Summer Transfer Thread and Gustavo Cisneros Type Rumours.

[algy]

It seems the buendia deal is just waiting for Wednesday to be officially announced and the Ward Prowse one not as far advanced, so obviously scope for it to be derailed. I like the look of JWP though. Similar to Hourihane with his set piece delivery, but with added bite when we’d be up against it. Captain too so obviously a leader. If these two deals come off I’d be happy even if we didn’t sign another player. Anything else happening would be a bonus I think.

Yeah, similar boat for me.  I would be properly chuffed if we signed Ward-Prowse - seems a really obvious counterpart to having Grealish in the team.  You give Jack too much space and he'll destroy you, you press him too hard and you have to deal with Ward-Prowse's set pieces.  Plus, as others have said, he's a leader and a pretty tidy holding midfielder ... would probably allow SJM to play further up the pitch and get back to doing John McGinn things week in, week out.

[ADVILLAFAN]

I don't want to sound like Tony Pulis, but I think we will still be a bit small as a team.

Only really Martinez and Mings with any great height. Bert is tall, but dreadful in the air.

Just could see us beating Arsenal again and coming unstuck against teams like Burnley.

[ASHTONVILLA]

I like the look of Ward Prouse, but do wonder if Sansom is going to end up being another Berson (rarely plays then leaves quickly). If we were to brong himm in I would have thought one of Luiz/Nakamba/Sanson would go else we are looking overloaded.

Think we need cover at left back, but fine at centre back unless Engels goes.

Seen us linked again with Rashica,  can see that happening as will be a lower fee than last season. That would cover for losing Trez, and Buendia replaces Barkely.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Buendia replaces Barkely.

That would be a strange move considering he's never played in a central position. I hope he's a right side Jack. Plus a big part of his game is tracking back, something Matty Cash will be delighted to see.

[sickbeggar]

No need for a keeper, Steer is good enough to be backup and Sinisalo has just had a very good season on loan in Scotland and should be considered as 3rd choice for now. In defence the only gap is at left back. We have a couple of decent young players there now in Seb Revan and Ben Chrisene but neither would be ready to start a run of games if Targett was out and whilst Hause is good as cover in a game I wouldn't want him starting either. If Engels or Guilbert are sold then they'd need to be replaced.

I like Steer but we all know the "safe" feeling we get with Martinez. I'd like a experienced old hand personally. Cover for right back? Elmo was preferred to Guilbert so I don't see him as good enough. Better than Elmo doesn't seem to be asking the world with  due apologies to him. Engels a year not playing? Youth players are great but they're always inconsistent so do you want to rely on them if a konsa or mings gets crocked in Feb? Or both? Part of aiming for top 6 is having a squad that can cope with it imo.

[Drummond]

Buendia replaces Barkely.

That would be a strange move considering he's never played in a central position. I hope he's a right side Jack. Plus a big part of his game is tracking back, something Matty Cash will be delighted to see.

Perhaps Traore replaces Barkley. And Buendia replaces him.

Or Grealish replaces Barkley etc etc.

[Drummond]

Oh, and £30m bid for Ward-Prowse....

[Sexual Ealing]

Buendia replaces Barkely.

That would be a strange move considering he's never played in a central position. I hope he's a right side Jack. Plus a big part of his game is tracking back, something Matty Cash will be delighted to see.

Perhaps Traore replaces Barkley. And Buendia replaces him.

That would be my preference.

[cdbearsfan]

Grealish, Buendia and Traore in the same team is gonna be football porn.

[paul_e]

I like the look of Ward Prouse, but do wonder if Sansom is going to end up being another Berson (rarely plays then leaves quickly). If we were to brong himm in I would have thought one of Luiz/Nakamba/Sanson would go else we are looking overloaded.

Think we need cover at left back, but fine at centre back unless Engels goes.

Seen us linked again with Rashica,  can see that happening as will be a lower fee than last season. That would cover for losing Trez, and Buendia replaces Barkely.

I'm not sure how you can think we'd be overloaded in central midfield.

In a 25 man squad you'd normally want 2 players for every position, an extra keeper an extra striker and 1 wild card who can hopefully cover a few positions.

Given we play 3 in midfield we really should have 6 players there and right now we have 4 (McGinn, Luiz, Nakamba and Sanson). With Ramsey pretty established and Chuk coming through I'm fine with them taking the 6th spot but that still means we need another in there.

