January Transfer Window 2026

[Master Bates]

Been linked with a loan move for James Trafford

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Trafford

[Willo of Whiteley]

We won’t be signing James Trafford.

He’ll go to a better team, and my guess is one up north.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

January window will be intresting in as much as if we are still in the promotion/play off frame. If we our mid table with no chance of breaking top six, would expect us to carry on as we are.

[Badger]

1 hour ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

January window will be intresting in as much as if we are still in the promotion/play off frame. If we our mid table with no chance of breaking top six, would expect us to carry on as we are.

What if we’re still looking over our shoulders towards the drop zone ? 

[Badger]

GK and CF.

(Cut and pasted every window since 2022) 

[AlexLaw76]

Probably spend another £6-8m on a striker, who will come in from abroad and need time to bed in, and will score about 5 goals.

 

[beatlesaint]

Just now, Badger said:

GK and CF.

(Cut and pasted every window since 2022) 

100%

Instead of pissing about with "project" signings - Bazunu and Downs - get a player for each position who is "oven ready" for the Championship ! It might come too late to salvage aything this season depending where we are come 1 January but it'll certainly help build momentum for next season's major promotion push.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

13 minutes ago, Badger said:

What if we’re still looking over our shoulders towards the drop zone ? 

SR will look to bring in players from L1 to build a promotion team for getting back to the Championship in 27/28.

[ally_uk]

Fuck Downs off and get a proper striker in 

[Turkish]

5 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Probably spend another £6-8m on a striker, who will come in from abroad and need time to bed in, and will score about 5 goals.

 

That’s optimistic it would be a big improvement on about the last 10 strikers we’ve signed 

[Saint86]

On 28/09/2025 at 10:31, Lee On Solent Saint said:

January window will be intresting in as much as if we are still in the promotion/play off frame. If we our mid table with no chance of breaking top six, would expect us to carry on as we are.

It would take some in the championship to have written off play offs by news years. It really would.

[Dusic]

Clever to have left ourselves with PL loan spots free. Thats usually where the value is in January.

[Patrick Bateman]

27 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Clever to have left ourselves with PL loan spots free. Thats usually where the value is in January.

Everyone will be clamouring for Ward-Prowse to come back 😂 (Hopefully not)

Edited Tuesday at 11:54 by Patrick Bateman

[hypochondriac]

44 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Everyone will be clamouring for Ward-Prowse to come back 😂 (Hopefully not)

Genuinely not sure where he would fit or that we'd have the room for him. At the moment it's a striker and gk otherwise we are well stocked in most other areas and it should be about getting rid of some players still.

[saintant]

On 30/09/2025 at 12:54, Patrick Bateman said:

Everyone will be clamouring for Ward-Prowse to come back 😂 (Hopefully not)

No thanks. Every time I watched him play for West Ham recently he did nothing but jog around and play simple passes. They looked better on Monday without him and he's not popular with their fans for reasons that are obvious. Not taking away what he achieved for us but he's well past his best now so steer clear.

[Willo of Whiteley]

I’m not really sure where JWP would fit in now.

I’m sure the board would love a bit of nostalgia to get fans onside, but is it for the best if the team, not sure.

All that said I’d take him over some of our players.

[spyinthesky]

I have a fair bit of affection for JWP.

Never let us down and an average 7/10 performance a bit like like Steven Davis and then add on bit for his free kick goals.

A regular 100% performer.

That said, I think he is now past his prime and cant see us meeting his wages aspirations even now.

A true Saint in my opinion but cant see him meeting Sports Republic's business plan which is fair enough.

[West end Saints]

Newcastle have a decent keeper who is not getting any game time and has international ambitions - might be worth a look

[SNSUN]

41 minutes ago, West end Saints said:

Newcastle have a decent keeper who is not getting any game time and has international ambitions - might be worth a look

Knowing SR they’ll probably give a ton of money to his parent club to sign him. 😁

[EBS1980]

Taiwo Awoniyi is one I’d try to get on loan

[Verbal]

17 minutes ago, EBS1980 said:

Taiwo Awoniyi is one I’d try to get on loan

Who he?

[EBS1980]

7 hours ago, Verbal said:

Who he?

Forest forward

[Dman]

12 hours ago, spyinthesky said:

I have a fair bit of affection for JWP.

Never let us down and an average 7/10 performance a bit like like Steven Davis and then add on bit for his free kick goals.

A regular 100% performer.

That said, I think he is now past his prime and cant see us meeting his wages aspirations even now.

A true Saint in my opinion but cant see him meeting Sports Republic's business plan which is fair enough.

JWP is the last player we want imo. He's incredibly negative with the ball, slow and almost always 're-cycles' the ball sidewards and backwards. 

JWP coming back would mean that Charles is moved out. 

That being said, you know that he'll give his all and will generally speaking be fit almost 100% of the time. 

