Winter transfer mission

[SlunkSoma]

I'm not trying to criticise Levy, however I would really love to see us for once get at least one of our managers first choice targets - in this case Rodriguez. Schneiderlin's ship has sailed I fear.

 

[carpediem991]

Jackson Martinez and Jay Rodriguez/ Saido Berahino in for Adebayor/ Soldado and Lennon would show some ambition...

But it is clear we shouldnt expect too much given our record...

 

[Doctor Dinkey]

Agree with THFC1239, I'd be surprised if we spent any serious dough in January, taking into account our nil net spend policy and levy's reluctance to sell players for less than we paid for them. Don't understand why people are expecting transfer funds to become available. If anything, I'd expect the club to be aiming to make a profit in net sales in Jan.

 

[dontcallme]

They sold Long last year to Hull in Jan so maybe a decent offer would tempt them. Irvine said he wouldn't stand in his way if a big club came in:

"And if in the end he goes somewhere else - and it's a move that is seen as taking his career to the next level, then that'd be fantastic and he'd go with our blessing.

"So the message is to carry on playing well and scoring loads of goals - if he does that we'll all be happy."

Long was coming near the end of his contract.

Selling an England U21 international while on the scoring form of his career so far is not going to result in a £7m deal, especially in Jan.

 

[DaSpurs]

Most people still want Rodriguez? Chadli's four goals in five games doesn't therefore suffice? Interesting....

Ideally not to play wide, but as striker. Overlapping runs/rotation between he and Chadli could be quite devastating methinks.

With Mason working his way into the starting lineup, I think the only other option we really need is another wide option for the sake of options, and a mentality/style none of our players possess. Wouldn't mind Mertens, as he could also provide another option at Eriksen's spot. Aalexandru Maxim would be another good option, as he can also provide wide cover.

If Hector Moreno has recuperated by then, I'd like to see us unload Chiriches for him. Would give us two lefties, upon a quality option that would know Poch's system.

How much of that we could get done in January though, just no telling. Good news is we didn't spend much this past summer, and we could likely still unload Paulinho and Chiriches for sizable enough fees.

 

[Spursidol]

I don't see us signing more than one or two players in January at best - ideally a striker and/or AM as we did not strengthen those positions in the summer.

But I'd regard sales of Chirches and Paulhino as almost as positive, as we have plenty of cover, and can bring through some youngsters.

If we sell Chirches, we still have Kaboul, Vertonghen, Fazio and Dier - with Veljkovic and Ball (E u20) available to cover CB .

Paulhino was being played at CM - but we have Capoue, Stambouli, Mason, Bentaleb and Dembele there already. Recently he's being played as a no 10/AM, but we've got Eriksen, Kane, Lamela, Chadli, Townsend and Lennon (6 players to cover the 3 positions), with a youngster or two who could come through later this season in both positions (Winks and Oduwa being possible youngsters).

So losing those two players in January without buying anyone else would be no loss - and if we do buy a striker, that's even better.

If Poch decides to cut our losse on Soldado though, we definitely need a replacement as that leaves us with only Adebayor and Kane and no youngsters old enough to come through. Same with all the other candidates being put forward on this thread.

 

[Teddy Klinsmann]

Long was coming near the end of his contract.

Selling an England U21 international while on the scoring form of his career so far is not going to result in a £7m deal, especially in Jan.

Would you expect a team to pay more than £8m for Kane? Both play for eng u21s.

 

[Shadydan]

If anyone thinks that we're going to be doing much business Jan think again. Teams rarely do business then unless they're desperate or unless they can get a good deal on a player even then finding a good deal is rare.

In our case how many times have we bought and sold heavily in January in the past? Not many and if anyone thinks that Southampton are going to sell their best players to us in the middle of the season for anything less than what they were up for in the summer then please think again.

Some of the names I've read in here are real fantasy stuff.

 

[prawnsandwich]

No way will Ade be sold this January.
I really don't see why Lennon is being played at all. He is top of the list for selling. Swapping Soldado is second. Paulinho is in the last chance saloon along with Chiriches. Naughton is currently playing for his life here and doing well-can he keep it up?
I don't hear anybody in the media or my mates who support other clubs going on about how great MS has suddenly become. Only here. Let's see about him but he is unlikely. I think Bony is still a possibility as is a young striker from abroad.
That's it IMO.

