Summer transfer/exodus window 2026

[Holmes_and_Watson]

JWP was very decent for us. Like a lot of players, he was fitting into systems a lot of the time. When we pushed him up a little, he looked decent going forward. He was definitely still one of our better players at the start of Martin's tenure. A bit of everything, which helped others a lot.

Showed a little by example on the field, but no one was a leader for us off it. No one that stopped there being cliques and nonsense behaviour anyway.

He's a player who moved on for a decent sum, and a bigger wage. The SR dream. So, there's no real reason to go back.

Not his fault, but I really don't miss the commentator build up, every time he took a free kick, just so it would make the highlights.

 

[Pilchards]

Please can we not talk about this guy anymore as he fucked off like Ramsdale. No way in a million years do I want him as a passenger at our club.

 

We need more of where Jander, Larin, Matsuki, Scieza and Peretz came from. All top, top players that lifted us another level or two.

 

[Cuddles]

9 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

I’d take JWP if he was on a pittance, and assuming that one of our other CMs has left.

Otherwise I’m more against bringing former players back.

See Lallana and Romeu for reasonings. 😅

And Walcott 

[Mk1J]

1 hour ago, Hawkswood said:

Please god no. No more nostalgic signings please. They dont work. Especially JWP. Thanks for the effort and the free kicks but he was one of our worst offenders of crab football. Urgh.

Yeah, so thats a no for me. 😊

Did he play crab football? I thought he was pre crab football. And from memory his departure coincided with the start of a RM losing streak so perhaps he could do a job at this level. But my memory is crap. 
I wouldn’t swap him for Jander, but I can’t see any way we would keep Jander. 

[Hodgey]

We need to play the loan system, was a big mistake not doing so last summer.

Thats how we got up last time, and how we improved in January

Get 3 or 4 decent loans in and that should negate the 3-4 top level players we will inevitably lose.

Cant see us having much cash to spend with PSR and this being year 3 of parachute payments. Maybe £10-£12m depending on how much we get for players.

BTW has everyone forgotten about Roslev or are we all agreed that he isn’t very good ?? 

 

[Holmes_and_Watson]

3 minutes ago, Hodgey said:

We need to play the loan system, was a big mistake not doing so last summer.

Thats how we got up last time, and how we improved in January

Get 3 or 4 decent loans in and that should negate the 3-4 top level players we will inevitably lose.

Cant see us having much cash to spend with PSR and this being year 3 of parachute payments. Maybe £10-£12m depending on how much we get for players.

BTW has everyone forgotten about Roslev or are we all agreed that he isn’t very good ?? 

 

The club seemed to resent having to buy THB and Downes, when we went up. Even though one of them, I'm sure, was an option to buy. They felt it took much more out of their budget than they would have liked.

Peretz and Larin showed how important it was to use the loan system.  I think that they just didn't like the amount, and wished they could negotiate down, rather than being tied to a value.

[HKsaint]

We have Manning to take a free kick.

[Saint86]

10 hours ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

The club seemed to resent having to buy THB and Downes, when we went up. Even though one of them, I'm sure, was an option to buy. They felt it took much more out of their budget than they would have liked.

Peretz and Larin showed how important it was to use the loan system.  I think that they just didn't like the amount, and wished they could negotiate down, rather than being tied to a value.

The defence doesn't need major work. Bree, manning, Wellington, roerslev, Stephens, wood, quarshie, THB (sold and replaced?), and sansa coming through. Doesn't have to be flash for the championship.

Bazunu is left. Ramsdale will leave. A new first choice Keeper is a must. Preferably Peretz 🤷.

Midfield sadly I fear for us a bit quality wise. Charles and Jander (both sold and replaced) are almost certainly gone. But at least we'll get paid well for them and they should get replaced with a similar quality of our scouting holds up. It leaves us with Bragg and Downes - clearly lightweight for a 46 game season without major strengthening.

Azaz, matsuki, fellows, scienza (sold and replaced?), edozie, and Robinson is okay for the attacking mid/wings - but for me we need one more for quality depth even with scienza staying. Should archer be included here?

CF - Larin (signed), Stewart (extended), downs, BBD. It's not bad for the level in truth? But being greedy I'd want one more.

