January Transfer Window 2026

[Danbert]

JWP got 7 goals and 7 assists for West Ham in 2023-2024 and 9 goals and 4 assists for us the season before. He's played for England. Clearly he has a higher ceiling than Downs, who I thought was one of our least shit players last year and was very good for us in the Championship in 2023-2024.

[HarvSFC]

I always thought JWP held us back a bit. We were very content with having him in the middle of the park and never looked to upgrade, or we couldn't afford to upgrade with him still in the squad. Similar to the goalkeeper position of recent years. Our best midfield of Schneiderlin, Wanyama and Davis, which should have and should be our ambitions to get back to that level, he wouldn't get in. Also seen with his two Premier League moves (West Ham and Notthingham Forest) that he hasn't shown to be anything more than a bog standard, possibly below average Premier League midfielder. And, apparently he doesn't even score free-kicks anymore.

[Matthew Le God]

15 minutes ago, HarvSFC said:

I always thought JWP held us back a bit. 

He scored 27 league goals from central midfield in his last 3 Premier League seasons for us. That is a very good return, especially given we weren't a good team for a lot of that time.

[spyinthesky]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

He scored 27 league goals from central midfield in his last 3 Premier League seasons for us. That is a very good return, especially given we weren't a good team for a lot of that time.

I think he was one of our stand out players for a while but think that ship may have sailed now unfortunately.

Will be interesting to see where he ends up post West Ham

[StrangelyBrown]

13 hours ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

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.

JWP looked like he was shoulders and head above everyone else in the few games he played for us in the championship.

However, we ought to just move on from players past...

[StrangelyBrown]

On 30/09/2025 at 12:26, Dusic said:

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

Maybe we could loan Ramsdale back

[Whitey Grandad]

14 hours ago, StrangelyBrown said:

JWP looked like he was shoulders and head above everyone else in the few games he played for us in the championship.

However, we ought to just move on from players past...

 

14 hours ago, StrangelyBrown said:

Maybe we could loan Ramsdale back

Coincidence?

[Hawkswood]

I wonder if other fans forums have this infatuation with having old players back. Maybe they do, I really dont know, but ffs can we please stop doing it. Does it ever work out when it's a player ? If it does it must be very rare. Yes, he did a job for us ( as such) but he never drove the midfield on, it was always going square, he held our game back, he slowed us down. Yes a good " club man" but a very limited player, who, lets be honest, were it not for his set pieces would've struggled to get into the starting 11. Hes not a defensive midfielder, most definitely not an attacking midfielder, he just recycles the ball. That's it. That's not a good midfielder but most importantly we really need to stop old players coming back here. Enough of the nostalgia.

[Willo of Whiteley]

It’s almost become a habit of young promising players going to have their big money move and then returning to their boyhood club after they’ve had their peak or aren’t at the level they once were.

I’m sure Grealish will go back to Villa, Trent will go back to Liverpool etc one day.

[AlexLaw76]

 

[Gloucester Saint]

22 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

 

If true, weird stuff as he did well at Liverpool and hardly seen since. Still doesn’t seem to  like the look of him at all.

[SuperSAINT]

56 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

If true, weird stuff as he did well at Liverpool and hardly seen since. Still doesn’t seem to  like the look of him at all.

Can he play up front?

[disconnect]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

If true, weird stuff as he did well at Liverpool and hardly seen since. Still doesn’t seem to  like the look of him at all.

Which is strange as seemed to be miles ahead of Manning.

[trousers]

Yep, utterly bizarre... both the timing of this report (i.e. way too soon for the club to making such a decision, so likely BS anyway) and the fact that Jelert seems to be down the pecking order when he was a Man of the Match candidate vs Liverpool and showed he was a much more accomplished player than those higher in said order. What's the point of loaning someone in who then doesn't feature? Same with that other fella who came in last January transfer window. Yet more Sport Republic randomness and money frittery.

