Summer Transfer Window 2023

[HarvSFC]

From Swansea, I'd welcome Wood, a good young centre-back with potential, frequently in the England youth teams. Manning, in need of a left-back and he boasts a good record in Martin's system. Grimes, good technical player, knows the league and Martin's system. Piroe, much needed goal scorer, and he does a bit more in terms of ball carrying. Like a Championship Broja.

Cabango and Fulton who we have also been linked with, don't leave me too impressed. From what I read regarding Cabango, he was Swansea's version of Elyounossi in that the manager kept selecting him, but the fans were left bewildered as to why. While Fulton's 29, played for Falkirk, Swansea, Oldham and Wigan and never been capped by Scotland. Not a great CV.

Ex-Martin player, Downes would also be good, a bit of a coup, but would probably require JWP going the other way.

Choudhury, I'm not too sure on. We're missing a Romeu type player and Choudhury is a less glamorous version. But, he could also be too far the other way. Choudhury can't really play football, he's just a bit of a thug. Remember him putting in a couple of awful tackles in the Premier League. No red cards last season, but 13 yellows, so while his ball winning stats look good, he is also missing a few games through suspension. I guess he could be the hard bastard we're missing, but again, does such a limited player fit with Martin?

I wouldn't be too upset with £25m for Bella-Kotchap, to be honest, either.

[SNSUN]

2 hours ago, Chez said:

Surprised it took ABK's agent this long to tell the world his client has a £25m clause in his contract. I guess you keep your powder dry until clubs reopen for business.

Badly injured isn't he? I'd be surprised if he went anywhere this summer. But even if he does it leaves us very light at CB. Salisu most likely will go, DCC and Lyanco are moving, really only Bednarek and Stephens will probably remain and we sent both out on loan last season and even Stephens may yet go back to Bournemouth. I guess we will still have Simeu but really it's a position we will be desperate to strengthen as well as CM.

[qwertyell]

1 hour ago, HarvSFC said:

Choudhury can't really play football, he's just a bit of a thug. Remember him putting in a couple of awful tackles in the Premier League. No red cards last season, but 13 yellows, so while his ball winning stats look good, he is also missing a few games through suspension. I guess he could be the hard bastard we're missing, but again, does such a limited player fit with Martin?

I think he's a better technical player than you give him credit for. Certainly true that he doesn't shy away from a tackle, and there have been a few ugly ones along the way.

But he's a good age, recent experience in this division, PL and European experience, an England u21 international. He's got decent calibre - and brings attributes that our squad of polite nice boys lack. 

[Turkish]

5 minutes ago, qwertyell said:

I think he's a better technical player than you give him credit for. Certainly true that he doesn't shy away from a tackle, and there have been a few ugly ones along the way.

But he's a good age, recent experience in this division, PL and European experience, an England u21 international. He's got decent calibre - and brings attributes that our squad of polite nice boys lack. 

 

1 hour ago, HarvSFC said:

. Choudhury can't really play football, he's just a bit of a thug. Remember him putting in a couple of awful tackles in the Premier League. No red cards last season, but 13 yellows, so while his ball winning stats look good, he is also missing a few games through suspension. I guess he could be the hard bastard we're missing, but again, does such a limited player fit with Martin?

 

IIRC a certain Oriel Romeu collected a lot of yellow cards, never got a red and everyone said how much we missed him this season. We're a soft as shit team and we need some players with a bit of aggression in the side to make us a bit tougher to beat. Choudhury wouldn't be my first choice but i'd love us to sign a couple of players who are a bit more nasty rather than ones who are happy to clap the fans after another gutless loss.

[Badger]

Seems like all links to Salisu have gone quiet. Not the in demand CB that he believes he is perhaps.

 

[HarvSFC]

20 minutes ago, qwertyell said:

I think he's a better technical player than you give him credit for. Certainly true that he doesn't shy away from a tackle, and there have been a few ugly ones along the way.

But he's a good age, recent experience in this division, PL and European experience, an England u21 international. He's got decent calibre - and brings attributes that our squad of polite nice boys lack. 

Don't think I'm too far off, you can see the Watford fans' view of him here: https://wfcforums.com/index.php?threads/hamza-choudhury.59615/page-4 A team that finished 11th in the Championship. You'd hope our scouts could find better. Another Schneiderlin would be perfect.

"Doesn’t qualify as a footballer for me given his complete inability to play a simple pass more than a few yards. Completely the good bits of his game for me. Seriously hope we don’t mistake undoubted hard work for skill and potential and sign him in the summer. Building a team around him would be potentially ruinous."

