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Transfer Rumours Summer 2020 Transfer Rumours

Discussion in 'Southampton' started by Saints FC 76, Jun 5, 2020.

  1. Saints_Alive

    Saints_Alive Well-Known Member

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    #1301
    StJabbo1 likes this.
  2. ChilcoSaint

    ChilcoSaint What a disgrace
    Forum Moderator

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    Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
    It isn’t fit for humans now,
    There isn’t grass to graze a cow.
    Swarm over, Death!
    >
    Come, bombs and blow to smithereens
    Those air -conditioned, bright canteens,
    Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans,
    Tinned minds, tinned breath.
    >
    Mess up the mess they call a town-
    A house for ninety-seven down
    And once a week a half a crown
    For twenty years.
    >
    And get that man with double chin
    Who’ll always cheat and always win,
    Who washes his repulsive skin
    In women’s tears:
    >
    And smash his desk of polished oak
    And smash his hands so used to stroke
    And stop his boring dirty joke
    And make him yell.
    >
    But spare the bald young clerks who add
    The profits of the stinking cad;
    It’s not their fault that they are mad,
    They’ve tasted Hell.
    >
    It’s not their fault they do not know
    The birdsong from the radio,
    It’s not their fault they often go
    To Maidenhead
    >
    And talk of sport and makes of cars
    In various bogus-Tudor bars
    And daren’t look up and see the stars
    But belch instead.
    >
    In labour-saving homes, with care
    Their wives frizz out peroxide hair
    And dry it in synthetic air
    And paint their nails.
    >
    Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough
    To get it ready for the plough.
    The cabbages are coming now;
    The earth exhales.
     
    #1302
  3. StJabbo1

    StJabbo1 Well-Known Member

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    I'm thinking his loan period could/should be seen as an extended trial where his current ability, the scope for improvement and his suitability to the club ethos can be seen. His on the field performances says do the deal, Ralph and the club will make the decision and I hope, get it done.
     
    #1303
    OddRiverOakWizards likes this.
  4. Ronnie Hotdog (MLsfc)

    Ronnie Hotdog (MLsfc) Well-Known Member

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    Important to remember Spurs don't need KWP and have made it clear they want to sell. Forest clearly want to keep Cash as he is probably their best player and prized asset.
     
    #1304
  5. Romsey_Saint

    Romsey_Saint Well-Known Member

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    Same!! <laugh>
     
    #1305
  6. SaintInKuwait

    SaintInKuwait Well-Known Member

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    I can remember watching Jay McEverly shut down a smothering Fergie-era United side at 17 playing for Blackburn. Big, strong boy who was outrageous that day.

    Let’s not ignore that KWP has some pretty obvious weaknesses, his passing isn’t great and if that awful clearance that gave up a great chance (directly to Silva IIRC) against City had resulted in a goal then maybe the glasses everyone has wouldn’t be quite so rose tinted.

    All of it is pointless anyway because it’s 99.9% certain that we’re getting KWP. He’s already tweeting about next season!
     
    #1306
  7. SaintInKuwait

    SaintInKuwait Well-Known Member

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    The Athletic has done a great job with Saints coverage this year. It’s been especially interesting to see Carl Anka who I think is a United fan, cover a club he didn’t know a lot about before starting, in forensic detail. He really became obsessed. They’ve just put up an article on our prospective summer window with Tifo (stats bods) weighing in. It’s a subscription service and I don’t know what kind of state it will be in by next season but I feel like I really got my money’s worth and I’d recommend subscribing if their coverage of other sports interests you and you like quality long form articles.

    I know posting peoples paywalled content is slightly unethical but this is very good stuff: Southampton: Sensible Transfers.

    ——————————
    How Southampton like to play

    Hasenhuttl wants Southampton to play a high-pressing style of football in a 4-2-2-2 shape. We went in depth into some of the principles that Hasenhuttl uses in this shape last August, but to sum up how it’s developed since:

    The team practises a number of “automotisms” — small rehearsed moves that react in a certain way depending on what the opposition do — to coordinate their press.

    The front six work as “filters” that start with Southampton’s strikers pressing the opposition centre-backs and goalkeeper when they try and build from the back. From there, Southampton’s wide players stand between the opposition centre-backs and opposition full-backs to block off wide passes, before Southampton’s central midfielders lie in wait to spring a trap if the opposition defence attempts to play it through the middle.

    Take a look at this goal, scored in a friendly before the Project Restart games, to get a look at how Southampton work.

