With under a week remaining of the transfer window, Saints have made another signing, but Southampton supporters are a little underwhelmed to say the least, not only because it is hard to see where he will fit in, but because there is still no striker over the line.

Whatever Saints fans feelings, the arrival of James Bree is a positive move and at a reported £750,000 although it is not a signing that will excite the fans, it is one that is an inexpensive gamble.

In real terms this is below his market value, transfermarkt has him worth £3 million, but with only a short time left on his contract with Luton Town, it seems that they had to cash in or face losing him on a free transfer.

Although only 25 he has considerable experience, he started at Barnsley making his League debut for Barnsley in the Championship aged just 17 and went on to get considerable experience over the next 3 seasons leading to Aston Villa to signing him almost to the day 6 years ago.

At Villa he struggled to get into their side even though they were in the Championship at the time, and in January 2019 he went out on loan to fellow Championship club Ipswich Town.

In 2019/20 he went out on loan to Luton Town and was a mainstay in their side and joined on a permanent basis the following season.

There he would rack up further appearances meaning in total he started 119 league games for the club plus another 13 on loan.

But as of yet he is yet to make a Premier League appearance, his time at Villa coincided with their spell in the Championship.

But we do get a player with over 200 appearances in the Championship and League One and we have signed in the past plenty of players with experience only at those levels who have stepped up to the plate in the Premier League, although in fairness we have signed a few that haven't.

It could be said that the Championship is a higher standard overall than the Scottish Premier League.

Bree might not add the class that we crave, but at a time we are struggling for genuine full back options, he fills a gap, although it suggests that Tino Livarmento's reported set injury setback is going to rule him out for the most part of this season.

Southampton manager Nathan Jones said:

“James is obviously someone who I know well from our time together at Luton, and he has the qualities both on the pitch and also in terms of his character to help us here.

“While we have really talented players in the full-back positions, we have been lighter on numbers than we would have liked, so the addition of James to the squad really helps us to address that. He’s also comfortable playing at centre-back too, so that versatility helps gives us another good option in a number of areas.”

That versatility might be of help to us, especially with a raft of games coming up and perhaps Bree will bring us some leadership and experience in the defence.

James Bree said:

"I'm absolutely delighted. As soon as I had the chance to come to this huge club, a Premier League opportunity for myself as well, and obviously get to work with my old gaffer, I knew it was the right decision straight away and I didn't have to think twice about it.

"It's something I've dreamed of since I was a little kid, making my Premier League debut and obviously for a team as big as Southampton. It's something you dare to dream about.”

So in essence this signing is going to excite few people, however it is a cheap gamble that might just pay off, there will be those cynics who will once again be saying that this is the club preparing for the Championship, but that was not the case when signing Mislav Orsic or Charly Alcatraz, nor the raft of players signed last summer.

The club are still trying to land that elusive striker and they have shown that are not jumping in and making a panic buy as was the case 5 years ago with Guido Carrillo.

Saints stepped back from Nicolas Jackson, they were aware that he had seen a transfer knocked back in the summer due to failing a medical and studied those records and took a step back, Bournemouth didn't but they too pulled out when they he again failed their medical.

The hope is that we are nearing another signing, but it does concern me we are still linked with 20 year olds, we truly need some experience at a top level up front and by experience I don't mean 1 season.

Photo: Action Images

Centurion added 09:10 - Jan 27 In view of the fact we may well be playing in the Championship next year, a smart move. A player that knows the Championship well and can help Saints stabilise or push for promotion.
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darthvader added 09:15 - Jan 27 All wee need now is a left back covering player called Cranberry
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andywelsh added 09:38 - Jan 27 I can’t argue with the sense of a budget addition to our fullback options, given Livarmento’s injury woes, but when I hear Jones talk about him as a centre half option l can’t help feeling that with our set piece woes the last thing we need is a 5’8” centre back!
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A1079 added 09:45 - Jan 27 I do not particularly have an issue with this signing, though if money is so tight, then I would not have said it is a critical one that was needed but given the price it is not a game changer (unintended pun). The big concern of just about every Saints fan is the failing (or what looks likely to be a failure) to remedy the one area that has cost us dearly in game outcomes and points (and arguably has played a part in a managers job) both last season and this and that of course is up front. It is hard to disagree that the club hierarchy are preparing us for a drop out of the PL. Going back to your discussion Nick as to do people have anything positive to say about the club - well the reverse of this is the failure to resolve key positions and seemingly prepare us for relegation or set us up for failure is a huge negative not least when that is transferred into only 7 home wins in the last 18 months or so and the most rose tinted fan would struggle to find a positive in that.

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sledger added 10:00 - Jan 27 well we obviously do need to address the defence because if we cut out the mistakes and kept more clean sheets we obviously would have more points,its really not rocket science
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Block8 added 10:13 - Jan 27 It's not a big signing but maybe it will allow us to play with full backs, as full backs! Instead of lumbering centre halves that just don't have the pace or manoeuvrability to deal with speedy tricky wingers. My hope is that I can celebrate in Newcastle on Tuesday with a 2-0 win and new striker announcement! COYR
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davenbennett added 10:13 - Jan 27 SR seem to have set an arbitary transfer limit of £20m. If selling club wants say £30m, offer cash and players. Offer Aribo, Adams, Djenepo. Mara, AA, Stu A, Stephens, Larios, Vokins. Buy 2 £30m+ strikers. Use B/U21s as cover until end of season. Should have recalled Tella. Or sell to Burnley. Transfermarkt rate him at £4.5m. Loan out Walcott, and pay half his wages. End M-N loan. That should raise enough funds to buy better strikers, and cut wage bill. Some may say, weakens squad. But those listed are not scoring, or making, goals. None, not even Adams, are 1st xi every week. Need players who are, not squad players. Worry about deeper squad after staying up. Many on list will want to go if relegated anyway. Get rid niw!

