HarvSFC

Joe Willock practically kept Newcastle in the league in the second half of last season. He was a short-term loan, successful, built a connection with them and now looks to be heading back there permanently from an Arsenal squad that has a lot less depth than Chelsea's. They've just signed Lukaku and already have Werner also. If Lukaku doesn't work out, they will turn to Haaland next summer, not Broja. See how Abraham's now on his way out, who they only played because of their transfer ban. Hopefully a season of playing at England's highest level will instil some hunger into him if he's successful and he'll go back wanting that at Chelsea, or a permanent departure like Livramento and Sancho from City. Then we'll hopefully be first in line (if he's successful). Edit: KWP another example where there wasn't an option to buy, but the loan meant that he wanted to come here.

So, if we do sign this Broja, do Chelsea officially become our feeder team?

Good call. All three of the clubs relegated from the Premier League last season failed to win on the opening weekend.

Juventus have been taking advantage of the freebies for a few years now, in 2019 they brought in Ramsey, Rabiot and Buffon, year before that it was Emre Can and Dani Alves in 2016. This summer they've brought in 6 players, all for nothing.

No chance is Nketiah worth £20m, he has eight senior goals and three of those were in the Championship. Madness. Sander Berge’s name was mentioned on here previously and he was Sheffield United’s standout player tonight. A clear level above the Championship, but not sure he’s the type of midfielder we’re looking for. Certainly not a Romeu/Wanyama.

If we can sell Ings in the same situation, then we can sell Vestergaard, depending on there being offers. Three good months in three years here. His diagonal balls will be the biggest loss.

Wouldn’t want us to spend the majority (£20m+) of the Ings fee on Armstrong, so if that’s what Norwich are doing, leave it. I also don’t rate Edouard as highly as others do. I could be wrong, but whenever I’ve seen him he’s a bit clumsy, not too quick and overall a bit meh, despite his scoring record. Someone else outside the box?

Feels like an April fools. What the fuck... Villa. Ah well, welcome Adam Armstrong.

Right on cue:

If the reported figures are true and it is a buy-back clause close to £40m, then I do not see too much wrong with it considering the only players we’ve sold for £30m+ are Van Dijk, Shaw. Schneiderlin and Mane. All were a joy to watch here (well, other than Van Dijk’s last three months) and a clear level above. So, if this does work out and the buy back clause does come into effect, we’ve done well.

Poor Brighton, it's difficult to keep up.

Damn, much like Simeu, I know nothing of him, other than him being highly regarded at Chelsea and in various reports they describe him as something special. Could be a right coup.

Jose Fonte captained Jeremy Pied's Lille to the French equivalent of the Community Shield tonight. They just play their version in Israel. A 1-0 win over Pochettino's PSG. But, don't worry, this is one of the two trophies Pochettino has won in his managerial career. Diallo's brother was playing left-back for PSG too, so plenty of Saints links within the match.

It's interesting looking at Swansea, I imagine they're what we would be had Gabbiadini not scored. They get no investment, Steve Cooper has left via mutual consent after leading them to a fourth placed finish and a play-off final alongside their key player in Andre Ayew, who left on a free, as they couldn't afford his wages. They've made a few big sales since going down in Alfie Mawson, Dan James, Oli McBurnie and Joe Rodon, yet they haven't spent over £1m on a transfer since 2018, largely depending on loans like Rhian Brewster, Freddie Woodman, Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher, who have all just been short term fixes. Thank God for Gabbiadini.

Think his agent was playing games there. A once thought of prospect, but now 25 and has never been capped by Scotland. Wasn't in their Euro's squad, I think he's a bit below the Premier League.

The picture of him wearing his Pompey shirt under his Saints shirt back when he was in our academy. Was a young kid thinking he was funny to be fair, but still...

