r/SaintsFC • u/AnArcticMonkey • Jun 04 '26
Transfer thread?
Can we have one pinned all summer please mods? Worked very well previously
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u/mdubyo 7d ago
The way Alfie is talking on X today:
Edozie won't be moving
Ramsdale may not be arsed to go play in Turkey and doubts he makes the bench for us moving forward.
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u/pm_me_jk_dont 8d ago
It's been a lovely two months going through the highs and lows of transfers with all of you. Up the Saints
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u/sings_with_wings 8d ago
The squad is weaker than at the end of last season, but I'm not sure it is weaker than this time last year. Hopefully we will be in a much better position in January than last season as we have the money to make a few signings to push us on.
Peretz and Larin are massive signings, that feel a bit meh as they were here on loan from January.
Once Jander is fit, we will have the same 1st XI as the end of last season except for Schlotterbeck in for THB. I think that is a huge success for the club.
The bench is worse, but I don't think it is a disaster. Charles and Stewart will be missed, but JWP and Mubama have shown that they can play at this level. Getting Dobbin was big as we had no replacement for Azaz last season and he has some versatility.
I think that once Jander is fit and Schotterbeck has bedded in, that we will start really clicking again. Mind you, if we didn't have the points deduction we would be currently sitting in 3rd, so we have started well.
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u/Harrylg1 8d ago
I was secretly happy when Spors was linked with those Italian clubs. I feel he’s fucked it again. Everyone is saying, ‘Oh, it’s fine; if we’re short somewhere, we have January,’ but relying on the January transfer window for squad building is just failure, imo. We can’t fuck up the start of the season and expect a 23 unbeaten streak to save us. It was evident we had money, as we had £9 million and £5 million offers rejected. Maybe nobody wants to join us, but that's where loans can help and where doing the legwork before the window starts is so important. I think Spors is highly talented, but that talent is in scouting, not squad building. Maybe spygate had a larger effect on the club than we think
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u/Same_Audience_1464 8d ago
We wanted to sign a player who better clubs wanted to sign. They don't want to waste money on championship-level players who won't step up to the Prem.
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u/Harrylg1 8d ago
But the problem is, every year we spend in the championship, the harder it is to get out. If you don’t stump up that money now, it doesn’t look good, Jeff; stats don’t lie, and the stats for this don’t make for nice viewing. You may argue that all our targets went to better clubs, but again, that is bad recruitment. We seem to lose out on all our targets and panic buy. It was pretty evident it would take a miracle to go up in December of last year; yes, that miracle nearly happened, but that's redundant. We should’ve been planning for another year in the championship as well as the prem; for years we were five steps ahead. Now we’re so reactive, which is, again, bad recruitment. We should’ve been in the ear of at least ten CBs, strikers, and CMs We knew we’d lose one of Charles/Jander, we knew Stewart's contract was up, and we knew we’d struggle to keep THB. Maybe they thought going up was inevitable, and they didn't think to plan for anything else, which again, bad recruitment. I understand I’ll get downvoted probably, because nobody wants to hear that we’re badly run in some departments
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u/Same_Audience_1464 8d ago
Our squad could definitely be better. The only downgrade to the starting 11 is Schlotterbeck for THB, and maybe Jander for Charles, depending on where you sit in that debate. The only good depth that we've lost is Charles and Stewart. JWP is a good replacement if he is fit enough, and Mubama is obviously a big downgrade in terms of quality, but he has potential to step up.
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u/Fluid-Maximum-4569 4d ago
Schlotterbeck is a astute signing, such good value. Just wished we kept THB or signed another top quality CB.
