SNSUN

According to SSN, Barcelona have set Alcacer's asking price at £27 million. Leicester and Everton interested - that's a bit out of our price range I reckon. SPORT in Spain reckon he's rejected Watford and another club is in for him. https://www.sport-english.com/en/news/barca/barcelona-striker-paco-alcacer-studying-a-premier-league-offer-6966972 Also Baj, what's with the full stop announcement at the top of the main page?

Back in '94 I when I was 13, we beat Norwich 5-4 with Monkou getting the winner in injury time. I was watching the scores increase on Ceefax and got excited so rang TeamTalk to listen to the last 10 minutes of commentary using my parent's landline. Worth every penny of course with Monkou's winner, but I got a bit of a rollocking when the bill came through... On topic, with Targett I do think we'd sell if an offer of £15 million+ came in, however it does seem the club are keen to keep hold of him. With McQueen also in the squad, if the money was right, I'd reluctantly sell Targett if it meant strengthening our attack, which right now is the area that concerns me most. If Hughes plans on playing wing backs, Bertrand and McQueen would do a job there, but I'm not sure Targett has the pace from what I've seen of him. It's an area that could be strengthened.

—————————————McCarthy—————————————- ————-Bednarek————Vestergaard————Hoedt————— JWP—————Romeu———-Lemina—————-Bertrand———- ————Armstrong———————————-Gabbiadini————— ———————————Austin————————————————— Yeah it’s crap. More attacking midfielders and strikers please Sparky!

We have five centre backs. Surely there are two amongst them that are half decent enough if we have to resort to a 4 at the back system. We also have 2 decent keepers at long last fighting to be first choice. I see enough defensively for us not to have a problem, so long as Cedric doesn't get a season ending injury. Attack worries me more. The same strikers we limped to 37 goals with in the league last season, no Tadic and really only Redmond and Sims backing up Elyounoussi and Armstrong. Work is needed here in the next fortnight. I agree with Egg though, we lack a dominant Wanyamaesque defensive midfielder too.

I'm very much looking forward to it. We have a trimmed down squad without the uncommitted Boufal, the wastes of wages Carrillo and Clasie (and soon you would expect Forster), and we have made signings that on paper look decent. We needed a dominant centre back and have signed a giant, we have needed strength in the goalkeeping department and have signed one of the top young prospects in the country, and we have added some dynamism and creativity to midfield. Granted we sold Tadic which is a shame but he rarely turned up every game anyway. Additionally, so far, we've held on "jewels" like Cedric, Bertrand, Lemina and Gabbiadini. But mostly I'm looking forward to actually having a manager who seems to care about the club and isn't prepared to take any crap. We also have a very winnable first game against Burnley, and if we make a positive start to the season we could even be high up in the table come October. The transfer window isn't over either, I reckon we will see another player or two coming in yet. Keep the negativity at bay until later in the season if it's needed, for now I'm happy and positive that the season is around the corner!

Sims has had some good games for us, and we're not exactly blessed with strength in the attacking midfield department, so I would hope we would keep hold of him - in fact I'd hope we'd keep him even if we do sign another attacking player. Additionally he doesn't count towards a place in the 25 man squad so is a decent option to have around. If this move were to happen, then I can only assume we will be bringing in another attacking midfielder/winger, as Elyounoussi and Redmond alone are not nearly enough.

Still a couple more to go, Forster for one, Gallagher appears to be up for sale with suitors, Targett has suitors although we remain solid on our stance of not selling him, rumours surrounding Lemina too - if anything I think we are going to have a very interesting last week of the window, and may even be busy on deadline day for a change. There are enough rumours going around for me to think there isn't going to be any more incomings, not to mention we have enough quality to start the season with anyway.

I'll stick my neck out and say that we won't finish below Palace. I'd take 12th though, so long as we've learned our lessons from the previous two seasons and continue to look to strengthen to get us back into the top 8/10. As has been said on other threads, we are still 2/3 signings away from being half decent - we need to be as strong through the squad outfield as we currently are in the Goalkeeping department. Outside the top 6, there are Everton, Leicester, and probably West Ham this season, and maybe even Wolves will feel like that's where they want to be with the money they're spending. It would be good to at least think of ourselves as falling into that category again.

