Summer Transfer Window 2025/26

[HarvSFC]

The time to sell Adam Armstrong was last summer when his stock was high. We gave him a new contract instead. Now, this summer, I understand why he's difficult with him neither being a striker, nor a traditional winger. However, he's also more of a guarantee next season than our other forwards for goals. 

It would also be very stupid to sell him to a division rival this summer. If he is to go, hopefully it's to Rangers.

[ally_uk]

I'd keep Armstong for this season and then sell if we get promoted. As you said would be stupid to strengthen rivals. 

[revolution saint]

44 minutes ago, goodymatt said:

Is this our main striker target?

Not overly impressed, has only ever hit double figures in his career once (last season) and previous years have been pretty poor in terms of goal return both in France and Switzerland. 

[Appy]

Time to move Armstrong on, we know he can’t do it in the level above and that West Brom loan spell raises alarm bells for the Championship. 

[Badger]

18 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Not overly impressed, has only ever hit double figures in his career once (last season) and previous years have been pretty poor in terms of goal return both in France and Switzerland. 

Agree. Even the YouTube clips aren’t that impressive. He certainly doesn’t look the dynamic and athletic striker Spors referenced, more a bit of a forceful lump in the Troy Deeney mould, without great pace. Also playing in a pretty piss poor league. 

[Galway saint]

48 minutes ago, Appy said:

Time to move Armstrong on, we know he can’t do it in the level above and that West Brom loan spell raises alarm bells for the Championship. 

Didn’t he score 20+ goals and have the highest number of assists in Europe when he last played a full season for us in the Championship? 
 

[Saint Fan CaM]

53 minutes ago, Galway saint said:

Didn’t he score 20+ goals and have the highest number of assists in Europe when he last played a full season for us in the Championship? 
 

Didn’t Armstrong score a lot of goals and achieve many assists under a generally different system to the one Still is supposedly to deploy this season? Not sure he’s the right type of player needed now, but better to keep him as backup than sell him to a rival team. A dilemma.

[Fabrice29]

10 hours ago, HarvSFC said:

The time to sell Adam Armstrong was last summer when his stock was high. 

Imagine selling our top scorer that got us promoted ffs 🤣 This place continues to amaze. 

Think people massively misunderstand motivation in humans if you think we can ask Armstrong to just get us promoted again and score all those goals like he did last time but also realise he’ll be sold in the summer if he does. To get performances out of people next season you’ve got to convince them they’ll be part of a 2 year cycle at least. Just like the last time we were trying to get out the Championship. You either commit the players to the journey or you sell now.

[gio1saints]

35 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Imagine selling our top scorer that got us promoted ffs 🤣 This place continues to amaze. 

Think people massively misunderstand motivation in humans if you think we can ask Armstrong to just get us promoted again and score all those goals like he did last time but also realise he’ll be sold in the summer if he does. To get performances out of people next season you’ve got to convince them they’ll be part of a 2 year cycle at least. Just like the last time we were trying to get out the Championship. You either commit the players to the journey or you sell now.

Exactly right. 

I know that many feel pro footballers are ridiculously well paid to do an enviable, easy job - so should not need “motivating” or buying into “projects”. 
 

11 individuals chucked on a pitch and told “you are being paid millions to be good-so be good” is basic level 1 management. Adding motivation including but in addition to just money is level two and upwards.
 

Average players can become good Good players, great. With the right motivation. 

At Saints we will benefit by recruiting players specifically playing to get into the EPL - they will appreciate in value quicker and hopefully be EPL ready - unlike last time. 
I personally think AA will be sold because he probably will never be EPL ready - but the pragmatist in me says keep him because he cooks in the championship and he may have to swallow his pride and know he is likely to be moved on- but at least moved on as a winner not as a miserable loser. 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by gio1saints

[Weston Super Saint]

1 minute ago, gio1saints said:

Exactly right. 

I know that many feel pro footballers are ridiculously well paid to do an enviable, easy job - so should not need “motivating” or buying into “projects”. 

Going to work in the certain knowledge you are going to be dumped next season if we go up does not necessarily make you try or play worse this year - but it should be fairly obvious that teams without those psychological burdens are at an advantage over having a team of 11 individuals worrying and wondering for themselves. Man Utd fairly good example of poor team ethic, Saints, season before last, example of good team spirit. Why? Players playing to get into the EPL not simply playing for money. 

Your overly simplified pyschological theorising falls apart when you consider the Saints team from LAST season!

Where was the motivation and team spirit for the whole season from a squad playing to simply STAY in the EPL - or does motivation only work for teams potentially being promoted?