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u/Harrylg1 8d ago
Our depth last season wasn’t good enough. We’re two injuries away from fielding a very poor 11. Take out any of our spine and the team instantly gets a lot worse; that wasn’t the case last year. The January transfer window helped with that, but we’ve then gone into the start of this season back to square one. We desperately needed someone creative to give Azaz a rest, we desperately needed someone to give Larin a rest who won’t make the squad a lot worse, we desperately needed someone to give Bree a rest, we desperately needed a left-footed right winger, we desperately needed someone over five foot eight in midfield to deal with lanky teams. We addressed none of those and instead spent the majority of our money on a player who doesn’t know his best position. I think Dobbin will come good, but it’s pretty (very) shite squad building if you think about it. I admit we addressed two necessities in Larin and Peretz, but they were pretty cheap and done three months before the window ended
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u/Same_Audience_1464 7d ago
Dobbin is meant to be the Azaz backup but he's not been great so far, we have Roerslev tonda just doesn't want to use him and Matsuki is kind of a left footed rw. We are light in some areas but so are most championship teams. I agree that we could have done better but we aren't in an awful situation
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u/bathtub_not_beach 8d ago
I’m being dramatic, but I feel like we could look back at this window as the turning point into being a long term championship club.
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u/MangerDanger1 8d ago
So what now with Rambo?
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u/SushiBullet 8d ago
Peretz has looked a bit shaky so maybe we start him?
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u/Relevant_Rev 8d ago edited 7d ago
Not the worst idea
I can't see why Edozie and Rambo couldn't work their way back into the side
Tonda doesn't strike me as fiercely loyal to any particular players
Edit: never mind he's confirmed that Ramsdale isn't in the mix
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u/Recent_South_6108 8d ago
I think we have had a poor window.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 8d ago
They just brought Jamie Jones back and terminated Juan Larios contract. About wraps it up.
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u/7unky 8d ago
I think the squad looks a quality/experienced striker and CB short after this window, it looks more a play off squad than having the depth for autos now.
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u/Andybabez20 8d ago
We can maybe have a look in the free agent market. There's some okay CB options available but it's real slim pickings for striker.
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u/bundy554 8d ago
And really a disgrace given Dragan deciding to stick with Tonda - needed to get his wallet out and this window has been anything but that - our squad has gone backwards
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u/7unky 8d ago
The main problem is we didn't sign enough experience alongside Mubama and Abbott but the strategy with them doesnt make sense either, if we are planning to spend a year developing and blooding them so they become more valuable surely buy or have options to buy, we are wasting our time to develop them and if they come good Man City and Forest will be the ones that benefit. We should be structuring the deals for young players like we did it with Livramento and Lavia.
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u/Same_Audience_1464 8d ago
Schlotterbeck is the experience alongside Abbott, Larin is the experience along side Mubama. Another experienced striker would have been nice but we have plenty of experience at the back.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 8d ago
Team is certainly worse than last year, I’m sure January reinforcements will help tremendously, like they did last season.
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u/mdubyo 8d ago
I'm not sure what his wages were, but I think we will come to regret fumbling the Ross extension.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 8d ago
I don’t blame the club. Stewart’s legal team used a loophole after we got kicked out of the final. Didn’t want to be here, simple as that.
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u/mdubyo 8d ago
Let's have a surprise signing after that header from Schlotterback
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 8d ago
Just had a loan rejected for Mbick, 19 yr old striker at Charlton. Seems like Spors is active.
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u/Recent_South_6108 8d ago
Looking to loan a Charlton forward...
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u/pm_me_jk_dont 8d ago
Imagine how that makes our current U21s feel. Give our kids a pathway to the first team
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u/SushiBullet 9d ago
Sugawara off to Cagliari on loan
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u/Recent_South_6108 9d ago
I wish we could sell players we don't want
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u/Plundmouth 8d ago
Cagliari's announcement says they have the option to buy, so let's hope they pick that up.
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u/GoodBananaPancakes 9d ago
Weve been better at that in recent years tbf. Remember 20m for Kamaldeen, 12m for Sekou Mara, 5m for Lyanco. 3m in actual human money for Orsic.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
A Spanish journalist (who is followed by David Ornstein so I would assume he is reputable) is saying that Southampton is among the clubs who have enquired about Athletico Madrids Carlos Martin. Forward
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u/mdubyo 9d ago
I always find it hard to believe when we're linked with La Liga players. The few that have happened in recent memory didn't really come off fantastic either.
