Saints transfer rumour thread

There has to be a limit to what we can afford and what he is worth. I hope there's a back up plan.

 

There's no question Fonte is better with the ball but there've been a couple of handballs by him not given recently (Stoke for example and I swear one other that I can't remember) and a few more dodgy moments than I recall for Yoshida. I don't have that strong a preference, and with Fonte's injury it's a moot point anyway, but I think it really depends who works better with Astori (as he also plays at fullback and wingback I assume he's quite good on the ball).

 

I think they've both been spot on lately and I wouldn't be in a hurry to replace either of them. I'm talking over the last 6-8 games or so, but our centre backs haven't been our problem. It's not having cover for our centre backs in the event of an injury or suspension that has been the problem and now Jose is injured. I wouldn't just fire Astori straight in (we haven't even signed him yet anyway) but saying we did, he hasn't played in England before, I don't think it's a certainty by any means that he'll perform better than Fonte and Yoshida have been.

 

Any left sided attackers you would personally like to see us sign?

 

I'm sure it would, but the article said 8-figures for them both, which apart from being a huge range doesn't necessarily imply £10m each.

 

Yoshida's positional sense is far, far superior though. Out of our current back 4, he reads the game the best when the opposition are on the ball. And given that Astori is more of a 'go for the tackle' CB, I'd say he'd play better with Yoshida, who would cover for him when he pushes up to break up attacks. I don't really get why Fonte has had so much praise this season, I even though Hooiveld was better than him despote giving away two penalties. Maybe I just have a different view on what makes a good CB.

 

Fonte played that role well enough last season alongside another 'go for the tackle' guy in Hooiveld. I think Fonte has been our best centre-back this season, though he certainly wasn't last season. Funny how these things go isn't it. Having said that Yoshida was really excellent against Arsenal, hoping to see some more of that in the coming weeks.

If we were to sign Astori I'd see him and Fonte as the first-choice pairing. Yoshida can cover for either though as he is more comfortable with both feet.

 

Fourth Official has weighed in for those who remember him/them calling a few of our transfers last season: https://twitter.com/FourthOfficial_/status/288413998309859328

 

Not got a great track record for saints transfers

 

Better than most in my experience (I know that's not saying much...)

 

Yep, I'm sure he was one of the first to call the Gaston signing?

 

that was tancredi palmeri

 

I wasn't suggesting it was, merely pointing out that spend c£10m in Europe buys quality you can't afford for that money in England.

Jeez why is everyone so tetchy in here, thought we all supported the same club!?

 

From what I've seen of Fourth Official. He get's a lot right, but tends to keep things quite safe and isn't normally the first person to call a transfer.

 

From the Cagliari tifosi site today:

"16.00 - Il Southampton fa sul serio e potrebbe avere addirittura già trovato l'accordo con Davide Astori. SNIP

16.00 Southampton are serious and may have even already come to an agreement with Davide Astori. The Saints have for days been confirmed as the team which has made the most convincing offer to Cagliari (€10m), but now there is also talk coming out regarding the contract offered to the ex-Milanese central defender. The manager of the English club, Nigel Adkins had in fact offered a 3 year contract at 2m€ net per annum (more than double his earnings in Sardinia) in expectation of weakening the resistance of Cellino, who would thus ensure some advantage from the prospective absence [departure] of the player.



For anyone wonder, Cellino is the President of Cagliari.

 

With the position we're in, in our first season back in Prem, I don't think a January window £10m CB signing from Serie A is the way to go. Just creates too much of a certain avoidable pressure, a la QPR. With Maya's and Jose improvement I think we should stick to what we've got, and possibly what we know (Dawson). Plus I recall Gianluigi Festa and Marco Materazzi picking up many a red card when entering the PL. Still he would be an exciting signing.

 

I can imagine that the total will be more than 20m euros, but 8-figures is a very vague claim, and this is all on two players we may not sign

 

If Dawson is available I imagine QPR would be ahead of us on his list of possible destinations.

 

Draxler

 

He's also on £50k p/w at Spurs and is club captain as it is.