 

[ronspurs]

isnt adebayor going to the cup of nations?

if so a striker is a must, even if he hits form

 

[DaSpurs]

For those suggesting we won't do any/hardly any business in January, I don't blame you and on the surface I think such a stance entirely reasonable. But take into consideration the multiple snippets of ITK we've seen from Trix namely suggesting that Poch has been given confidence in the long term, and the "green light" to make whatever changes to the squad he sees necessary both in and out. This is not to say we'll go nuts in the window, but I do think we'll make a couple changes if Poch sees fit, and on the back of having at that point seen his team play in all competitions and for over four months.

I don't expect more than two, but I feel given the evidence of play that if Poch asks for two attacking additions, I think Levy will agree to it, and especially if we're still in the Europa come that point.

 

[dontcallme]

Would you expect a team to pay more than £8m for Kane? Both play for eng u21s.

As we don't want to sell Kane we won't sell him unless it's for a highly inflated price, same as West Brom will with Berahnio.

 

[Spursidol]

For those suggesting we won't do any/hardly any business in January, I don't blame you and on the surface I think such a stance entirely reasonable. But take into consideration the multiple snippets of ITK we've seen from Trix namely suggesting that Poch has been given confidence in the long term, and the "green light" to make whatever changes to the squad he sees necessary both in and out. This is not to say we'll go nuts in the window, but I do think we'll make a couple changes if Poch sees fit, and on the back of having at that point seen his team play in all competitions and for over four months.

I don't expect more than two, but I feel given the evidence of play that if Poch asks for two attacking additions, I think Levy will agree to it, and especially if we're still in the Europa come that point.

I agree rhat the will be there - but I'm not sure whether the quality of players we want will be available.

If Rodriguez contract is up at the end of the year, and if he's shown that he's recovering without a loss of form, thenm I'm sure we'll have a go at him - but whether Southampton will sell to us, and whether other clubs also want him so that we don't get him, is the issue.

So I see us trying to get one or two players in a similar contract position rather than trying to buy 'big money' players, and there won't be too many of these. And that's why we might get somewhere between zero anmd two players in - although we will try.

 

[goughie1966]

The itk is we might be after Jackson Martinez with one of ours going the other way. I'd like to think it would be Paulinho but expect it to be Soldado. But would he really want to go and play in Portugal?

 

[Shadydan]

For those suggesting we won't do any/hardly any business in January, I don't blame you and on the surface I think such a stance entirely reasonable. But take into consideration the multiple snippets of ITK we've seen from Trix namely suggesting that Poch has been given confidence in the long term, and the "green light" to make whatever changes to the squad he sees necessary both in and out. This is not to say we'll go nuts in the window, but I do think we'll make a couple changes if Poch sees fit, and on the back of having at that point seen his team play in all competitions and for over four months.

I don't expect more than two, but I feel given the evidence of play that if Poch asks for two attacking additions, I think Levy will agree to it, and especially if we're still in the Europa come that point.

Despite what the ITK's say the reality is that Levy has rarely done deals in January unless we're in desperate need, more to the point the type of money that these players are going for in a inflated market means that its more than unlikely to bring someone in who will improve the squad, unless their contract is running down or something.

 

[nssmuckers]

Mason can.

So can Bentaleb, but I feel like a giant banner of Tim Sherwood's vinegar strokes unfurls and descends from the upper tier every time he receives the ball and it's all half the people here can see.

 

[DaSpurs]

Despite what the ITK's say the reality is that Levy has rarely done deals in January unless we're in desperate need, more to the point the type of money that these players are going for in a inflated market means that its more than unlikely to bring someone in who will improve the squad, unless their contract is running down or something.

Of course, but he's also never really given a previous manager a "supposed" vote of confidence. So if we can consider (note: not necessarily believe) that the possibility exists that what the ITKer is saying holds some truth (I for one put much stock in Trix' word), then it only follows that you have to believe in corresponding relevant change elsewhere, including possibly transfer policy.

I'm not saying getting hopes up, just saying that there is a higher likelihood given some evidence of impending change rather than believing the status quo will remain persistent. History doesn't always repeat itself, my friend.

 

[mpickard2087]

I'd be happy with continuing the cull. Lets get rid of the obvious wasters, use the youth to fill in as back up's till the end of the season as and when required, and Poch can make definite decisions on others and then buy in the summer who he thinks can make a difference.

 

[Snarfalicious]

If we're putting the hopes of our season in the hands of Levy being active in January you better just go ahead and give up all hope. It's just not the right time to try to make large changes to a squad even if you do sell off your own players for inflated prices. I would look for us to maybe explore some options of players who have contracts expiring in the summer and that's about it.

 

[Mullers]

We have to sell before we can buy and no way will Levy stand for losing considerable money on those misfits.
Forget Rodriguez, Schneiderlin and Jackson Martinez, no chance, Bale money finished long time ago.