Elia I really don't rate that highly, think he was a good loan signing but not sure about picking him up again. Wouldn't mind having him in the squad if we're in Europe but don't think it would take too long for the goodwill to wear thin if he found himself back in another position where his involvement was minimal, but hey, if he's turned a page and he's just happy being with us even if he only starts 10 games in all competitions I'm not opposed to him being here. Djuricic we just haven't seen enough of to see form any opinions I think, I don't mind at all what happens there. Toby is a no brainer, I'd be happy to spend up to and around £20m on him without a modicum of doubt.
If Morgan goes, Saints should consider going all out for Toby (in the area you mentioned). With Vilhena, the mooted addition of Classe, a decent loan 'keeper and the return of Jay, I think we're good to go for next season, with minimal outlay.
Yeah having more than about 13 players we can actually use next season would give us a slight improvement. What's the arrangement with Elia? I had thought it was a done deal that we were signing him.
Loan GK Davis New RB and Mugabi Fonte Yoshida Gardos Toby/new CB Bertrand and Target Clasie Wanyama Davis JWP Reed Vilhena First section just needs replacements for players who'll leave. Next part... Mane Tadic 2 new wingers (one if we keep both Elia and Djuricic) New striker Pelle Rodriguez Long
Agree that we need to go all out on getting Toby as early in the summer as possible and not give any other club a sniff. Paying 15m would be money well spent. I don't think any other English club would be interested in spending big on a centre back I wonder how close Koeman still is to Barca. If we could broker a deal for Morgan with them, then we get him for one more year and he goes to a club his talents deserve. I've been impressed with Elia on work rate & his defensive role, i think he is decent on one on ones and has a trick, but it's that old favourite end product which has let him down. His crossing is pretty suspect. Like others have said, he would be a good squad player, but I don't see how he fits in the starting XL, especially with Jay coming back in. Djuricic has shown some nice skill and touches, but he could be a little too Gaston for the premier league and if 9m is the price, then that's too steep for me and we would be better served putting that money in the Toby mug. We've been linked with a few loans recently (Odegaard & Bamford) for players that the parent clubs are unlikely to want to sell. I wonder if this is going to be a way of supplementing our squad for Europe. It makes good business sense, should we fail to achieve Europe qualification next season.
If we keep Toby I don't see a need for a new CB. We've got the two at Swindon plus MCarthy. Must get a new striker and winger though.
Toby is an absolute must especially if we lose Clyne and Schneiderlin, has been fantastic in whichever position he has played and is a top top player. Elia not too fussed but doubt we will get better for 4m so i would give him a 2 year deal Djuricic haven't seen much of him but at 9m i would be sceptical , injured a lot and probably no better than Gaston so id be inclined to leave that one!!
Got to go all out to try to sign Toby. If Ronald rates them the others will be ok squad players for Europe.
