January 2022 Transfer Window

[HarvSFC]

38 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Letting in more goals doesn't mean he is worse. Have you considered he may have had a shitter defensive unit in front of him?

But, he's also not the clear improvement for what we need in goal. I understand why we're looking at him as he's in the final six months of his contract, but there's also a reason why he's still at West Brom and why he's only had one Premier League season at 28.

We used other fans' opinions to judge a lesser known player in Lyanco in the summer, and a quick Google of Johnstone's two most recent clubs - West Brom and Aston Villa, show he's one that divides opinion.

https://www.villatalk.com/topic/15997-sam-johnstone/page/71/

http://westbrom.com/forum/index.php?topic=21946.1875 (They blame the goalkeeping coaching here, where have we seen this before).

Then you've got the standard eye test, a goal he conceded last month after 13 seconds in the video below against the prolific Andre Gray:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91IYe1xPr34

As I say, I understand why we're in for him. But, he's not the answer to the problem, like Gunn, a highly rated Championship goalkeeper wasn't and we'll be in the same position in the near future.

[Wade Garrett]

4 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Why?

He won’t want to come here.

[Matthew Le God]

1 hour ago, Wade Garrett said:

He won’t want to come here.

Why not?

[Wade Garrett]

11 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Why not?

He’ll get better offers.  Also think I’ve read he’s not that keen on us.

[Turkish]

42 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

He’ll get better offers.  Also think I’ve read he’s not that keen on us.

Why would he be? Our track record with goalkeepers isn't exactly glowing. Plus if it's true that it's between us, Spurs and West Ham then we arent going to win that battle.  

[Saint Garrett]

9 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Why would he be? Our track record with goalkeepers isn't exactly glowing. Plus if it's true that it's between us, Spurs and West Ham then we arent going to win that battle.  

The only thing in our favour there, would probably be the fact he'd be guaranteed first choice keeper, whereas he probably wouldn't play ahead of Areola at WHU, or Lloris at Spurs....

[Turkish]

30 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

The only thing in our favour there, would probably be the fact he'd be guaranteed first choice keeper, whereas he probably wouldn't play ahead of Areola at WHU, or Lloris at Spurs....

Of course you're correct. Lloris meant to be leaving Spurs in the summer. I cant imagine their fans will be too happy if he's replaced by Johnstone. 

[Matthew Le God]

2 hours ago, Wade Garrett said:

1) He’ll get better offers.  

2) Also think I’ve read he’s not that keen on us.

1) As a first choice keeper in the Premier League?

2) Read where?

[SuperSAINT]

#MLG

[saint1977]

23 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

 

Neither of them only had 6 months left on their contract. So I'm unsure which players @Saint Garrett is talking about?

Last one which was a first team player with a contract up that summer was Charlie Austin in Jan 2016. Happy to be corrected if wrong.

[Baird of the land]

On 10/10/2021 at 10:26, Uncle Albert said:

 

Would be a very good piece of business if we could get it done. 

If it happens wonder if they'd be interested in taking Fraser on loan for a portion of his wages.

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, Baird of the land said:

Would be a very good piece of business if we could get it done. 

If it happens wonder if they'd be interested in taking Fraser on loan for a portion of his wages.

If he wants first team football, you'd think he'd come to saints. Good competition at West ham and he isn't getting past Lloris.

Newcastle could well come in and blow us out of the water though...

Edited 11 October, 2021 by Saint86

[TWar]

1 minute ago, Saint86 said:

If he wants first team football, you'd think he'd come to saints. Good competition at West ham and he isn't getting past Lloris.

Newcastle will probably come well come in and blow us out of the water though...

I doubt Newcastle would want him to be honest. They have Dubravka, Darlow, and Woodman who are all decent keepers. They will want to improve the rest of their squad before spending on arguably their strongest position. Also, I think they can aim higher, have seen them linked with Kaylor Navas.

[Saint86]

7 minutes ago, TWar said:

I doubt Newcastle would want him to be honest. They have Dubravka, Darlow, and Woodman who are all decent keepers. They will want to improve the rest of their squad before spending on arguably their strongest position. Also, I think they can aim higher, have seen them linked with Kaylor Navas.

We'll be seeing Newcastle linked with everyone. But he's the kind of player they should go for. Youngish in his career, able to join and become a mainstay as part of their project and grow into an established keeper at the top of the league.

[CB Fry]

Might be just me but i don't feel that Sam Johnstone is the kind of player that any club will blow another club out of the water for.

Feels fairly plausible that he would come to us (if we stay up, which probably will not be clear in January).