Can tonda get the best out of downs?

Anyone know whether there are any more good youth prospects coming through?

Edited 2 hours ago by Saint86

[Wade Garrett]

5 hours ago, Mk1J said:

Did he play crab football? I thought he was pre crab football. And from memory his departure coincided with the start of a RM losing streak so perhaps he could do a job at this level. But my memory is crap. 
I wouldn’t swap him for Jander, but I can’t see any way we would keep Jander. 

JWP is the epitome of crab football.

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

5 hours ago, Saint86 said:

The defence doesn't need major work. Bree, manning, Wellington, roerslev, Stephens, wood, quarshie, THB (sold and replaced?), and sansa coming through. Doesn't have to be flash for the championship.

Bazunu is left. Ramsdale will leave. A new first choice Keeper is a must. Preferably Peretz 🤷.

Midfield sadly I fear for us a bit quality wise. Charles and Jander (both sold and replaced) are almost certainly gone. But at least we'll get paid well for them and they should get replaced with a similar quality of our scouting holds up. It leaves us with Bragg and Downes - clearly lightweight for a 46 game season without major strengthening.

Azaz, matsuki, fellows, scienza (sold and replaced?), edozie, and Robinson is okay for the attacking mid/wings - but for me we need one more for quality depth even with scienza staying. Should archer be included here?

CF - Larin (signed), Stewart (extended), downs, BBD. It's not bad for the level in truth? But being greedy I'd want one more.

Can tonda get the beat out of downs?

Anyone know whether there are any more good youth prospects coming through?

Agree, attack/wings still looks good excluding Scienza. But it would need Edozie and Robinson to step up though. 

[Baird of the land]

8 hours ago, UpweySaint said:

He was consistently one of our better players in the prem and made international appearances. Let’s not be revisionist - his legs haven’t suddenly gone. 

He was good for us in the prem but that was years ago. He’s 31 now and yes legs do go as players get older, especially one who’s whole success was covering every blade of grass. His fall from grace at WH, forest and Burnley isn’t some glitch.

[waterlooville saint]

8 hours ago, Hodgey said:

We need to play the loan system, was a big mistake not doing so last summer.

Thats how we got up last time, and how we improved in January

Get 3 or 4 decent loans in and that should negate the 3-4 top level players we will inevitably lose.

Cant see us having much cash to spend with PSR and this being year 3 of parachute payments. Maybe £10-£12m depending on how much we get for players.

BTW has everyone forgotten about Roslev or are we all agreed that he isn’t very good ?? 

 

I thought we used the loan system well last season, but not so well in our previous promotion season.

Being committed to buying THB and insisting on buying Flynn Downes meant we spent nearly £40m of our transfer kitty just putting the squad back near the level of a team that finished 4th in the Championship.

Last season we bought our main targets in the Summer and used the loan system to bolster the squad in January.

It really depends on our transfer kitty this Summer as to what we do. Hopefully we are able to get good fees for some of our returning players, get a boost from the rumoured clause in Fernandez at West Ham and only have to sell one of our main players if our budget is really squeezed. 

[hypochondriac]

8 minutes ago, waterlooville saint said:

I thought we used the loan system well last season, but not so well in our previous promotion season.

Being committed to buying THB and insisting on buying Flynn Downes meant we spent nearly £40m of our transfer kitty just putting the squad back near the level of a team that finished 4th in the Championship.

Last season we bought our main targets in the Summer and used the loan system to bolster the squad in January.

It really depends on our transfer kitty this Summer as to what we do. Hopefully we are able to get good fees for some of our returning players, get a boost from the rumoured clause in Fernandez at West Ham and only have to sell one of our main players if our budget is really squeezed. 

We will 100% have to sell more than one of our main players. May as well get used to it. I'm hoping we can restrict the sales to just three. THB, Charles and Jander. If we could somehow persuade Scienza to give us another year that would be huge but likely he goes as well. 