Had a look at the youth products careers after leaving us, some I had forgotten about. Andrew Surman was obviously the standout star of the youth graduates at the time. Didn't realise there was only a year between himself and Adam Lallana given their different levels of development at the time. Only played Premier League/Championship since leaving us, until last year when he dropped down to League One at 33 with MK Dons. Adam Lallana, obvious. Went up the leagues with us and then retired. Nathan Dyer, obvious, robbed from the skates, never played below Championship level, seven Premier League seasons and a winners medal. David McGoldrick, despite being nicknamed McGoaldrought, he's spent 11 seasons in the Championship post us, two League One loans and two Premier League seasons. Simon Gillett, one I had forgotten about, in that he had a good career. Four Championship seasons with Doncaster and Nottingham Forest and then three League One and a League Two. Retired five years ago at 30. Lloyd James, unsurprisingly never played at Championship level again. Five League One seasons, five in League Two. Now at Bath City in the National League South. Olly Lancashire, again, unsurprisingly never played at Championship level after 2008-09. Six League One, six League Two. Now a Premier League player. Jake Thomson. Knob. Again, never played Championship football again. Only made 46 league appearances across League One and Two before dropping into non-Legaue. Now at F.C Horndean at 32. Was capped twice by Trinidad and Tobago, though. Joseph Mills. Did play Championship football again! With Doncaster, Reading and Burnley. Mostly played in League One, though. Now at Northampton in League Two at 31. Once scored against Ajax, but that was with us. Jamie White, prolific scorer for the academy team and was named the 2006-07 academy player of the year, but it never worked out for him here. Dropped right down to Winchester City, where he couldn't stop scoring, carried the form to Salisbury City and eventually earnt a move back up to Bristol Rovers, but nothing happened for him there. Now in the Hampshire Premier League at 31. Matthew Paterson. Never played in the Championship after us, was part of the Lee Barnard deal and did score eight goals for Southend. But, mainly a Non-League player. Now at Gosport Borough at 31 with Oxlade-Chamberlain's brother. Oscar Gobern. The legendary tackle will never be forgotten. But, one thing I did forget was that he spent three seasons in the Championship with Huddersfield after us and another one in the second tier with QPR. Without a club now, but last played for Dover Athletic in the National League at 30. Lastly, Kayne McLaggon. One, I personally thought would be a good player. But, he dropped right down to Non-League before playing for Welsh semi-professional sides since 2013. Now at hometown side Barry United at 30. So, there's a mix of careers for those who made an appearance for us in that terrible season. Most weren't good enough for the Championship, but a League One/Two career is still good to bring through.

Armstrong's the player you would want in our current situation. Mr. Consistent, always giving a 7/10, when the team's playing poorly, he's usually one of the few positives. When the team was playing poorly with Tadic, that's when he went missing. However, I don't think Armstrong gets into our 2014-15, or 2015-16 team, due to his on the ball limitations and Tadic was one of the key performers of those two years.

Mane, Minamino and Ox scored for Liverpool tonight in their friendly. Three ex-Saints doing the job. But, unfortunately some pathetic defending from Van Dijk in his 20 minutes on the pitch (hahaha, see below) saw them suffer a 4-3 defeat against Hertha Berlin.

Reckon Vokins is a better option at LB than Djenepo. Keep him up the pitch, where he’s unpredictable and can be dangerous, rather than inflicting those dangers on ourselves.

It's on their Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/p/CR4ROsuNf9R/

Now, Leon Bailey I can get on board with. We're well known for making £30m signings, so must be some truth in it.

Played two league games in two years. Is he the over aged player for our B team? Can’t see him bringing much else than a few funny faces.

https://thisisfutbol.com/2021/07/blogs/premier-league/tottenham-hotspur/exclusive-pundit-confident-ings-and-son-could-strike-up-a-partnership-at-tottenham-transfers-rumour-southampton-harry-kane-manchester-city-e179/ Tomorrow they can wheel out Marlon Harewood to say how good Ings would be for Blackpool.

It's an interesting one. Che Adams had one good Championship season before joining us and despite not being our primary goal scorer, he's still very much worth a place in our eleven. Jay Rodriguez didn't have as impressive a season as Adams, or Armstrong had before he joined us, although still a good record and he was going to higher places until his injury. Billy Sharp had a similar record to Rodriguez, and was key to helping get us over the finish line in 2011-12, but couldn't make the step up with us, or Sheffield United. Rickie Lambert had one standout League One season before joining us, like Lee Barnard, but one moved up each level with us with ease, while the other couldn't forge a Championship career. 🤷‍♂️