 

[TWar]

15 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

We'll be seeing Newcastle linked with everyone. But he's the kind of player they should go for. Youngish in his career, able to join and become a mainstay as part of their project and grow into an established keeper at the top of the league.

Maybe, I think Newcastle are in limbo as to exactly how much of a megaclub they are going to be. Will they be another Everton/Spurs/Arsenal level side (unlikely), will they be a Chelsea/City level side (probably imo), or will they be the biggest club in the world (maybe). If they are in that first category I guess Johnstone could be ok, he's a great keeper, is only 28, and can probably compete at a europa league level.

For me it is more likely Newcastle go fully down the city route and start replacing their squad from least to most effective and by the time they get round to replacing their keeper in the summer or in the following summer they will be dropping £50m+ and bringing in someone a higher level than Johnstone, maybe like Emi Martinez, Navas, etc.

Edited 11 October, 2021 by TWar

[Rickman42]

Whether you like it or not, McCarthy has not been too bad so far this season...

Would make sense to let Forster go given his age and high wages...Johnstone COULD be a decent replacement, but I do think better keepers will be out there. I'm sure the scouting team have some young keepers lined up if Johnstone isn't the man

Should be more concerned about adding another winger who can make things happen. We've missed Stu dearly and need a player of his quality on the opposite side

[Uncle Albert]

Probably the wrong place to post this but there isn’t a thread for the summer transfer window yet.

Edited 11 October, 2021 by Uncle Albert

[TWar]

5 minutes ago, Uncle Albert said:

Probably the wrong place to post this but there isn’t a thread for the summer transfer window yet.

Wouldn't pay it much mind. In the last hour they have announced Real Madrid are after Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool are after Dembele, Barca are after Luís Maximiano, Belotti is off to Seville, and Pogba is being considered by Juve. Either they have the best sources in football and they all happen to have come through with these massive stories in quick succession or they just make stuff up for clicks.

Edited 11 October, 2021 by TWar

[HarvSFC]

6 minutes ago, Rickman42 said:

Should be more concerned about adding another winger who can make things happen. We've missed Stu dearly and need a player of his quality on the opposite side

The Fulham youngster, Carvalho would be good for this, who is also in the final year of his contract. 
 

We knew we needed a new number 10 when we signed Minamino last January, and nothing’s improved since, so wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a priority position.

[TWar]

26 minutes ago, Rickman42 said:

Whether you like it or not, McCarthy has not been too bad so far this season...

Would make sense to let Forster go given his age and high wages...Johnstone COULD be a decent replacement, but I do think better keepers will be out there. I'm sure the scouting team have some young keepers lined up if Johnstone isn't the man

Should be more concerned about adding another winger who can make things happen. We've missed Stu dearly and need a player of his quality on the opposite side

I agree that McCarthy is having a better season this one than last and seems to be bouncing back a bit. He is a confidence player imo and the united game did him no favours. He seems to have a spring in his step since winning the number 1. I will say, he is still average at best even back on this form.

He is still 13th for xG prevented per 90 in the league (out of 26), 20th for save % (out of 26), 22nd for long pass completion % (out of 23). But last season he was dead bottom or near enough for all three so he is definitely on the up.

And is second in the league for crosses claimed which is actually rather impressive and 3rd for % of crosses faced vs claimed which is a more valuable metric.

Needs replacing for sure but he is definitely doing better than last year!

Edited 11 October, 2021 by TWar

[skintsaint]

9 hours ago, TWar said:

I agree that McCarthy is having a better season this one than last and seems to be bouncing back a bit.

Must be after a new contract or summink.

[MarkSFC]

18 hours ago, TWar said:

I agree that McCarthy is having a better season this one than last and seems to be bouncing back a bit. He is a confidence player imo and the united game did him no favours. He seems to have a spring in his step since winning the number 1. I will say, he is still average at best even back on this form.

He is still 13th for xG prevented per 90 in the league (out of 26), 20th for save % (out of 26), 22nd for long pass completion % (out of 23). But last season he was dead bottom or near enough for all three so he is definitely on the up.

And is second in the league for crosses claimed which is actually rather impressive and 3rd for % of crosses faced vs claimed which is a more valuable metric.

Needs replacing for sure but he is definitely doing better than last year!

Early days yet....plenty of time to revert to type. Need a GK big time...

[Master Bates]

Saints scouting Paul Onuachu, as well as Lorenzo Lucca (€10m).