I'm hoping that we view our priority for this summer to be signing up those players who need signing. So that's Bree, Stewart and Larin if he's up to it. I presume Peretz has gone so a decent championship keeper is a must. If we came out of things with something like 

Charles 

Bree Stephens Wood manning 

Matsuki/fellows Downes Bragg/new signing Edozie/new signing 

Azaz 

Stewart/larin/new striker 

That would be four new signings to replace the likely departures of Archer, Scienza, Jander, Charles, Peretz and THB. Probably a 5th signing if Quarshie leaves too. We'd be weaker in midfield but I'd argue not massively weaker at the back where we had a terrible start anyway.

[Dman]

28 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

We will 100% have to sell more than one of our main players. May as well get used to it. I'm hoping we can restrict the sales to just three. THB, Charles and Jander. If we could somehow persuade Scienza to give us another year that would be huge but likely he goes as well. 

I'm hoping that we view our priority for this summer to be signing up those players who need signing. So that's Bree, Stewart and Larin if he's up to it. I presume Peretz has gone so a decent championship keeper is a must. If we came out of things with something like 

Charles 

Bree Stephens Wood manning 

Matsuki/fellows Downes Bragg/new signing Edozie/new signing 

Azaz 

Stewart/larin/new striker 

That would be four new signings to replace the likely departures of Archer, Scienza, Jander, Charles, Peretz and THB. Probably a 5th signing if Quarshie leaves too. We'd be weaker in midfield but I'd argue not massively weaker at the back where we had a terrible start anyway.

Worth saying that we'll probably need 2 new keepers as McCarthy and Jones are out of contract.

I just hope the club have learned that Bazunu is not suitable at this level. 

[bpsaint]

Could have stayed to help get us promoted under Martin and made himself a legend but jumped at the first opportunity for the money and has been in decline ever since.

No thanks. As others have said let’s stop with the ex player sentiment bollocks, costs the club a fortune with little return.

Edited 4 hours ago by bpsaint

[The Wyvern]

10 minutes ago, Dman said:

Worth saying that we'll probably need 2 new keepers as McCarthy and Jones are out of contract.

I just hope the club have learned that Bazunu is not suitable at this level. 

What would people think of having Bazunu as 2nd choice keeper? 

[Hawkswood]

9 hours ago, Mk1J said:

Did he play crab football? I thought he was pre crab football. And from memory his departure coincided with the start of a RM losing streak so perhaps he could do a job at this level. But my memory is crap. 
I wouldn’t swap him for Jander, but I can’t see any way we would keep Jander. 

Yeah he was very much part of the crab football we played. I also noticed it when he was playing for West ham. I dont think he can help himself ! 😄

[West Dean FC Legend]

12 minutes ago, Dman said:

Worth saying that we'll probably need 2 new keepers as McCarthy and Jones are out of contract.

I just hope the club have learned that Bazunu is not suitable at this level. 

Eeek - you last line is a bit scary - I mean a few of us almost got abuse about pointing out Bazunu is not very good, from the supporters, let alone the 'know everything better than you do' people in charge at the club. I have said it before and I'll say it again, you only need to have played in goal at any level of football to see his positioning and 'goalkeeper' style is like someone who has never played in goal before.

It is mystifying to me. But of course I am a 'melt'  apparently, I'm not angry.

Edited 4 hours ago by West Dean FC Legend

[Wade Garrett]

1 minute ago, The Wyvern said:

What would people think of having Bazunu as 2nd choice keeper? 

That we’re an injury away from doom.

Edited 4 hours ago by Wade Garrett

[Hawkswood]

8 hours ago, Saint86 said:

The defence doesn't need major work. Bree, manning, Wellington, roerslev, Stephens, wood, quarshie, THB (sold and replaced?), and sansa coming through. Doesn't have to be flash for the championship.

Bazunu is left. Ramsdale will leave. A new first choice Keeper is a must. Preferably Peretz 🤷.

Midfield sadly I fear for us a bit quality wise. Charles and Jander (both sold and replaced) are almost certainly gone. But at least we'll get paid well for them and they should get replaced with a similar quality of our scouting holds up. It leaves us with Bragg and Downes - clearly lightweight for a 46 game season without major strengthening.

Azaz, matsuki, fellows, scienza (sold and replaced?), edozie, and Robinson is okay for the attacking mid/wings - but for me we need one more for quality depth even with scienza staying. Should archer be included here?