Waste of money though they have been, I'm encouraged by the current management shipping out the "deadwood" this summer, not what we should find ourselves in this rather expensive position in the first place. Clasie leaving on loan on top of Boufal and Carrillo at least shows that we're not sitting on the flops, but actively trying to free up some wages. IMO the 25 man squad will look like this after some more outs: (Brackets players are under 21) GK: McCarthy, Gunn, (Lewis) RB: Cedric, Reed LB: Bertrand, Targett/McQueen CB: Yoshida, Vestergaard, Stephens, Bednarek, Hoedt CM: Romeu, Hojbjerg, Lemina, JWP, Davis AM: Elyounoussi, Redmond, Armstrong (Sims) STR: Gabbiadini, Austin, Long OUTS: Gallagher (whether we like it or not, looks like he's up for sale), Targett or McQueen (I still think we will keep Targett and sell/loan McQueen), Hesketh, Forster (if we can), Clasie (now gone), Boufal (Now gone), Carrillo (Now gone). That leaves a 22 man squad giving us three extra places for transfers in if that is accurate - and I still hope we sign another attacking midfielder/winger type and a striker, with either another CB or RB as the third (Or even a third keeper in the ilk of Taylor). = I'd also be looking to ship out Davis and Long in the long term. Is that how other's see it? We're still light in attacking areas I think. Interesting 2 and a bit weeks to come...

The BBC website gave Hoedt MOTM against Swansea second to last game of the season. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/43353971 Fingers crossed he comes good. Looking forward to see if Vestergaard fills him with confidence.

Good. Pione Sisto in exchange please

What we don't want is to get to that period between our transfer window closing and the European window closing, only for, say, Gabbiadini to then say he wants out back to Italy, meaning we either keep an unhappy player or have to sell him and find ourselves and injury away from using Long. That's why I'm torn with the early closing of our window. Yes, it means, say, Lemina can have a great few games and other clubs can't touch him until January, but on the other hand foreign clubs can still unsettle our players.

Posted on Foxestalk. Still 4 teams yet to sign anyone! We've spent decent money so far, top 10 here we come!

McCarthy, Gunn, Lewis/Rose Cedric, Stephens, Bednarek, Yoshida, Hoedt, Vestergaard, Bertrand, Targett Armstrong, Elyounoussi, Redmond, Romeu, Hojbjerg, Lemina, Ward-Prowse, Davis, Hesketh, Reed Austin, Gabbiadini, Long, Gallagher Sims is 21, Forster, McQueen and Clasie sold/loaned out. One question mark is whether our 3rd keeper will be 23 year old Rose who takes up a squad place, or 20 year old Lewis who doesn't and leaves a space free for another outfield player, or whether we bring another old Pro keeper in. Personally I'd also sell Long and Davis and loan out Hesketh, bringing in a striker, attacking midfielder and another centre back but then I'm not the manager! I do worry about our creativity though. Armstrong and Elyounoussi appear to be good acquisions in this field but I worry it's not enough, looking at who we have backing them up...

Agree with the majority, we have enough versatility in the squad to cover a right wing back position (Reed if he stays, Stephens, even JWP and Redmond have been mooted of late) and Valery if we want to trust the youth, assuming Cedric gets injured. Crystal Palace played Wan-Bissaka from their youth academy at the tail end of last season and he did very well against top 6 teams - there's no reason why Valery, who has looked good on the odd occasion I've seen him play, can't do a job if needed.

Lol@Lovren. This could be a pasting here, France have their tail up and don’t have to worry about protecting the lead.

Liverpool must be smoking crack if they think they will get £20 million for Ings. He’s got worse knees and a worse scoring record than £4million Austin. Bung them £3million and tell them to spend it on new bench cushions for their new substitute Shaqiri. Don’t get me wrong, I think Ings is half decent when fully fit, I just think he’ll spend time keeping Chaz company on the physio table, leaving us with Gabbiadini, Long and Gallagher to score the goals. ( And that’s if we keep all 3.) I’d rather see that money spent on another attacking midfielder in an area we’re (imo) short on.

