CONFIRMED: Southampton sign Oriol Romeu on a three-year deal

[Schrodinger's Cat]

Liking this signing, tall strong and mobile playing alongside big Vic will give us a really commanding midfield, with a great mixture of creativity, pace and energy behind the striker from the rest of our team. He seems to want to prove a point which bodes well for us if his potential can be reached.
Should allow Cedric to push up all he likes too as we will have great defensive players to drop back and cover. VVD and one more attacking player and I'll be over the moon with this window.

 

[RedandWhiteManofKent]

I'm still not sure we will see Romeu and Wanyama on the field together. At least not as our regular midfield pairing.

Time will tell but I can see no reason why they can't become a dominant pairing

 

[James G]

I'm still not sure we will see Romeu and Wanyama on the field together. At least not as our regular midfield pairing.

I just watched a lot of video of him and he really seems a perfect replacement for Schneiderlin. He plays tall, upright, makes a lot of interceptions but keeps his position and spreads the ball around well. Will go hard to win the ball too, doesn't shirk a challenge. I think we're looking at Romeu, Wanyama and Clasie as our rough 'first choice' lineup.

 

[TheSecondStain]

I see from the info that we've tracked him for a couple of years, but without Koeman and possibly Europa, I bet that's all we would have done. We've got some real pulling power now.

 

[- Doing The Lambert Walk]

Oriol Romeu has followed Matt Le Tiss already, he’ll go far the boy

 

[TheSecondStain]

Oriol Romeu has followed Matt Le Tiss already, he’ll go far the boy

Xavi told him to, I expect.

 

[Saintmagic]

So this is signing number 7? Only 3 more for my pre summer prediction of 10 signings to be true.

Haven't seen him play much, know he was very highly thought of when he went to Chelsea though, hopefully can fill Morgan's boots as we are going to be nowhere near as solid defensively this year without playing our usual 2 DM formation.

 

[James G]

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Looking at the two games and scouting report above, it's very clear as to his skill set and he doesn't really play outside what he's good at. Disciplined, tough and adept at winning the ball and recycling.

 

[I Sorry I Ruined The Party]

Time will tell but I can see no reason why they can't become a dominant pairing

It's not that I dislike Romeu and think he should be resigned to backup status. I just think we are giving ourselves options. We have a lot of games to play this year, against all different formations and tactics. So it would not surprise me if Koeman mixed-and-matched quite a bit depending on opposition, who needs a rest and who needs some playing time.

 

[latviandream]

I'm gonna get shot down for this but……
In the 20 games he started for Stuttgart last year they won 3, drew 7, and lost 10. GF 20 ,GA 33, GD -13.
In the 14 games he didn't start for them they won 6, drew 2, and lost 6. GF 22, GA 27, GD -5.

He was not a key player, for the side that finished 14th in last year's Bundesliga.
Prior to last season (yes injuries and loans), he's never had a season where he's played 1000 top flight minutes.

Potential, yes, agree with everybody. Like Caulker though, he's still got a lot to prove, and we're gonna have to coach him well to maximise that potential imho.

 

[Pelletron]

Pleased to read that. Not heard of him but trust our club. One small point though, isn't 3 years a little short by recent standards?

He'll be out in two on good behaviour/if he plays well. A slightly misshapen Northern Irish man will be waiting outside the gates to pick him up.

 

[Pelletron]

Reading between the lines this guy is a wonderful athlete who no doubt will do a great job. 1 goal in 108 appearances means we are looking for our goals from another source. IMO midfielders should be scoring at leas 5 goals a season. All we need now is someone like Luca Modric. Someone who can create!! Pity we didn't try to persuade Xavi to join us as that would have been an absolute treat!!

We have the Dutch Xavi, though.

 

[Pelletron]

Absolutely Fran - pleased to got before me! Reminds me off an off-day when mowing the lawn - up down/up down and then look back and you realised to have missed a whole strip down the centre of the lawn.