CF - Larin (signed), Stewart (extended), downs, BBD. It's not bad for the level in truth? But being greedy I'd want one more.

Can tonda get the beat out of downs?

Anyone know whether there are any more good youth prospects coming through?

I dont think theres any guarantee any of those will be sold. Obviously Leo the most likely, but we simply dont know yet.

THB Charles  and Jander most likely for me and probably in that order of likelihood. 

[West Dean FC Legend]

6 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

Could have stayed to help get us promoted under Martin and made himself a legend but jumped at the first opportunity for the money and has been in decline ever since.

No thanks. As others have said let’s stop with the ex player sentiment bollocks, costs the club a fortune with little return.

I agree, these lot who bugger off the minute things get tough or difficult I dislike, I mean imagine what they would say if they lost a big match and half of us said - 'No supporting Saints anymore they don't win enough'. We have all stuck by this club, some over decades, myself included, when basically since being a Football League club they have won one divisional title [I doubt anyone is still alive when the won that], broken the record for a home defeat in the top division in the ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE, and nearly equalled the record for the lowest points total - but here we all are, even if we annoy each other or don't agree on lots of things we are still here. Yet the very rich football players who earn more in a month than a lot do in year are straight off the minute the club gets relegated. 

[hypochondriac]

32 minutes ago, Dman said:

Worth saying that we'll probably need 2 new keepers as McCarthy and Jones are out of contract.

I just hope the club have learned that Bazunu is not suitable at this level. 

True but if this season is anything to go by it will be a backup keeper who isn't great.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

I'd rather we lose Charles than Jander to be honest. Although like most here fear the both will be off.

[benali-shorts]

Isn’t the approximate requirement that we need to make c.£50m player trading profit each year? 
THB (20+) Jander (20+) Ramsdale (12+) would be about that? 
Charles may have to be sold if only 1 year left? 
Those 4 might give us a budget of c£20M to spend on replacements (similar outlay to RM’s promotion season)? 

[Saint Pete]

45 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

Could have stayed to help get us promoted under Martin and made himself a legend but jumped at the first opportunity for the money and has been in decline ever since.

No thanks. As others have said let’s stop with the ex player sentiment bollocks, costs the club a fortune with little return.

I think it's more than a little unfair on JWP to say he "jumped at the first opportunity" when he stayed at the club for over 20 years!! Many players who have achieved international status would have moved on long before he did so I felt at the time he had earnt the right to move on and try to maintain his status as a Prem player. 

That said, I don't think it is right to go back to him at this point as he doesn't seem the same player now that he was a few years ago. I do feel we need to keep some experience in the middle of the pitch though and have some concerns that we may end up light of that if the likes of THB and Downes move on. 

[saintant]

11 hours ago, UpweySaint said:

He was consistently one of our better players in the prem and made international appearances. Let’s not be revisionist - his legs haven’t suddenly gone. 

He's never been a mobile player and as he gets older even less so. Much as he was a great servant for us I don't believe he is what we need in the harsh midfield battles of Championship games because he was never any good at closing opponents down or tackling. 

[Wade Garrett]

4 minutes ago, saintant said:

He's never been a mobile player and as he gets older even less so. Much as he was a great servant for us I don't believe he is what we need in the harsh midfield battles of Championship games because he was never any good at closing opponents down or tackling. 

If we're going down the ex-players route, Harrison Reed would be a better signing.

[saintant]

59 minutes ago, The Wyvern said:

What would people think of having Bazunu as 2nd choice keeper? 

Madness 🙂

[Lord Duckhunter]

The club will have planned for losing in the playoffs, who would go and who they’d want/be able to keep. The spanner in the works is blokes we’d clearly be able to keep using spygate, or more likely their agents using spygate, to manipulate a way out or get a premium for staying. It may also encourage sides to take the piss and try and nick a couple on the cheap.

It’s the ones we probably would have ditched had we won promotion that worry me.  Manning, Fellows, Wellington, Flynn Downs, Matsuki, wood, even Azaz, are they going to think fuck this, and want to move on. Larin, another one, will he be up for another shot, and more importantly, will he play at the same level. Let’s get Bree done now.  
 