Buendia is definitely coming in to play wide right not centrally.

[Smithy]

I like the look of Ward Prouse, but do wonder if Sansom is going to end up being another Berson (rarely plays then leaves quickly). If we were to brong himm in I would have thought one of Luiz/Nakamba/Sanson would go else we are looking overloaded.

Think we need cover at left back, but fine at centre back unless Engels goes.

Seen us linked again with Rashica,  can see that happening as will be a lower fee than last season. That would cover for losing Trez, and Buendia replaces Barkely.

I'm not sure how you can think we'd be overloaded in central midfield.

In a 25 man squad you'd normally want 2 players for every position, an extra keeper an extra striker and 1 wild card who can hopefully cover a few positions.

Given we play 3 in midfield we really should have 6 players there and right now we have 4 (McGinn, Luiz, Nakamba and Sanson). With Ramsey pretty established and Chuk coming through I'm fine with them taking the 6th spot but that still means we need another in there.

Buendia is definitely coming in to play wide right not centrally.

For the record, neither Ramsey or Chuck count towards our squad limit of 25 players.  U21 players can be used in unlimited numbers.  I'm not saying they shouldn't be counted as first-team options, just that buying another central midfielder doesn't 'take' a squad place from them.

[Pat Mustard]

No need for a keeper, Steer is good enough to be backup and Sinisalo has just had a very good season on loan in Scotland and should be considered as 3rd choice for now. In defence the only gap is at left back. We have a couple of decent young players there now in Seb Revan and Ben Chrisene but neither would be ready to start a run of games if Targett was out and whilst Hause is good as cover in a game I wouldn't want him starting either. If Engels or Guilbert are sold then they'd need to be replaced.

I like Steer but we all know the "safe" feeling we get with Martinez. I'd like a experienced old hand personally. Cover for right back? Elmo was preferred to Guilbert so I don't see him as good enough. Better than Elmo doesn't seem to be asking the world with  due apologies to him. Engels a year not playing? Youth players are great but they're always inconsistent so do you want to rely on them if a konsa or mings gets crocked in Feb? Or both? Part of aiming for top 6 is having a squad that can cope with it imo.

My only concern with having Steer as backup is his injury record - for a keeper he has had a lot of long-term injuries, and that is probably the main reason he hasn't held down a number 1 gig here or elsewhere. Put it this way, I felt much safer in the Championship with him in goal than I did with Johnstone, so I'm not sure how much better a keeper we could get to play second fiddle. 

What it does show though is another aspect of the importance of getting into European competition.  I know lots of us are happy to not have the distraction of additional fixtures this year, but if we are going to keep a larger squad of better quality players happy then we need to be offering them game time.  For that reason this year we have to concentrate on getting the highest quality into the first 11 that we can, and then keep fingers crossed we keep most of them fit.  In terms of cover the most urgent position for me is left back, as the drop off currently from Targett is huge.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Oh, and £30m bid for Ward-Prowse....

I wonder how high we're prepared to go on signing Ward-Prowse? Saints fans think he's worth at least double that.

[algy]

I like the look of Ward Prouse, but do wonder if Sansom is going to end up being another Berson (rarely plays then leaves quickly). If we were to brong himm in I would have thought one of Luiz/Nakamba/Sanson would go else we are looking overloaded.

I'd not be too worried for Sanson. I'd think there's comfortably room for 4 players being rotated in the 3 central positions, plus a couple of players in more specialised roles.

I'd see something like McGinn / Sanson / Luiz / JWP playing the majority of the games in those positions, with probably Traore spending time as backup right winger and backup for the 'Barkley' role, then Marv playing when we need a more 'defensive' look to the side.  That then comfortably leaves room for Jack, AEG, and Buendia on the wings, with Traore & Trez (when he recovers) providing backup on the wing.

I mean, all that's assuming a lot about us being able to afford Ward-Prowse and him wanting to come to the club, but him or a player like him seems like a really obvious signing for him, and I think you could fairly comfortably fit someone like that in to the squad without having much of an impact on Sanson's expected playing time.

[Dave P]

Grealish, Buendia and Traore in the same team is gonna be football porn.

It'll all be fun and games until Mings launches 50 yard punts over their head.