"Said something similar in the match thread. He's a headless chicken, and one of the main reasons we have zero control of games"

"Yep. He's got the footballing equivalent of ADHD unfortunately.

I actually think he's not too bad on the ball. He can carry it and he's fairly athletic, it's just he lacks any quality with his passing"

"He is good at winning the ball then passing it straight back to our opponents!"

"I agree. I like his energy and ball winning, but he’s substandard on the ball. Just gives it away far too often. For £6m I’m sure there are better options for a midfielder with a better combo of a passing and tackling ratio."

 

[Weston Super Saint]

Sounds like Moi.

[The Curse of St Mary's]

4 minutes ago, Badger said:

Seems like all links to Salisu have gone quiet. Not the in demand CB that he believes he is perhaps.

 

I think he lacks hunger and passion for the game. Yes some players look more casual than others but the mystery over his first six months at club and the last 4-5 months suggests he's not overly committed. Might not be related to being at saints but more so an overall personality thing. He's incredibly shy or was previously I recall reading somewhere and maybe the spotlight that comes with playing high level football doesn't suit him. Even making himself available for Ghana selection seemed like a chore. 

[Badger]

1 minute ago, The Curse of St Mary's said:

I think he lacks hunger and passion for the game. Yes some players look more casual than others but the mystery over his first six months at club and the last 4-5 months suggests he's not overly committed. Might not be related to being at saints but more so an overall personality thing. He's incredibly shy or was previously I recall reading somewhere and maybe the spotlight that comes with playing high level football doesn't suit him. Even making himself available for Ghana selection seemed like a chore. 

Interesting point, and the early absence has never really been explained. It may of course be a personal issue, or just not getting his head right on joining. 
 

If it was not getting’his head right’ then calls it raises questions that our background checks weren’t as good as we’ve always been told they are.

If I remember he was rumoured along with another CB, Axel Disasi at the same time, who then went to Monaco (and now valued at c£34-40m). Botman went to Lille for less than we paid for Salisu.

Great scouting and recruitment by us once again. 

[Gloucester Saint]

2 hours ago, HarvSFC said:

From Swansea, I'd welcome Wood, a good young centre-back with potential, frequently in the England youth teams. Manning, in need of a left-back and he boasts a good record in Martin's system. Grimes, good technical player, knows the league and Martin's system. Piroe, much needed goal scorer, and he does a bit more in terms of ball carrying. Like a Championship Broja.

Cabango and Fulton who we have also been linked with, don't leave me too impressed. From what I read regarding Cabango, he was Swansea's version of Elyounossi in that the manager kept selecting him, but the fans were left bewildered as to why. While Fulton's 29, played for Falkirk, Swansea, Oldham and Wigan and never been capped by Scotland. Not a great CV.

Ex-Martin player, Downes would also be good, a bit of a coup, but would probably require JWP going the other way.

Choudhury, I'm not too sure on. We're missing a Romeu type player and Choudhury is a less glamorous version. But, he could also be too far the other way. Choudhury can't really play football, he's just a bit of a thug. Remember him putting in a couple of awful tackles in the Premier League. No red cards last season, but 13 yellows, so while his ball winning stats look good, he is also missing a few games through suspension. I guess he could be the hard bastard we're missing, but again, does such a limited player fit with Martin?

I wouldn't be too upset with £25m for Bella-Kotchap, to be honest, either.

Agree with most of that, Choudhury doesn’t like a Russell Martin player. Even if he’s effective at winning the ball (questionable), his ball retention and distribution over 5-10 yards doesn’t seem like a player the new manager would seek. If Leicester thought he’d be effective in a side competing seriously for promotion he’d be staying there.

Massive yes to Manning (Leeds also in for him allegedly, Perraud seems to have a significant injury), Wood or Piroe. Downes or Grimes good. 

£25m for ABK fine by me. Has potential but made of glass and a rich man’s Darren Powell later on last season. 

[Rebel]

I remember watching Choudhury play for Leicester and thinking he can't play football - he couldn't really control the ball or pass it very well and had very little awareness of what as going on around him when he had the ball (bit like Diallo). All he had really was a heavy tackle.

[Rebel]

7 hours ago, The Cat said:

My brother in law is a rugby fan and doesn't really like football although makes out he's interested and asks about Saints which is nice of him.

My brother in law was a skate bastard. But the good news is my sister divorced him and took him for almost everything. 

And my nephew is now a Saints fan. 

But the punch line is her new man is good friends with Mr Westwood (but supports Liverpool).  