We can’t be rebuilding from scratch, and we may need to dig our heals in over a couple and tell them they’re not going anywhere. THB, Jander, Charles and obviously, Peretz, we probably planned for. I’d ask Leo to stay and reassess in winter window agreeing a move if we’re not in or amongst the autos, and that would be it, outside of the Archers & Edozies of the world. 
 

If Baz is in nets, god help us. So we need keeper, centre half, centre midfield, starters. Top championship quality, to slot straight in to a good side. Then use the loan market for an Archer replacement, and another CM. 

[saintant]

39 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

I'd rather we lose Charles than Jander to be honest. Although like most here fear the both will be off.

Other way round for me as I think Jander has a far higher ceiling than Charles.

[Saint Garrett]

10 hours ago, Hodgey said:

We need to play the loan system, was a big mistake not doing so last summer.

Thats how we got up last time, and how we improved in January

Get 3 or 4 decent loans in and that should negate the 3-4 top level players we will inevitably lose.

Cant see us having much cash to spend with PSR and this being year 3 of parachute payments. Maybe £10-£12m depending on how much we get for players.

BTW has everyone forgotten about Roslev or are we all agreed that he isn’t very good ?? 

 

It's a tough one, as it was also the reason we were completely hamstrung when we got up...

[Fabrice29]

Think we’d be setting Bragg back massively if we signed JWP or Reed. Should only be considered if Bragg or Downes leave. If we’re losing Jander and Charles you need to replace their energy and drive to get forwards. People don’t like it but we need to take gambles on signing the next top players rather than players who have been top players previously and are dropping down (same for managers)

Edited 3 hours ago by Fabrice29

[Miltonaggro]

1 hour ago, The Wyvern said:

What would people think of having Bazunu as 2nd choice keeper? 

Only in the Commercial Houses league, if first choice had been on the piss or had to work the weekend.

[bpsaint]

29 minutes ago, Saint Pete said:

I think it's more than a little unfair on JWP to say he "jumped at the first opportunity" when he stayed at the club for over 20 years!! Many players who have achieved international status would have moved on long before he did so I felt at the time he had earnt the right to move on and try to maintain his status as a Prem player. 

 

Easy to stay at a club if nobody tries to sign you during that time.

[SaintLondon]

1 hour ago, The Wyvern said:

What would people think of having Bazunu as 2nd choice keeper? 

We have to get him gone - it's not his fault, I'm sure he's a nice kid bit he is a walking metaphor of the failures under SR. Move on. 

[Saint86]

57 minutes ago, benali-shorts said:

Isn’t the approximate requirement that we need to make c.£50m player trading profit each year? 
THB (20+) Jander (20+) Ramsdale (12+) would be about that? 
Charles may have to be sold if only 1 year left? 
Those 4 might give us a budget of c£20M to spend on replacements (similar outlay to RM’s promotion season)? 

I would expect the club to maximise saleable assets - partly to balance the books, partly to free up funds for reinvestment.

I reckon Scienza and Jander will both be sold, and for at least double our initial outlay which is much needed from a PSR perspective - reasonable to expect £40-45M for those 2 i think?

Charles will also be sold due to contract situation, hopefully another £15M.

That's a likely £55-60M for those 3.

Ramsdale for circa £10-15M if we are lucky. Plus £100k/wk (£5.2M/yr) wages.

A potential £65M-£70M if we sell Ramsdale

If anyone will give us a profit on THB then i expect he will be sold as well. The reality is that having a £20M CB is a luxury in this league - i rate him and think he's a brilliant CB for the championship, but if someone offers us £25M to replace him and strength elsewhere, we will take it...

So potentially £85M-90M sales just on those 5players.

Rumours of a sell on fee for Fernandes - so hopefully a small bonus there as well.

Against that, we need to offset a circa £15M drop in parachute money this coming season.

Plus we need to make sure we balance the PSR 3year loss limit of £61M - for which, we don't know where we stand for the season just gone.
 

On 25/05/2026 at 00:27, Saint86 said:

How do we sit on PSR legacy issues?

£53.9M loss 25/26

£5.7M profit 23/24

Total = £48.2M loss Vs a PSR limit of £61M.

