Summer Transfer Window 2026

[Midfield_General]

1 hour ago, Pilchards said:

They tried to get someone but like many I expect they refused or we were out priced.

Still got options on the freebie market.

4/10 window as we are much weaker than last season.

We are one injury away (Larin) from a disaster (IMHO)

 

Which TARGET STRIKER did they try to get? 

[egg]

7 minutes ago, waterlooville saint said:

Personally I think the transfer window has been ok. I think we’re vulnerable in a few areas due to injuries though.

I suspect we’ve been hampered by not being able to sell Ramsdale or the fringe players, who would have given us between £10m and £20m, some of which would have been reinvested. I know we got most out on loan but that just reduces the wage bill for a while, whereas transfers would have given us money to use.

That's an important point. I'm in little doubt that we had various options which were dependant on sales, but that we had to bail when those sales didn't happen. 

I'm content with the window as well. I'm not overjoyed with midfield, GK backup, or up front (moving Archer on seems pointless), but we're in decent enough shape. 

[Charlie Wayman]

8 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

So your opinions and comments are allowed but my opinions and comments on your opinions and comments I shouldn’t bother with? 

How about…all opinions are allowed but ones I think are a bit daft, dramatic and not really making any coherent sense, especially as they depend on something that hasn’t happened yet…I can comment on saying so? And you can yawn at them. 

You can always put each other on your Ignore list then the rest of us wouldn't have to suffer your public slanging match every day.

[egg]

3 hours ago, St. Ciervo said:

Downs went to St. Louis in the MLS, right? 

 

It's not been confirmed. Still on the OS as a squad member. 

[sadoldgit]

Jander coming back into the squad will be like a new signing. In the meantime JWP has to start. 

[Lighthouse]

Realistically, it’s been a decent window for us. We knew we had to generate some income, which would require a couple of big sales and we’ve had to balance that with what we were able to spend.

When we got kicked out of the playoffs if you’d said to me, ”Raymond van Gigadong (Lighthouse was my maiden name) in three months time Jander, Leo, Peretz and Larin will still be at St Mary’s,” I’d have bitten your hand off.

In goal we’ve signed Peretz against all expectations, so that’s a clear win.

In defence the two we’ve signed seem like decent, affordable replacements for the two we’ve lost.

In midfield JWP is different to Charles but I still think overall our options are among the best in the division.

Up front Larin is bang in form and Mubama and Dobbin provide alternatives to mix things up a bit.

The window is closed, there’re no excuses now. Three years ago we got promoted with Bazunu, Stephens, McCarthy, Smallbone, Aribo, Edozie, Rothwell and Adam Armstrong getting regular minutes, whilst our one big signing spent the whole season injured. Furthermore, many people thought that was an underachievement in spite of certain individuals who are no longer at the club. I don’t demand automatic promotion but not being right up there in the fight for it all season would be a massive failure.

[Fabrice29]

4 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Realistically, it’s been a decent window for us. We knew we had to generate some income, which would require a couple of big sales and we’ve had to balance that with what we were able to spend.

When we got kicked out of the playoffs if you’d said to me, ”Raymond van Gigadong (Lighthouse was my maiden name) in three months time Jander, Leo, Peretz and Larin will still be at St Mary’s,” I’d have bitten your hand off.

In goal we’ve signed Peretz against all expectations, so that’s a clear win.

In defence the two we’ve signed seem like decent, affordable replacements for the two we’ve lost.

In midfield JWP is different to Charles but I still think overall our options are among the best in the division.

Up front Larin is bang in form and Mubama and Dobbin provide alternatives to mix things up a bit.

The window is closed, there’re no excuses now. Three years ago we got promoted with Bazunu, Stephens, McCarthy, Smallbone, Aribo, Edozie, Rothwell and Adam Armstrong getting regular minutes, whilst our one big signing spent the whole season injured. Furthermore, many people thought that was an underachievement in spite of certain individuals who are no longer at the club. I don’t demand automatic promotion but not being right up there in the fight for it all season would be a massive failure.

Look at that, someone with a balanced view, high expectations and willing to let results do the talking without making daft statements.

It can be done! 

[Chez]

4 hours ago, St. Ciervo said:

Downs went to St. Louis in the MLS, right? 