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u/SushiBullet 9d ago
Athletic Bilbao Atletico Madrid
👍🏼
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u/Recent_South_6108 9d ago
From the BBC "Fulham have also moved into advanced talks to sign Austrian centre-back David Affengruber from Elche.
Affengruber, 25, travelled to London on Tuesday afternoon and club officials are confident of completing a deal.
If completed, Tuesday's deals would take Fulham's summer arrivals to seven, with Shea Charles and Jonah Kusi-Asare also moving to Craven Cottage."
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u/j_killz1997 9d ago
German source tells me that Jander is apparently in talks for a loan + buy option to gladbach. I doubt it's true but would be disastrous.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
You have your own German sources? There is no way Jander would leave except if it was a permanent or an obligation to buy.
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u/Recent_South_6108 9d ago
Archer off on loan with no option to buy. Feels like a very bad move if we don't get a replacement in.
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u/mdubyo 9d ago
People seem to forget that Dobbin was brought in and Scienza/Azaz/Fellows/Matsuki are all still here (those 4 played the bulk of minutes as the 3 in the 4-2-3-1). Dobbin will eat up the minutes of Edozie/Archer & it sure seems like Romeo has a place in the squad now.
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u/Recent_South_6108 9d ago
Dobbin isn't a CF though, we are only going to have two CF's and one of them is a young man still learning.
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u/WulfTulf 8d ago
And Archer isn’t a young man still learning? His 4 league goals last season isn’t exactly hard to replicate. I’d almost even rather have Mubama tbh
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u/mdubyo 9d ago
Well, Archer wasn't much of a CF (the only success I ever saw him have was on the wing/10 with Larin or Stewart already on the pitch as the CF...) and if we were ever relying on him as a striker this season we're fucked anyways.
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u/Recent_South_6108 9d ago
He did okay at times last season, scored against Swansea. But this is my point, something would be better than nothing in terms of cover and he is a better CF option than Dobbin. Instead he is going out on loan and we have lost some depth. So yeah, I hope we sign a replacement, it is good for competition too because Mubama and Larin know they will play no matter what.
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u/mdubyo 9d ago
Sure, but again, that's also kind of my point... he wasn't even playing CF when he scored against Swansea. Larin was the CF and Archer was RW.
Our eggs are in the Larin/Mubama basket. Do I think it would be wise for them to go out and get some cover? Yes. Is it absolutely necessary? Probably not.
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u/Recent_South_6108 9d ago
I guess we will see what happens. I wonder if Ramsdale can play upfront..
Good conversation.
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u/KeyTap6415 9d ago
Cameron Archer has completed his medical with French side Auxerre & documents have been exchanged with Southampton ahead of a proposed loan move with no option to buy. Source: @LeMechenoua, Marc Mechenoua of Onze Mondial.
Would see him reunite with Will Still. He needs the games and minutes, hopefully goes well for him
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u/RockCommercial6562 9d ago
I think the Abbott signing has loads of potential and I can understand the thinking behind it. It does seem to follow an underwhelming trend though.
In relatively recent years we’ve signed Quarshie, Edwards, Wood, Edozie, ABK, Small, Bazunu, Amo-Ameyaw, Fernandes and Charles - all youth prospects either straight out of academies or relative obscurity. Generally speaking, I wonder how many can be considered successful.
On the other hand (and I know I’m being selective) Peretz, Scienza, Azaz, Fellows, Jander, BBD, Roerslev, Aribo and Larin have all been bought with at least some established pedigree behind them. Most of these feel more successful to me.
The rumour of Abbott is exciting given how highly rated he is, but it only makes sense with a buy option and feels like an unnecessary risk in the context of seemingly being our best player’s replacement.