[ErwinK1961]

9 minutes ago, Rebel said:

My brother in law was a skate bastard. But the good news is my sister divorced him and took him for almost everything. 

And my nephew is now a Saints fan. 

But the punch line is her new man is good friends with Mr Westwood (but supports Liverpool).  

What a rollercoaster of a read.

[GDog07]

I see so many stories about all the below definitely going to be leaving us this summer, like, no doubt in these folks’ minds;

JWP, Lavia, Alcaraz, Onuachu, Sulemana, Lyanco, Livramento, ABK, Adams, KWP, Salisu, DCC & Perraud.

Already seen Ely & Walcott out the door & Orsic bid accepted, are we really going to see 16 out and another 16 in as replacements, surely not, surely a bunch of those are staying?

I’m not seeing the same mass exodus’ from Leeds or Leicester, well, not yet. I mean, some of the above have got to stay, right? There’s only five weeks until the start of the season.

[Master Bates]

7 minutes ago, GDog07 said:

I see so many stories about all the below definitely going to be leaving us this summer, like, no doubt in these folks’ minds;

JWP, Lavia, Alcaraz, Onuachu, Sulemana, Lyanco, Livramento, ABK, Adams, KWP, Salisu, DCC & Perraud.

Already seen Ely & Walcott out the door & Orsic bid accepted, are we really going to see 16 out and another 16 in as replacements, surely not, surely a bunch of those are staying?

I’m not seeing the same mass exodus’ from Leeds or Leicester, well, not yet. I mean, some of the above have got to stay, right? There’s only five weeks until the start of the season.

That caused me to start singing "Murder on the dance floor" for some strange reason.

[Saint Garrett]

27 minutes ago, GDog07 said:

I see so many stories about all the below definitely going to be leaving us this summer, like, no doubt in these folks’ minds;

JWP, Lavia, Alcaraz, Onuachu, Sulemana, Lyanco, Livramento, ABK, Adams, KWP, Salisu, DCC & Perraud.

Already seen Ely & Walcott out the door & Orsic bid accepted, are we really going to see 16 out and another 16 in as replacements, surely not, surely a bunch of those are staying?

I’m not seeing the same mass exodus’ from Leeds or Leicester, well, not yet. I mean, some of the above have got to stay, right? There’s only five weeks until the start of the season.

Let’s not forget that our squad is bloated right now. If 10 more left and 5 were brought in we might still need to lose a few more. 

some of those will go, but some will stay. I definitely thought KWP, Adams and Salisu would be off sharpish due to their contractual situations, but not even really been linked atm, 

[Chez]

31 minutes ago, GDog07 said:

I’m not seeing the same mass exodus’ from Leeds or Leicester, well, not yet. 

Tete, Bertrand, Mendy, Perez, Amartey, Soyuncu, Tielmans and Maddison have left Leicester and Evans also out of contract.

Leeds only lost Roberts, Forshaw, Robles, McKenie

[skintsaint]

6 minutes ago, Chez said:

Leeds only lost Roberts, Forshaw, Robles, McKenie

I thought I read Leeds had some mad low relegation release prices for their better players too.

[woodsaint1]

2 minutes ago, Chez said:

Tete, Bertrand, Mendy, Perez, Amartey, Soyuncu, Tielmans and Maddison have left Leicester and Evans also out of contract.

Leeds only lost Roberts, Forshaw, Robles, McKenie

All three of us will lose a number of players.

Will be very surprised if Barnes, possibly Daka and Ndidi were still at Leicester come the end of the window

Similarly I expect Leeds to lose Harrison, Rodrigo, Koch and maybe more.

We'll likely lose Lavia, JWP, Salisu, ABK and maybe more.

It will all be about the replacements. Yet to see any encouraging links (apart from Downes maybe) but it is still early doors

[Chez]

4 minutes ago, Saint Garrett said:

Let’s not forget that our squad is bloated right now. If 10 more left and 5 were brought in we might still need to lose a few more. 

some of those will go, but some will stay. I definitely thought KWP, Adams and Salisu would be off sharpish due to their contractual situations, but not even really been linked atm, 

We could lose 10 and not have issues in terms of numbers, although CM could well be very light.

I thought at least one may have left by now (Orsic or Salisu), but maybe July 1st will be when things start to happen. Adams has been linked to Burnley, Forest and Everton. KWP linked to Newcastle. Salisu linked to Everton, Villa and Newcastle..although the reliability of these links leaves a lot to be desired.

[Chez]

8 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

I thought I read Leeds had some mad low relegation release prices for their better players too.