Edited 17 October, 2021 by Master Bates

[Chapel End]

On 12/10/2021 at 11:28, MarkSFC said:

Early days yet....plenty of time to revert to type. Need a GK big time...

Equally he could continue his good form

[Minsk]

34 minutes ago, Master Bates said:

Saints scouting Paul Onuachu, as well as Lorenzo Lucca (€10m).

Where is this from?

Both at 6'7'' would certainly add some height! 

Would have thought Lucca, at 21, more likely than 27 year old Onuachu.

[VectisSaint]

3 hours ago, Minsk said:

Where is this from?

Both at 6'7'' would certainly add some height! 

Would have thought Lucca, at 21, more likely than 27 year old Onuachu.

http://sportwitness.co.uk/southampton-challenge-serie-side-sign-goalscoring-striker-player-changed-agents/

[Minsk]

2 hours ago, VectisSaint said:

http://sportwitness.co.uk/southampton-challenge-serie-side-sign-goalscoring-striker-player-changed-agents/

Thanks for the link.

[Danbert]

This one made me laugh, and then I remembered that they did actually pay us cash money for Cedric Soares

https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/arsenal/transfer-talk/news/elyounoussi-emerges-as-transfer-target-for-arsenal_467604.html?newsnow

[MarkSFC]

16 hours ago, Chapel End said:

Equally he could continue his good form

Entirely possible. I won't bank on it though  

[Charlie Wayman]

8 minutes ago, Danbert said:

This one made me laugh, and then I remembered that they did actually pay us cash money for Cedric Soares

https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/arsenal/transfer-talk/news/elyounoussi-emerges-as-transfer-target-for-arsenal_467604.html?newsnow

Semmens said recently (podcast) that contract renewals are now a top priority after the fiascos of losing Bertrand, Ings & Vestergaard and that several negotiations are on-going. I would expect Ralph to be keen to keep Mohammed Elyonoussi at St Mary's.

This suggests to me that his agent has been busy dropping less than subtle hints for a pay rise and contract extension for a player who has found himself back in favour at Britannia Road.

The Arsenal link is obviously ridiculous. They are most likely to be the next PL club to change managers long before Mohammed could leave on a free.

 

[TWar]

3 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Semmens said recently (podcast) that contract renewals are now a top priority after the fiascos of losing Bertrand, Ings & Vestergaard and that several negotiations are on-going. I would expect Ralph to be keen to keep Mohammed Elyonoussi at St Mary's.

This suggests to me that his agent has been busy dropping less than subtle hints for a pay rise and contract extension for a player who has found himself back in favour at Britannia Road.

The Arsenal link is obviously ridiculous. They are most likely to be the next PL club to change managers long before Mohammed could leave on a free.

 

I hope Salisu's extension is top of the list.

[Rickman42]

While I agree with many in this thread that we need to continue to strengthen the squad, it’s important to remember that a lot of the players we’ve signed over the last couple of years aren’t the finished product just yet…

 

just look at Salisu and Diallo at the weekend. They were both brilliant! Both only 22 years old! When they first signed, they were rarely getting a look in.

 

I hope we see a similar story with new signings such as Lyanco, A. Armstrong, Thierry Small, Dynel Simeu etc.

 

the squad is starting to come together nicely as players improve, learn the system, and get game time. 
 

we might not have many ‘household names’ in the squad, but who needs them when you’ve got 11 players on the pitch who play well as a unit together.

 

it’s important for every premier league club to improve in some way each transfer window, but for us, clearing out the deadwood was key.

Hopefully we can build on Saturday’s win!

Edited 18 October, 2021 by Rickman42

[John B]

2 hours ago, Rickman42 said:

While I agree with many in this thread that we need to continue to strengthen the squad, it’s important to remember that a lot of the players we’ve signed over the last couple of years aren’t the finished product just yet…

 

just look at Salisu and Diallo at the weekend. They were both brilliant! Both only 22 years old! When they first signed, they were rarely getting a look in.

 

I hope we see a similar story with new signings such as Lyanco, A. Armstrong, Thierry Small, Dynel Simeu etc.

 

the squad is starting to come together nicely as players improve, learn the system, and get game time. 
 

we might not have many ‘household names’ in the squad, but who needs them when you’ve got 11 players on the pitch who play well as a unit together.

 

it’s important for every premier league club to improve in some way each transfer window, but for us, clearing out the deadwood was key.

Hopefully we can build on Saturday’s win!

Yes I agree but we do need a GK sooner rather than later

I would be quite happy to sell JWP and get a Broja type striker and a top class DM and GK

Getting rid of both Long and Forster

[Billy the Kidd]

The goalkeeper will be sorted in Jan window or summer at the latest. Long and Foster are out of contract in the summer. 