Edited October 14 by trousers

[Badger]

4 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

If true, weird stuff as he did well at Liverpool and hardly seen since. Still doesn’t seem to  like the look of him at all.

Agree, but if he was defensively sound, making runs deep into the opposition half, and passing the ball to blokes in the same colour shirt then he's not going to fit in. That'll teach him and be an example to others. 

[benjii]

Probably can't afford him, now we're not getting promoted and will have to pay off a dud manager.

[HarvSFC]

He's probably our best full-back currently at the club, based purely on his only substantial minutes at the club against Liverpool. Buyout clauses also don't get decided in October. Although, we don't follow the norms of football, so could well be true.

 

[Saint Fan CaM]

The Jelert story appears to be somewhat premature, however IF (and it’s a huge IF) SR have woken up to the fact that we’re royally fucked without a decent CF, then perhaps they’re saving their milk bottle tops for a Stewart / Downs replacement in January?

Nah, I don’t think so either, but hey it’s a nice thought.

[Ted Bates Statue]

On the face of it, it's a baffling story, so this must be the sound of him and his agent activating the Alderweireld ejector seat button. "who gives a shit if Saints are interested, find me a better club to sign a contract with"

[Dusic]

3 minutes ago, Ted Bates Statue said:

On the face of it, it's a baffling story, so this must be the sound of him and his agent activating the Alderweireld ejector seat button. "who gives a shit if Saints are interested, find me a better club to sign a contract with"

Its pondering from the highly reliable Turkish football media so must be true.

[Dusic]

Judging by the usual cliché on here we should be bringing in Jason Steele, Osmajic from Preston and might as well add Steve Gritt to the coaching staff.

Edited October 15 by Dusic

[Sir Ralph]

I’ve got good links at the club and the scouting team are looking at this guy seriously. Bags of potential https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guido_Carrillo

[Saint Fan CaM]

2 hours ago, Sir Ralph said:

I’ve got good links at the club and the scouting team are looking at this guy seriously. Bags of potential https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guido_Carrillo

Better than what we’ve got? 😉

[Willo of Whiteley]

On 14/10/2025 at 12:17, AlexLaw76 said:

 

There is no truth in this whatsoever.

This account has been called out for bullshitting before and making shit up.

If anything I suggest people call them out on it. Probably another fucking teenager that’s spent too much time playing video games.

[Badger]

2 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

If anything I suggest people call them out on it. Probably another fucking teenager that’s spent too much time playing video games.

He’ll probably be our manager in ten years if Sports Republic are still here. 

[Oisin]

Or keep it up for years and become the most tedious tw4t you could ever imagine in a football forum

[Dusic]

On 15/10/2025 at 12:24, Dusic said:

Judging by the usual cliché on here we should be bringing in Jason Steele, Osmajic from Preston and might as well add Steve Gritt to the coaching staff.

Steele has signed a new contract at Brighton so we could go for James Needle instead. Hasnt played for a few years but alongside Osmajic's bite it would make us nastier to play against.

[Doctoroncall]

On 03/10/2025 at 17:37, Matthew Le God said:

He scored 27 league goals from central midfield in his last 3 Premier League seasons for us. That is a very good return, especially given we weren't a good team for a lot of that time.

You don’t score the nine penalties* from midfield. I’m sure there are a few direct free kick goals in there as well. 

*transfermarket website. 

[Göztepe]

If the team isn't going to play 3-5-2 all the time, Jelert would be a terrible signing.

Edited October 16 by Göztepe

[Sheaf Saint]

BUY

A

FUCKING

STRIKER!!!

[Baz Fl]

A proper #9 that can compete physically with Championship center backs and win crosses, it’s not that bloody complicated, you’ve brought in wingers but can’t s win headers, crazy. 

Edited Tuesday at 21:47 by Baz Fl

[AlexLaw76]

What is the point is bringing in another striker??