Gnonto and Harrison are the only `better' players they have. Gnonto doesn't have a release clause but Harrison does - £16m apparently.

A flying Bamford is worth a look too, but he struggled last year. His clause is meant to be about £30m, which isn't exactly a bargain.

Edited 29 June, 2023 by Chez

[GDog07]

16 minutes ago, Chez said:

Tete, Bertrand, Mendy, Perez, Amartey, Soyuncu, Tielmans and Maddison have left Leicester and Evans also out of contract.

Leeds only lost Roberts, Forshaw, Robles, McKenie

Oh, I didn’t realise Leicester lost so many already!

[Chez]

1 minute ago, GDog07 said:

Oh, I didn’t realise Leicester lost so many already!

some are not big losses.

[FarehamSaintJames]

52 minutes ago, GDog07 said:

I see so many stories about all the below definitely going to be leaving us this summer, like, no doubt in these folks’ minds;

JWP, Lavia, Alcaraz, Onuachu, Sulemana, Lyanco, Livramento, ABK, Adams, KWP, Salisu, DCC & Perraud.

Already seen Ely & Walcott out the door & Orsic bid accepted, are we really going to see 16 out and another 16 in as replacements, surely not, surely a bunch of those are staying?

I’m not seeing the same mass exodus’ from Leeds or Leicester, well, not yet. I mean, some of the above have got to stay, right? There’s only five weeks until the start of the season.

Hmmm, to a point I agree but then again I imagine you aren’t constantly reading Leicester and Leeds social media/news/gossip like you do Saints.

Leicester have already lost a number of players.

Leeds have lost a few, but are without a manager, director of football, and as things stand any real foundation or starting point.

I’d say we’re best placed right now. Yes we’ll lose a few but let’s be honest losing say Armstrong, or Diallo, or Perraud, or Lyanco. These aren’t major losses. 

How many players would you actually regard as “must keep/keep if I could”? I reckon no more than maybe five or six.

Lavia, JWP, Sulemana, KWP, Alcaraz would be my must-keeps.
Would you really lose sleep if we lost anyone but them.

Says a lot about our squad really doesn’t it. 😅

Edited 29 June, 2023 by FarehamSaintJames

[Chez]

8 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

Yet to see any encouraging links (apart from Downes maybe) but it is still early doors

the links to payers are all going to be a bit meh.

[skintsaint]

9 minutes ago, Chez said:

Gnonto and Harrison are the only `better' players they have. Gnonto doesn't have a release clause but Harrison does - £16m apparently.

A flying Bamford is worth a look too, but he struggled last year. His clause is meant to be about £30m, which isn't exactly a bargain.

I thought the yank players and Rodrigo had some as well.

[Chez]

13 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

I thought the yank players and Rodrigo had some as well.

most likely, but I don't regard them as their `better' players. They are a bit like us. bought too much average and it catches up with you quickly in the prem.

[LeBizzier69]

3 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Sounds like Moi.

Or a Moi/Diallo combo platter.

[skintsaint]

22 minutes ago, Chez said:

most likely, but I don't regard them as their `better' players. They are a bit like us. bought too much average and it catches up with you quickly in the prem.

I mean Rodrigo got 13 goals last season in the PL. Not shabby.

Anyway looks like he has gone : https://motleedsnews.com/transfers/rodrigo-leaves-leeds-united-for-good-as-permanent-transfer-completed/

[Osvaldorama]

6 hours ago, skintsaint said:

Solid signing for this league.

Jesus Christ I hope not. Shocking player 

[Saint86]

5 hours ago, HarvSFC said:

Don't think I'm too far off, you can see the Watford fans' view of him here: https://wfcforums.com/index.php?threads/hamza-choudhury.59615/page-4 A team that finished 11th in the Championship. You'd hope our scouts could find better. Another Schneiderlin would be perfect.

"Doesn’t qualify as a footballer for me given his complete inability to play a simple pass more than a few yards. Completely the good bits of his game for me. Seriously hope we don’t mistake undoubted hard work for skill and potential and sign him in the summer. Building a team around him would be potentially ruinous."

"Said something similar in the match thread. He's a headless chicken, and one of the main reasons we have zero control of games"

"Yep. He's got the footballing equivalent of ADHD unfortunately.

I actually think he's not too bad on the ball. He can carry it and he's fairly athletic, it's just he lacks any quality with his passing"

"He is good at winning the ball then passing it straight back to our opponents!"

"I agree. I like his energy and ball winning, but he’s substandard on the ball. Just gives it away far too often. For £6m I’m sure there are better options for a midfielder with a better combo of a passing and tackling ratio."

