Summer Transfer Window 2025/26

[leesaint88]

5 minutes ago, Saint Neil said:

Long term target Rak-Sakyi going to Rangers on loan.

Predictable. It may be Scotland, but he has the chance to play in Europe which will trump anything we could offer. 

[Rebel]

1 hour ago, revolution saint said:

So just to be clear, you think we've got too much deadwood in the squad that we've overpaid for but the solution is to bite the bullet and buy more players?

Nope the solution is to get rid of them - but take a calculated risk on signing the players we need before getting rid of the deadwood. 

It seems like we are always waiting to sell players before we buy - which leaves up playing catch-up and missing out on players. 

I am not saying don't get rid of them - just take a hit for a couple of weeks on the wages and a calculated risk we can get rid of the players we don't want.

Maybe it means we have to sell for a bit less than we hoped  or would have liked.  

But maybe we are just stuck with the crap players until they are out of contract and can't afford to buy any other players. But that's down to our terrible transfer strategy in the first place.

[Rebel]

56 minutes ago, goodymatt said:

Ramsdale was £18m plus add ons, I assume no add ons were met given how the season went. Wages I think were £120k/week in the PL. You’d hope he’s currently on the 40% relegation wage reduction but some press reports have suggested we are willing to pay him £100k/week to keep him. Personally think this was a decent signing for a fair fee, it’s just a shame other than Matty Fernandes, that we didn’t sign any other new players up to the PL challenge. I think Bazunu cost us £12m for reference.

Even at the price and wage we overpaid for him.  We needed a top class centre back far more.

[CSA96]

35 minutes ago, Saint Neil said:

Long term target Rak-Sakyi going to Rangers on loan.

The Athletic say Rangers made a loan offer with a buy option of £10m and it's been rejected by Palace

Edited yesterday at 10:28 by CSA96

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 hour ago, Marsdinho said:

One definitley exists

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorgeles_Nene

 

That lad looks class and just what we need. Way out of SR’s budget I suspect and he looks like he’d be more likely to get into a PL side.

[saintant]

Just now, Saint Fan CaM said:

That lad looks class and just what we need. Way out of SR’s budget I suspect and he looks like he’d be more likely to get into a PL side.

Lots of interest from big clubs for this guy so wont be coming here.

[Wade Garrett]

2 hours ago, trousers said:

They must be pretty significant "knocks" to take them out for that long.... good job I'm not an old cynic otherwise I might be inclined to read something else into that....

p.s. have you got a link to the full interview where he said this? Would be good to read the whole transcript to help put things into context. Cheers

Downes is another malingering sicknote prick.

[revolution saint]

21 minutes ago, Rebel said:

Nope the solution is to get rid of them - but take a calculated risk on signing the players we need before getting rid of the deadwood. 

It seems like we are always waiting to sell players before we buy - which leaves up playing catch-up and missing out on players. 

I am not saying don't get rid of them - just take a hit for a couple of weeks on the wages and a calculated risk we can get rid of the players we don't want.

Maybe it means we have to sell for a bit less than we hoped  or would have liked.  

But maybe we are just stuck with the crap players until they are out of contract and can't afford to buy any other players. But that's down to our terrible transfer strategy in the first place.

Todays calculated risk on signing the players we need (before getting rid of the driftwood), are as likely as not to be tomorrows driftwood.  That's exactly how you end up with a bloated squad.

Don't get me wrong, in an ideal world I'd be shifting on far more players than we have so I understand your point but I don't think saying fuck it, lets just sign some more players and hope we manage to shift the others out eventually is the answer.

[Saint Fan CaM]

4 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Todays calculated risk on signing the players we need (before getting rid of the driftwood), are as likely as not to be tomorrows driftwood.  That's exactly how you end up with a bloated squad.

Don't get me wrong, in an ideal world I'd be shifting on far more players than we have so I understand your point but I don't think saying fuck it, lets just sign some more players and hope we manage to shift the others out eventually is the answer.

Buying talent prior to sales is possible, but only for those clubs that have a large budget and are an attractive pull to top players (promise of trophies etc) - risk is minimal. We have neither of those attributes sadly, even when in the PL, although it becomes marginally easier. That’s not to say a clear-out is not required or indeed possible - after last seasons debacle it’s imperative.

