Transfer Rumours The Summer Transfer Rumour Thread 2016

I can see Long and Rodriguez fitting in well into the front 2 roles here, but not so much Austin.

 

Yes, his strength seems to be in the box and this role takes him out of it.
Will be interesting to see if Puel sticks with this formation in the coming games and where Davis will play

 

The mighty Stek.

 

not forgetting....
Darren Gibson new contract

 

SaintsWeb seem to think (courtesy of Twitter) that Paulo Gazzaniga is off to Rayo Vallecano on loan ...

 

According to a tweet from local Spanish newspaper Rayo Herald, Southampton goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga is closing in on a season long loan move to Segunda Divison outfit Rayo Vallecano.
The news of Gazzaniga’s departure comes shortly after it was revealed that Saints are to close in on signing Crystal Palacegoalkeeper Alex McCarthy as they look to bolster their goalkeeping options ahead of the coming season, with squad depth being a necessity.
Vallecano were relegated from La Liga last season as they finished 18th but it looks as though they are moving to sign Gazzaniga and give the Argentinian shot-stopper some much needed game time elsewhere.

Gazzaniga has always shown promise for Saints, featuring mainly in the under-21 side. However, he’s not going to get a look in with England international Fraser Forster within the ranks and firmly placed in the number one spot for years to come.

Harry Lewis is expected to fill the void left by Gazzaniga’s departure and step up to be the third choice ‘keeper for the first-team but predominantly play regular under-21 fo

 

Replacing Gazzaniga with McCarthy would also help to fill our homegrown quote for the Europa League.

Shame as I always wanted Paulo to do well!

 

I'd be very happy with McCarthy as back up gk, espescially at price quoted.

Some forward players next please

 

It is only a loan and he is still young.

 

I still have faith that Paulo will turn out a good keeper. I remember poor old Bart getting bashed and he's come back strong.

 

Yep - IMO he showed lots of great signs of being a good 'keeper, he was just a bit naive\young and needs a bit of confidence. His distribution from kicking was already second to none.

 

Neuer, Ter Stegen, Lloris, De Gea, Casillas, Navas. Must I go on?

 

There should be some better system of managing goalkeeper loans. At the moment most PL teams need a 3rd choice GK who is at least competent, and probably 1 out of 20 gets a game, but they can't go on loan. So the most promising young GKs are in the U21 leagues and not playing competitively. Some kind of dual-ownership system could work better.

 

Yep, very sensible.

 

If all professional teams have three keepers on their books then 66% of keepers rarely play a game. Outfield players will always have a greater chance of forcing their way into contention than a keeper. This is surely something which all goalkeepers understand and accept. It's hardly a new thing and I'm certain that many keepers have become millionaires on the back of training alone. I'd happily accept that role

 

So clearly won't happen

 

Gazza going out on loan makes perfect sense. Spain also a good destination for him.

 

Surely Gazza has been with us, and before us with Gillingham, long enough to count as homegrown?

 

An interesting point (and one that has probably been debated to death in other threads) - what constitutes 'homegrown'? English? British? from The EU? Freedom of movement, and removal of border-type restrictions has meant that anyone from within the EU can work in other member states (I suspect that this is a massive over-simplification, but you get my point).
If/when we leave The EU, in whatever form the departure takes, will 'non-British' players (non-English?) immediately be classed as foreigners, in the eyes of the Premier League, or The FA, or UEFA? Will clubs suddenly have to re-organise their teams, in that players who were part of a team's homegrown quota on one day, become foreign nationals the next day? This probably won't happen overnight, but will clubs have to look at their EU players, to decide if they can still put out a team that doesn't break the quota rules?

 

From football manager to qualify as homegrown at a club you need to spend 3 years at a club before the age of 21, so Fabregas, for example, counts as homegrown at Arsenal