Won 3 games (Tunisia just, a poor Panama and a blunt-in-attack Sweden), lost 3 games (Belgium twice and Croatia aet) and drew once against Columbia. (Winning on penalties.) Ok that’s being petty but we’ve had a 50% win ratio and come 4th. It’s been great for England to do well this tournament and see the country somewhat united behind it, and it’s been good for the economy, but let’s be honest, there’s a long way to go to make this team good enough to win trophies. There have been good points to it, some players cementing their positions like Trippier, Pickford, Stones, Maguire, Kane and I have more faith in Southgate than I did, but we definitely got lucky with the group and the lay of fixtures. Enjoyed the tournament though despite my newborn little girl taking up my entire time through it but I’m looking forward to getting back to domestic matters.

Personally I think we are 3 players short, another centre back (if we plan on playing 3 centre backs, as Yoshida and Stephens are versatile), another attacking midfield player or winger, and a striker. We can do without the extra centre back but are only two injuries away from a Stephens-Bednarek-Hoedt situation which I would like to see rectified. Even if we plan on using Sims and Hesketh this season, we need another attacking midfielder. I worry about our fire power, although despite our strikers not scoring many between them, I’m more confident they’ll score a few more with decent supply. Outs should be: Boufal, Clasie, Forster, and I suspect McQueen (keeping Targett) and Gallagher (though I’d prefer Long) will be sold. Davis is a possibility but I’d worry we’d then need another Central midfielder. Still work to be done but if Hughes is fairly happy with the squad then in him we trust. If we can get improved performances out of Hoedt, Lemina and Gabbiadini, that’ll be like strengthening the backbone without spending any money!

Depending on the outs, the 3421 formation and cover could look like this: McCarthy/Gunn Yoshida/Stephens, Vestergaard/Bednarek, Hoedt/Jones (or new/Bertrand) Cedric/Reed, Lemina/JWP, Romeu/Hojbjerg, Bertrand/Targett Elyounoussi/Armstrong, Redmond/Sims Gabbiadini/Austin leaving: Lewis, Rose, McQueen, Davis, Hesketh, Long, Gallagher, Valery and Flannigan as back up/squad players, expecting Boufal, Forster and Clasie to leave. IMO we should still bring another centre back in, and class Stephens as versatile squad filler or replaceable, bring in another first choice attacking midfielder for competition, and sell Long and bring in a first choice striker, with Gabbiadini classed as versatile to the attacking midfield positions. I also think there will be a big player that wants out, but that’s the nervous Saints fan in me.

Fulham sign Seri. Jealous of that signing.

I'm not normally impatient but I'm still waiting for this to be hijacked at the 11th hour... I think this is a cracking signing if we complete it. Genuine competition for McCarthy who did very well last season coming in and assisting with survival, did very well at Norwich last season. I think he'll be courted by huge clubs in the next couple of years, but for now it strengthens a position which we are always normally weak in. More of the same please Saints... Shame to see Forster lose confidence, (irrespective of how poor he is, it's obvious his confidence is shot), didn't we once have another keeper who did he same? Might've been Ian Andrews. Still I hope we can ship him out soon enough.

Agree with most of this. Adding Gunn to those 3 if the reports are true, then so far we have done some good business. We’ve started by signing a couple of attacking players, then in Vestergaard and Gunn it looks like we’re trying to strengthen the spine. That’s why I’m glad Hughes stayed on, as he had a couple of months to see the flaws in the squad, over a manager we’d have just appointed. We did need refreshing with a rebuild this summer, and I still think we are short in attacking midfield and up front, so more work needs to be done there, and as per every summer there will be a player that wants to leave shortly before the end of the window. (Bertrand, Cédric, Gabz, Lemina are the front runners here IMO but I hope they all stay as they are vital to doing better than we did last season). There should also be more players being shipped out to make some space: Davis has been loyal and decent, but should be allowed to move on, Boufal will obviously go, and I expect one of Targett or McQueen to leave. I don’t think we will bring in a third choice keeper unless there is space in the squad, nor do I think there will be a back up right back brought in (unless it is a very young talent, we were linked with one earlier in the window but I forgot his name) as Reed can play there.

Gallagher to Sheffield United when we sign Ings from Liverpool according to reports... I'd keep Gallagher as 4th choice personally but there we go...

I really want Sterling to be as good as he is for City, but he’s had me saying “oh for ****s sake” a lot so far... England need to keep their heads. Kane been very good so far.