 

Now this just sounds like Wanyama to me...

[Nolan]

6 hours ago, Osvaldorama said:

Jesus Christ I hope not. Shocking player 

 

according to whoscored..... 🤔

[goodymatt]

 

[hypochondriac]

2 hours ago, Nolan said:

 

according to whoscored..... 🤔

Seems a bit of a weird one though if his passing isn't great. You'd think that would be a basic requirement of a signing for Martins team. 

[Turkish]

8 hours ago, LeBizzier69 said:

Or a Moi/Diallo combo platter.

Do you know I forgot Diallo even plays for us until I saw this 

[InvictaSaint]

23 minutes ago, goodymatt said:

 

Let's hope that this is a sign Alcaraz is staying....

[Mr Nimbus]

I can see some of our "key" players/assets etc moving incredibly late in the window. There's still a long way to go before we have any real clue as to what our squad will look like for the majority of our season.

[Suhari]

2 hours ago, goodymatt said:

 

Big Willy just just keeps going.

[Turkish]

2 hours ago, InvictaSaint said:

Let's hope that this is a sign Alcaraz is staying....

other than the fact they are both from the same country i cant see why that would be sign.

[Dusic]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

other than the fact they are both from the same country i cant see why that would be sign.

Especially as almost all of our squad probably don't know with any degree of certainty where they will be playing in September. There is still 2 months of the window - loads of moves involving Saints will happen.

[InvictaSaint]

1 hour ago, Turkish said:

other than the fact they are both from the same country i cant see why that would be sign.

Apparently he was helping Charly settle in and they've become good friends. That was the story doing the rounds at least ...

[SuperSAINT]

16 minutes ago, InvictaSaint said:

Apparently he was helping Charly settle in and they've become good friends. That was the story doing the rounds at least ...

There's far too long to go in the window, with too many good clubs linked to him for me to remotely believe he's staying.

[Weston Super Saint]

29 minutes ago, InvictaSaint said:

Apparently he was helping Charly settle in and they've become good friends. That was the story doing the rounds at least ...

In certain environments a 41 year old man befriending a 20 year old man becomes a completely different story.  Just saying.

[hypochondriac]

2 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

In certain environments a 41 year old man befriending a 20 year old man becomes a completely different story.  Just saying.

Very bizarre comment to make.

[Bad Wolf]

20 minutes ago, Weston Super Saint said:

In certain environments a 41 year old man befriending a 20 year old man becomes a completely different story.  Just saying.

Would it? 🤔

[Give it to Ron]

Cardiffs pot reduced quite rightly!

🚨 Cardiff will have to pay the entire transfer fee of Emiliano Sala to Nantes!

FIFA have ordered the Welsh club to make the last two payments equaling €11m to Nantes so that the whole €17m is paid in full.

(Source: @lequipe )

[Master Bates]

Orsic on his move to Trabzonspor:

:I’m extremely happy to be here,” 

“I hope we will have a good season. I have already worked with coach Nenad Bjelica (at Dinamo). And he is responsible for my coming here.

“I didn’t think much about the city I’m coming to. I came to play football.”

[Charlie Wayman]

I have a feeling SR that will play hardball on transfer fees for our best players, especially the ones we would prefer to keep. If they set high release fees and stick to their guns some suitors will be put off simply because they will have hoped that we will be desperate enough for cash to accept ridiculously low offers such as the derisory alleged offer for Tina Livramento.

Even if a player is determined to leave, somebody will still have to pay the money. If SR dig in early on word will soon spread that they are no soft touch and so we might find that so called interest in some of our players could dissipate rapidly.

I guess the principle is set low fees for the players we no longer want but much higher ones for the players that we would prefer to hold onto. Fingers crossed we might indeed end up keeping gems like Alcaraz, Suleman, Tella & Livramento. Let's see it fro Saints point of view for a change not the players.

[Chez]

32 minutes ago, Master Bates said:

Orsic on his move to Trabzonspor:

:I’m extremely happy to be here,” 

“I hope we will have a good season. I have already worked with coach Nenad Bjelica (at Dinamo). And he is responsible for my coming here.

“I didn’t think much about the city I’m coming to. I came to play football.”

https://turkish-football.com/southampton-midfielder-confirms-3-5m-move-to-turkey/

mentions that Caleta-Car may also sign for them.

Edited 30 June, 2023 by Chez

[Chez]

The Athletic says deal was €4m including bonus https://theathletic.com/4646814/2023/06/28/southampton-transfer-mislav-orsic/