Saints made their first and if you believe Ronald Koeman, only signing of this January transfer window with the aquisition of Charlie Austin, but will this have a knock on effect.

Saints supporters were generally very pleased with the news that Charlie Austin had joined the club from Queens Park Rangers for a fee of around £4million, but the big question is whether this will trigger departures from the club going forward.

Charlie Austin s a great signing. £4.5 million for a striker who scored 18 Premier League goals last season is good business, the strangest thing about the summer was that no one came in for Austin, players who have his sort of scoring record in the top flight usually attract big bids, but there appeared to be none for Austin with the rumour being that a dodgy knee would make him uninsurable making a big transfer fee a very big gamble.

So the price had to be right for Charlie and it seems that Saints feel that they have got their man at the right price and if he can reproduce his form at QPR for Saints then it has to be a big boost as Saints strive to push up the table.

But his signing does leave Saints top heavy with strikers and it could mean that at least one of our current attack force could be heading out of the door, if not now in the summer.

It would be easy to suggest that it will be Sadio Mane, but Austin is a totally different type of player to Mane and not a direct like for like replacement.

It is more likely to be Graziano Pelle who will leave for a swansong in his native Italy, he has never really made his mark in his home country and he has always expressed a desire to end his career in Serie A, he will be 31 in the summer and will only have a year left on his contract, meaning that his value will be dropping.

I have always been at pains to stress the strategy that the club have adopted, one that means developing players and moving them on, some supporters struggle to come to terms with that concept, especially when things aren't going well on the pitch, but it is the only way Saints wilbe able to compete with the so called bigger club's and Spurs.

So the arrival of Charlie Austin could mean that Pelle will depart in the summer, it looks to be exactly on the lines of Saints strategy and a repeat of the situation when Pelle joined the club and Rickie Lambert was sold before his value dropped and Pelel brought in.

I am a big fan of Pelle but I can see that every player has his worth and with any player if you simply allow them to play well beyond their sell by date, it will cost you dearly both on the pitch and financially.

Saints will struggle to recoup their money on Pelle if he was three years younger he would be worth £15 million after his exploits last season and his great form this, however his age means that he will not fetch anything like that, this summer we might get £4 million for him after that his value would drop considerably even if he signed a new contract.

That being the case it would be a good piece of business to sell Pelle for £4 million and only have to spend that amount for his replacement who is now already at the club, trading a 31 year old striker who is a 15 goal a year man for a player who is four years younger who scored 18 in the Premier last season.

The Ugly Inside always tries to be ahead of the game and Nick & Clive gave their views on this potential deal on Friday before it had happened.

Photo: Action Images

warrens76 added 11:34 - Jan 17 It will be the signing of the season, or it will not, I am in 2 minds..Clive glad to see you more cheerful that in the Bellend pub in Denmark!!! big D
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corkcitysaint added 11:35 - Jan 17 Can we really go wrong for that price?? Seems a right steal! Can't wait to see him in action.
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Bettwsresident added 11:44 - Jan 17 If Austin is fit this is a superb piece of business and i agree it will probably see Pelle move on. I am not sure there is room for 3 front men (j-rod/Pelle/Austin) and Pelle and Italian clubs seem a great fit given his exploits for the national side. He has served the club well and put in some great shifts and scored memorable goals. When we think what we might get for Pelle, we need to remember the obscene finances of the EPL compared to other leagues. If Pelle wants to sign off in Italy (and I would rather he did that than with another EPL side) we will be lucky to get £4m which is a big fee in Italy for a 31yr old (especially given the present €/£ exchange rate), but if we hold onto Pelle for the summer a good euros would crank up his value a few million.

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SaintBrock added 12:09 - Jan 17 This may be more to do with concern at the club about Rodrigues long term recovery chances than Pelle being invited to move on. Like warrens76 one senses this could go either way. Looking at Austin's goals in the PL the jury must be out for a while as to whether or not he can adapt to our style and pace and still score goals. Shane Long will be very hard to dislodge on current form so Austin may be on the bench for quite a while. Still, I wish him luck. One local lad our Academy scouts missed.