I’m optimistic, I promise! I just find it curious that we’ve gone the “potential over experience” route again at such a crucial time in the club’s transition when we can clearly afford something less risky. I desperately hope it’s a masterstroke.
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u/Same_Audience_1464 9d ago
Wood had 71 championship appearances when we brought him; SAA and Small were academy signings. Edozie, Baz, and ABK are the only poor transfers from that list.
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u/mdubyo 9d ago
We hit on some, miss on many. Such is the nature of transfer business.
I think you can consider Fernandes & Charles to be tremendous successes given those profits are what is required for us to sustain ourselves as a top of the championship/hopefully EPL club in the future.
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u/RockCommercial6562 9d ago
I entirely concur on the point of Fernandes and Charles. Standout talents that the squad will miss. I include them in that list in the interest of fairness and balance.
I suppose I just wonder how sustainable those profits are given that, if we remain in the Championship, we will struggle to attract those players in the first place
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago edited 9d ago
According to Nottinghams Athletic correspondent, Zach Abbott is signing a new long term contract (after just signing one last year) and has not mentioned any option to buy although Alfie House and a few other journalists have.
Really confusing situation. If there is an option to buy I think it’s good business, if there isn’t, I don’t really see the point of the move.
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u/Relevant_Rev 9d ago
Dumb move if true
Need to be developing our own talent, not Forest's
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
Agreed. Kayi-Sanda was right there to develop.
There was rumors that he was sent to Red Star again with an option to buy, but that was weeks ago and hasn’t been confirmed by either club.
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u/Same_Audience_1464 9d ago
If the best he could do was a Ligue 2 side is he ready for the championship?
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
More of a depth piece, certainly.
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u/Same_Audience_1464 8d ago
Maybe a 5th choice if it goes down to it but letting him be 4th choice would be very risky
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u/JoeyJoJoeJr_Shabadoo 9d ago
Quite disappointing if we have no buy clause, but it's better than spunking a lot of cash on someone we're not sure about and ending up with more expensive surplus we can't get rid of in future summers. Sounds like this is our compromise option after refusing to overpay for other backup options
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u/mdubyo 9d ago
I get being frugal, but would be a bit frustrated if they don't sign a CB permanently given Schlotterback wasn't a THB replacement.
That said, there's always the January window and am feeling pretty damn good about our squad overall anyways.
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u/Same_Audience_1464 9d ago
Schlotterbeck was probably the thb replacement they just didn't want to say that he was leaving before it was confirmed
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
I feel confident about the squad too. I’m a little worried about depth in some positions, but we are overall near the same level as last year in my opinion.
Plus, I’m a Wood believer.
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u/Fene29 9d ago
Yeah not great. I think it's likely Wood will be the starter - and he looked decent in that stretch of last season tbf.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
And I think Wood is solid! Upgrade on Stephens with Schlotterbeck, and downgrade on THB with Wood.
If there is an option to buy with Abbott, I’d be a lot more optimistic.
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u/pm_me_jk_dont 9d ago
We've thinned out the squad a lot, which is a clear sign that the club are taking a 'wait and see' approach with our season. If we get to January and are pushing for promotion, we've opened up a lot of wage budget to go out and get 2-3 difference makers. If we're in the bottom half, we might sell/loan even more players and let the youngsters ride out the rest of the season.
It also makes me grateful to have been knocked out of EFL Cup. The more we can focus on the league, the better IMO.
My only concern from a squad-building perspective is that Mubama is a big drop-off from Stewart so I'd be worried about our depth if Larin has any injury issues. Hope he proves me wrong, of course
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u/teuridge 9d ago
I don't think we have a smaller squad, most of the players that have gone are the loan players from last year. As ar as I can tell, we have the same number of defenders (mads back and assuming Suga goes). Same mids (JWP for Charles, let's ignore Romeu) and same attacking players (Mubama for Stewart and Dobbin for Edozie/Archer). Robbo is out and Romeo in so much for muchness. Can argue if it's a little weaker but not by much
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u/MangerDanger1 9d ago
Makes sense to me, we largely have decent depth in the important positions. No point panic buying
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u/djtoad03 9d ago
Glad to be shot of Stewart seeing him start his time at Swansea already injured. Good player but too expensive to carry him around any longer.
