Saint Fan CaM

Stephens to Bournemouth, but only on loan and no option to buy. Interesting - if they’re relegated (likely IMO) he’d come back to us with his stock even lower and difficult to move on (unless his contract is up).

I’ve seen some great performances from him…(I think lol).

Willian to Fulham would seem a good move for them.

FFS, SSN reporting that Leeds have not given up and are still trying to sign Gakpo. If the Barkley deal is true (doubt it) it could be the signal that we’re close to the end of doing business.

Absolutely - what a superb player, brilliant servant for SFC and ultimately fantastic human being. As others have said, not felt as sad as this seeing a player move on. Big shoes to fill.

Controversial, but possibly fair.?

AMN and CC deals still not done - just ‘close’ according to SSN.

So if we sign Calleta-Carr does he settle for a place on the bench, or does Ralph break up the excellent pairing ABK and Salisu appear to be forming? Not sure I get this one.

Looks like Valery is off to Angers which I’m surprised about given the lack of FB cover. Reportedly having medical.

I’d be delighted but extremely surprised to see the deal go through now. I’d be surprised if we ever do business with PSV again! 😏

I said nothing about clauses or a ‘special’ SFC way…I’m sure if a buying club shows genuine interest their request for quiet polite negotiations will be honoured if the selling club is indeed honourable and genuine. You agree that not many of our signings are widely known, so that suggests there is some planning behind that.

I guess we’ll never know, but almost certainly. Why would Saints agree to a £34m player about to be signed playing for the club he’s departing? Doesn’t make sense.

My point is that Utd don’t particularly need to keep their transfer business quiet (but May wish to do so at times!) - Saints would prefer quiet negotiations, particularly when spending larger sums. Which of the latest signings were widely known about in the media long before they were announced?

Don’t think that’s the case. The fact he played last night and put in a big performance tells me this is a player that was happy and was not too bothered to be moving as he got an improved deal. Agent played a blinder.

Point being with the type of deals Utd make, that there are many fewer clubs with the spend power they have and of course when they offer a player a deal, the player will be more likely to be pressing for a move. In short, completely different scenario. When we go big (in our terms) the risks are higher.

Absolutely this!

It’s not about being special though is it? If you’re about to spend a small fortune you don’t want to (a) alert other clubs to the extent of your spend and (b) alert other clubs to the fact you’ve unearthed a gem. There are definitely instances where Saints have specified a ‘quiet approach’ for these reasons - maybe not all the time, but for specific cases it makes eminent sense.

Wonder why there’s been nothing from Saints on the new lads coming in including AMN? Perhaps there’ll be a big photoshoot at Staplewood later today?

Really? You’re sounding like an abrasive MLG there (largely unsurprising given your previous posts), so perhaps attempt to explain why you disagree?

Well obviously there are outgoings, but I don’t expect Valery to be going anywhere…think in our present situation he’s flexible CB/FB cover and Ralph seems to have time for him. Personally I think he’s a capable squad member that we can rely on in an emergency.

Can’t say I’m surprised to know Gakpo isn’t coming to be honest - the manner in which the transfer was progressing suggests this was not a deal Saints were really invested in…it’s very unusual for them to advance negotiations without agreement to a mutual blackout of info until the deal is done. Unless Gakpo was in some way a smokescreen, but I doubt that. Or perhaps Saints got taken for a ride by PSV, but I’m not buying that either. I don’t understand those that are suggesting Saints went in for Gakpo just to show ‘we tried’…FFS we’ve spent over £50m already this window, got some amazing talent and we’re sitting 8th in the table. What more can we expect?!

It seems to be slipping away, if indeed there was any real intent on PSV’s part in the first place.

With Larios providing excellent FB cover, AMN will almost certainly be employed as DM especially with Lavia recovering and for some time as they’ll not want to rush Lavia back. It will be the decider for him I expect too.

Edozie I’d heard of but not Larios. Two more looking as outstanding talents who want to be playing EPL football. Shields really is the real deal and let’s not forget how significant SR have been backing him at the first opportunity. Still hope we get a striker, a ACM and a decent CB though.

We should smash them on this form. 2-1.