[Toussaint]

4 hours ago, Football Special said:

 

Personally I think we'll have a bumpy start to the season and Still is going to need time 

I don't think he will get a lot of time, not his fault (yet), but after the last few years of terrible SR ownership and management the fans will have very limited patience.

Edited yesterday at 10:59 by Toussaint
Tidy up

[Danbert]

[Saintsarmy]

On 02/07/2025 at 22:16, Saintsarmy said:

Wondered what people’s opinions are; at what point do you consider us no longer in “the early days” of the transfer window? In my opinion we still need a minimum of 6/7 signings and with the season starting just over 5 weeks away wondered what people think 

Another 3 weeks on and the season starting in 2 and we’re still yet to see the supposed “very very active” transfer window Spors predicted a few months back. “Trust the process” 🤥

[John B]

1 hour ago, Rebel said:

Nope the solution is to get rid of them - but take a calculated risk on signing the players we need before getting rid of the deadwood. 

It seems like we are always waiting to sell players before we buy - which leaves up playing catch-up and missing out on players. 

I am not saying don't get rid of them - just take a hit for a couple of weeks on the wages and a calculated risk we can get rid of the players we don't want.

Maybe it means we have to sell for a bit less than we hoped  or would have liked.  

But maybe we are just stuck with the crap players until they are out of contract and can't afford to buy any other players. But that's down to our terrible transfer strategy in the first place.

How are you going to get rid of them?

[swannymere]

1 hour ago, Rebel said:

Even at the price and wage we overpaid for him.  We needed a top class centre back far more.

We definitely needed both but the keeper was more urgent.

[davefizzy14]

Hopefully we can get Rak-Sakyi 

[Patches O Houlihan]

2 hours ago, Rebel said:

Ramsdale is a prime example of a player we overpaid for and are overpaying. We'd have been better off getting Bijlow on loan for the season and spending £3M on Victor Johannsson rather than coughing up £20M plus and a £150K a week in wages.

There was so much to critique about that post; but fortunately there are plenty of others here that spotted the various issues. 

No one has called you out on this bollocks yet though

Bijlow was a serious injury risk when we looked into signing him. Many of us thought it might be worth the risk to not have to play Baz & Alex but once Ramsdale made it known he would come we rightly grasped the opportunity. We may well have broken the 9-0 record had it not been for him, because Billow ended up only playing in 4 league games during the 24/25 season due to two different injuries.

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/justin-bijlow/verletzungen/spieler/315121

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/justin-bijlow/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/315121/plus/0?saison=2024&verein=&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=&trainer_id=

[Alanh]

1 hour ago, Rebel said:

Nope the solution is to get rid of them - but take a calculated risk on signing the players we need before getting rid of the deadwood. 

It seems like we are always waiting to sell players before we buy - which leaves up playing catch-up and missing out on players. 

I am not saying don't get rid of them - just take a hit for a couple of weeks on the wages and a calculated risk we can get rid of the players we don't want.

Maybe it means we have to sell for a bit less than we hoped  or would have liked.  

But maybe we are just stuck with the crap players until they are out of contract and can't afford to buy any other players. But that's down to our terrible transfer strategy in the first place.

We've just added Quarshie to the ranks of our centre backs, without selling one.  All the signs are that we will lose one / two of the other CBs - ABK and Bednarek most likely - so there you have a perfect example of what you want to happen, and complain isn't happening.

[Miltonaggro]

Think we may see some proper movement next week after the Spain trip.  Media and body language of the players and Will Still suggests that this trip was the last chance to stake a claim for a good few - more head down sullen faces than smiles and back-slapping.  Unfortunately, it's going to feel like we are leaving it late again but I get the feeling that this is different to last year and Still isn't keen to get close to the squad until he is sure who deserves a place in it and his full attention - poker face and very little bullshit on display.  He'll know we need to add quality, and to replace any of the big money quartet who get serious late offers.  Keeping the faith for now.    

[saintant]

20 minutes ago, davefizzy14 said:

Hopefully we can get Rak-Sakyi 

Agree, would be a good signing for us.

[Crouchie's Lawyer]

Fair amount of bed wetting starting to show on here now.