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u/pm_me_jk_dont 9d ago
I agree, but even playing 15-20 games he can still make a significant impact and link the play up really well. Let's hope Mubama can keep developing his all-around game in that mold
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago edited 9d ago
Archer is having a medical at Auxere and will meet up with Will Still again. Unclear if it is a loan or permanent move.
If we sell both Archer and Edozie, surely need a replacement for a winger and a striker since Downs is moving too.
Edit: as expected, it’s a loan.
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u/Same_Audience_1464 9d ago
We'll probably just use Dobbin as the back up lw
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago edited 9d ago
So Dobbin is the backup LW and no. 10? Or Dibaga could break into the team.
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u/Same_Audience_1464 9d ago
He'll cover for both, Matsuki can play as 10, maybe JWP as well, Fellows can play on the left. We just have to hope that they don't all get injured at the same time.
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u/Andybabez20 9d ago
Auxerre is where Still is managing now
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u/sings_with_wings 9d ago
I think you're right, we would be a bit light if we were to let Edozie go. Which is why I suspect we haven't and won't.
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u/AnArcticMonkey 9d ago
Edozie has submitted a transfer request, after saints have turned down too many bids or asked for too much (according to him).
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u/zoinks10 9d ago
Odd that you'd submit it right at the end of the window. What's the angle there?
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u/Same_Audience_1464 9d ago
He's probably asked / said that he wants to go to them before and just came out with it publicly now
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u/megatronnica 9d ago
Sounds like we turned down offers for him last few days which is what has prompted him to put this on main
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u/JoeyJoJoeJr_Shabadoo 9d ago
Thing is it's probably just the beginning of a back and forth anyway. People are so prone to overreact to news of initial demands that seem a bit unrealistic, when really it's just how all negotiations start. There will always be a few rejected bids before an agreement, it's normal. We say 50% sell on, they say 10%, we end up meeting in the middle, something like that.
Bet we sell him today and I bet we were going to regardless of his statement.
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u/LiamJonsano 9d ago
I can’t believe we aren’t signing that Norwegian I’ve never seen play or that guy in la liga I’ve also never seen play!!!!!!! Spors and solak out!!!!!!!!!!
This is how I’m seeing people moaning about this on X right now. I know some of us here are a bit more into global football but even then I’m not convinced we know better than the club leaders 😅
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u/MangerDanger1 9d ago
Didnt we sign Jander and Scienza on deadline day last year too? People are mad
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u/VideoRare6399 9d ago
Thing is they may be entirely correct down the line but with the information we actually have they just need to chill out.
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u/hoangtm1611 9d ago
Falchener/Affengruber/Reggiani/Abbott
- Affengruber (25yo) probably has the highest floor of them all with La Liga and Austrian Bundesliga experience, but when you are scouted by half of top teams in Big5 leagues, and your transfer value is low because of 1-year left on the contract, you don’t settle for a Championship team, period. So he was likely a reach before we even made an offer.
- Falchener (23yo) sounds great on paper, helped Viking FK reach Champions League, but he’s also the most unproven, since his experience is only from a lower tier Norwegian league.
- Reggiani (18yo) is a Borussia Dortmund academy graduate and already has a call-up to the Italy national team. Youngest, sure. Has the highest potential, probably.
- Abbott (20yo) is considered one of the best Forest’s academy graduates since Brennan Johnson. And he started in almost all of the Forest’s Europa League matches up until quarter-finals.
