Summer Transfer Window 2025/26

[Lighthouse]

6 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

I'm glad we were effectively relegated last December and have had so long to prepare for this summer and the transfer window in particular. 

What make you think we're unprepared? We seem to be doing fairly well for our part, having identified targets in key areas and targets and brought in a couple of decent-ish looking prospects. No amount of preparation is going to hurry other clubs, players and their agents into the deals we want, when either buying or selling.

[LaptopSaint]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cy4dwj9wpyxo
 

When we sell Tyler for 45m we should spend less than half that on Jonathan Rowe. Job done. 
 

He’ll probably go to the Prem but still. We could do with a fighter. 

[hypochondriac]

Just now, Lighthouse said:

What make you think we're unprepared? We seem to be doing fairly well for our part, having identified targets in key areas and targets and brought in a couple of decent-ish looking prospects. No amount of preparation is going to hurry other clubs, players and their agents into the deals we want, when either buying or selling.

We must have different standards. There's still time to improve but we require more than decent-ish looking prospects. 

[Oldandtired]

2 hours ago, SNSUN said:

. We get promoted via the play-offs using the players we have,

 

You don’t win the lottery twice…

[saintant]

13 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I think they have respect for the player who has been with them all of his career, they're looking after him as if he was one of their 'kids' - from all I've read, they feel he deserves better than a 2nd division team - which is fair to be honest, he is clearly too good for this level.

I reckon a Porto or someone like that will come in and offer less than us, and they'll let him go. I think that's what they've said to him, they won't stand in his way of a top league European club...but they don't want his talent wasted in Preston or Stoke.

I can't see any situation where this happens. I started to get suss when that acount started going a bit random with it's updates, it screamed Gakpo from the outset really.

Not sure about any of this. I would expect Armenians to be ruthless, hard-headed businessmen who'd screw their grannies over for an extra quid not sentimental softies who'd sell an asset lower as an act of loyalty 🙂

[BARCELONASAINT]

As football fans it is understandable that there are many out there feeling very frustrated about our transfer dealings so far and feel the board are useless, holding players to ransom, not being realistic etc etc.

The truth is it is many fans not being realistic. We are a Championship side way down the pecking order now that have to shop in either our own division or the equivalent/lower leagues abroad and hope that our scouts can unearth a gem that no other clubs are aware off. The reality is that virtually every other club out there knows what players are out there and available. Scouting has changed so much, yes scouts still go and watch games in person but so much of it is now done using databases. All clubs have access to these.

I have seen this last season 3 players a manager wanted signed by the board that were very much against the chief scouts advice (the Chief Scout went as far as saying do not touch these players with a barge pole but the board choose to go with the managers recommendations) All 3 players turned out to be disastrous, and the hierarchy will now only implement bringing players in the Chief scout recommends.

Even when those players have been identified and the player has been acceptable to the move the selling club has not wanted to let the player go until they have a replacement and the same then is said for the next club and so on. Unfortunately most transfers do not happens over night and despite a purchasing club meeting the selling price and the players wage demands etc transfers still break down (and generally from what i have seen it is bad advice from greedy agents)

To make it clear the club i'm talking about is NOT Southampton but i use the scenario i know has unfolded at another club i have very good knowledge about. The person i talk about has good contacts within SFC and has told me we have been planning and working very hard since January to identify players for this season and beyond. They certainly havent been sitting on their arses but things are not always as easy as playing Football Manager!

Edited Wednesday at 09:48 by BARCELONASAINT

[Lighthouse]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

We must have different standards. There's still time to improve but we require more than decent-ish looking prospects. 

I know Farmer was joking but we genuinely did build a pretty solid Championship squad last summer. We need a creative midfielder, a RB and a replacement for MF if he leaves. Apart from that our squad looks in pretty good shape.

I'm not sure what else you expect the club to have done. We've clearly identified the likes of Rudoni and Spertsyan and are working on deals for them. Don't foget our best period in the last forty years began with Mane and Toby both being signed on deadline day.