If someone comes in for Downes, maybe its something we should explore. Failing that, its a massive no from me. 

[Saint_clark]

9 hours ago, EBS1980 said:

Taiwo Awoniyi is one I’d try to get on loan

This is the one. 28, scored goals at Prem and Bundesliga level, get him on loan with an option to buy and he'd be an excellent player for a newly promoted side trying to stay up as well. 

[Miltonaggro]

9 hours ago, Verbal said:

Who he?

 

[SNSUN]

50 minutes ago, Dman said:

JWP is the last player we want imo. He's incredibly negative with the ball, slow and almost always 're-cycles' the ball sidewards and backwards. 

JWP coming back would mean that Charles is moved out. 

That being said, you know that he'll give his all and will generally speaking be fit almost 100% of the time. 

If someone comes in for Downes, maybe its something we should explore. Failing that, its a massive no from me. 

If we don't go up this season I would be impressed if we managed to keep hold of Charles next summer. 

I echo @spyinthesky's sentiments above, I liked JWP, and while I don't think he's got much left to give in the Prem, I still think he'd be an asset in the Championship if we were still here next season. That said I'd rather we explored other avenues before we got to thinking about re-signing him, I'd rather bring in a proper DM if Charles were to leave. If the Skates do well this season, I'm sure they'd be interested but I doubt they'd have the wages to sign him, unless he took a huge cut to go there.

[sockeye]

GK required

[sambosa75]

On 28/09/2025 at 10:31, Lee On Solent Saint said:

January window will be intresting in as much as if we are still in the promotion/play off frame. If we our mid table with no chance of breaking top six, would expect us to carry on as we are.

If you are mid-table in January, you have every chance of breaking the top six.  We aren't competing against Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea, Villa and Newcastle here...

[Saint NL]

https://www.givemesport.com/west-ham-james-ward-prowse-exit-news-nuno-espirito-santo/

JWP has been told he can leave West Ham. Obviously everyone and their dog will link him to Saints.

He's earning £115k per week at West Ham, mad money for a limited player. 

[saintant]

12 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

https://www.givemesport.com/west-ham-james-ward-prowse-exit-news-nuno-espirito-santo/

JWP has been told he can leave West Ham. Obviously everyone and their dog will link him to Saints.

He's earning £115k per week at West Ham, mad money for a limited player. 

I'm sure Nuno was horrified when he saw how much JWP is earning for very little impact on games. He's clearly decided to bomb him out asap and free up a chunk of money spent on his wages. 

[CamSaint]

33 minutes ago, sambosa75 said:

If you are mid-table in January, you have every chance of breaking the top six.

Absolutely. Last season on Jan 1st, Coventry were 14th with 29 points and finished 5th with 69 points, and Bristol City were 10th with 34 points, finishing 6th with 68 points.

[Saint Scott]

41 minutes ago, saintant said:

I'm sure Nuno was horrified when he saw how much JWP is earning for very little impact on games. He's clearly decided to bomb him out asap and free up a chunk of money spent on his wages. 

Nuno was a worst case scenario Potter replacement from JWP's point of view. Given he took him on a season long loan at Forest last year, but sent him back at the start of February.

[VectisSaint]

20 hours ago, saintant said:

No thanks. Every time I watched him play for West Ham recently he did nothing but jog around and play simple passes. They looked better on Monday without him and he's not popular with their fans for reasons that are obvious. Not taking away what he achieved for us but he's well past his best now so steer clear.

He's still young, he will improve ;-)

[Dman]

1 hour ago, Saint NL said:

https://www.givemesport.com/west-ham-james-ward-prowse-exit-news-nuno-espirito-santo/

JWP has been told he can leave West Ham. Obviously everyone and their dog will link him to Saints.

He's earning £115k per week at West Ham, mad money for a limited player. 

Huge decsion for him to make. At 30, he's coming towards the back end of his career and will never earn that sort of money again. 

He'll never make the england squad again and his time in the PL is probably done. Unless he moves to a relegation battling side. 

Does he make hay whilst the sun is shining and sit on his contract, knowing he wont play or at best, move around on loan.. Or does he take the ££ hit and drop into the championship. 

[BarberSaint]

Hopefully he'll hang around. He did it enough with us.

[Saint_clark]

Wouldn't want JWP now. Hope we stay well clear.

Really funny that he's not even going to end up the record freekick scorer.

[sockeye]

2 hours ago, Dman said:

Huge decsion for him to make. At 30, he's coming towards the back end of his career and will never earn that sort of money again. 

He'll never make the england squad again and his time in the PL is probably done. Unless he moves to a relegation battling side. 

Does he make hay whilst the sun is shining and sit on his contract, knowing he wont play or at best, move around on loan.. Or does he take the ££ hit and drop into the championship. 

Knowing SR, he’ll be next season or the season after’s “experienced lad to hang around the building” following Walcott and Lallana.

