Toby signs for Spurs - official.

Ask yourself what you think we should be getting for Clyne. Then remember that Toby is better.

£16.5m is fine by me.

 

But not anyone who wants to be at Saints and are guaranteed to fit in and play well. That's worth the few extra bob.

 

Lovren cost Liverpool £20m

 

Sure, accept that he's as good as any other CB we've ever had (only on par with Fonte though imho, though others may say he's better). I just think at £18m, and even with the discount to £16.5m, we would have better options of how to spend that money across the whole squad given that the season is maybe 50+ games long and up to 14 players take the field each game.
E.g. Spending that much on Toby may mean we can't afford the striker we want to compete with/play alongside/replace Pelle. It'll be undisclosed if it happens anyway, but if we get all our first choices in other positions also, then very happy days.

 

Back on topic

As approved by Mrs West

 

Wow; never really believed that we had a chance of keeping him permanently. If there's any truth to it, this is a pretty big deal, and not simply because we retain such a classy player.

 

This would be best signing of the summer!

Fingers crossed! Please please please be true...

 

£16.5 net is absolutely fine by me. Expensive yes, but Toby is worth it.

 

£18m is barely even a choice for me, I'd spend £25m on him without flinching. It's as close to a no-miss buy as you're going to get for a CL-level CB, who can also play RB and DM, and in today's game for a 26 year-old it's still value for money and we can easily afford it with it not really looking like we're going to throw £15m or so at a marquee ST or AM (And we could still afford it even then). And almost most importantly it is a huge sign of intent to Clyne, Morgan and others, what better player to sign than one they know first hand is excellent and would show them that we really are willing to do what is required to take the next step.

 

Also, it would stop Dani Osvaldo being our record signing.

 

Let's ignore the fee of this one transfer for a second. Most seem happy with it at the reported price. Does anyone have any inside knowledge on how much we have and/or plan to spend this summer?

We'd be £25m net outlay on Juanmi, Cedric, and Alderweireld if true.
Let's assume we get c. £35m for Clyne and Schneiderlin then we're £10m in credit but still need to fill roughly the following positions to flesh out the squad:

GK
RB
CM x 2
RW
ST

 

There maybe better options, but are they known quantities? Known quantities that will fit in at Saints? Known quantities who will want to be here?

That's got to be worth 3-5m on a fee.

 

But don't forget that we need to add CB to that list if we don't sign Toby.

Do we need a RW?

 

I think some of those positions will be filled by loan signings.
As far as our budget. What was our net income from last season? Might give a starting point.

We still have potential sales in Gaston & Osvaldo, which won't harm the squad

 

A left back unless we're expecting Targett to have a very busy season.

 

Has something happened to Bertrand?

 

I'm expecting him to be involved a lot; are you not?

 

If Djuricic doesn't come back then definitely. If he does...still probably yes.

 

Not every position has to be filled by a player bought for a fee. Seagar, Gallagher, Stephens, Gape, McCarthy, Targett are all on the fringes and will be involved next year. We will bring in enough players and I think we can be confident that the necessary money will be there for the right deals.

 

Agreed regards needing a CB if we don't get Toby. Don't think any of our existing options naturally prefer playing RW (as opposed to playing through the centre or on the left). We seemed to shoehorn different options out there without any massive success throughout last season.