DuncanRG

Fellaini's got a release clause of £20-odd million, hasn't he?

Hmm, fair enough. Maybe a decent call, don't know loads about him. Five years is a long contract for a 27 year-old though

Congrats boys.

His value to Chelsea is probably around that. They won't sell. I was at that game, he was poor. But he is vital to Aston Villa, they probably would have been relegated without him and they would only dream of selling him for serious money. Even more to a rival, like us. Maybe £30m is too much, I don't know, but they wouldn't sell for under £20m. In fact, haven't they rejected a bid of around that already? Price tags are not direct reflections of how good a player is. They reflect their value to a club, that club's financial position, their age, the length remaining on their contract etc. Benteke and Lukaku have value in each of those categories, though Villa may be more tempted by a big-money offer than Chelsea. Of course I don't think Benteke is a '£30m player' but that could be somewhere close to what he's worth to the club. I'd be over the moon. He's landed on his feet coming to England and already has goalscoring pedigree. A real match-winner, as well. Anyway, won't happen. Are Galatasaray selling? I thought they'd already rejected an offer from PSG.

You think? I thought he was very good in the second half of the season. Give him a good, strong partner and another season and I reckon he'd be just fine.

He's a target. Very much doubt he and Wanyama would sign though, if either of them do. PS why does everyone think that 'width coming from the full backs' would be adequate? It's only plausible if you're playing with 3 centre halves and wingbacks, and even then requires immense organisation and very, very fit and talented players. Will never be enough, you need wide men in midfield to overlap with.

We should sticky this post when the season starts. This is also exactly why people act like the big team must have screwed up when a little team outplays them - because people are watching the game from the big team's perspective. It's Chelsea vs the opposition rather than Chelsea vs Southampton, to an extent.

Hmm, not sure how Banega would feel about sitting on the bench!

Hmm, on review perhaps one of Banega/Wanyama/Schneiderlin would get a game at United considering a partner for Carrick is their (relative) weak spot. Other than that, who do you have in mind? We'll beat some top teams next season, but as I said that is worlds away from finishing amongst them in the final table.

37 in 36 last season? I agree Defoe's not for us, but was he really awful? Double figures in a team which has had to model themselves around Bale rather than the strikers isn't too bad. He scored some vital goals as well. Lukaku will never happen, and we'd have to pay horrendous amounts to get Benteke. That would be the biggest statement of intent though, nabbing a star player from one of your rivals. £30m+ that would take, so even if Villa consider selling we wouldn't pay that much.

!? Not a single Southampton player or transfer target would start for Chelsea, Manchester City or Manchester United. Damiao *might* for Chelsea but that's it. Beating a top team does not mean you're anywhere close to achieving what they do over a season. Small teams beat big teams fairly regularly. It is not an assumption that the 'aristocracy' is untouchable - they are touchable, so to speak, but not by Southampton. We are miles behind them. Absolute miles. I do struggle to pick out trolls round here.

Bony's a good call, though I'm surprised he's entertaining offers from lower Premier League clubs. Gomis? Double figures in Ligue 1 for seven consecutive seasons, 20 in 40 in all comps last season. Someone may eventually be able to tempt Stefan Kießling away from Leverkusen; he's better than others we've been talking about but at 29 probably cheaper. EDIT: Sorry, thought Leverkusen had missed out on Champions League this year for some reason. No chance of that, then

Even if they sign two of those players, they'll only have three strikers if Dzeko goes. Any title challenging side needs four realistically, so I imagine Dzeko will stay.

I mean from league position, of course.

Plenty of sense here - all clubs will be making a marquee signing or two thanks to the new TV deal. However, if we capture a few of our targets we'll be strengthening more than most I think. Newcastle and Villa may not be so poor next season but others could slump instead. Anyway, Europe is dreamland. I think top half is a good target.

I don't even know the kid and I chuckled, haha

That or holding onto the squad so we could field a team in the event we were relegated. Most of those players would have been involved in our Championship team had we been relegated cause we'd have been selling Lambert, Lallana, Schneiderlin etc

I'll take 4 and a Diet Coke.

Dortmund's big, but not the nicest. EDIT: Of course, Hampshire generally is a wealthy place. A lot of players live in Winchester and the villages, and if they want city hustle and bustle it's not that far from London.

Careful.

Not sure why anyone's concerned with whether he plays for Celtic or not. He's their player at the moment so of course he will. People play competitive league games for their old clubs before moves are finalised.

Top 10 and a cup run would do me very nicely indeed.

Same as this year, I reckon. Forwards might be organised slightly differently depending on who we bring in.

Honestly, if he had any such wishes he'd be going now while he still can, rather than tying himself into a long-term contract here.

Strikers are exciting. Anyway, I don't think Damiao is world class...but since when did anyone have to be to join Southampton? People have gotten so big for their boots round here. You just have to look at the disbelief amongst neutrals to tell you what a big signing this would be.