those ‘some people’ who is actually pretty confident we’ll spend another £20m-£30m on players between now and September. I think we add 4-5 more players, Downes inc, but I think two could be loans.

Does JWP not get PL interest and just end up playing for Saints in the Championship in this dreamworld you talk of?

Presser now on the club YT channel.

Yep, remember walking away from St. Mary's and we'd just moved up to 9th (iirc) and everything seemed great... never mind.

Two more top players at this level leaving the league.

Because Moyes is just saving face publicly because he knows how the fans feel about it but ultimately, if we’re digging our heels in on Downes in order for them to get JWP, they have to play ball.