[Danbert]

"The Nigerian International Olakunle Olusegun is a target for a collection of Championship clubs. The Krasnador winger, who has also played in Denmark and Bulgaria, has popped up on the second-tier radar and could end up at one of a plethora of clubs. Watford, Southampton, QPR and Coventry are just a few with a keen interest."

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jun/25/football-transfer-rumours-jadon-sancho-manchester-united-fenerbahce

 

[EBS1980]

Regarding Armstrong, is this a different story from the one Alfie said on the TSP on Sunday? On that he said he wouldn’t be surprised if Archer Armstrong and BBD were available if someone offered for them but wouldn’t be surprised if any of them stayed or went. 

[hypochondriac]

54 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Imagine selling our top scorer that got us promoted ffs 🤣 This place continues to amaze. 

Think people massively misunderstand motivation in humans if you think we can ask Armstrong to just get us promoted again and score all those goals like he did last time but also realise he’ll be sold in the summer if he does. To get performances out of people next season you’ve got to convince them they’ll be part of a 2 year cycle at least. Just like the last time we were trying to get out the Championship. You either commit the players to the journey or you sell now.

Correct. It's why Armstrong probably has to go but I'd prefer him to go somewhere that isn't the championship if we can. 

[suewhistle]

23 minutes ago, EBS1980 said:

Regarding Armstrong, is this a different story from the one Alfie said on the TSP on Sunday? On that he said he wouldn’t be surprised if Archer Armstrong and BBD were available if someone offered for them but wouldn’t be surprised if any of them stayed or went. 

That makes sense, but I'd prefer AA to BBD; his effort and pressing alone would be the difference.

[saintant]

Adam Armstrong is no fool. He knows himself that he is not good enough to play in the Premier League so his highest level in England is the Championship. He needs no other motivation than to play as well as he can and give maximum effort. Whether that is for us or another Championship club remains to be seen but he will have no delusions that he is suddenly going to conquer the Premier League.

[ally_uk]

Yes let's sell our top scorer in the Championship 🤣

[beatlesaint]

Armstrong is one of the players Russell Martin 100% got the best out of. He's not all that through the middle as his loan at WBA proved last season. Martin played him in his best position, even though I seem to recall RM saying Armstrong didnt agree.

Edited 3 hours ago by beatlesaint

[hypochondriac]

Will still teams play with proper wingers. Where would Armstrong fit in? 

[beatlesaint]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

Will still teams play with proper wingers. Where would Armstrong fit in? 

well he wont, hence Alfie House's tweet presumably 

[gio1saints]

1 hour ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Your overly simplified pyschological theorising falls apart when you consider the Saints team from LAST season!

Where was the motivation and team spirit for the whole season from a squad playing to simply STAY in the EPL - or does motivation only work for teams potentially being promoted?

I’m not sure anyone wants to read an essay on sport psychology here so perforce I oversimplify. 

My view is that our EPL squad was really badly assembled. Largely due to the fuck up that was the aftermath of Wilcox leaving.
We had Too many players NOT on an upward trajectory. 
Players like Jan, Jack, BBD, TP, Adam, Ryan, Ross, Will, Flynn, Joe, Lumley and Alex, Manning, Bree, Charlie Taylor, Gronbaek even Archer. Far too many obviously not at the level nor ever going to be. And perhaps even AA with benefit of hindsight also in the list but he deserved  the chance imo. 
We cannot let that recur.
Even if it appears to compromise performance short term in the championship. 

[Saint86]

I wouldn't write Armstrong off. Ralph bought him to play in a pressing high energy side at the end of the day, he offers genuine speed, plays across the front free (on the right a lot for Martin's side) and has a great work rate. He's proven at this level as well. I think people also forget how many times he got down the wing in put in very intelligent crosses for attackers as well.

He is also the only attacker still on the books who is proven to be a very good player at championship level.

Sure, if a good offer comes in, AND the club think they can suitably replace him, then we might sell - and fair enough... but i'm more than happy to keep him. He was a key player for us last time out.

[Nolan]

Armstrong is a fantastic player in the Championship, but he's not made the leap and performed in the Premier League.

6 goals in 73 premier league assistances.

21 goals in 46 championship appearances. 

I just wonder if he'd be happy being into a new project only to not hit the heights in the top division again. 

It's almost fairer on him for him to play elsewhere.

[MindtheGab]

3 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

Imagine selling our top scorer that got us promoted ffs 🤣 This place continues to amaze. 

Think people massively misunderstand motivation in humans if you think we can ask Armstrong to just get us promoted again and score all those goals like he did last time but also realise he’ll be sold in the summer if he does. To get performances out of people next season you’ve got to convince them they’ll be part of a 2 year cycle at least. Just like the last time we were trying to get out the Championship. You either commit the players to the journey or you sell now.