    Southampton tend to drop into a middle block when defending for prolonged periods of time, and like many coaches with Bundesliga experience, it is of the utmost importance that Hasenhuttl’s men are able to beat their opposite man in individual one-vs-one duels. If Southampton are slow in building an attacking move, they will sometimes pass back to the goalkeeper, who will kick it long down the opposition’s throat, which allows the attacking players to reset their press higher up the field.

    Hasenhuttl stresses there are four key parts to his side’s game: working against the ball, what you do with the ball in possession, what you do when you lose the ball, and how you win the ball back. When you do it all properly, football can look as simple as pouncing on a goalkeeper error.

    When you don’t do it all properly, however…

    The positional issues that disrupt the plan
    Hasenhuttl’s system relies on Southampton working hard as a collective, so the gaps in individual player quality between his side and the opposition can be erased. It’s a forward-thinking style of football that unfortunately was often undone last season by some very 1990s-style mistakes.

    Southampton spent a long time struggling at right-back, with Yan Valery uncomfortable playing in a back four, while Cedric Soares seemed uncomfortable with idea of having to both defend and attack in the course of a single game.

    While Hasenhuttl eventually fixed what looked like a relegation-worthy defence by using Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek as a centre-back pairing, individual mistakes often saw the team cough up easy chances, especially when opponents played with two strikers up front.

    Danny Ings had a transcendent season up front, but — aside from James Ward-Prowse’s set-pieces — Southampton had difficulty scoring goals outside of him. Their Hyde and Jekyll home (21) and away (31) points totals also suggest that if they play a team who defend deep, they struggle to manufacture chances. But despite all that doom and gloom, we believe Southampton are three or four new players away from becoming a Europa League contender next season.

    That sounds a lot but one of those signings is imminent, while two of the problem areas may already be sorted via the loan market.

    Here’s what we know for sure
    Southampton will be sorting out their right-back issues

    Southampton are on the verge of signing the Ghanaian centre-back Mohammed Salisu from Real Valladolid (as we predicted last month — and we’ll bring you much more on him). That’s one of the four positions already sorted.

    Next, right-back: Southampton were much improved in the Project Restart games due to the influence of Kyle Walker-Peters, who took a position of weakness and turned it into one of strength for the club. Walker-Peters’ confidence on the ball going forward meant that Stuart Armstrong could begin taking up more central positions and contribute to more attacking phases of play, while his one-vs-one skills and impressive physical conditioning (the loanee is thought to have bulked up during the pause in football), made him a good defensive option.

    If Tottenham Hotspur are willing to let go of the 23-year-old, (Jose Mourinho has said “I don’t think we’d stop him”) then it is in Southampton’s best interest to hold onto Walker-Peters. Genk full-back Joakim Maehle was of interest to Southampton during the January transfer window, and a deal may yet still be struck for him, but at the moment, the best deal Southampton can do for a right-back is to hold onto the player currently playing right-back and tweeting about “next season”. [Matty Cash interest broke after this was written]

    Next…

    Southampton will be talking to Fulham about Harrison Reed

    Dropped from the squad for the final game of the 2019-20 season and, according to The Athletic sources, absent from their end of season party, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg will be leaving Southampton this summer.

    Elsewhere in midfield, Ward-Prowse doesn’t stop running, Oriol Romeu is a dedicated defensive midfielder and Will Smallbone has something about him. But Hasenhuttl will be needing a Hojbjerg replacement over the summer.

    Southampton’s double midfield pivot requires a lot of running and tackling, so links to Schalke’s Weston McKennie sort of make sense, but The Athletic sees the young American as more of a malleable young talent similar to Smallbone, rather than a player who can instantly slot into the starting XI, which is what we think Hasenhuttl is looking for.

    In fact, what we think Hasenhuttl is looking for can be found on Southampton’s books already. Dubbed “The Ginger Iniesta” by Fulham fans, Harrison Reed’s 2019-20 season in the Championship has seen him display many of the talents Hasenhuttl needs in a central midfield player.

    The Athletic understands that Southampton and Fulham have been in contact about Reed’s future since July (at the very least), and while the west London club would like to hold onto the 25-year-old, their hopes are dependent on winning the Championship play-offs. Reed himself was upfront about his desire to play first-team football, telling The Independent, “At the end of the day, I’m a Southampton player, but after becoming a major part of the Fulham team, if those opportunities were suddenly to be reduced or taken away from me, I’d probably really struggle.”