 

[sadoldgit]

9 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Look at that, someone with a balanced view, high expectations and willing to let results do the talking without making daft statements.

It can be done! 

I’m sure you have been here long enough to know that you have to wade through an awful lot of chaff to get to some wheat! 😉

[AlexLaw76]

Just seen we re-signed a 3rd choice keeper and allowed Larios to leave his contract.

Larios - WTF was that.

[CB Fry]

12 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Realistically, it’s been a decent window for us. We knew we had to generate some income, which would require a couple of big sales and we’ve had to balance that with what we were able to spend.

When we got kicked out of the playoffs if you’d said to me, ”Raymond van Gigadong (Lighthouse was my maiden name) in three months time Jander, Leo, Peretz and Larin will still be at St Mary’s,” I’d have bitten your hand off.

In goal we’ve signed Peretz against all expectations, so that’s a clear win.

In defence the two we’ve signed seem like decent, affordable replacements for the two we’ve lost.

In midfield JWP is different to Charles but I still think overall our options are among the best in the division.

Up front Larin is bang in form and Mubama and Dobbin provide alternatives to mix things up a bit.

The window is closed, there’re no excuses now. Three years ago we got promoted with Bazunu, Stephens, McCarthy, Smallbone, Aribo, Edozie, Rothwell and Adam Armstrong getting regular minutes, whilst our one big signing spent the whole season injured. Furthermore, many people thought that was an underachievement in spite of certain individuals who are no longer at the club. I don’t demand automatic promotion but not being right up there in the fight for it all season would be a massive failure.

Yes I think this is fair.

Charles and THB were always going.

I expected maybe one of Scienza (or more likely) Jander to leave so it is amazing they are both still here.

Schlot looks very good for the level and hopefully Abbott hits the ground running like Lavia and Livra.

We have a settled, strong squad for the division. I think the -4 (plus the strength of the division this season) will stop us getting top 2 but top 4 and we do it the hard way.

 

[Willo of Whiteley]

Larios was permanently injured.

Add him to the SR masterclass window that saw us by Bazunu, and Edozie.

Speaking of which, I wonder what the Edozie camp mood will be this morning in training.

Guessing the Barca call never came. 🤣

Edited 3 hours ago by Willo of Whiteley

[Le Timmier]

44 minutes ago, egg said:

I'm content with the window as well. I'm not overjoyed with midfield, GK backup, or up front (moving Archer on seems pointless), but we're in decent enough shape. 

Trying to make sense of it. He's been largely dogshit for us for two seasons. Out of contract in summer 2028, so this time next year is the last point we have any chance of getting a fee for him. Maybe the strategy is that the club is hoping he smashes it at Auxerre, restores some reputation and makes himself more sellable next summer?

(Would have still have liked us to have brought in a replacement, mind...)

[AlexLaw76]

9 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Larios was permanently injured.

Add him to the SR masterclass window that saw us by Bazunu, and Edozie.

Speaking of which, I wonder what the Edozie camp mood will be this morning in training.

Guessing the Barca call never came. 🤣

I the Turkish window still open...

Multi-club model and all that.....

[kitch]

46 minutes ago, Charlie Wayman said:

You can always put each other on your Ignore list then the rest of us wouldn't have to suffer your public slanging match every day.

How do you do that? I looked but couldn't see anything.

[Patches O Houlihan]

I thought I'd take a look at Lewis Dobbin's career history on transfermkt to see if maybe HCDAJFU up front.

I didn't follow his signing closely. I understood from the chat on here and from Dragan that he was an Azaz no.10 understudy who could do a job at left wing. 5'9" right-footed.

Whilst he did play for Everton in the PL in the 23/24 season it doesn't look too much to write home about.

In the first half of the 24-25 season he played 17 Championship games for West Brom. All but 2 were off the bench, and all were on the left. No goal involvements at all.

In the second half of the 24-25 Season he played as a winger at Norwich; 9 games, starting 7. No assists. Scored 2 goals - one from left wing and one from right wing. A calf injury curtailed his season.

For Preson last year he played 39 Championship league games averaging 67'. Six of these games were off the bench. He's scored 10 and assisted 8 in these matches. So when he plays most of a game we might expect a goal involvement almost every other game - but there is a caveat to this. Preston finished 14th.