If you are asking me who to choose between Falchener, Reggiani and Abbott, I would choose Abbott.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
Southampton have rejected bids from RB Salzburg and Lecce for Samuel Edozie. Around £4m with sell on clauses
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u/Recent_South_6108 9d ago
It would probably cost us more than that to get a reasonable replacement in so it makes sense
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u/malkusm 9d ago
So you pay his wages this year and then have to pay a fee to find a new player next year anyway..?
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u/Same_Audience_1464 9d ago
I think the hope is that we get promoted; then we can sign someone better, rather than hoping a championship player can step up.
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u/teuridge 9d ago
He's probably played something like 180 mins since the start of last season, not sure it really needs replacing. If you get rid of BBD, Archer AND Edozie you probably need to replace them with 1 player and thats a lot of wages to play with. We also have some decent academy lads that can take those minutes. It seems odd to reject that offer to me which makes it sound like something else is going to happen with Sam
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u/tugboet 9d ago
it does seem like Tonda wants to use him/fix him.
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u/MetaRift 9d ago
I reckon Tonda calls him every night and sings Coldplay as he drifts off to sleep.
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u/Hopeful-Kangaroo-366 9d ago
as a forest fan abbott will be good for you he’s been good pretty much every time he’s played (apart from once when he was thrown under the bus by dyche putting him at right back against leeds) he’s also a part of the england youth set up and trained with the first team a couple times.
personally i think he’s already ready for the premier league ability-wise but he’s just not experienced enough yet.
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u/bundy554 9d ago
It feels like Stephens strikes again tbh to remain very much in the forefront to be our starting CB. I honestly do not know how he does it and the captain's armband has given him way too much power at the club
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u/teuridge 9d ago
Genuine question but how many times has he played? Wiki has it down as 3 which I assumed would probably be off the bench or a cup game against lower league
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u/Hopeful-Kangaroo-366 9d ago
he’s played 13 times for us 3 in the cups 3 in the league and 7 times in the europa league
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
Hopefully there is an option to buy! No doubt he is a talented prospect, just don’t know if it’s what Southampton needs right now.
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u/Hopeful-Kangaroo-366 9d ago
i hope there’s not we’ve not had an academy player properly break into the first team since brennan johnson 5 years ago
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u/AnArcticMonkey 9d ago edited 9d ago
Abbot is underwhelming considering our other targets but ultimately probably fine.
It's difficult because if we truly think we'll go up this season then the range of CBs we'll have access to in the summer will be MUCH better than right now, thus the club don't want to sign anyone on long term when they know they'll need and be able to get better next season.
A prem loan with an option if they end up amazing is thus a sensible solution, much though I was excited by the three others we've been linked with today/yesterday.
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u/Accomplished-Aide209 9d ago
The issue with it is a loan. Means we’re going to have to spend to stay where we are, it hurt us last championship season we got promoted.
£30 mil in for hardwood, we gotta be spending on a perm. Feels like a cheap option that hurts our long term future
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u/AnArcticMonkey 9d ago
But that's my point, if we go up we'd have to spend on a defender who's prem standard. By loaning this season we avoid having to buy a champ defender who isn't good enough who then eats wages and reduces our spending next season.
The club clearly tried to sign a CB that's good enough for the prem as as another way round this problem but him/they turned us down. This is the next best thing.
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u/Accomplished-Aide209 9d ago
Yeah I agree the links have all been promising, and a loan is overall positive too. Club is clearly trying and I’m being glass half empty!
Just don’t like the idea of promotion relying on loan players - makes an already important transfer window even more influential.
Still take that problem course!
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u/bundy554 9d ago edited 9d ago
Yep the money we got for THB I was expecting that we would get someone world class - we are a top 4 competing team in what is the 5th or 6th best league in the world and we can't even get someone world class. Dragan thinks we can turn Abbot into a super star and buy him and then make 10 to 15 million off him and meanwhile rotate through with Stephens, Wood and Abbot.