    There’s no need for Southampton to be clever when the simple answer to their central midfield option is right there. Bring Reed back and have him partner Ward-Prowse in midfield next season.

    That’s three issues sorted and we’ve barely started cooking. Now, time to get weird with part four…

    Here’s what we recommend
    Move on the loan platoon

    “Most of that movement from a profit of £29 million to a loss of £34 million is to do with player trading,” said Southampton managing director Toby Steele when describing the club’s 2018-19 accounts in March.

    Southampton went into lockdown with 11 first-team squad members out on loan, with a further eight players from the under-23s on temporary spells away from the club too. While some members of the loan platoon (we don’t think it quite reaches Chelsea’s “Loan Army” numbers of a few seasons back), such as Reed and goalkeeper Fraser Forster, will return and fight for starting positions next season, and others will most likely be loaned out again (Moi Elyounoussi has already committed himself to another season at Celtic), there is roughly £3o million worth of playing assets Southampton will be looking to sell from their loan contingent.

    Hasenhuttl would do well to whittle Southampton’s 45-strong first-team squad into something more manageable. The trio of Guido Carrillo, Wesley Hoedt and Mario Lemina will likely top his list of “players to move on”. Decisions will also have to be made on players such as Callum Slattery and Josh Sims as Hasenhuttl decides if the academy graduates are worth folding into his first team, or moving on elsewhere.

    An 11th-place league finish should begin the shelving of Southampton’s soft £15-million-per-player spending cap, but Southampton should look to sell more players than they buy this summer to truly close the book on their relegation-battling days.

    Come to a decision with Jake Vokins

    Southampton under-23 player in September, FA Cup debutant and goalscorer in January, and eventually a Premier League debutant in July — Jake Vokins progressed well during an unorthodox season. Aged 20, Vokins has plenty of the attacking attributes that define modern full-backs, but there are questions marks over whether he has the defensive qualities that Hasenhuttl so desperately craves.

    The Austrian manager has an interesting decision to make with his young left-back over the summer:

    He can keep Vokins, continuing to train the youngster in the defensive qualities he requires to go from Ryan Bertrand’s understudy to eventual successor at left-back.

    Or he can outsource the job and send Vokins on loan while he looks in the transfer market for a second option to share left-back minutes.

    Southampton’s back-up left-back may not be the difference between the Europa League or a 10th-place finish in 2020-21, but this is the bellwether test for Hasenhuttl over the summer. It will show us how quickly, and with what players, Southampton will approach their top-half tilt for the early years of this decade.

    And finally… ask Red Bull Salzburg about Patson Daka

    We are running out of superlatives to describe Ings’ 2019-20 season. He scored goals at Champions League-worthy rate and passed like a… well you can read the strange way he passed here.

    Ings scored 22 of Southampton’s 51 league goals last season. He was astonishing. He also needs help.

    That help might already be on the way: four goals in eight Project Restart games suggest Che Adams has finally figured out his place in his Southampton team, and behind him Shane Long and Michael Obafemi offer a combination of hard running and high energy, if not necessarily clinical finishing.

    Four strikers should be enough for any Premier League team… but if Hasenhuttl wants to get really cheeky, he could go through his contact book and ask one of his old Red Bull footballing associates to put him in touch with Salzburg striker Patson Daka.

    The 21-year-old Zambian scored 24 goals in 31 appearances for the Austrian champions in 2019-20, stepping in when Erling Haaland departed for Dortmund. A tall, rangy striker already schooled in a 4-2-2-2 system (albeit Jesse Marsch’s use of the shape varies from Hasenhuttl’s) Daka is the most Hasenhuttl-striker on the planet that’s not playing in the 2020-21 season Premier League (Hey, Timo Werner, how you doing?)

    We’re going to type this in bold and italics so you don’t get ahead of yourselves: we are not saying Southampton should buy Daka, nor are we saying Southampton have been linked to him.

    Given Salzburg have recently turned down a €30 million bid from Lille for Daka, it suggests the Zambian is already on a trajectory above Southampton’s price range. But given Hasenhuttl’s track record working with young players who have shown a willingness to play high-pressing footballing, this pipe-dream signing would be really fun to watch.

    Tifo suggests: Southampton keep what they have

    Sometimes the sensible move is to make sure of what you already have. In Southampton’s case, with a deal for Mohammed Salisu almost sewn up, right-back and central midfield are the problem areas, but Ralph Hasenhuttl’s requirements are so specific that it’s tricky to find the right fit.