Having previously always been a winger, at Preston this was the situation when he was a starter:


 
Preston played 3-5-2 and he was alongside a big lad in those games:
1) Canadian 6'3" forward Daniel Jebison. Jebison scored 6 and assisted 1 over 38 games (22 starts) for Preston last year, so he wasn't directly setting those goals up for Dobbin.

2) Osmajic from Montenegro is 6'1". He played 28 games, starting 20. He scored 7 and assisted 1. So he wasn't directly providing assists for Dobbin either.

3) 6'3" Michael Smith. Played 37 games, starting 13. Scored 3 with 1 assist. So he wasn't directly making Dobbin's goals either. 

Dobbin always seems to have played on the right side of the pairing. 

If Larin is out of action and Mubamba isn't doing it for whatever reason. Could we play Dobbin and Azaz together as a pairing?

Azaz can hold the ball up pretty well, is a smart guy, can shoot and is 6'1". But according to his stats he's only ever played at centre forward once under Michael Carrick: A 1-3 away win for Middlesbrough v Millwall in January 2024. He wasn't directly involved in those goals. I guess there is a chance he could turn his hand to a kind of false 9 for a game or two if needed?

I was hoping I might find something a bit more conclusive but hopefully someone will find this interesting.

This is Dobbin's whole career overview:

Edited 3 hours ago by Patches O Houlihan

[trousers]

 

 

[AlexLaw76]

[M271]

I can’t find any confirmation on the Saints or St Louis websites, wiki or google about Downs going to St Louis. Although I did read that the MLS transfer window doesn’t shut until today so there is still time. With the clear out of so many of our attacking options is it worth us keeping him as a 3rd choice target man up front or trust our u21 to have that role?

Edited 3 hours ago by M271

[Turkish]

1 hour ago, egg said:

It's not been confirmed. Still on the OS as a squad member. 

MLS window shuts today according to chat GPT so still a bit of time to get him gone 

[Willo of Whiteley]

It sounds like Damion Downs to the MLS is all but done, will be interesting to see what kind of deal is structured given their season ends in November and starts up again in March.

The most prolific winger in the world Sam Edozie still lingers around the club as Barca didn’t come calling.

Aaron Ramsdale to Turkey picking up legs, beggars can’t be choosers anymore. All he’s proved in the last few years is that he is not a £100K p/w goalkeeper.

[Patches O Houlihan]

This was the guy who broke the news. Seems to be from The Athletic.
 

 

[Turkish]

34 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Just seen we re-signed a 3rd choice keeper and allowed Larios to leave his contract.

Larios - WTF was that.

Terrible signing. Never looked anywhere near good enough. You have to wonder who was behind those ridiculous signings was Joe Shields on a kick back from Man City? Handed them £40m that window

[trousers]

It's a 6.5/10 window for me...

Positives: Peretz, Jander, Downes, Leo, Azaz, Larin all staying; Schlotterbeck looking good; JWP a shrewd move

Not so positive: making do with a 3rd choice level keeper as back up to Peretz; no 'brick shithouse' holding midfielder; not convinced Dobbin is the "high-quality number 10 to support and ease the heavy burden on Azaz" that Dragan was promising (and he cost £9m to boot); not signing another centre forward in the same mould as Larin, instead we've signed a player (Mubama) with whom we seemingly have to change the way we attack to accommodate him.

Edited 2 hours ago by trousers

[Chez]

2 minutes ago, Turkish said:

MLS window shuts today according to chat GPT so still a bit of time to get him gone 

I noticed many country's transfer windows are still open 
 

USA and Netherlands - September 2nd
Scotland and Belgium - September 3rd
Turkey - September 4th
Brazil and Mexico - September 11th
Portugal - September 15th
Saudi - October 12th

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, trousers said:

It's a 6.5/10 window for me...

Positives: Peretz, Jander, Downes, Leo, Azaz, Larin all staying; Schlotterbeck looking good; JWP a shrewd move

Not so positive: making do with a 3rd choice level keeper as back up to Peretz; no 'brick shithouse' holding midfielder; not convinced Dobbin is the "high-quality number 10 to support and ease the heavy burden on Azaz" that Dragan was promising; not signing another centre forward in the same mould as Larin, instead we've signed a player (Mubama) with whom we seemingly have to change the way we attack to accommodate him.