This tells you how much the club and fans' ambition has fallen in the past few years under Gao and SR ownership. 

Of course you can sell a player that has performed well in a league below once you get promoted. The circumstances have significantly changed especially the chasm of quality between Championship and the PL.

One of our biggest problems last season was showing too much loyalty to players who unfortunately are not good enough for the EPL.

When we were last promoted to the EPL, we identified in preseason players that wouldn't be good enough such as our team captain Dean Hammond and star January signing Billy Sharp. Both were loaned out in that summer window never to start a PL game for us. I don't remember that having an impact on their ability to perform in the championship nor our ability to stay up without them in the premier league

[revolution saint]

I'm ambivalent about selling or keeping Armstrong and can see both sides.  Leaving aside the various merits of whether we should keep or sell, I'd be interested to know what the club value him at. 

Does anyone know where we stand from a PSR point of view?  Now that he's completed his initial contract does anything we get for him become pure profit?

[Gloucester Saint]

Latest offer for Sulemana apparently up to £14.5m. Round it up to £15m and take it as long as the ‘up to’ is practical.

Onachu reportedly fed up with the latest ongoing boring Trabzonspor saga - may I suggest his agent asks that his new club finds a Chairman with some actual money and not the monopoly stuff? Goztepe could do a lot worse, finished only a point below Trabzonspor and they have more money than Trabz, who seem to be in some trouble. They pulled out of signing an Ipswich defender on a free as well. 

[Weston Super Saint]

1 hour ago, gio1saints said:

I’m not sure anyone wants to read an essay on sport psychology here so perforce I oversimplify. 

My view is that our EPL squad was really badly assembled. Largely due to the fuck up that was the aftermath of Wilcox leaving.
We had Too many players NOT on an upward trajectory. 
Players like Jan, Jack, BBD, TP, Adam, Ryan, Ross, Will, Flynn, Joe, Lumley and Alex, Manning, Bree, Charlie Taylor, Gronbaek even Archer. Far too many obviously not at the level nor ever going to be. And perhaps even AA with benefit of hindsight also in the list but he deserved  the chance imo. 
We cannot let that recur.
Even if it appears to compromise performance short term in the championship. 

Most of those were part of our Championship promotion squad that were uber motivated to play in the EPL hence why we allegedly had amazing team spirit.

A couple of months later, those same players couldn't be arsed to motivate themselves to STAY in the EPL that they worked so hard to reach.

Psychology or Psychobabble?

[Saint Mikey]

33 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

I'm ambivalent about selling or keeping Armstrong and can see both sides.  Leaving aside the various merits of whether we should keep or sell, I'd be interested to know what the club value him at. 

Does anyone know where we stand from a PSR point of view?  Now that he's completed his initial contract does anything we get for him become pure profit?

As I understand it, there's always something, but it's ever diminishing. The remaining amount left is amortised over the new contract. Example:

• £10m on initial 4 year deal.
• £2.5m amortised over 4 years. 
• New contract extension at end of year 2 for further 2 years.
• £5m remaining value then amortised again (£1.25m )over 4 years of contract left.
• In this example, if we sold at year 3 - his value on the books would be £3.75m. Year 4 £2.5m etc.
   

[revolution saint]

1 minute ago, Saint Mikey said:

As I understand it, there's always something, but it's ever diminishing. The remaining amount left is amortised over the new contract. Example:

• £10m on initial 4 year deal.
• £2.5m amortised over 4 years. 
• New contract extension at end of year 2 for further 2 years.
• £5m remaining value then amortised again (£1.25m )over 4 years of contract left.
• In this example, if we sold at year 3 - his value on the books would be £3.75m. Year 4 £2.5m etc.
   

Cheers, yeah that makes sense.  Can't be bothered to work it out but I'm guessing his PSR value to us should be pretty low.  Clearly no premier league cub is going to come in for him so that'll lower his price but a 28 year old with his record in the championship should attract the more ambitious championship clubs.  Maybe Brum, Wrexham or Ipswich?  8-10M kind of price I reckon should do it.

[hypochondriac]

13 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Cheers, yeah that makes sense.  Can't be bothered to work it out but I'm guessing his PSR value to us should be pretty low.  Clearly no premier league cub is going to come in for him so that'll lower his price but a 28 year old with his record in the championship should attract the more ambitious championship clubs.  Maybe Brum, Wrexham or Ipswich?  8-10M kind of price I reckon should do it.

I personally don't think we'd get anywhere near that amount for him. Much more likely to be 6-7 million imo. You'd have to question if it's worth selling to the championship for that money. Maybe abroad? 