 

Am I happy with the current squad as it stands? No, not overly. I think there are a few key areas we still need to strengthen in and a number of players who I want to see leave.

 

Do I think the squad will change by the time the window SLAMS shut (TM), yes. There will be a few who leave, a few who come in.

 

Would it be better to have the full finalised squad sorted the day preseason starts? Yes, of course but that's not how the world of professional football works.

 

Football is a food chain, the big guys normally eat first and what's left over falls down the food chain to the smaller teams.

 

Christ, it even happens at under 10's girls football. We have a couple of players looking to join the team I help coach but I know they have a couple of other options they are waiting on (academies). If they get into those then they won't sign for us. If they don't get in, they will very likely sign for us. If it happens in non competitive kids football, it certainly happens in professional football where there are millions of pounds being spent and wages being earned etc.

 

It's just how it works. Always been the way since these transfer windows came into effect and will always be the way.

 

Some utterly stupid suggestions on here about just going out and signing the players we need before offloading our players. Yeah, the solution to shrinking our already bloated squad is to sign more players. What happens if we cannot get rid of the players we would ideally like to get rid of? We end up with an even bigger squad which is more difficult to manage not just from a financial sense (extra wages) but also from a coaching perspective having to coach many more players than you'd like. There is also a bigger chance of player unrest in bigger squads too which can cause upset in the dressing room.

[Chez]

3 hours ago, CSA96 said:

Will Still on whether Saints can keep Mateus Fernandes:

"I hope so, I hope so. I know he's a good player."

"I know there's interest. I know there's a lot of noise around him. That's normal when you've got quality players like him, but I think the club has been clear.

"If he leaves, he'll leave at the right price and we'll be able to replace him. I'm not too worried about that. I don't want to get involved in all the rumours and stuff.

"We know that as long as he's here, we can use him and he'll be good. And if he goes, then I'm sure everyone will come out bigger and better from it.

"He's quality. He's got that little extra about him. He's got that creative spark. He's interesting in the lower positions.

"He's got the game in front of him, but it depends on the game, it depends on the scenario, and it depends on where he is physically as well.

"We've just done his first minutes, and we just wanted to introduce it. He's got that versatility that we can use and be creative with, so I'm sure we will be."

So we have had enquiries and possibly bids as well, which we have turned down, and now we are just waiting to see if those clubs return with a more suitable offer. IN the mean time we have someone lined up that is happy to come to us, but we can't bid of them until Fernandes departs.

[Chez]

4 hours ago, Dusic said:

Well Still said about him and Downes that they couldnt train for the next 10 days because of their knocks so that pretty much rules them out of the remaining friendlies and therefore would assume the Wrexham game at least.

I imagine something will happen with him in August anyway as we need to raise some cash and he isnt going to be extending his contract.

...or in other words, the club has received bids for the players, which have been turned down and now the players have developed imaginary knocks to ensure they don't get injured during the negotiations and also to put pressure on SFC to accept those bids. That's how I read that situation. The word 'knock' is just used to stop journalists asking too many questions that end up with publishing terms like "refused to travel" or "gone on strike".

[goodymatt]

2 hours ago, Rebel said:

Even at the price and wage we overpaid for him.  We needed a top class centre back far more.

Can’t agree with this, GK was by far our weakest position. For 2 seasons running we had statistically the worst starting goalkeeper. Signing Ramsdale for £18m wasn’t the mistake, not signing another 4 or 5 players of that proven PL quality was.

[hypochondriac]

2 hours ago, Rebel said:

Even at the price and wage we overpaid for him.  We needed a top class centre back far more.

No we didnt. I can't think of another signing in recent memory that wasn't worth entirely what we paid. Maybe Fernandes. 

[Chez]

42 minutes ago, saintant said:

Agree, would be a good signing for us.

Every man and his dog has looked at him and decided he's not a PL quality player. Palace certainly don't think so, none of the promoted clubs think so, and Sheffield United dropped him at the back end of the season haven't signed him this time around. In flashes, he looks exciting, I certainly thought so, but perhaps there just isn't enough being shown from him in games? I'd be very surprised if Rangers agreed to an obligatory £10m fee. That seems very high for them. 