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davenbennett added 11:05 - Jan 27 So, who would I buy? Onuachu. 6ft 7. Genk.35/21. Nigeria 6/2 2021. Transfermarkt value. £15m. So within SRs price range. But - 28. So SR would see as having no sell on value. This is another stupid policy. You don't HAVE to make a profit on EVERY player! All you need to do is earn from the likes of Lavia. Moffi. 6ft 2. 23. I know said don't want to go, but money talks. Club also asked about Djenepo. So, cash +Djenepo + Aribo,Ely, Adams etc etc. Transfermarkt rate Moffi as up to around €25m. So, not far off SRs arbitary limit. Wages are €17k per week. Offer £75k pw. We also need No.6 cover, esp if end M-N loan, under my plan. Linked with Hjulmand, Lecce. Offered only €11m. However, Transfermarkt rate at only €8m, so can see why Saints reluctant. Offer €16m, x2 his value. Those 3 players could be brought for around £60m. If clubs want more, go higher, say £70m total. We can pay by method said earlier. Cash plus players. If don't want players, sell, at a loss if have to, to raise the £70m. Cost neutral in this years books. And a chance of staying up. At present, no chance.

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mgprobert added 11:08 - Jan 27 Sensible signing- a round peg for a round hole. I imagine the owners of Saints FC are already aware of the need for a striker.
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underweststand added 11:21 - Jan 27 For an experienced player at that price, why should anyone complain? , and anyway I doubt that we've had a regular RB over 5'9" in the last decade...or ? YES ...we all want a 6 foot + striker on the books but clearly the sight of Saints sitting at the bottom of the table is no great incentive to someone who wants to play in the Prem. The extreme criticism we've seen so far about non-signings...won't bring many apologies from those who posted about strikers we " missed ", when we see that Danny Ings' debut at WHam lasted just 20 minutes before he went off injured, and the Jackson lad didn't manage to pass a medical for free-spending Bournemouth. I'm sure that we will find "someone " and hope he knows where the goalposts are and is able to shoot between them - with confidence.

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Monksway added 11:45 - Jan 27 Pragmatic signing given Tino's extended injury and the probability of relegation which will see a massive set of departures from the club in the summer. Overall, Saints are in a much better place to cope with the exodus and the championship than last time around under Red crap. We do have saleable assets and far fewer old lags on ridiculous wages.
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Monksway added 11:45 - Jan 27 Pragmatic signing given Tino's extended injury and the probability of relegation which will see a massive set of departures from the club in the summer. Overall, Saints are in a much better place to cope with the exodus and the championship than last time around under Red crap. We do have saleable assets and far fewer old lags on ridiculous wages.
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Dunstable_Saint added 12:08 - Jan 27 This signing makes no sense. Firstly Nathan Jones said in a recent press conference right back was not a priority. Secondly him covering at Center back is just not needed, with JB back and ABK returning from injury we have five center backs! If the argument is we need cover based on the delayed return of tino I don’t get that either. They have just given Lewis Payne and extended contract… signing this chap from Luton just blocks his way to the first team.. we are going to have a lot of youngsters with amazing potential looking for other clubs soon. And last but not least we have needed a quality sticker for the last 3 transfer windows and looks like stretching into a fourth!! but the club have failed to bring one in… why waste time and money on utility players we don’t need.

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Kenm added 12:23 - Jan 27 I believe Saints have a wage cap !, could be 1 reason why players wont come ?, Saints have needed a striker for at least 2 seasons so why hasn't that useless board got 1 ?. Ings would have been a good buy !, but thankfully we didn't as he's now out for some time, looks like we're not going to get a striker as the window shuts shortly !, all these rumours about signing someone no good until someone signs I treat it all as a joke

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highfield49 added 15:20 - Jan 27 First off it makes sense to bring in an experienced right back if Livramento isn't likely to be fit anytime soon. It's a huge ask for players like Lewis Payne to come into a struggling team with wide players at the top level likely to rip him apart. As for the much awaited signing of a goal scoring centre forward surely the more negative supporters can at least wait until after the transfer deadline before trashing the club and it's owners? I sometimes think that even if we signed Harry Kane for 15k on low wages someone would complain about the deal. I still think that one or more of the current targets will be signed in the coming days.

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DellBoyWally added 20:59 - Jan 27 I wish people wouldn't take digs at Ings. He went off after being injured by a late tackle not a recurring medical one!! Looks like we are signing Suleman, a non-scoring winger!! Sounds familiar. Having a pop at Lyanco is rather unfair (and only done at a great distance!!) as, in successive games (Palace and Man City), he shut out two of the best left wingers in the PL whilst playing right back. He frightens me even when watching him on TV in Yorkshire!! If Bree is so Brill why haven't Luton offered him a new contract? Maybe, as he is a free kick specialist, he'll be taking over from JWP when we sell him after relegation?

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pintsizedsaint added 13:39 - Jan 28 Not entirely sure why people are getting upset or concerned about Bree. He’s a good, experienced player who can enable Saints to stop putting square pegs in round holes at the back. Jones knows him well and Luton fans say he’s a strong, athletic defender who completely gets NJ’s aggressive style. He’s also a leader on the pitch and off it too. He can also score free kicks (useful for if JWP isn’t playing!). At £750k it makes a lot of sense. He will know he’s a fringe player and that helps with squad stability. Good signing for me.

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