[Hatch]

We can do better than AA,   get rid.

[revolution saint]

2 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

I personally don't think we'd get anywhere near that amount for him. Much more likely to be 6-7 million imo. You'd have to question if it's worth selling to the championship for that money. Maybe abroad? 

To be honest I really struggled to think what could be considered a realistic price.  On the one hand he does have a very good record in the championship but everyone knows he won't cut it in the premier league, there probably wouldn't be much resale value and his wages will be pretty high for this division too.  You could be more accurate on the price than me.

Obviously would be better to sell abroad but he probably won't have too many clubs wanting him so I think once the club makes the decision he's available then it's a case of whoever meets the valuation.

[saintant]

12 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

I personally don't think we'd get anywhere near that amount for him. Much more likely to be 6-7 million imo. You'd have to question if it's worth selling to the championship for that money. Maybe abroad? 

Probably right on the valuation. If you look at what Championship sides spent in the 24/24 season it is quite an eye opener. The amounts in general are pretty low and not many above the 10million mark.

[Fabrice29]

1 hour ago, MindtheGab said:

This tells you how much the club and fans' ambition has fallen in the past few years under Gao and SR ownership. 

Of course you can sell a player that has performed well in a league below once you get promoted. The circumstances have significantly changed especially the chasm of quality between Championship and the PL.

One of our biggest problems last season was showing too much loyalty to players who unfortunately are not good enough for the EPL.

When we were last promoted to the EPL, we identified in preseason players that wouldn't be good enough such as our team captain Dean Hammond and star January signing Billy Sharp. Both were loaned out in that summer window never to start a PL game for us. I don't remember that having an impact on their ability to perform in the championship nor our ability to stay up without them in the premier league

I don’t think those players are comparable to Armstrong in anyway tbh. Armstrong has attempted the step up twice with us already. He was also the main goalscorer unlike Sharp. He’s been shipped out already in January and will need convincing he’s part of the squad again. 

And yes, you can obviously sell players once we’ve gone up. But given we signed quite a few players who had experience of playing in the PL last season, some of which were rarely seen, I probably wouldn’t risk that with our top goalscorer. 

Edited 35 minutes ago by Fabrice29

[Saint Mikey]

1 hour ago, revolution saint said:

Cheers, yeah that makes sense.  Can't be bothered to work it out but I'm guessing his PSR value to us should be pretty low.  Clearly no premier league cub is going to come in for him so that'll lower his price but a 28 year old with his record in the championship should attract the more ambitious championship clubs.  Maybe Brum, Wrexham or Ipswich?  8-10M kind of price I reckon should do it.

I don't know if Wikipedia is right, but it reckons 4 year deal in Aug 2021 for a reported £15m. Then a further 3 years from Aug 2024. So would be something like: £2.5m in value on the books, which would represent some profit depending on the fee we would get.

 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

With the caveat of assuming he wants to stay, and is as hungry to do well for us, then AA gets into my first XI pretty easily. I'd be happy to see movement on a lot of the rest of the squad before him.

It wasn't just the goals and assists the last time we were in the Championship. His work rate lifted the energy of the team. It also stopped any number of opposition attacks. Where he got goals was key, with him putting in shots from narrow angles from cutbacks. That gave us momentum in games that really helped with the season. 

As it stands:-
Ramsdale, Bree, Welington, Bednarek, THB, Charles, Downes, Fernandes, Armstrong, Edozie, Stewart.

We really need a Romeu DM and Adams Forward in there. Ideally, someone a bit more powerful than Edozie to balance out Armstrong on the other side. Charles, Edozie and Stewart would be getting plenty of minutes across the season. 

Squad:-
McCarthy, Sugawara, Taylor, Edwards, Quarshie, Stephens, Dibling, Fraser, Archer

Loan or Depart:-
Bazunu, Larios, Manning, Wood, Bella-Kotchap, Smallbone, Sulemana, Juan, Aribo, Onuachu, BBD

Youth to fill out the squad:-
Bragg, Akachukwa, O'Brien-Whitmarsh, Robinson, Ballard

[Midfield_General]

Official confirmation that KWP and Lumley have gone: 

https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/news/article/walker-peters-and-lumley-to-depart

KWP still only 28. He'll be a very shrewd free acquisition for someone. Lovely fella too, I met him in the players' lounge this season and he couldn't have been nicer, stopping to have plenty of photos with the kids, chatting to them and so forth, especially good of him as it was after a defeat (obviously). 

Derrick Abu, Josh Lett, Josh McNamara and Lewis Payne have also been released. 

Edited 31 minutes ago by Midfield_General