[Convict Colony]

3 hours ago, leesaint88 said:

Predictable. It may be Scotland, but he has the chance to play in Europe which will trump anything we could offer. 

Was he our target or martins target, sounds like the latter.

[Chez]

4 hours ago, beatlesaint said:

I realise that most of the decent business will be done in the last couple of weeks after the big boys have made their moves (or not) for Ramsdale, THB, Dibling and Fernandes etc but I really did expect us to get a few more of the squad type players moved in and out by now. I'm surprised Aribo and Bednarek are still here, I'm dissapointed that Fraser and BBD are still here.

 

I'm not surprised Aribo is still here. Why would he depart this summer when he has one year left of his contract? He's not getting more money elsewhere and he will maximise his wage if he is available on a free. I guess the same applies to Fraser. 

[Convict Colony]

2 hours ago, saintant said:

Lots of interest from big clubs for this guy so wont be coming here.

The thing i think about this is lots of interest from PL clubs generally doesnt translate to a firm offer unless they are 100% sure which doesnt happen a lot in these leagues to PL.

They would prefer someone else buys these types of players and then pick them off them and a higher cost but improved product.

[Chez]

3 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

Was he our target or martins target, sounds like the latter.

I think he's one of those players that would be on most championship teams' radar (and thus a club like Rangers too) as he was decent at Charlton and cant get a game for Palace. Everyone knows everyone these days. 

[hypochondriac]

41 minutes ago, Chez said:

...or in other words, the club has received bids for the players, which have been turned down and now the players have developed imaginary knocks to ensure they don't get injured during the negotiations and also to put pressure on SFC to accept those bids. That's how I read that situation. The word 'knock' is just used to stop journalists asking too many questions that end up with publishing terms like "refused to travel" or "gone on strike".

TBF Alfie house said he personally witnessed Downes and THB limping around the training ground. 

[saintant]

21 minutes ago, Chez said:

Every man and his dog has looked at him and decided he's not a PL quality player. Palace certainly don't think so, none of the promoted clubs think so, and Sheffield United dropped him at the back end of the season haven't signed him this time around. In flashes, he looks exciting, I certainly thought so, but perhaps there just isn't enough being shown from him in games? I'd be very surprised if Rangers agreed to an obligatory £10m fee. That seems very high for them. 

Rangers haven't and will not offer £10m for him - they cannot pay that kind of money and want him on loan.

[saintant]

16 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

The thing i think about this is lots of interest from PL clubs generally doesnt translate to a firm offer unless they are 100% sure which doesnt happen a lot in these leagues to PL.

They would prefer someone else buys these types of players and then pick them off them and a higher cost but improved product.

It's not only interest from this country.

[Turkish]

21 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

TBF Alfie house said he personally witnessed Downes and THB limping around the training ground. 

THBs one is a long term ankle injury he picked up end of the season, not expected to play until The season starts 

[trousers]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

...or in other words, the club has received bids for the players, which have been turned down and now the players have developed imaginary knocks to ensure they don't get injured during the negotiations and also to put pressure on SFC to accept those bids. That's how I read that situation. The word 'knock' is just used to stop journalists asking too many questions that end up with publishing terms like "refused to travel" or "gone on strike".

It's now changed from "knocks" to "niggles".... 🙂

(Sounds like the makings of a Les Dawson sketch....   One for the youngsters there )

 

Edited yesterday at 13:50 by trousers

[chivvy]

5 hours ago, CSA96 said:

The rest of the division would probably find this mental. Our striking options are an embarrassment of riches for most Championship fans

I would never argue they are good enough for the PL, but if you look at pretty much every other club in the division's best striking options, they might have one player with a goal return that touches the track records of our strikers

On top of that, we've also signed Downs, who is at international level for the USA at the age of 20

Cameron Archer
Appearances: 40
Goals: 18

Adam Armstrong
Appearances: 248
Goals: 80

Ben Brereton-Diaz
Appearances: 230
Goals: 57

Ross Stewart
Appearances: 16
Goals: 10

*Championship games only

Have to agree here look around the championship squads they are pretty terrible..