[sockeye]

1 minute ago, BARCELONASAINT said:

I have seen this last season 3 players a manager wanted signed by the board that were very much against the chief scouts advice (the Chief Scout went as far as saying do not touch these players with a barge pole but the board choose to go with the managers recommendations) All 3 players turned out to be disastrous, and the hierarchy will now only implement bringing players in the Chief scout recommends.

Interesting 

[Winnersaint]

11 hours ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Time to walk away… maybe then he might try and force the issue a bit. 

I reckon we've as much chance of seeing this guy in a Saints shirt as we have of seeing Bruce Forsyth fronting this years series of Strictly!

[S-Clarke]

2 minutes ago, BARCELONASAINT said:

All 3 players turned out to be disastrous, and the hierarchy will now only implement bringing players in the Chief scout recommends.

I can probably guess BBD, Taylor and Fraser?

To be fair to Taylor and Fraser they have been good pros, but for a PL side they didn't lift us at all and seemed rather pointless.

[BARCELONASAINT]

4 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

I can probably guess BBD, Taylor and Fraser?

To be fair to Taylor and Fraser they have been good pros, but for a PL side they didn't lift us at all and seemed rather pointless.

Sorry to avoid any confusion this is not Saints i am talking about but another club i have first hand knowledge off due to someone in the position i was referring too. I used this scenario because these sort of incidents are very typical at a lot of clubs and the person i am referring to DOES have contacts within SFC. Believe me our board has not been sitting on its arse for the last 4/5 months when relegation was all but a certainty by the end of January. They have been working so hard for months.  

[Forester]

Just a different take on things, but how many Saints fans would be happy if the window shut tonight and we hadn’t sold a single extra player, but similarly hadn’t bought anybody more either?

My sense is that is that many fans would be unhappy, as we would have only bought two players.  But I think other clubs in the championship would be envious of what we have.

The reason I put this out is that it is perfectly possible that the Board are preparing for a scenario (even if it isn’t the most likely one) that they don’t see value in selling players BECAUSE they can’t get key replacement targets, for a wide range of reasons.  
 

I still think Edozie, Aribo and ABK will go, and probably Dibling, and if so wingers are needed in.  But I would be fine if nothing changed from where we are.  January window will be along sooner than we think.

[hypochondriac]

18 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I know Farmer was joking but we genuinely did build a pretty solid Championship squad last summer. We need a creative midfielder, a RB and a replacement for MF if he leaves. Apart from that our squad looks in pretty good shape.

I'm not sure what else you expect the club to have done. We've clearly identified the likes of Rudoni and Spertsyan and are working on deals for them. Don't foget our best period in the last forty years began with Mane and Toby both being signed on deadline day.

I simply don't agree with that. Still has already said that he can't play the formation he wants to at the moment because we don't have any proper wingers. We've brought in a striker with potential but have no reliable out and out number 9 that's going to score 15-20 goals this season unless we are crossing our fingers that Downs with develop in a short period or Stewart is going to suddenly start doing it. Archer is a different type of player that Still seemingly doesn't currently view as a starter. Still also said he wants new players with championship experience so remains to be seen if we can get that in too. So in my mind we need: 

RB 

Extra option in midfield because Downes and Charles won't play every game 

Top quality replacements for Fernandes and Dibling if/when they leave 

At least one winger maybe two 

In a perfect world I'd try to get rid of another forward option and get in a reliable number 9 as the Adams replacement but I accept that's unlikely. 

 

Aribo, Smallbone, Edozie, maybe Sugawara, BBD and ABK all need to leave or go on loan. 

Edited Wednesday at 09:50 by hypochondriac

[Rebel]

Would it be that bad a window if we kept Fernandes, Dibling and THB but didn't bring anyone else in this summer, but also managed to get rid of ABK and Aribo on loan for the final year of their contracts to reduce the wage bill and sold Taylor and Edozie for small fees to reduce squad numbers?

We'd still be short cover at defensive midfield but the squad would be good enough to put us in the promotion race. 