[Dellman]

9 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Semmens said recently (podcast) that contract renewals are now a top priority after the fiascos of losing Bertrand, Ings & Vestergaard and that several negotiations are on-going. I would expect Ralph to be keen to keep Mohammed Elyonoussi at St Mary's.

This suggests to me that his agent has been busy dropping less than subtle hints for a pay rise and contract extension for a player who has found himself back in favour at Britannia Road.

The Arsenal link is obviously ridiculous. They are most likely to be the next PL club to change managers long before Mohammed could leave on a free.

 

Didn't seem like a fiasco to lose Bertrand and Vesty and we've rep;laced them with better. Ings was a blow but you can't force someone to sign and he is at the end of his career anyway, we are happier with young ones.

[Badger]

9 hours ago, Danbert said:

This one made me laugh, and then I remembered that they did actually pay us cash money for Cedric Soares

https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/arsenal/transfer-talk/news/elyounoussi-emerges-as-transfer-target-for-arsenal_467604.html?newsnow

I also saw an article in the last day or so saying both Arsenal and Leicester were interested in signing Elynoussi.

I don't suppose Leicester will be too keen to do business with us so soon after taking Bertrand and Vestergaard from us and seeing the value they got for their money. But if they were to give us money for him as well I think they'd rapidly become a favourite club of mine.

Don't suppose they want one of our GK's or Long as back up to Schmeichel and Vardy as well.

[HarvSFC]

I think we could have made around £5m on Bertrand and Ings would have been valued at around £50m, so that’s a £25m loss, and given we need every penny available to reinvest in the squad, I think that’s what Semmens is referring to. Unsure about Vestergaard, as I believe Leicester only made a move for him because he was cheap and they were in need of a centre-back.

With that in mind, I wouldn’t be too upset if Elyounoussi left on a free this summer. We’ve seen the last few seasons that he’s hard to get rid of, if he’s available. He’s definitely improved, but I rank our 10s as Armstrong>Redmond>Djenepo>Elyounoussi>Tella>Walcott and I see it as a position that we 100% need to improve on, barring Armstrong.

[Badger]

Just now, HarvSFC said:

I

With that in mind, I wouldn’t be too upset if Elyounoussi left on a free this summer. We’ve seen the last few seasons that he’s hard to get rid of, if he’s available. He’s definitely improved, but I rank our 10s as Armstrong>Redmond>Djenepo>Elyounoussi>Tella>Walcott and I see it as a position that we 100% need to improve on, barring Armstrong.

Agree. 

[Billy the Kidd]

3 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

I think we could have made around £5m on Bertrand and Ings would have been valued at around £50m, so that’s a £25m loss, and given we need every penny available to reinvest in the squad, I think that’s what Semmens is referring to. Unsure about Vestergaard, as I believe Leicester only made a move for him because he was cheap and they were in need of a centre-back.

With that in mind, I wouldn’t be too upset if Elyounoussi left on a free this summer. We’ve seen the last few seasons that he’s hard to get rid of, if he’s available. He’s definitely improved, but I rank our 10s as Armstrong>Redmond>Djenepo>Elyounoussi>Tella>Walcott and I see it as a position that we 100% need to improve on, barring Armstrong.

How do you think we could have got any money for Bertrand who was out of contract?

Do you honestly believe Ings was worth £50m with one year left on his deal?

Im not sure we could have done any better on Ings and we for sure couldn’t get money for an out of contract player, even Levy couldn’t have managed that. 

[CB Fry]

10 hours ago, Charlie Wayman said:

Semmens said recently (podcast) that contract renewals are now a top priority after the fiascos of losing Bertrand, Ings & Vestergaard and that several negotiations are on-going. I would expect Ralph to be keen to keep Mohammed Elyonoussi at St Mary's.

Except none of those was a fiasco.

Bertrand it was clear it had reached a sensible end point: no fiasco.

Vestergaard, it would have cost an absolute fortune to extend his deal and he really wasn't that good, and we got our money back just about. No fiasco.

Ings, we got far more cash than many were expecting, the second best outcome after him staying. Could have been a lot worse (eg nips off to Spurs on the last day if the window for £20m). No fiasco.

 

Edited 18 October, 2021 by CB Fry

[HarvSFC]

36 minutes ago, Billy the Kidd said:

How do you think we could have got any money for Bertrand who was out of contract?

Do you honestly believe Ings was worth £50m with one year left on his deal?