Will probably be played right wing

[Crouchie's Lawyer]

I would love for the club to go out and try and sign Taiwo Awoniyi on loan from Forest in January. He is the physical profile we need up top and isn't getting much game time at Forest. Annoyingly with Forest sacking big Ange at the weekend, this could change though as a new manager may see him as being worthy to be involved more but if he doesn't feature much/at all prior to January, it could be a possibility.

 

He may not have been prolific last season at Forest (25 appearances and 1 goal) but I'd imagine the majority of those 25 appearances were as sub with Wood holding down their main number 9 spot last year given the form he was in. Dropping down a division could unleash a beast of a player especially with the right players around him.

[Midfield_General]

17 minutes ago, Crouchie's Lawyer said:

I would love for the club to go out and try and sign Taiwo Awoniyi on loan from Forest in January. He is the physical profile we need up top and isn't getting much game time at Forest. Annoyingly with Forest sacking big Ange at the weekend, this could change though as a new manager may see him as being worthy to be involved more but if he doesn't feature much/at all prior to January, it could be a possibility.

 

He may not have been prolific last season at Forest (25 appearances and 1 goal) but I'd imagine the majority of those 25 appearances were as sub with Wood holding down their main number 9 spot last year given the form he was in. Dropping down a division could unleash a beast of a player especially with the right players around him.

Ange also started him for Forest in their last game against Chelsea last weekend, before he got canned. He's not been playing as he's been out with injury but he appears to have recovered now and will be part of Dyche's plans there I would have thought, either starting or off the bench, given how he values physical presence up top. Can't see him being willing to drop down a division, and knowing SR I'd imagine we'll be shopping abroad in January and looking for a nice, young risky prospect to gamble our future on, possibly with a history of career-threatening injuries. 

Edited Tuesday at 13:43 by Midfield_General

[CheshireSaint]

12 minutes ago, Crouchie's Lawyer said:

I would love for the club to go out and try and sign Taiwo Awoniyi on loan from Forest in January. He is the physical profile we need up top and isn't getting much game time at Forest. Annoyingly with Forest sacking big Ange at the weekend, this could change though as a new manager may see him as being worthy to be involved more but if he doesn't feature much/at all prior to January, it could be a possibility.

 

He may not have been prolific last season at Forest (25 appearances and 1 goal) but I'd imagine the majority of those 25 appearances were as sub with Wood holding down their main number 9 spot last year given the form he was in. Dropping down a division could unleash a beast of a player especially with the right players around him.

Now that Dyche has been confirmed as Forest boss, you would think he would want to at least run the rule over his squad. Imagine he would have completed that by January mind, but if his profile is as you say, he may well be someone Dyche wants to keep around. If Bamford is a free agent, does that mean he could join outside of any window? If he is willing to play as he is paid, that can't be too much of a gamble surely? His best years may be behind him, but I'd wager he is much better than Downs and not 5'8'' and a grabbing, shoot at all costs type.

[Willo of Whiteley]

On 18/10/2025 at 15:06, AlexLaw76 said:

What is the point is bringing in another striker??

Will probably be played right wing

When was the last time you posted something constructive? Or positive?

[AlexLaw76]

4 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

When was the last time you posted something constructive? Or positive?

at the weekend when breaking down (during the match) why 3 at the back was not working too well (especially in the 2nd half).

Yes we created chances, as we should given Damion Downs probably cost more than their entire squad, but going forward I believe it will not reap success.

[tdmickey3]

Who are we selling in January?

Robinson 

Scienza has long contract so thought get a good price

Charles 

Got to think about player profit, that's where it's at

[S-Clarke]

Charles is clearly offski at some point in the next 6-10 months. He's had a contract offer on the table for a while now.

He'll probably get us 15-20m - but that will be less as Man City will take a cut, so that's a nominal sale really.

The cupboard is starting to look bare now for Sports Republic, their devalue and deterioration of the squad is continuing at pace. We'll have L1 quality players before you know it.

[Mboto Gorge]

Any chance of Sport Republic being offloaded on a free transfer in January? I’m starting to despise them as much as I did Lowe at the end of his tenure, in fact I think I’m there already. 

