tajjuk

We seem to being linked with a lot of centre-mids though (wilshere, armstrong, haidara, mooy), that article suggests Mooy is an alternative to Maddison, so a no.10 type player but I'd more say he as was more of deeper lying playmaker type. Similar in fact to Wilshere. And Haidara by the descriptions of how he plays. Seems we are looking for a centre-mid playmaker type player. We don't need a RB, Pied played 6 games for us in two years. Stephens can play right back, Yoshida can fill there and I'd rather have a youngster on the bench to fill in than spending money on a guy who is going to be back up. We also have only been linked with one striker, Keinan Davis from Villa, all the other links have been for attacking mids, centre mids, centre-backs and wide players. We are also not going to bring in 8 players, unless several go. I reckon they are realistically looking to get in a CB, CM/AM and wide player, + maybe another wide player if both Boufal and Tadic leave. 4 in I reckon.

Glad it wasn't just me.

I remember him being solid when they were in the PL, should be a good signing, still young for a centre-back and English. £25 million will be too much, but sub £20 million would be a good deal I reckon, similar to what Leicester paid for Maguire. I am presuming (if this is true) that we have the intention of playing 3 at the back, considering the emergence of Bednerak.

Spot on, I can certainly see why he might want to go. Amsterdam is a nice city, Ajax are a very good club, they should be playing Champions League football next year and he has in the next 3-4 years a good chance of winning some titles. To me it looks like a player is moving for non-financial reasons for once, not sure how this is the club pushing him out. Of course it's hope, these things take time, clubs and players change their minds.

Football is just football, it is not 'life and death' at all. If Southampton FC did not exist tomorrow we'd all just get on with our lives. Some people would have lost their jobs, that would be the saddest part but I'd still watch, play and generally enjoy the sport. Shares go up and down, people speculating and scare mongering have no more information than any of us. If the club is in trouble it's in trouble (though I struggle to see how any PL club can get into much trouble these days with the money being thrown around) but there are not much signs of it from what I can see. We apparently agreed terms last week to break our record transfer and yet here we are in the middle of June and people are predicting relegation and bankruptcy, it's laughable. People need to chill, it's June, the World Cup is on, the sun is out, Southampton FC are still here and seem to be doing fine, go out and enjoy life. Fret and protest etc. when there are actual problems not imagined or speculated ones. Some clubs have foreign owners tearing their clubs apart trying to change everything, here we are with one that basically has kept the status quo and people are losing their sh*t.

Those were basically our best players at the top of their games at the time (aside VVD's last 6 months which were pointless), Tadic is IMO neither, aside an ok last 4-5 games the last two years he has been poor and has been IMO getting in the team on reputation rather than form. He is replaceable because he has not been that good, like I said in the last page his goal record is 1 in 7 for a player that has consistently started in attacking positions and for a team that until this year was top 6-8.

IIRC Tadic last season and maybe even the season before was up there as the guy who missed the most 'expected goals' basically he fluffed most chances that came his way, so those defending him saying it's manager misuse, that does not excuse his misses. He is a forward basically, that has either played in AML/AMR or AMC type positions and has 23 goals for us in 162. 1 in 7 basically, only marginally better than Redmon's goal record for us and he probably has far less starts. I am really not that bothered, we can do better and his value is only going to drop. We should however be looking at buying some Ajax players instead and offering Tadic as part of the deal. Like De Ligt, Dolberg, Van de Beek, Neres and Ziyech.

Fair enough, different sort of player by the sounds of it, but promising sounding none the less. That Moses Simon seems to be linked to Liverpool. He sounds similar to descriptions I have heard about Luan, who I have thought is a player we should get for years, we need someone with that sort of playmaker quality. It's also why I'd like Wilshere, he's one of those players who can take a game by the scruff of the neck and really influence a game, especially in those turgid games where it all goes a bit slow and not much happens. Not sure we have that, aside maybe Lemina our midfielders are all quite safe and predictable sort of players, all very tidy and technical but not much creativity or goals there.