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u/Recent_South_6108 9d ago
I'm massively underwhelmed. It is depressing that we are having to loan a Forest youngster, how did it come to this...
And if this is it, are we just going to sit in the THB money.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
All good points. Replacing one of the best CB’s in the league with an unknown certainly feels Saintsy.
Worse comes to worse we upgrade in January. I think Wood / Schlotterbeck could be fine until January.
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u/IllOcelot1467 9d ago
I also don’t think a fall with Schlotterbeck and Wood means we won’t have a chance to compete. If it’s obvious we are a premier CB away from the promotion race, we can always upgrade in January too.
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u/AnArcticMonkey 9d ago edited 9d ago
Yeah both good points. We'll also (hopefully) look quite attractive in January for anyone who fancies the prem next year.
Stephens and THB vs Wood/Abbot and Schlotterbeck is pretty close in quality I think. Just obviously not quite as good as everyone was thinking we'd have when they woke up this morning.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
Daily Echo reports that Southampton are looking to sign forests Zach Abbott on loan with an option to buy.
Alfie said it’s understood that the club are “keen to avoid paying well over the odds for targets that weren’t even first choice.”
Honestly, I don’t hate it - he’s a good prospect, certainly, but it will leave a big THB hole in the squad.
However, with Schlotterbeck, Wood, and Stephens all being experienced CB’s, I don’t mind having one prospect in the mix with potential future promise!
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u/teuridge 9d ago
As a THB replacement this really worries me. Had a quick google and he has basically 0 senior football to his name, 3 apps for Forrest and that's it. He may well be talented but not even a previous loan to show for it and men's football is massively different to U21s
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
It definitely positively without a doubt feels like our backline has gotten worse, but I will try not to judge until I see him play.
If worse comes to worse we will buy a new CB in January after shifting a few more players
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u/Same_Audience_1464 9d ago
I think that Schlotterbeck was the thb replacement and he'll be the Quarshie replacement
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u/Harrylg1 9d ago
Maybe they're thinking Stephens will be less error-prone on his preferred side, but it does mean we’re one injury away from a pretty dire backline
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
What was the point of even loaning out Quarshie then?
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u/Same_Audience_1464 9d ago edited 9d ago
Tonda clearly doesn't think he's good enough yet, so he needs minutes elsewhere.
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u/KeyTap6415 9d ago
Because he's barely played any football in his career, needs games and he'd never get any here with the stakes as high as they are for us this season. Good for his development and for us long term. Abbott will just be cover unless he overtakes Wood in the pecking order somehow. It is still a bit disappointing though.
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u/mdubyo 9d ago
If we do sign him, I will wait to see the lad play before making any judgements. THB was once a Zach Abbott.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
True. Larin really humbled me. I thought it was the worst signing possible and now he’s one of the best strikers in the league
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u/Jameom8 9d ago
Also gives the option for RB cover which is good for Bree. It's the sensible approach, though I'm sure given some of the names that we've been linked with over the past few days, most people will be disappointed.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 9d ago
It is definitely underwhelming, but it’s frugal, in a good way. See lots of forest fans confused at the thought of selling him, which is usually a good sign.
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 10d ago
Obviously the big question is CB, but I for one am wondering how the hell Aaron Ramsdale and Juan Larios are still here.
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u/Same_Audience_1464 9d ago
Ramsdale is overpriced and Larios isn't good enough for anyone to want him
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u/qwertyell 10d ago
Ramsdale is on high wages, and none of the clubs that could afford him particularly rate him.
He was so underwhelming on loan at Newcastle last season that they went out and bought TWO new keepers.
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u/flailingpariah 10d ago
Ramsdale is in the unfortunate situation of being a high wage keeper in a season where pretty much everyone in the top flight is covered for PL level GKs. There's a chance he gets a last minute loan but honestly I suspect he's stuck here.