[die Mannyschaft]

3 hours ago, sockeye said:

Knowing SR, he’ll be next season or the season after’s “experienced lad to hang around the building” following Walcott and Lallana.

West Ham owe us £15m for JWP and I can see this being written off and he's back. We need that £15m in Jan window in case of injuries or to bolster the squad. Is Walcott still at the club in some capacity?

[Matthew Le God]

1 minute ago, die Mannyschaft said:

West Ham owe us £15m for JWP and I can see this being written off and he's back. 

His £115k per week wages aren't workable in the Championship.

[Eagle778]

7 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

His £115k per week wages aren't workable in the Championship.

What about a heavily subsidised loan?

[leeham_69]

forget the practicalities of wages etc, in a general sense, would people prefer JWP or Downes? genuinely interested to hear what people think about that.

[chiknsmack]

2 hours ago, Eagle778 said:

What about a heavily subsidised loan?

They pay us the £15m they owe, AND they pay us £80k a week to cover most of his wages? He then comes back to be what, Azaz's backup? Or does he replace one of Azaz/Charles/Jander and deprive a youngish player we have on a permanent contract of valuable developmental minutes in the Championship?

1 minute ago, leeham_69 said:

forget the practicalities of wages etc, in a general sense, would people prefer JWP or Downes? genuinely interested to hear what people think about that.

Neither of them are good enough for West Ham. We want to be better than West Ham. Neither of them are good enough for what we want to be. So I'd prefer neither and another Charles/Jander/Fernandes/Lavia YHGTI gamble instead.

Gun to my head I'd say JWP, though it's close. But the answer is neither.

[AlexLaw76]

43 minutes ago, chiknsmack said:

They pay us the £15m they owe, AND they pay us £80k a week to cover most of his wages? He then comes back to be what, Azaz's backup? Or does he replace one of Azaz/Charles/Jander and deprive a youngish player we have on a permanent contract of valuable developmental minutes in the Championship?

Neither of them are good enough for West Ham. We want to be better than West Ham. Neither of them are good enough for what we want to be. So I'd prefer neither and another Charles/Jander/Fernandes/Lavia YHGTI gamble instead.

Gun to my head I'd say JWP, though it's close. But the answer is neither.

Better than West Ham?

id settle for better than West Brom at the moment. You do realise we have stunk the place out this season?

Edited yesterday at 05:14 by AlexLaw76

[Wade Garrett]

Wouldn’t touch JWP with a barge pole.  Does nothing but go square or backwards.

We were lucky to sell him for such a good fee.

[Oisin]

4 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Wouldn’t touch JWP with a barge pole.  Does nothing but go square or backwards.

We were lucky to sell him for such a good fee.

On the other hand he was our top scorer last season he was here and we aren’t exactly full of them right now! 😉

In all seriousness he’s not brilliant but if the commercials aren’t silly then he would absolutely improve our squad options. Not good enough to break the bank over but good enough to consider otherwise imho.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

2 hours ago, leeham_69 said:

forget the practicalities of wages etc, in a general sense, would people prefer JWP or Downes? genuinely interested to hear what people think about that.

With the caveat of me not seeing him much since he left, JWP for me.

Downes was our MVP in our last Championship season. That was after JWP had left, and JWP raised the game of the others in those opening games.

For me, it's not a direct swap. Jander is the one replacing Downes, and I'd have JWP further forward. Downes has become so comfortable with RussBall, he looks lost going forward now. JWP looked better moved up, just a bit.

[macca155]

SR probably sold JWP at the right time. They got a good price, and James got a decent contract at a vital time in his career. Good move for everyone.

I thought he was fantastic for Saints. Ultimate pro, adaptable, and scored goals. We didn't have many players like him.

I'd have him back in a heartbeat, he'd be a cut above what we have. However not on his wages, or for any significant transfer fee.  

A subsidised loan maybe, but I suspect that would mean Charles or Downes departing.

[Dman]

4 hours ago, leeham_69 said:

forget the practicalities of wages etc, in a general sense, would people prefer JWP or Downes? genuinely interested to hear what people think about that.

There was a point in time where I thought Downes was a better player than JWP. But in reality they're both very similar players. Good a recycling the ball and that is about it. 

In hindsight, Of the 2, JWP is the better player however. Both suit a Russell Martin type of system. 

[swannymere]

5 hours ago, leeham_69 said:

would people prefer JWP or Downes? 

Depends on how Downes plays between now and the transfer window, genuinely think JWP would play better with Charles or Jander. If the wages are more manageable i'd welcome him back.

[saintant]

1 hour ago, Dman said:

There was a point in time where I thought Downes was a better player than JWP. But in reality they're both very similar players. Good a recycling the ball and that is about it. 

In hindsight, Of the 2, JWP is the better player however. Both suit a Russell Martin type of system. 

These days the only thing JWP is better at than Downes is free kicks.