 

 

 

 

[Chez]

Just now, Forester said:

Just a different take on things, but how many Saints fans would be happy if the window shut tonight and we hadn’t sold a single extra player, but similarly hadn’t bought anybody more either?

Interesting.

IMO, if Dibling and Fernandes go, no matter who we bring in, we get weaker in their positions. If they go, we may have the funds to also buy a right back and a keeper, so strengthening in other areas, but I still think the drop off in quality from Fernandes and Dibling to Spertsyan and Guilavogui should not be underestimated. No one in or out. I'd be happy with that outcome. Not sure the CFO or the two players will be too chuffed.

 

[Lighthouse]

2 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

I simply don't agree with that. Still has already said that he can't play the formation he wants to at the moment because we don't have any proper wingers. We've brought in a striker with potential but have no reliable out and out number 9 that's going to score 15-20 goals this season unless we are crossing our fingers that Downs with develop in a short period or Stewart is going to suddenly start doing it. Archer is a different type of player that Still seemingly doesn't currently view as a starter. Still also said he wants new players with championship experience so remains to be seen if we can get that in too. So in my mind we need: 

RB 

Extra option in midfield because Downes and Charles won't play every game 

Top quality replacements for Fernandes and Dibling if/when they leave 

At least one winger maybe two 

In a perfect world I'd try to get rid of another forward option and get in a reliable number 9 as the Adams replacement but I accept that's unlikely. 

The BIB we've already agreeed on. We have smallbone in CM, I doubt we'll be getting an extra option as well as a MF replacement. Likewise I can't see us replacing Dibling AND getting another winger, let alone two. We have Fraser and Robinson already, plus supporting strikers who can play deeper and wider.

We aren't getting another forward either, unless about three of our current options leave. We have Stewart, Archer, Downs, BBD and AA, which is probably the strongest collection of forwards in the league.

[hypochondriac]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

The BIB we've already agreeed on. We have smallbone in CM, I doubt we'll be getting an extra option as well as a MF replacement. Likewise I can't see us replacing Dibling AND getting another winger, let alone two. We have Fraser and Robinson already, plus supporting strikers who can play deeper and wider.

We aren't getting another forward either, unless about three of our current options leave. We have Stewart, Archer, Downs, BBD and AA, which is probably the strongest collection of forwards in the league.

I know we won't get another striker but the strikers aren't currently good enough in my view. Downs is a prospect, Stewart can't stay fit and hasn't had a consistent run of form since being with us, AA isn't a striker and BBD needs to leave and will hardly play regardless. 

[Midfield_General]

23 hours ago, goodymatt said:

🇦🇲
No decision has been made in Krasnodar 🇷🇺 regarding the sale of Eduard Spertsyan 🇦🇲.

The Russian club has not responded to Southampton’s 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 offer and does not seem in a hurry to let their player go.

A decision will be made by the end of the day.

I take it all this got sorted out last night then like the Armenie Football chap who is definitely ITK said it would? 

Can't wait to see Spertsyan line up for us on Saturday, looking forward to it! 

[Matthew Le God]

5 minutes ago, Chez said:

Interesting.

IMO, if Dibling and Fernandes go, no matter who we bring in, we get weaker in their positions. If they go, we may have the funds to also buy a right back and a keeper, so strengthening in other areas, but I still think the drop off in quality from Fernandes and Dibling to Spertsyan and Guilavogui should not be underestimated. No one in or out. I'd be happy with that outcome. Not sure the CFO or the two players will be too chuffed.

 

We'll be getting a keeper regardless of player sales. Still has stated he wants another so Moody can play for the u21s.

[CSA96]

 

[Lighthouse]

8 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

I know we won't get another striker but the strikers aren't currently good enough in my view. Downs is a prospect, Stewart can't stay fit and hasn't had a consistent run of form since being with us, AA isn't a striker and BBD needs to leave and will hardly play regardless. 

We got promoted last time with Adams and Mara as our strikers and the problem was defence. There're more than enough goals in the collection of strikers we have.