Careful giving that rating. You'll have trolls jumping on you for being too negative...

[Chez]

5 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Aaron Ramsdale to Turkey picking up legs, beggars can’t be choosers anymore. All he’s proved in the last few years is that he is not a £100K p/w goalkeeper.

Did Celtic sort out their keeper situation?

[egg]

4 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Terrible signing. Never looked anywhere near good enough. You have to wonder who was behind those ridiculous signings was Joe Shields on a kick back from Man City? Handed them £40m that window

Yep. You've got to be special to make it at the top level as a short full back. He never looked anywhere near that level. Just an odd bit of business. 

[trousers]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

Careful giving that rating. You'll have trolls jumping on you for being too negative...

There's nothing more satisfying than winding up a troll though... 

Well, apart from listening to the entire Chris de Burgh back catalogue in one sitting, of course....

[egg]

1 minute ago, Chez said:

Did Celtic sort out their keeper situation?

Don't think so. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ramsdale and/or Edozie go to a Scottish club. 

[Turkish]

3 minutes ago, Chez said:

I noticed many country's transfer windows are still open 
 

USA and Netherlands - September 2nd
Scotland and Belgium - September 3rd
Turkey - September 4th
Brazil and Mexico - September 11th
Portugal - September 15th
Saudi - October 12th

Aren’t Celtic looking for a  keeper? Maybe Ramsdale could go there. Sad to see what happened to him really decent keeper and seems a good guy but no one wants him not even us 

[St Chalet]

4 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Aren’t Celtic looking for a  keeper? Maybe Ramsdale could go there. Sad to see what happened to him really decent keeper and seems a good guy but no one wants him not even us 

We want him, just not his wages.

[disconnect]

3 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Aren’t Celtic looking for a  keeper? Maybe Ramsdale could go there. Sad to see what happened to him really decent keeper and seems a good guy but no one wants him not even us 

I think a lot of people are forgetting how good Ramsdale was for us in the prem - without him, we'd have been losing each game by at least another goal. He'd be the best keeper in Scotland, I think it's just the salary is putting people off. Genuinely surprised one of the promoted clubs didn't go for him. 

[Chez]

5 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Terrible signing. Never looked anywhere near good enough. You have to wonder who was behind those ridiculous signings was Joe Shields on a kick back from Man City? Handed them £40m that window

He really was. The "too small"..."what about Messi?" thing comes up on here a fair bit, but you could see on his debut that he was a million miles away from top flight football.

Was Charles brought in after Shields departed?

I think Shields was instrumental in buying the two Spurs youngsters and also giving academy players sizeable contracts to try and combat Chelsea. When he departed that was scrapped and a lot of talented youngsters have since departed.
 

[Chez]

9 minutes ago, egg said:

Don't think so. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ramsdale and/or Edozie go to a Scottish club. 

He's ideal for Celtic if the finances can work. Big personality. Loads of confidence. Very good keeper.

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, Chez said:

He really was. The "too small"..."what about Messi?" thing comes up on here a fair bit, but you could see on his debut that he was a million miles away from top flight football.

Was Charles brought in after Shields departed?

I think Shields was instrumental in buying the two Spurs youngsters and also giving academy players sizeable contracts to try and combat Chelsea. When he departed that was scrapped and a lot of talented youngsters have since departed.
 

Charles came in after Shields had gone, was Wilcox here then? Shields only lasted 6 months IIRC before clearing off to Chelsea. 

[Football Special]

12 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Aren’t Celtic looking for a  keeper? Maybe Ramsdale could go there. Sad to see what happened to him really decent keeper and seems a good guy but no one wants him not even us 

Mental isn't it,  i know he let in quite a few but he was playing against Barcelona in a Champions league game at the Camp Nou last season 

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, Chez said:

He's ideal for Celtic if the finances can work. Big personality. Loads of confidence. Very good keeper.

Even if they pay something like 30% of his wages on loan that's better than nothing surely?

[Chez]

Interesting that Stoke sold Sorba Thomas for £7m (perhaps with some add ons) to Hull after he refused to play for them. He still had two years left on his three years contract. I mention it only because it highlights the kind of fees talented championship players often go for. Azeez for £12.5m to Brighton is another pretty low figure. Thankfully we never got around to discussing how much the Scienza transfer value should be, but if we put a £40m price tag on him, it's no surprise he went nowhere.