This season our transfer profit is circa £75M on face value? But for PSR purposes, that figure doesn't consider outstanding player transfer amortization, nor payments by installments for transfers in/out.

Next season it's also all change, and we are limited to the new squad cost rules at 85% of revenue.

All in all though, i think we could have a tidy pot to reinvest this summer.

Larin for £3-4M isn't a bad buy - but crucially he will have no resale value. And Stewart will be similar in that he's going into his final year on his contract. Having those 2 as our strikers leaves us staring at an issue in a couple of seasons where we may be needing an entirely new front line and have no parachute payments etc., to replace them. If any championship teams are in for Ballard, given our sell on fee (discount) we should at least be considering joining them...

Edited 2 hours ago by Saint86

[AlexLaw76]

Oh FFS. first we get dumped out of the playoff final, then this!!!

 

[sockeye]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Oh FFS. first we get dumped out of the playoff final, then this!!!

 

Middlesbrough? Let’s go Agent BBD!

[Saint Fan CaM]

I’ll miss the crucial winning goals that came from Charles boots if he goes. Remember those? There’s not too many players around at a decent price point that have his capabilities. I like Jander a lot, but how many goals has he scored - think he’s perhaps a little more expendable. If truth be told keeping both of them would be amazing as they’ve developed a very good partnership with Downes looking certain to be eclipsed.

[lambtiss]

1 hour ago, The Wyvern said:

What would people think of having Bazunu as 2nd choice keeper? 

I would accept that but only begrudgingly so that we could spend money elsewhere, such as a proper goalkeeper 

[Saint Fan CaM]

1 minute ago, lambtiss said:

I would accept that but only begrudgingly so that we could spend money elsewhere, such as a proper goalkeeper 

I’d accept him as no.2 willingly if we were able to get Peretz back…

[Wade Garrett]

45 minutes ago, Fabrice29 said:

Think we’d be setting Bragg back massively if we signed JWP or Reed. Should only be considered if Bragg or Downes leave. If we’re losing Jander and Charles you need to replace their energy and drive to get forwards. People don’t like it but we need to take gambles on signing the next top players rather than players who have been top players previously and are dropping down (same for managers)

I agree, I was just saying Reed would be a better signing than JWP.

[LeBizzier69]

“Lads, we’re not selling any of you. Grab your kit. Training starts in 15 mins”

End of thread!

(Other than the obvious dross)

 

Edited 2 hours ago by LeBizzier69
Crap post.

[Scoobysaint]

Could we not just sell one or two players for a tidy sum and then just say to the rest, “stay for the season, take us up and share this £50 million between you”?

[Saint Pete]

1 hour ago, bpsaint said:

Easy to stay at a club if nobody tries to sign you during that time.

You seriously believe there would have been no opportunities for JWP to move to another Premier league club over that 20 year period if he had wanted to push for it?! 

If he managed to secure a Premier league deal when we got relegated, he certainly would have had offers when he was a regular starter as a teenager under Poch or when he was regularly banging in free kicks or appearing for England.

If you want to get angry at judas players who force a move at the first opportunity, there are plenty of better candidates than a player who stayed at the club over 20 years that's for sure! 

[hypochondriac]

12 minutes ago, Scoobysaint said:

Could we not just sell one or two players for a tidy sum and then just say to the rest, “stay for the season, take us up and share this £50 million between you”?

No because we have to sell to cover losses.

[Galway saint]

3 hours ago, The Wyvern said:

What would people think of having Bazunu as 2nd choice keeper? 

No 

[AlexLaw76]

Bazunu as No.2 would be “fine” IMO

[DT]

1 hour ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

I’ll miss the crucial winning goals that came from Charles boots if he goes. Remember those? There’s not too many players around at a decent price point that have his capabilities. I like Jander a lot, but how many goals has he scored - think he’s perhaps a little more expendable. If truth be told keeping both of them would be amazing as they’ve developed a very good partnership with Downes looking certain to be eclipsed.

Jander is an absolute Rolls Royce. Brilliant at breaking up play, tackling, passing, everything.

Will be a huge loss and will play at a very high level.