Edit - off day with writing today seemingly

As I said before he signed even, there is no place for a landing strip anywhere on your body at Saints, not least your head. Please, let's hope he shaves it off.

 

[Pelletron]

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Looking at the two games and scouting report above, it's very clear as to his skill set and he doesn't really play outside what he's good at. Disciplined, tough and adept at winning the ball and recycling.

Very good, I like an environmentally aware young man. A nice vid on youtube of him putting his Coke cans in a different bin to his takeaway boxes.

 

[fatletiss]

I'm gonna get shot down for this but……
In the 20 games he started for Stuttgart last year they won 3, drew 7, and lost 10. GF 20 ,GA 33, GD -13.
In the 14 games he didn't start for them they won 6, drew 2, and lost 6. GF 22, GA 27, GD -5.

He was not a key player, for the side that finished 14th in last year's Bundesliga.
Prior to last season (yes injuries and loans), he's never had a season where he's played 1000 top flight minutes.

Potential, yes, agree with everybody. Like Caulker though, he's still got a lot to prove, and we're gonna have to coach him well to maximise that potential imho.

Two words;

Ryan

Bertrand

 

[James G]

Very good, I like an environmentally aware young man. A nice vid on youtube of him putting his Coke cans in a different bin to his takeaway boxes.

You should see his junk mail game. He's gone for all email billing for everything, plus he rips off the personal details, shreds it, and receptacles the shreddings.

I like 'receptacles' as a verb. Good job autocorrect.

 

[Pelletron]

You should see his junk mail game. He's gone for all email billing for everything, plus he rips off the personal details, shreds it, and receptacles the shreddings.

I like 'receptacles' as a verb. Good job autocorrect.

Sounds like a truly scintillating prospect. One of Morgan's few flaws was that he never went paperless, as evidenced by the piles of fan mail he posted photos of on Instagram. Man U will definitely struggle with that in Europe, though Van Gaal might be looking to coach that out of him.

 

[SouthamptonFCroatia]

Two words;

Ryan

Bertrand

i don't think I can accept that argument. The thing is, Bertrand was never a bad player and he has shown that in his time with Chelsea. That's why I knew we were getting a good player when we bought him.

I really haven't watch him much in Villa, but I'm starting to suspect he wasn't really that bad at Villa, I think now it has come to that that we repeat opinions of a few Villa fans who might not have a clue.

 

[latviandream]

Two words;

Ryan

Bertrand

Don't disagree FLT. Ryan Bertrand is a good similar example, he too still had a lot to prove when he arrived and the environment we put him in made him better. That's an example where it's worked well, and hopefully it will again with this one.

My only additional point is that with this transfer we're spending less than we would if we'd signed say Grzegorz Krychowiak which is good, BUT we're also taking on the additional risk that we can make the player better and/or less injury prone compared to someone a little more proven. Largely the reaction I've seen so far has been of a level that may not reflect that additional risk.

Basically, we as fans are rating him on the potential we see from him coming through the Barca academy, playing a few games for Chelsea, and thinking that we will be the right place to make him harness that. If there is a right place, I don't doubt for one second that we're it, but there is also some players who for whatever reason don't kick on from the potential spotted at age 19/20, and injuries along with a whole host of other things can be the reason that some don't.

Would be really interested to see a poll on which player people think will contribute more to the team's success out of Romeu and Clasie over the next 3 seasons and why. Slightly different positions I get it, but the question is really about perception….

 

[Romsey_Saint]

I like what I am seeing and reading - he has potential - he certainly looks comfortable on the ball and acts as a willing recipient for the ball as an outlet for CB's and looks to have a good pass on him that should fit the way we play the ball out of the back. As a back up to Victor and someone to be nurtured this does look a good acquisition. If we have a Europa game coming up and we want to pull Victor off after 60 mins to save him for that fixture, I would not be sorry to see him come on for the last 30 mins (based on what I have seen/read) and I do not think we would be asking for more at this time.