Edited 2 hours ago by Chez

[West end Saints]

24 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Terrible signing. Never looked anywhere near good enough. You have to wonder who was behind those ridiculous signings was Joe Shields on a kick back from Man City? Handed them £40m that window

Our young player dealings with Man City was a bit mixed but as our recent source of young talent we benefited from Charles, Lavia and THB. Bazunu was our main keeper for promotion season, Edozie has had some contribution.

Plus we are about £35 million in profit from this group.

[Chez]

7 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Charles came in after Shields had gone, was Wilcox here then? Shields only lasted 6 months IIRC before clearing off to Chelsea. 

Obviously the Lavia, Larios and Edozie signings were down to him. You would imagine he had some considerable influence on the Baz signing too. All would have been well known to Saints scouts of course. I dare say Charles was flagged at that point, but Wilcox was here (arrived Jan 2023 and left April 2024) Charles signed Jul 2023, so his decision.

Whatever you think of Shield's decisions on players, I did like how the Southampton Academy, at that point, seemed to be going toe to toe with the big boys. Very risky and costly, but we certainly meant business. After he left the whole philosophy seemed to be scrapped.

[Chez]

13 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Even if they pay something like 30% of his wages on loan that's better than nothing surely?

It's strange that some on here talk about us paying Azaz £50k a week (I have no idea if that is true or not), yet even with a supposed 40% or 50% cut in his wage, Ramsdale is far too expensive. Just how much is he on?

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

36 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Terrible signing. Never looked anywhere near good enough. You have to wonder who was behind those ridiculous signings was Joe Shields on a kick back from Man City? Handed them £40m that window

Likely. We got shafted and he then promptly fooked off.

[Saint86]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Just seen we re-signed a 3rd choice keeper and allowed Larios to leave his contract.

Larios - WTF was that.

A promising young career ruined by bad injuries - sadly for him.

[Oldandtired]

I think last night proved that Larin doesn't walk on water, or even kick a ball straight on occasions. Never mind him getting injured what happens if he suffers a loss in form, do we have to then depend on'divine' intervention?

Not quite sure how that's going to play out.

[Chez]

5 minutes ago, TheAlehouseBrawlers said:

Likely. We got shafted and he then promptly fooked off.

it's highly unlikely. What is perhaps more likely is that he sold an entire philosophy to the club, based on massive investment in youth, both in terms of buying young talent for the first team and giving some of the best academy players Chelsea-esque wages. Chelsea maybe saw what we were doing and that players they rated were joining/staying at our academy, so bought the instigator Shields, after which the whole thing fell apart.

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, Oldandtired said:

I think last night proved that Larin doesn't walk on water, or even kick a ball straight on occasions. Never mind him getting injured what happens if he suffers a loss in form, do we have to then depend on'divine' intervention?

Not quite sure how that's going to play out.

He’s not going to score with every chance he gets 😂

first one was a bad miss second one was a lot harder than it looked, the ball came looping at him and there was another Saints player right in front of him so a lot harder than it appeared 

I do agree though with what is likely to be an over 50 game season plus internationals we can’t rely on him and do seem to be very light up front without him. 

[SW5 SAINT]

50 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

It sounds like Damion Downs to the MLS is all but done, will be interesting to see what kind of deal is structured given their season ends in November and starts up again in March.

The most prolific winger in the world Sam Edozie still lingers around the club as Barca didn’t come calling.

Aaron Ramsdale to Turkey picking up legs, beggars can’t be choosers anymore. All he’s proved in the last few years is that he is not a £100K p/w goalkeeper.

Ridiculous not to utilise Ramsdale if he can’t be sold or loaned. It’s partly down to him if he wouldn’t lower his demands. Nobody can be guaranteed anything in football., and that includes Peretz and Long….

[saintant]

10 hours ago, egg said:

Jamie Jones has appeared on the OS as a first team keeper. 

That's good as we needed a back up to put the  cones out.

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, SW5 SAINT said:

Ridiculous not to utilise Ramsdale if he can’t be sold or loaned. It’s partly down to him if he wouldn’t lower his demands. Nobody can be guaranteed anything in football., and that includes Peretz and Long….

Why should he? I wouldn't if I were him.