[revolution saint]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

Every man and his dog has looked at him and decided he's not a PL quality player. Palace certainly don't think so, none of the promoted clubs think so, and Sheffield United dropped him at the back end of the season haven't signed him this time around. In flashes, he looks exciting, I certainly thought so, but perhaps there just isn't enough being shown from him in games? I'd be very surprised if Rangers agreed to an obligatory £10m fee. That seems very high for them. 

Rak-Sakyi is directly comparable to Edozie too and I think there's about a years difference in age.  When we got promoted in 23/24 Edozie got six goals and three assists in 1364 minutes whereas Rak-Sakyi got 7 goals and 2 assists in 1732 minutes last season.  Not much in it but if anything Edozie would look to be the better player.

I thought Rak-Sakyi looked very very good on loan at Charlton and was a right box of tricks but didn't seem to have that explosiveness last season and also seems quite reliant on his left foot. 

[leesaint88]

25 minutes ago, chivvy said:

Have to agree here look around the championship squads they are pretty terrible..

Yep. Wednesday is the obvious but Charlton, Hull, Oxford, Skates, Blackburn and a few others....all clubs with some absolute dross. 

[Chez]

52 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

Rak-Sakyi is directly comparable to Edozie too and I think there's about a years difference in age.  When we got promoted in 23/24 Edozie got six goals and three assists in 1364 minutes whereas Rak-Sakyi got 7 goals and 2 assists in 1732 minutes last season.  Not much in it but if anything Edozie would look to be the better player.

I thought Rak-Sakyi looked very very good on loan at Charlton and was a right box of tricks but didn't seem to have that explosiveness last season and also seems quite reliant on his left foot. 

Yep. We have Edozie and I don't see Rak-Sakyi as a step up from him. Both are championship level players at best.

[Chez]

41 minutes ago, leesaint88 said:

Yep. Wednesday is the obvious but Charlton, Hull, Oxford, Skates, Blackburn and a few others....all clubs with some absolute dross. 

The Skates beat a lot of teams at home last season, so on paper they might not look impressive, but collectively they performed well. We might have better known players, especially as they pretty much all have 'graced' the PL, but not sure we have matched the sum of the parts for a long time.

[sockeye]

Wednesday doing a good job of clearing the deadwood, take note Saints

[Midfield_General]

Absolute fire sale and still no takers for Valery

[wild-saint]

1 hour ago, Chez said:

The Skates beat a lot of teams at home last season, so on paper they might not look impressive, but collectively they performed well. We might have better known players, especially as they pretty much all have 'graced' the PL, but not sure we have matched the sum of the parts for a long time.

benefits of a tiny stadium close to the pitch with a decent atmosphere. Bit like the dell i think. 

[Football Special]

1 hour ago, leesaint88 said:

Yep. Wednesday is the obvious but Charlton, Hull, Oxford, Skates, Blackburn and a few others....all clubs with some absolute dross. 

Bookmark this for inevitable loss later in the season 😃 

[Football Special]

1 hour ago, Midfield_General said:

Absolute fire sale and still no takers for Valery

How many players have they actually "sold" for real money vs players walking away from the club as free agents? 

[qwertyell]

5 hours ago, John B said:

How are you going to get rid of them?

I've gotten shot of some absolute tat on ebay and gumtree. 

[Football Special]

Just now, qwertyell said:

I've gotten shot of some absolute tat on ebay and gumtree. 

Go on then, list Armel Bella Kotchap on there on behalf of the club , let's see what we can get for him *buyer will also have to take on his wages 

[HarvSFC]

Newcastle announced their Singapore squad this morning before all the Isak news came out. Their official line for him was "Alexander Isak misses out with a minor thigh injury".

Now and since, it has been quite well reported why Isak isn't going on the trip.

Just to add to the theories for ours.

[Miltonaggro]

20 hours ago, CB Fry said:

I can't help thinking this is all Paul Trollope's fault.

I think we need to give it more time before reaching that conclusion.  At least three weeks. 

[Forester]

4 minutes ago, Miltonaggro said:

I think we need to give it more time before reaching that conclusion.  At least three weeks. 

 

4 minutes ago, Miltonaggro said:

I think we need to give it more time before reaching that conclusion.  At least three weeks. 

I blame Eric Black

[St. Ciervo]

SR has done 1 thing well in its tenure: selling. Patience!