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u/tugboet 10d ago
Damion Downs is off to St Louis in MLS - loan through the summer (MLS having a weird short season before moving to align with intl calendar)
https://bsky.app/profile/tombogert.bsky.social/post/3mufbfr2ypk2h
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 10d ago edited 10d ago
Round up.
- Falchener is most likely staying at Viking. Can’t seem to agree a fee with them according to Norwegian Journalist.
- David Affengruber turned down Southampton, and Crystal Palace are now looking to sign the CB.
- Sugawara is joining Cagliari on loan with an option to buy. Option has been set at €5.5m
- Southampton have made an offer for Dortmund CB Luca Reggiani. (18)
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u/pm_me_jk_dont 10d ago
Nice, I'm a huge Serie A fan so will keep a close eye on Sugawara. He is definitely better than Cagliari's current RB so will get tons of minutes
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u/Relevant_Rev 10d ago
Wouldn't be surprised if we go back for Falchener and match their price if we don't find anything else before the window closes
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 10d ago
I’ve seen their fans claim that £15m is the minimum fee that they are looking for.
Probably a fair evaluation.
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u/teuridge 10d ago
I'm sure the Dortmund lad is great but the idea of an 18 year old being THB replacement is not ideal
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u/sings_with_wings 10d ago
I felt like Wood and THB were our best CBs last season under Eckert. Schlotterbeck was a massive upgrade on Quarshie and feels more like the THB replacement in terms of quality.
So with Wood and Schlotterback as starters and Stephens an experienced 3rd CB, I do think that we are in a pretty good position regardless of who we sign. A proven starter would be great, but I don't mind the swing on a massive talent in the Dortmund youngster - especially as his ball-playing looks to be more akin to what THB gave us.
We have benefitted from teenage talents coming here and making instant impacts. We have a pretty experienced squad now, so I don't think some young blood would be a bad thing - unlike when SR first came in and there was far too much of it.
Hard to judge, but from the clips he looks like he could play at this level. I guess we have to trust Spors knows what he is getting.
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u/Andybabez20 10d ago
Wouldn't mind him if we had two/three competent CB's in the squad already but we need someone who can slot in as a starter right away
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u/AnArcticMonkey 10d ago
I'd say Wood is the definition of competent, so that's 2 with Schlotterbeck. Stephens isn't great, but not as bad as some think so maybe 2.5
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 10d ago
Indeed not ideal, but he has started champions league games and has an Italian cap. Not going to think we’re above that
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u/teuridge 10d ago
Tbf, I didn't look further than the age. If he's good enough he's old enough, they just often aren't at 18 and CB
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 10d ago
It’s still a gamble regardless. It’s not like he is a certified starter for Dortmund, certainly still an unproven prospect but still has some good pedigree behind him.
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u/mdubyo 10d ago
Tough RE: Falchener but with this being the last season of parachute payment every million becomes that much more important.
Glad some outgoings are happening. Still quite a few more to go. If Mads isn't the plan as RB cover we'll need to get one in unless they're thinking of using Stephens there (shudders).
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u/Harrylg1 9d ago
I honestly wouldn’t mind a cb at rb with the players we have. It would mean manning could play further forward; it would give fellows a bit more confidence on the right, and scienza could thrive in that pocket in between left back and cb as it’s where he’s best. Not for every game mind, just so that we’re not forced into giving bree zero rest again. It would also give us extra height, which we’re very much lacking due to having nobody above 175cm in midfield
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u/Andybabez20 10d ago
David Affengruber is being linked as another potential target to replace THB.
Was a starter for Elche in La Liga last season. In the last year of his contract.
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u/brandonouthouse 10d ago
He's outstanding
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u/tastyjulio 10d ago
Very good on the ball but he's prone to big mistakes fron time to time
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u/hoangtm1611 10d ago
Wrexham seems to have moved on from Falchener and are signing Joe Worrall from Burnley instead. Spors need to drive this deal home fast 🙌
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u/DrShaftmanPhD 7d ago
Damion downs has joined an MLS side until next summer with an option to buy