itchen_dan

City... apparently.

Couple of quick Saints related updates: Pete O'Rourke‏ @SkySportsPeteO Reports in Italy claim Manchester City are eyeing a move for Cagliari defender Davide Astori. #MCFC Tancredi Palmeri ‏@tancredipalmeri Jackson Martinez's agent confirmed that the player has an agreement with Napoli but still the bid hasn't matched the Porto's clause So Napoli have signed Higuain and now close to getting Jackson Martinez. I thought they wanted Damiao...

Someone who has gone quiet is Dean Hammond. Not been in development squad, not been in training, not been on trial anywhere. Strange one.

Wanyama was only on about £5k p/w at Celtic if I recall so doubt were paying him anymore than £25k p/w after tax. Lovren, a Champions League CB, I reckon he'll be on about £40k-£50k p/w after tax. Both players combined would be around the £75k mark I guess.

Swap him for Cork then.

If Gaston and Yoshida aren't ready for the WBA game then this is how I'd like us to line up based on pre season form and current availability.

I think we'll do our upmost to get a striker in before West Brom (Damiao) and then the winger and possibly another CB can wait until the last few days of the window to see if there are any bargains to be snapped up. Our squad is already v. strong going on last seasons form but still needs supplementing, but even only getting 1 more striker would complete a very good window and then we can re-assess the situation in January.

And where have I mentioned Morgan?

Funny how we played better after Lallana went off...

I guess you forget about the goals v City, both came from quick counter attacks with men flowing forward. Against Utd, we worked the ball forward, got it wide and got 2 great crosses in for 2 goals. We played some good attacking football, we were just stupidly naive and poor defensively. Plus some of the subs NA made didn't help the cause at all but we wont go there,

Defence was poor because we played some top teams (City, Utd, Arsenal) and we were weak in CM (MS, JWP & SD/AL) Change that now to some more favourable fixtures to get to grips with it and with a stronger CM area (MS, VW, JC,) we would be much stronger defensively. Potentially switch Lambert with Damiao (if it happens) and we begin to look an extremely solid, balanced side.

Was just coming on here to say similar. Looks incredibly dis-jointed. Don't know if it's because we've got square pegs in round holes e.g. Cork at RB but it just doesn't seem right. Still say we played our best football of last season under Adkins in the 4-5-1 right at the start - despite results.

The OS? Pfft. Who are they? I won't believe it until Alex Crook posts his exclusive first.

See my thoughts in bold.

As others have said, all he has to do is give Hulk a phone call...

I'd say thats a fair point. Potentially the biggest season in their career for every Brazilian player and they all need to be playing regularly. Damiao could easily go to Spurs, Napoli etc but would he be more than a rotation option?? Come to Saints, play 30+ games in the Premier League, score 10+ goals in the 'best' league in the world and he is nigh-on guaranteed to be Brazil's no. 9 for the World Cup - simple as.

And that is the exact reason i'd prefer Damiao over Osvaldo. He's not Brazil's no.9 for no reason! Even the proper Ronaldo has tipped him to follow in his footsteps!

Honestly I'm not sure. Seems a lot of money for someone who hasn't got the best goal scoring record in Brazil BUT he is Brazils first choice striker 9 times out of 10 so he is incredibly highly rated. Plus, he doesn't seem a bad apple compared to Osvaldo. No doubting Osvaldo is a top striker but his attitude worries me. How would he react to playing second fiddle some games to an ageing, English, typical centre forward? There must be a reason some of the top clubs in Europe are willing to spend c.£15m on Damiao so he's the one I'd go for based on hearsay and reputation.

Here's the TuttoMetcatoWeb article http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tuttomercatoweb.com%2Fserie-a%2Fesclusiva-tmw-damiao-nuovi-contatti-con-il-southampton-le-ultime-469263 As I said the other day, gut feeling, he will be a Southampton player but not until the last 2 or 3 days before the transfer window closes. A long way to go with this one yet.

I'd have him here in a heartbeat. The exact type if player who could lead the line for us for the next 3/4 seasons with ease.

I do apologise. Blue line drawn and I will move on.

He is on the verge of the Columbian squad and is very highly expected to be in their World Cup squad next summer. He is tipped as the next player to follow in the footsteps of Falcao and Jackson Martinez to make a big impact in Europe and some places in Columbia and Europe value him as high as £10m He's been linked with Borussia Dortmund, Lyon, Benfica and Porto. I would class these points as making him an outstanding talent. Age is on his side as well for the work permit application.

tancredipalmeri: West Ham's target Duvan Zapata is negotiating with Sassuolo, according to Sky Italy

Just watching the entire video and he seems very Benteke-esque. Strong, tall, powerful, plenty of headed goals, picks the ball up and runs with it with good footwork. Bit of a gem here maybe if true? I'm quite excited by it. This type of signing wouldn't usually get me interested but I'm quite intrigued.

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11685/8827411/transfer-news-west-ham-to-decide-over-duvan-zapata-work-permit-appeal