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IWOZTHERE added 12:10 - Jan 17 Strange that there weren't other serious bids, but who cares for that money. Outstanding business.... Mind you, I think we've missed a trick with Shelvey, much as I dislike him. Doesn't appear likely but I wish RK would change tack over VW and get shot of him, He's an unnecessary complication.
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SanMarco added 12:41 - Jan 17 "some supporters struggle to come to terms with that concept..." No - we all understand the concept, it's just a fair few of us disagree with it. Buying to sell on makes us a feeder club.
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warrens76 added 12:56 - Jan 17 SanMarco..ps the best restaurant bournemouth ever had! moving on have to agree, the product we should sell is 'football'...full houses, great sponsorships in association, the souths premier club bla bla etc etc etc..selling our staff who make it all work is akin to selling your best managers, branches etc..I am fully with you, not sustainable ultimately..as Lowe found out. What is our USP..Saints winning things, that is what w should go for..clubs have fallen before by over spending with no future planning of both were the money is coming from and no deep pockets if the plan screws up for a while..like gambling. Big marketing, promotion and marketing of the club is a forward thinking approach that has always worked..all the big players in the prem are worth more than their total investment...because they could afford the lean times, quite simple really..and with 4 billion Kat 'could' follow them..but alas no..middles management holding onto jobs they do not want to risk... Love my club, hate it's crapp ambition when so SO unnecessary.

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SaintPaulVW added 13:14 - Jan 17 Fitness is obviously the only concern. If Pelle leaves and J Rod is also now injury prone could cause problems going forward. Hopefully not an issue though and will prove to be what it appears to be, a great bit of business.
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chalks82 added 13:34 - Jan 17 Initially I was delighted, great fee for someone with a proven ability to score in the Premier League and only 26, but why Saints? The fact that Liverpool, Spurs or Arsenal didn't come in for him causes me a bit of concern. I heard a rumour that it was more to do with his attitude than injuries, can he cause divsions in the changing room? or is he asking for more wages than clubs think he's worth? I think it may be the former bearing in mind we can't offer very high wages but we'll wait and see. Like most others on here, I think someone's off to new ventures, and I suspect it's Pelle.

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NewburySaint added 14:29 - Jan 17 Word of warning guys-I don't think other clubs have touched him more to do with his character than anything else which surprises me even more that we have signed him because we're normally quite big on not signing players with questionable characters. I know of the lad personally and he comes with an entourage of friends from the Hungerford & Lambourn area who are, how can I put this, of questionable character themselves. That coupled with that he likes the hostelries of Newbury town centre a lot (have witnessed it for myself & is well known around the Newbury area for it) means I can't get too excited about this. & he will definitely have to get fitter to play for us. But hey, at 4 mill, if it doesn't work out (and this is probably his last big chance at the top level so hopefully he will knuckle down so to speak) it's probably a gamble worth taking.

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saintmark1976 added 16:57 - Jan 17 At the price it is suggested we paid then I suppose he is worth a gamble although the suggestion of injury and character problems lurk in the background. Only time will tell. According to a suggestion made on another site he now becomes the highest paid player at Saint Mary's on £80,000 a week. If correct, I wonder how some of his more established team mates will react should he not be able to quickly produce the goals for which he has been signed?

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BoondockSaint added 17:44 - Jan 17 Yes, I do "struggle with the concept" that we are an academy rather that a football club-especially when we have little or nor competition in our area. Glad to see Austin aboard-it should have been done in the summer. If nothing else, it stops him from scoring late goals against us for other teams. He's one of those gritty players that make us drop points in the final minutes. Same reason I would have liked to get The Dark Lord Shelvey-but I am happy for the True Geordie, they needed someone like that.

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halftimeorange added 19:37 - Jan 17 For goodness sake, does anyone remember how much weight SRL was carrying when he came to Saints but he scored from the off. Within a season he was as slim as he'd ever been and went on to realise ambitions beyond his wildest dreams. Isn't Austin going to take the golden opportunity being offered to him? Of course he is. Are Saints going to put up with disruptive antics and heavy drinking? I don't believe our Ron is one for that. If they can get Austin fit they'll see he stays fit and scores lots of goals. I can't wait.

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IWOZTHERE added 22:08 - Jan 17 The ridiculous 4m fee has been mentioned and it certainly doesn't suddenly absolve the board from criticism about buying 'cheap' players. However, I congratulate the Board on being more flexible on their wage structure than has been the case. (if the reports about Austin's wages are true?) At last they are seen to be trying and we may have the start of a bright new era.

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