[hypochondriac]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

We got promoted last time with Adams and Mara as our strikers and the problem was defence. There're more than enough goals in the collection of strikers we have.

Adams is a better championship striker than all of our current strikers and he played the majority of games. We also scraped promotion via the playoffs with a better striker leading the line than we have now. 

Edited Wednesday at 10:10 by hypochondriac

[disconnect]

2 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

We got promoted last time with Adams and Mara as our strikers and the problem was defence. There're more than enough goals in the collection of strikers we have.

Adams is significantly better than Stewart and BBD. May be a bit of a "misser" but his hold up play and the work he made stuff happen by pressing players was generally very good. Plus he was actually available more than a third of the season. 

Edit: posted at same time as Hypo. He's also much better through the middle than Armstrong, who should be out on the right if he is going to play. Fingers crossed Downs comes good!

Edited Wednesday at 10:12 by disconnect
Further context

[CSA96]

9 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

 

 

[Lighthouse]

7 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Adams is a better championship striker than all of our current strikers and he played the majority of games. We also scraped promotion via the playoffs with a better striker leading the line than we have now. 

Adams scored 16 goals, which is hardly Mitrovic territory, and we should comfortably be able to replace. In spite of that we still got promoted scoring 91 goals. Our problem last time was defence. If you're expecting better strikers than we have, you're going to be disappointed. We have neither the need nor the budget.

[Farmer Saint]

48 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I know Farmer was joking but we genuinely did build a pretty solid Championship squad last summer. We need a creative midfielder, a RB and a replacement for MF if he leaves. Apart from that our squad looks in pretty good shape.

I'm not sure what else you expect the club to have done. We've clearly identified the likes of Rudoni and Spertsyan and are working on deals for them. Don't foget our best period in the last forty years began with Mane and Toby both being signed on deadline day.

I wasn't fucking joking, it was genuinely a pre-req for a lot of our signings (would they be happy to play in the Championship).

[hypochondriac]

6 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Adams scored 16 goals, which is hardly Mitrovic territory, and we should comfortably be able to replace. In spite of that we still got promoted scoring 91 goals. Our problem last time was defence. If you're expecting better strikers than we have, you're going to be disappointed. We have neither the need nor the budget.

Who is scoring 16 this season? I already said I'm not expecting better strikers. 

[hypochondriac]

6 minutes ago, Farmer Saint said:

I wasn't fucking joking, it was genuinely a pre-req for a lot of our signings (would they be happy to play in the Championship).

Let's look at the Ipswich lineup shall we:

Bazunu - not signed last year 

Fraser - hangover from the previous season 

THB - loan from previous season 

Stephen - not signed last year 

Quarshie - not signed last year 

Wellington - signed last year 

Charles - not signed last year 

Downes - loan from previous season 

Fernandes - likely to leave 

Robinson - not signed last year 

Armstrong - not signed last year 

So if we signed players to use this season we didn't do a very good job of it, particularly when you consider the likes of Fernandes are likely to leave. 

[Lighthouse]

3 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Who is scoring 16 this season? I already said I'm not expecting better strikers. 

Adams and Mara scored 19 between them. I am fairly sure Downs, Archer and Stewart are capable of that, combined, and I'm not even expecting BBD to stick around.

[hypochondriac]

5 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Adams and Mara scored 19 between them. I am fairly sure Downs, Archer and Stewart are capable of that, combined, and I'm not even expecting BBD to stick around.

If we're aiming to improve on 4th then we will need them to be better than that. That's assuming Stewart can actually get on the pitch of course. 

[Matthew Le God]

11 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Adams and Mara scored 19 between them. I am fairly sure Downs, Archer and Stewart are capable of that, combined, and I'm not even expecting BBD to stick around.

 

5 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

If we're aiming to improve on 4th then we will need them to be better than that. That's assuming Stewart can actually get on the pitch of course. 

 

2023/24 saw us score only 2 less than 1st place Leicester.  It was the other end where the issues stopping us get into the automatic spots were, not goalscoring. 

