Saint Nicolae!

Jeeze, 8.5m. Just please, please buy him. For his own safety as much as anything!

 

Have a feeling that we were in for him as a contingency, if the Boufal move fell through. I'd rather have both though.

And it's nice that it's finally a proper transfer season, now that we have dodgy Google Translated articles involving shady characters.

 

Yep that's my suspicion too, but like you would want both!

 

He is much derided, but Jack Schitt said at the start of the week that Stanciu was being used as a hurry up on Boufal, which appears to have worked.

Would be surprised and disappointed if we don't sign another attacking player as well as Boufal. Stanciu seems great value, if we don't go for him then I'm ready to be impressed by the alternative

 

I just get that feeling some people have at the sales where you look at something and you don't *really* need it, but the overriding feeling of BUT LOOK AT HOW CHEAP IT IS takes over.

Also, what if Boufal gets injured again, or his knee is a bit dicky still. Just buy him!

 

Even if he doesn't get injured. Even if he goes out of AFCON in a hurry. At no point are we going to going to regret having options in attacking midfield (we aren't going to be overloaded by any stretch), and as far as investments go you won't find many better these days.

 

This.

 

This. This. This. We talk so much sense on here (some days)

 

I believe Les Reed has declared an additional hold baggage allowance for his return trip from the Europa League draw. He's on his way!

 

Lies. Jack Schitt didn't just write a paragraph, he only writes essays.

Also Anderlecht are meant to have agreed a fee.

 

If Anderlecht take Stanciu, we can have Tielemens.

 

You think he has kidnapped a player

That's so wrong.

Who is it?

 

From a team perspective, I agree. Always good to have more options. Not as sure I'd like it as much as a player, and that is a consideration as well.

We would be getting a little crowded. Davis, JWP, Tadic just signed new extensions. Austin hasn't been here long and is already squeezed out a bit. And we just signed Redmond and hopefully Boufal (who definitely did not come here to sit). Plus Long if he gets squeezed out to the wing.

You can shuffle all those players around, but there still isn't likely to be room for more than 4 at once. If Stanciu is okay with a handful of starts and a decent chunk of sub appearances with the ability to play his way into more time, then I'd definitely take him at that price. But at 23, he might be looking for a situation where he can make more of an impact and get a better chance to develop on the pitch.

I like the way LTT put it. We don't really NEED Stanciu. But he's cheap, he could be good, and we can certainly find some use for him this year. But talent hoarding doesn't sound as great from his standpoint. This is pretty much the same situation where if someone came in for one of our young players, we'd be saying they should stay another year where they are guaranteed to start, can develop more by doing so, and by playing well massively increase their value.

So while I like the idea of bringing in another attacker,who is young,can give us a different look/dimension, add depth in case of injury, and is one for the future... I think we will probably have to look a little younger than Stanciu. I'd be happy if we got him, but there are other fish in the sea.

 

We have a minimum of 24 matches in 114 days from Sept 10 - Jan 2, and that doesn't account for the international matches most of our players will participate in along the way. It won't feel crowded at all; no one is playing all the games. No one is going to play the vast majority of the games, even. We aren't going to be shuffling the lineup to keep players happy, we'll be doing it to keep them upright.

 

During that period, sure. But unless we make some deep Cup runs, there will be a long stretch at the back of the season where we only play one match a week.

A relatively strong starter for a blah PL team might be looking at 25-30 matches. I think a B team/Cup starter for Saints this year might get 15-20.

 

We still need at least 2 attackers imo. This guy and Boufal would be ideal! 2 in those moulds is what i mean really.

If Jrod goes I'd like another striker too.

 

Well, we're probably looking at roughly 50 games total, and injuries simply will happen. 20+ starts is hardly being frozen out, and it could easily be more.

 

Regarding Mane's fee. It should have been 45 million. Remember last summer Sterling cost 50.

Also, the argument that we've 'done alright' despite selling top players, is easily countered by the argument that we could have done better, had we kept some.

Anyway, what's happened has happened. Let's move on.

 

Competition for places as well as injury/suspension cover to factor in.

As we know all too well, not every signing works out.
Two for every position seems fair. Assuming Boufal is on board, Tadic/Redmond/Austin/Long - we need one more for that front three.

Plenty of matches for them all to stake a claim in the first half of the season.
If we have a lighter calendar after xmas then those that have impressed will get the nod. At least two from three will always be on the bench

 

I get what you say Black, but as I said to Laces this week, we likely wouldn't have signed some of the players we did, if we hadn't sold some that we did.

It would be wrong to ignore that fact.