[Dark Munster]

2 hours ago, Mboto Gorge said:

Any chance of Sport Republic being offloaded on a free transfer in January? I’m starting to despise them as much as I did Lowe at the end of his tenure, in fact I think I’m there already. 

I'm definitely there with Rasmus W. Ankersen. Actually, I've been there since he masterminded the first SR relegation.

Edited Wednesday at 00:44 by Dark Munster

[die Mannyschaft]

1 x goal keeper

3 x defender

2 x midfielder 

2 x forwards

We need players in as not impressed with some of the new players. Unless the club has planned for relegation then don't need any in window. 

[Gloucester Saint]

1st choice keeper and targetman non-negotiable. Forget about whether they can step up to the Prem, these are to stay up and consolidate for a few years. 

[It's There]

14 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

1st choice keeper and targetman non-negotiable. Forget about whether they can step up to the Prem, these are to stay up and consolidate for a few years. 

We need a striker, not another goalie. Mac is fine and we have Ramsdale to return or sell in the summer. If we have a focal point, players will be more optimistic when attacking and put huge pressure on other teams… we have the quality except up front. 
who that striker is…I don’t know.

[S-Clarke]

Sell -

Aribo

Edozie

Downes

THB

Bazunu

Manning

Archer

Armstrong

Downs

Buy -

2x New Strikers - one powerful Awoyi type.

1x new CB to partner Edwards/Quarshie/Wood. A proper shithouse of a CB.

1x new shithouse CM, powerful, a unit. big, quick. Someone who'd complement the technical skills of Charles or Jander.

1x Goal Keeper who is experienced at this level and can improve us from day 1. Maybe 2 if we send George Long back.

We have the wingers and creativity in Fellows/Leo/Azaz, and some decent full backs - but we neglected the spine of the team.

We won't do any of that though, so it's a moot point really. But that needed to happen this summer really. I think we've wasted a summer and we'll struggle to regain competitiveness at the top end of this league now, certainly with Wolves/WHU coming down.

 

[saintant]

3 players built like brick shit houses - one at centre forward, a midfielder and a centre back. Add a competent keeper and we might start to resemble a football side that can compete and win matches.

[Monk]

Was discussing with some colleagues last night, all varying from ex-pros, UEFA Pro/A licence holders, one works senior in overseas recruitment for Prem club. 

Fascinating conversation with some real insight and we came to the following conclusion.....

Saints need a 'cunt'.

 

 

[Fabrice29]

11 minutes ago, Monk said:

Was discussing with some colleagues last night, all varying from ex-pros, UEFA Pro/A licence holders, one works senior in overseas recruitment for Prem club. 

Fascinating conversation with some real insight and we came to the following conclusion.....

Saints need a 'cunt'.

 

 

Nathan Jones first talked about the squad needing better characters and personality. Probably wasn't far away from saying cunt himself before he was sacked. Every manager since has pretty much talked about the squad lacking leadership when justifying bringing back Stephens. Personally, I'd get Downes back in the side at least until January.

[bangkoksaint]

13 minutes ago, Monk said:

Was discussing with some colleagues last night, all varying from ex-pros, UEFA Pro/A licence holders, one works senior in overseas recruitment for Prem club. 

Fascinating conversation with some real insight and we came to the following conclusion.....

Saints need a 'cunt'.

 

 

Yep and have done for a while. McBurnie would have been on fire with the service he could have got. Dare I say it TP, if he'd stayed and remained fit may well have done well too

[Disco Stu]

15 minutes ago, Monk said:

Was discussing with some colleagues last night, all varying from ex-pros, UEFA Pro/A licence holders, one works senior in overseas recruitment for Prem club. 

Fascinating conversation with some real insight and we came to the following conclusion.....

Saints need a 'cunt'.

 

 

Flynn Downes is a cunt. So is Adam Lallana amongst the staff. Perhaps the wrong type of cunts.

Edited Wednesday at 11:24 by Disco Stu