Im not sure we could have done any better on Ings and we for sure couldn’t get money for an out of contract player, even Levy couldn’t have managed that. 

If I wasn’t being clear, I was referring to their valuations if they weren’t in the last year of their contracts, which is what Semmens is trying to sort. As, we aren’t doing too badly without a past his peak Bertrand and Vestergaard.

[Billy the Kidd]

10 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

If I wasn’t being clear, I was referring to their valuations if they weren’t in the last year of their contracts, which is what Semmens is trying to sort. As, we aren’t doing too badly without a past his peak Bertrand and Vestergaard.

Ah ok, didn’t realise that was what you meant. 

[CB Fry]

1 hour ago, HarvSFC said:

If I wasn’t being clear, I was referring to their valuations if they weren’t in the last year of their contracts, which is what Semmens is trying to sort. As, we aren’t doing too badly without a past his peak Bertrand and Vestergaard.

But we wouldn't have got £5m for Bertrand if he'd signed a contract extension, he'd be in our team and we probably would not have signed Perraud. Ditto Vestergaard, he'd have to have signed for at least two more years, at least. So he'd be our first choice CB.

Ings we spent a year plus trying to get him to sign an extension.

I heard what Semmens said, but he didn't necessarily mean that we just extend everyone's contracts come what may.

You can't just get extensions signed with the objective to then just sell them for more money.

Look how long it took to shift Lemina, the loss we made on Boufal and the moaning there has been about Forster from about 6 months into his extension.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

2 hours ago, Badger said:

Agree. 

A lot depends on how much Moi is earning and what he'll accept to stay. I'd keep him if he takes the right wage

[mcbendy]

We've gone from being weak at the back and making up for it with goals (from Danny), to being relatively solid at the back and totally toothless. In some games it's really felt like we could have played three lots of 90 minutes and still not scored. I find it hard to believe that we'll sign a goal scorer in January though - they are expensive at the best of times. Fingers crossed we can manage to stay up this season. There's the makings of a good team there I think, with a few additions...

[skintsaint]

8 hours ago, mcbendy said:

We've gone from being weak at the back and making up for it with goals (from Danny), to being relatively solid at the back and totally toothless. In some games it's really felt like we could have played three lots of 90 minutes and still not scored. I find it hard to believe that we'll sign a goal scorer in January though - they are expensive at the best of times. Fingers crossed we can manage to stay up this season. There's the makings of a good team there I think, with a few additions...

We won't be buying a striker come Jan, unless we sell a few. AA, Broja, Che, Redmond, Walcott, Tella, Long can all play that front position it seems to Ralph.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

1 hour ago, adriansfc said:

Can't see us buying anyone in January, we've got a big squad and seemingly no money. Just need to find a settled team and get the best out of our attacking options. Armstrong back and A.Armstrong finding some form are the main things. Moi is already a big boost and Broja will be a great player. Key is either securing him for another year's loan or using funds next summer on a similarly big, powerful striker. 

Semmens just said on a podcast that we have money to spend in Jan

[Sheaf Saint]

18 hours ago, Ex Lion Tamer said:

Semmens just said on a podcast that we have money to spend in Jan

Interesting. I expect we'll be putting most of it into a new keeper with Forster entering the last 6 months of his contract.

That aside, what areas do we need to strengthen?

As others have alluded to, we can pretty much rule out buying a new striker right now.

AM - numbers are good but could do with a boost in quality.

FB - good options on either side. No need to invest there atm.

CM maybe, with only 3 senior players for 2 positions it only takes a bit of bad luck with injury to leave us relying on kids.

Another CB perhaps? Hopefully Stephens will be back by then though so we'll have enough cover, assuming Lyanco is up to it of course.

[TWar]

6 minutes ago, Sheaf Saint said:

Interesting. I expect we'll be putting most of it into a new keeper with Forster entering the last 6 months of his contract.

That aside, what areas do we need to strengthen?

As others have alluded to, we can pretty much rule out buying a new striker right now.

AM - numbers are good but could do with a boost in quality.

FB - good options on either side. No need to invest there atm.

CM maybe, with only 3 senior players for 2 positions it only takes a bit of bad luck with injury to leave us relying on kids.

Another CB perhaps? Hopefully Stephens will be back by then though so we'll have enough cover, assuming Lyanco is up to it of course.

Keeper I reckon and that's it, but it will depend on Stephens' injury as we may need to pick up a CB if it is still going. Going into the second half of the season with 3 cbs and 2 that we'd probably be happy to play week in week out is pretty risky