Edited Wednesday at 10:43 by Matthew Le God

[Danbert]

4 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

2023/24 saw us score only 2 less than 1st place Leicester.  It was the other end where the issues stopping us get into the automatic spots were, not goalscoring. 

fewer

[suewhistle]

56 minutes ago, BARCELONASAINT said:

I used this scenario because these sort of incidents are very typical at a lot of clubs

The same arguments on forums happen every year at every club, and although I pass by here for news, it's rarely enlightening and generally more heat than light.

You do get news here earlier than on the OS, but I'm not sure it's worth the time or effort!

[Chez]

43 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

We'll be getting a keeper regardless of player sales. Still has stated he wants another so Moody can play for the u21s.

It was an interesting hypothetical discussion about how fans would see the window if we didn't buy or sell anyone from here on in. Not sure my reply needed your nitpicking about the other positions we could buy players if we had a massive cash injection, but I guess that's what you do.

That said, I agree, we'll get a keeper in come what may. I said keeper because I couldn't think of another position (other than right back) that we might buy a player (ignoring the attacking midfielder and right winger that would be needed to replace Dibling and Fernandes). Maybe a right back and a left winger?

Returning to Forester's original question, how would you see this transfer window if there was no further movement MLG? 

 

 

[Matthew Le God]

19 minutes ago, Danbert said:

fewer

No, it was talking about numbers of goals so is 'less'.

https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199661350.001.0001/acref-9780199661350-e-2054

 

Edited Wednesday at 11:03 by Matthew Le God

[johnnyboy]

10 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

No, it was talking about numbers of goals so is 'less'.

https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199661350.001.0001/acref-9780199661350-e-2054

 

Does it really bother you so much that have to correct everybody on any perceived mistake you happen to see ! What an utter tedious way to live !

[InvictaSaint]

8 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

No, it was talking about numbers of goals so is 'less'.

https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199661350.001.0001/acref-9780199661350-e-2054

 

Can’t believe I’m doing this but here goes….

Your quotation MLG said “2023-24 saw us score only 2 less than first placed Leicester”. 

So…..2 what? Goals. Goals is a countable noun and therefore fewer is correct. Anything you can count is fewer….anything else is less.

For example….”I have less money than you” but “You have fewer friends than me”.

[Chez]

1 hour ago, Rebel said:

Would it be that bad a window if we kept Fernandes, Dibling and THB but didn't bring anyone else in this summer, but also managed to get rid of ABK and Aribo on loan for the final year of their contracts to reduce the wage bill and sold Taylor and Edozie for small fees to reduce squad numbers?

We'd still be short cover at defensive midfield but the squad would be good enough to put us in the promotion race. 

Got to say the difference Fernandes made on Sunday compared to the previous week was noticeable. Dibling only had a few minutes, but there is no one else offering his ball retention and dribbling ability. At this level, those two and Robinson would be a handful for opponents. Not exactly a surprise seeing as we want the best part of £100m for the pair.

[S-Clarke]

10 minutes ago, Chez said:

Got to say the difference Fernandes made on Sunday compared to the previous week was noticeable. Dibling only had a few minutes, but there is no one else offering his ball retention and dribbling ability. At this level, those two and Robinson would be a handful for opponents. Not exactly a surprise seeing as we want the best part of £100m for the pair.

I guess it's also not just about looking at 'now', we really want to start putting together a team which could flourish in the PL. Building around Dibling/Fernandes is important in that, otherwise we really will become a proper yo-yo outfit.

The concern I'd have is that we'd replace proven PL talent with Championship players, as that's our current level, and the players wouldn't have the same celling as either Fernandes or Dibling. Thus, we'd have to spend mega fortunes next summer (if promoted) to bring our level up again.

But we are also in a tricky place where we're struggling to shift the fodder like BBD, Edozie, Aribo, ABK etc - and because of that, we can't move on areas we need to improve on today (wide attack, AMC etc). It's a really tricky position for the club to navigate, which has been caused by years of poor windows, but my feeling is that we can't sell both Dibling and Fernandes this window - we've got to keep at least one of them and build around them.

