goodymatt

KWP still has potential to realise. He still has 3 years left on his contract. I would wager he will be worth more this time next year and is worth keeping hold of for that reason and also because he’s our 2nd best player, playing in a position where his current competition is seriously injured. It looks like the City academy RB is coming in on loan but we just cannot afford to sell an asset that still has growth to realise in the same position we have a major injury in. I see plenty of examples where players who haven’t proven it in the PL yet, like Neco Williams, end up going for £20m from big club academies. The AWB and White examples show KWP is closer to £40m than £20m. Agree he’s only worth what clubs are willing to pay, but £15m reported by Alan Nixon is Matt Targett back up FB pricing. Not England international, one of our best players pricing. I really hope we keep him for another season, when we may need to sell to realise his value.

I think Everton made a move to sign him at the end of the window last summer too? With Tino’s serious injury, 3 years left on his deal. Surely there’s no chance we would entertain selling him? Along with Prowsey he’s our best player for me.

Interesting re the training ground locations, good detective work! Opinion does seem split on whether Broja is the best use of £30m. Maybe it’s the Saints fan pessimism in me but I just don’t see us signing him permanently, unfortunately.

Agreed. They will also pay more wages. The only selling points we have are that we are closer to home than Everton and Sandcastle (not WHU though). Tino is one of his best mates and maybe it’s better the devil you know from his perspective. We have an existing relationship with him (unless rumours of Ralph issues are true), although Frank may also? His family seemed to be keen on him moving to us, according to Ralph. Perhaps the biggest selling point is that we are far more likely to sell to a top 6 team when he’s proven he’s ready for them than the other 3. In that time with Sandcastle have got there themselves? Saints position as a stepping stone club and now a team for the best academy products is a great fit. I’d be both surprised and very impressed if SR were to spend such a fee. Right position and player type to do so though, think he would make us some money. Just don’t see us spending that money based on our current perceived budget. Would love him here permanently!

Time will tell if our new signings are more Tino/Broja than Brewster/Solanke/Ibe. Transfer fees have increased since then though, we are paying £10-12m initial fees for these new youngsters and I’d expect any add ons would kick in if they are doing the business for us. Neco at Liverpool does seem overpriced and with the FBs we have, like other posters, I’m glad we haven’t signed him. You’d also hope Joe Shields inside track on these City youngsters mitigates the risk somewhat. I’d assume he’s had a big say, despite not yet being announced.

Maybe a result of the season being brought forward to accommodate the World Cup? Pre season fixture dates are as follows: SK Austria Klagenfurt (a) - July 18 Watford (at Wealdstone) - July 23 AS Monaco (h) - July 27 Villarreal (h) - July 30 It’ll soon be 6th August away at Spurs.

Would makes sense, shame we won’t get to play them but still a competitive fixture list for pre-season compared to previous years.

So after the Austria trip we are playing Watford, Monaco, Villarreal and Leipzig (TBC) - decent tests!

Zero football brain might be a little harsh, but agree with his decision making being too slow to be a decent PL starter for us. We have seen flashes, against big teams even, where he’s not had time to think and scored a decent goal. City and Liverpool come to mind. Agree that he has looked class against championship opposition, maybe we should keep him as an insurance policy in case we do get relegated… Jokes aside, that is probably the level of player we can afford to have on our bench. So many times though, we’ve been chasing games or need to break through a low block and he just can’t figure out the next move. We are desperate for a player in those number 10 positions that can do that, is Aribo the answer?

Given the game time we afforded Broja, it will be very disappointing if he goes to someone like Everton (I know they are a ‘bigger’ club, but they are a mess atm). It’s a shame we weren’t able to take advantage in January and sign him up. I’m sure the £15m we spent on Armstrong would have been better spent on Broja but he was a bit of a unknown risk comparatively at the time. it’s good to see us snapping up the top talents from City’s academy now to avoid history repeating. Our new owners are really supporting this model and if (big if) these players can hit the ground running like Tino/Broja, we will be in for a very exciting season.

Redmond is a frustrating player, he’s clearly very talented but confidence seems to massively affect his performances. Technical ability wise he’s got it. You do wonder, as mentioned above, if the quality of our team has hindered his progress over the years (leading to dips in confidence) but I think his issues are not down to his ability. On the rare occasion he’s on it, he looks very good. His dribbling ability and acceleration is better than most in our squad. Hasn’t really fulfilled his potential and has left me wanting more from him. Perhaps a change would do him good, but we would struggle to get a squad player in of his ability to replace him.

It’s nice to have a Saints fan covering us and a journalist that goes deep into the tactical aspects to give us more that the usual stuff from elsewhere. Dan was good enough but didn’t delve into tactical aspects the same way Carl and Jacob do. Always found it interesting that Dan, who came from Portsmouth, just happened to not support any team… guess there’s not much worth supporting round there? 😉😇

This looks like a bargain at £6m, if we end up paying £10m he’s been a success. Sounds like his numbers are a little low but if he’s played the majority of games at CM/DM then what can you expect. Prowsey had great numbers from there and we value him at £75m! On the surface it’s a good value transfer with welcome flexibility.

Sky Sports saying Everton have approached Chelsea about signing Broja.

New one for me too, anyone know anything about this guy?

Wonder how much game time he gets now Lavia is coming in? He has shown glimpses but has also had some awful games for us. Sangare was the one unfortunately.

Close up of the new home kit from the megastore. I actually quite like the new away, quite bold but think it will be a grower. Yellows to return next season hopefully.

Liverpool have done quite well with relegated players. Wijnaldum, Shaquiri and Robertson come to mind.

Looks like a £10m fee according to TalkSport

Newcastle saying they opted for Pope ahead of Henderson and Bazunu as it was seen as better value for money with regards to their financial fair play restrictions. Not sure how much residual value Pope will have, but 3 keepers we’ve talked about a lot this summer. Will be interesting to find out if we made the best call this season.

Sounds like we have a good chance of bringing in Delap then. That would be our Broja replacement sorted, the question is how good is Delap?