Lallana's Left Peg

Independent of departures, I can't see us spending £30m. As per Les Reed's comments in May: I don't think we have the money to do so anyway - and we need to shift Ramirez and Osvaldo which won't be easy.

Great - thanks

Anyone know a list from the internet that show what countries you need to apply for a Visa for in order to visit there? (One that isn't completed on the plane and automatically processed when you arrive!).

A further complication is a potential transfer ban that Atletico Madrid may face which would make it even harder to sign him. And we don't know when our right to buy clause ends either. If we were to have a chance of signing him, I would suggest it will cost us more than the agreed fee - which I would be absolutely fine with. The good news is that the fee would be 1.5m Euros cheaper that it would otherwise be.

Well take off tax and view an extra £3m in terms of his overall wealth and it won't be much over the course of his career. It is of course an incredible amount of money but he doesn't lead a normal life where the real world in any way is something he lives in. He's a person who plays football for a living in the richest league in the world and will never have to worry about money again for the rest of his life. He's going to be minted whether he stays with Saints or leaves for someone else. If an extra £1m a year (pre-tax) means that much to him I'd imagine he wouldn't have joined Saints in the first place if Man Utd were as interested as reported.

Depends what he is after. Bigger paycheck and bigger club - obviously. Better prospects - probably, but in these circumstances, can you see them being Top 4 again anytime soon? Man Utd have the spending power of a small nation, Chelsea and Man City will be there for a while, and Arsenal are enjoying spending power and squad depth they haven't had for many years. Liverpool are struggling on many fronts - that's assuming they get their own ship in order which has a list of things to sort which is quite long as it stands.

I never said Arsenal were. Chelsea like him though. Why would Liverpool be his best bet - what exactly are their prospects right now? Look at their team and Manager. Plus their best player wants to leave. Champions League football seems a long way away for them right now. This was the season they could have established themselves given Man Utd's season and they absolutely messed it up.

Aside from an extra £20k a week or so, what are Liverpool going to offer him that we can't? The odd league cup every decade, that's what. Maybe some Europa League games. He can do better than Liverpool. This is not about whether Liverpool are better than Southampton, it's about whether it is the right move for him. Chelsea, Man Utd, and Man City will all be interested in him to certain degrees - it's no shock to me that Liverpool are trying to steal a march on them as they know when it comes down to it they've got nothing really to offer him against those three. He should bide his time rather than settle on a minor upgrade.

The bid is low but it will unsettle the player. I had heard as early as last year that Liverpool liked him. I could see him joining Liverpool if they guaranteed him to be first choice (which he would be Emre Can is a car crash at right back ). But then again, are Liverpool that much better than us? He can do better if he bides his time.

Paul Scholes has certainly found his voice now he's retired the little hamster faced *****.

So what do we think - a Morgan replacement? A belated Cork replacement? Replacing no-one - just a good player? No chance that we sign Vilhena and / or Clasie now?

Looks like he's got some ability to be fair:

Idrissa Gueye? http://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2015/southampton-closing-in-on-idrissa-gueye/ http://www.francefootball.fr/news/Idrissa-gueye-vers-southampton/562271 Starting to get some chatter on Twitter about it now as well.

Many of Long's best attributes come to light when he isn't near the football - but that's ok, as its the same with many defenders as well. I prefer my players in attacking positions to be better on the ball but I can see why teams like players with his sort of attributes - he can certainly impact a game even when he is nowhere near the ball and make space for others etc. £12m still seems very steep to me but he has five goals and five assists this season and not too many players in the league have that.

The market for both is very slim. If they leave it frees up some wages but even then, I am not convinced there will be much wriggle room with all the new contracts signed and also that most of our young players will have wage increases factored into their deals as well.

Ramirez and Osvaldo are coming back...

Is there anything which suggests otherwise? The circa £30m 'left over' from last years leavers was gobbled up in the summer from the £27m we owed for previous transfer activity from the Cortese era. The new TV deal doesn't kick in until the end of next season. This years leavers is a different kettle of fish but it's all very well selling two player for £40m but then if you want to buy six with the money then you need to factor in wages into things and not just the transfer fee. Our wage bill is already more than the end of last season and a few players have signed new deals too. Our commercial activity for this season won't be great (the club has publicly said it is targeting the end of next season for gains) and we've only earned £4m more in TV money this season from last season so I just don't see where all this extra money is coming from for lots of signings.

Where is the money for wages coming from all these players? There isn't much left in the coffers at all. We bought a new team last summer. Les Reed has already said we won't be making too many signings at all. I know it's fun writing a shopping list down every summer but is the expectation in the fanbase seriously that we are going to sign half a dozen first team players?

Up to £10m at most. We don't have much money for transfers and the wage bill is pretty maxed out.

Nah - Boruc is better than Federici and will start as number one I would imagine.

Carl Jenkinson? Arsenal's fourth choice right back? No thanks.

Point accepted but is Clasie the same sort of player as Cazorla? If so no worries. But that isn't a Schneiderlin replacement, it's a completely different type of player altogether which brings other issues. Ever since we haven't been able to play two of Cork, Wanyama, or Schneiderlin together the team doesn't look as good in my opinion (with the odd exception of course).

Yep, but he plays further up the pitch, and is skilful. Clasie, unless I've not seen enough of him, is different. Mane is small but he is quick and skilful too. The Premier League is a place for big boys in the middle of the park. Clasie is 5'6". If I look through the teams in the top half of the table none of them have a true central / defensive midfielder who is first choice and anywhere near that small? Just a concern really - I don't know much about him but when you see Davis struggle playing further back you realise how much of a 'presence' you need in the centre of the park in this league.

I worry he looks a little undersized for the centre of the park in the Premier League.

He's not out of contract. A little bit gutted about Rowe - I know he had injuries but I always thought he was a handy player at U21 level.