Edited Wednesday at 11:25 by S-Clarke

[Matthew Le God]

10 minutes ago, johnnyboy said:

Does it really bother you so much that have to correct everybody on any perceived mistake you happen to see ! What an utter tedious way to live !

He was attempting the correction. So why didn't you say it to him?

[Farmer Saint]

48 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Let's look at the Ipswich lineup shall we:

Bazunu - not signed last year 

Fraser - hangover from the previous season 

THB - loan from previous season 

Stephen - not signed last year 

Quarshie - not signed last year 

Wellington - signed last year 

Charles - not signed last year 

Downes - loan from previous season 

Fernandes - likely to leave 

Robinson - not signed last year 

Armstrong - not signed last year 

So if we signed players to use this season we didn't do a very good job of it, particularly when you consider the likes of Fernandes are likely to leave. 

You're correct, we did a pretty poor job of it - but then when have we ever been good at transfers under SR?

Edwards, Wood, Archer, BBD, Welington, Taylor, Fernandes all signed with that in mind.

[Danbert]

22 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

No, it was talking about numbers of goals so is 'less'.

https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199661350.001.0001/acref-9780199661350-e-2054

 

You're wrong, the correct usage is fewer.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/less-or-fewer

From the link:

"We usually use less with uncountable nouns. We use fewer with plural nouns."

[Matthew Le God]

12 minutes ago, InvictaSaint said:

Can’t believe I’m doing this but here goes….

Your quotation MLG said “2023-24 saw us score only 2 less than first placed Leicester”. 

So…..2 what? Goals. Goals is a countable noun and therefore fewer is correct. Anything you can count is fewer….anything else is less.

For example….”I have less money than you” but “You have fewer friends than me”.

'Less' has idiomatic football usage

[Matthew Le God]

1 minute ago, Danbert said:

You're wrong, the correct usage is fewer.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/less-or-fewer

From the link:

"We usually use less with uncountable nouns. We use fewer with plural nouns."

'Less' has idiomatic football usage

[AlexLaw76]

Just now, Matthew Le God said:

'Less' has idiomatic football usage

 

[ChrisPY]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

'Less' has idiomatic football usage

Your mum has idiomatic football usage.

[ZepSaint]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

'Less' has idiomatic football usage

Oh m8, you don't really help yourself do you !

[Chez]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

I guess it's also not just about looking at 'now', we really want to start putting together a team which could flourish in the PL. Building around Dibling/Fernandes is important in that, otherwise we really will become a proper yo-yo outfit.

The concern I'd have is that we'd replace proven PL talent with Championship players, as that's our current level, and the players wouldn't have the same celling as either Fernandes or Dibling. Thus, we'd have to spend mega fortunes next summer (if promoted) to bring our level up again.

But we are also in a tricky place where we're struggling to shift the fodder like BBD, Edozie, Aribo, ABK etc - and because of that, we can't move on areas we need to improve on today (wide attack, AMC etc). It's a really tricky position for the club to navigate, which has been caused of years of poor windows, but my feeling is that we can't sell both Dibling and Fernandes this window - we've got to keep at least one of them and build around them.

I am not sure anyone really thought we would retain them, so rebuilding a side capable of winning the league and perhaps having a few good enough to help keep us up, was always on the cards. If they don't depart, which would be a surprise, that would be two positions filled if we were promoted.

Do we need to improve wide attack and AMC if they both stayed?

[InvictaSaint]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

'Less' has idiomatic football usage

Not sure it does. Certainly no more than in any other context. And it’s still technically wrong, from a grammatical perspective. And since that’s the area I work in I’m quite happy to tell you so. But it’s rare for you to ever admit fault, so I don’t expect you to do so on this occasion. I’ll leave it there. 

[Matthew Le God]

1 minute ago, ZepSaint said:

Oh m8, you don't really help yourself do you !

He was attempting the correction. So why didn't you say that to him?