    On this basis, Tifo wholeheartedly agrees with Carl’s assessment. Kyle Walker-Peters has excelled for the Saints on loan, with strong numbers for ball-carrying especially; a little more discipline in his pressing and quality in his passing, and he could really stand out in a league already blessed with a number of good right-backs. Harrison Reed has impressed on loan at Fulham, with the fourth-highest possession-adjusted interceptions of those who have played more than 800 minutes and, let’s not forget, also did well in 2014-15 under Ronald Koeman.

    Everything looks to be ticking along nicely on the south coast and integrating young, promising players with a connection to the team makes more sense than forking out big fees. Having said that, if Patson Daka is available at the right price, he would be a superb signing.

    ——————————

    Edit: for those who want to see what I’m talking about RE: The Athletic, I’ve just noticed I’ve got 5 free guest passes for a month’s access. PM if you’d like one.
     
    #1307
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2020
  8. St. Luigi Scrosoppi

    St. Luigi Scrosoppi Well-Known Member

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    It is all in the name.

    This is near to my neck of the woods and I have said that they could change the way the town is perceived if they changed the name to one of its parishes.

    Since 1900 the ancient ecclesiastical parish of Upton-cum-Chalvey has been included in the modern civil parish of Slough.

    Until the local government reforms of 1974 it was in Buckinghamshire.

    It was one of the villages that developed into the town.

    So there you have it.

    Give it a snooty name and everyone will love it.
     
    #1308
  9. OddRiverOakWizards

    OddRiverOakWizards Well-Known Member

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    Oh to dream of Saint Patson!
     
    #1309
  10. SaintsFan86

    SaintsFan86 Well-Known Member

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    Spurs look set to Sell Odembele, Could be good for Saints.
     
    #1310

  11. SoriaSaints

    SoriaSaints Well-Known Member

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    Anywhere and anything.
     
    #1311
  12. SaintInKuwait

    SaintInKuwait Well-Known Member

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    Spurs spent nearly £60m on him only a year ago and he’s been a bit of a disaster. He was supposed to be the burgeoning complete midfielder who could win the ball and make interceptions then use his running and passing to initiate attacks.

    It’s pretty much entirely because he’s not worked out that they are looking to PEH. So Mourinho can get the base his dull, tedious, long ball sides need. They have Dier but he’s a bit older and getting prone to a hiccup when pressed.

    Edit: reading comprehension is not my friend
     
    #1312
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2020
    OddRiverOakWizards likes this.
  13. MorgansBitOnTheSchneid

    MorgansBitOnTheSchneid Well-Known Member

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    I think he means in the sense that spurs will get some funds.
     
    #1313
    Ronnie Hotdog (MLsfc) likes this.
  14. SaintInKuwait

    SaintInKuwait Well-Known Member

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    Ah. Cracking at reading, me.
     
    #1314
  15. SaintsFan86

    SaintsFan86 Well-Known Member

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    Thank you for posting this up Kuwait, I can't afford to pay for a monthly subscription. Carl is a very good writter and always very intelligent too, I enjoy reading his pieces and this was a good insight in to the clubs transfer stratergy.
     
    #1315
  16. SaintInKuwait

    SaintInKuwait Well-Known Member

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    I’ve just renewed mine early as they’ve dropped the price from £60 to £35 for a year. They actually refunded the difference even though I’ve been using it for 10 months already!

    Let me know if you want to get on and go through the huge amounts of other stuff because I have month long trial passes.
     
    #1316
  17. shoot_spiderman

    shoot_spiderman Power to the People

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    A poem that stirs me to the core
    Whilst also rolling on the floor
    Slough was the first but now there’s more
    A poignant tale
     
    #1317
    davecg69 and ChilcoSaint like this.
  18. ChilcoSaint

    ChilcoSaint What a disgrace
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    Is that you, Sir John?
     
    #1318
    shoot_spiderman likes this.
  19. shoot_spiderman

    shoot_spiderman Power to the People

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    Hamble-le-rice has moved its welcome sign a mile up the road presumably to add a few £k to the cost of the new little boxes they’ll be building in the fields near Piland’s council estate
     
    #1319
    davecg69 and OddRiverOakWizards like this.
  20. fran-MLs little camera

    fran-MLs little camera Well-Known Member

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    There is a lot in a name....whether a person or a place. Hull is really Kingston-Upon-Hull.....you have to admit Hull sounds a much grimmer place. :)
     
    #1320

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