Which suggests he wants to leave. £15 million for a 29 year old, that wants to leave and has been (IMO) average at best for the last two years is a solid deal. However, as far as I can tell the whole article seems to be based on Ajax's directors having being spotted coming back on a flight from Southampton. So based on that it could have been about anything. Could be another player, could be them selling to us, could be some sort of link between Ajax and Southampton, who knows. Looking at it from his perspective I can see why he might want to leave. He's slogged it out here for 4 seasons, the last two have been fairly poor, no move to a bigger club looks on the cards. Ajax are huge club, he'll more likely win some stuff, his weekly day job will be fairly easy as they win most games against poor opposition but he'll get highlights of playing in Europe and Amsterdam is a nice place to live.

We could be getting Ziyech in the other direction, no one really knows, these rumours are often misleading and very often flat out wrong. Off loading Tadic could free up wages to buy an upgrade that will improve us, maybe he wants guarantees of being first choice, maybe he wants to leave etc. we don't really know. Had this rumour come in January I doubt many people would have been that fussed.

He's been decidedly average for about 2 years now, he woke up for a few games near the end of the season but whether that is a return to form or just a blip is the crux. If we replace him with someone better and younger I don't see much issue, hopefully someone that can score goals as well as he has been over the last two years one of the most guilty of missing clear cut chances as well. Seems a lot for Ajax though and I doubt he has a release clause of that value.

That Salzburg player sounds like Mane Mk.2, hope that one is true. Also would be happy with Wilshere, would definitely improve our team, injuries is a worry but had a much better season last year. But I suspect the likes West Ham and Everton will throw money at him and he'll get the £130k a week he wants which we won't offer.

I'd take Wilshere on a free, quality player, England were crying out for a Wilshere type player in the second half last night.

Dissapointing but not much the club can do if he's gone to Leicester for those reasons.

Apparently Leicester have also agreed a fee with Maddison.

Every team is a selling team bar like a handful at the top of the chain. I doubt any player really cares about style of play, plenty of people keep signing for Mourinho for example. Wages generally trump everything when it comes to the modern footballer, second is what level of football they play at. Those two factors mean Southampton massively out do Atlanta. The MLS is a minor league compared to the PL and he is their highest earner on wages that our squad players are paid more. If we wanted him, then he'd go, I have little doubts about it. He'd probably make a fuss about going as well if Atlanta played hard ball. IF he had any doubts, and I doubt he would, we'd just feed him the stepping stone speel and say if he does well he could be turning out for Utd or Liverpool in a few years. But ultimately if he is playing in the MLS I doubt he is good enough for the PL anyway. He's already 24 and if he was really good then he would have been picked up by a European team before that IMO.

That looks very messy, not sure whether a player can just terminate his contract. Sporting will hold their registrations, and might not give them up. Could all end up at tribunals and stuff.

I find that highly doubtful, the MLS is and will be for a long time a minor league, they might not want to come to Saints specifically, but I doubt they would turn down the chance to play in the PL and then potentially the Champions league. Players at Celtic play in front of 60k very passionate fans, get into the Champions League regularly, win every week, score shed loads of goals, and yet they all jump at the chance to move the PL. Also I just checked, Almiron is on $2.3 million dollars a year, which is about £33k a week, he could quite easily double his wages if not more in the PL. So I doubt Almiron would turn us down, he'd be playing in a better league, with better players, against more famous teams and would earn more money.

Liverpool close to Fekir, so not sure why they would need Shaqiri. If they do sign him we should try to steal Harry Wilson off them, 7 goals and 4 assists in 14 games on loan for a struggling Hull side last year.

Good signings, certainly worth a go at those prices. Securing young talent from the Championship should be amongst our priorities I reckon. Davis is 6' 3" as well. So would add some height and power up front.

Jorginho, Kovacic and Lemina, seems the latter would be very much the back up option compared to those first two. I'm surprised City are not interested in Milinkovic-Savic, that guy looks absolute quality and looks absolutely suited to this league.

Apparently Pastore wants £190k a week and that means he won't go to West Ham.

I've seen a few articles and videos that have rated Sisto as a potential break out star of the World Cup.

We clearly need a VVD replacement, someone big, strong, dominating in the air and not that slow. It's a tough ask though as I'd imagine half the league is looking for that player as well. Hoedt/Bednerak as the other two should be good enough.

At that price Shaqiri seems a no brainer, obviously if the Spurs link is true then he'll go there. Can't see us paying upwards of £40 million for Felipe Anderson. Shaqiri also offers something we lack and that is someone who scores goals from outside the box.