The worst kept secret is out as finally Saints announced the signing of Algerian International Saphir Taider on a season long loan from Inter Milan.

Although the deal of Taider and the departing Osvaldo are interlinked the options on them are seperate so at the end of the season if they wish to do so Saints can make the Taider move permanent without the need for Osvaldo to move in the other direction on a permanent transfer.

Taider is a midfielder who can play defensively or in a more attacking role and has played in the French leagues as well as in Italy for Bologna and Inter for whom he made 15 appearances last season scoring 1 goal.

After originally playing for the country of his birth France at U18,19 &20 levels he opted to play for Algeria with whom he has won 12 caps and scored 3 goals, representing them in the World Cup Finals in Brazil.

Although he comes on loan this should be looked at as a positive deal for Saints, he is at 22 a youngster with plenty of potential alongside good experience and the loan allows Saints to take a look at him as well as bolstering the squad size.

last season saw Pochettino in effect operate with a squad of around 15 outfield players with the rest of the squad not providing any real competition for those in the first team, the arrival of Taider will add strength to the squad and this being the fourth signing of the summer we are effectively only one player down from last year, what we need now are 3 or 4 signings in crucial positions, then we will be ready to start the season with confidence.

Photo: Action Images

montecristo added 17:13 - Aug 6 three or four you say?? with this lot in charge some chance, seen any pink pigs flying over St Marys lately? What really angers is the way Krueger , in particular, attempts to pull the wool over fans eyes b y making wild statements to the effect that all the money will be re invested in the squad. Its crap, bullshit anyone who believes it is just plain stupid.
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SanMarco added 17:28 - Aug 6 I don't understand the levels of your dislike montecristo. Do you have hard evidence that the money will not be spent? I am happy to give the benefit of the doubt until 1 Sept - I suppose that makes me plain stupid...
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ancientbriton added 17:31 - Aug 6 ..are'nt we rather filling up the defence. Apart from an as yet unproven Pelle where's the Lambert replacement ~ or is that it?
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landsdownsaint added 18:19 - Aug 6 If we start the season with what we have at this precise moment,I will be happy!..and if we get Foster + a good CB il be more than happy !! ...season starts soon ,so no more moaning from me . COYR
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1962saint added 18:29 - Aug 6 Not sure why we need Taider, where we already have plenty of cover, and am even more dubious about the likely signing of Schelotto. He is said to be an out and out winger - we already have Mayuka and never used him in our team. I just hope we are not replacing quality with mediocrity. I agree with Lansdown, I will be a lot happier if we sign Forster and a good CB (or two).

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bstokesaint added 18:32 - Aug 6 Exciting signing. Looking forward to seeing what this guy can do. Another positive step. I guess I am also plain stupid, either that or I'm just a fan channeling positive thoughts and putting my faith in my club to deliver to deliver on a promise. It's a two way thing. It's better than spouting constant doom and gloom.
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ChristchurchSaint added 19:50 - Aug 6 I also must be stupid. RK is putting his neck totally on the line by coming out and saying we will have a better squad than last year. I agree we may not have individually excellent players, but the whole squad will be stronger if we buy the rumoured 3/4 players. I also feel that ( and have said this on here before!) we need to wait and look at our total squad on 1st Sept and not what we have now.

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ExiledSupporter added 21:56 - Aug 6 I'm clearly another one in the stupid category, or perhaps I just don't accept or value the intemperate, irrational and oddly prejudiced Monte Christo, who offers no evidence to support his/her accusations and who therefore doesn't deserve to be taken seriously. Yes, let's wait until the end of the transfer window to judge how the summer has gone - though even as I write this the thought of depending on Les Reed fills me with no confidence...

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bstokesaint added 22:11 - Aug 6 I reserve judgement on Reed, but if Ralph can deliver on his strong statements then I feel the club is in safe hands. He's put his neck on the block and in his line of work you die by those choices if you don't fulfil those promises. I think Saints' fans can be turned massively this week with at least 2-3 quality signings. It'll be a tough August as the team get used to playing together, but Ron will get them playing of that I'm sure.

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law101 added 10:57 - Aug 7 Not bad business so far, although I cant see why we need another DMC with three already in the squad, however the manager knows better than us. Now we need to focus on 3-4 high quality signings. In the PL, games are won with individual brilliance as all teams are well organised and can play. GK, 2x CB's, a striker and a wide man added please. Then we can all say that perhaps we are in a genuinely stronger position than previously.

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law101 added 11:01 - Aug 7 For pub talk sake If we added Forster, Van Dijk, Vlaar, Redmond and Remy (example) then not even Ben Smith from the BBC could argue we where not in a better position.
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 14:10 - Aug 7 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2154899-why-did-it-go-wrong-for-saphir-taider I brilliant article on who our new recruit Taider is. It backs up a lot of people's thoughts though, that we strengthened the squad in our already strongest position. Taider isn't much of an attacking midfielder so we've got another defensive midfielder alongside Schneiderlin, Cork and Wanyama. Koeman can only play 2 of the 4, unless he drops Steven Davis which would be an enormous mistake I reckon. On the face of it you'd say Schniederlin can go, but it was only a couple of days ago Krueger said we're keeping him. Bizarre! Never known such an unbalanced squad. What wingers are going to start on Saturday? We've only got Tadic, Ramirez, Isgrove and possibly McQueen. We're very weak in that area. Creating goals will be a big problem without a quality addition or two.

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