Adam Blackmore as Head of BBC Sport for Radio Solent for the past decade or so is perhaps the closest journalist to Southampton FC and he has been talking about the club's transfer dealings this week.

If you want to know what is going on at a football club, then in this day of multi media outlets that are more concerned with page hits, when the local journalists who cover the club day in day out speak, you can assume that it has a little bit more substance.

Adam Blackmore of BBC Radio Radio Solent has been talking this week on BBC Sounds about Saints plans for the transfer window.

Interestingly he suggests that the club are hoping to get at least two players through the door, but also at least three out.

Blackmore had this to say:

"There's lots to be done and I don't know if it will go down to the wire. But I do know they want to get a couple of things done in the next week and we'll see what happens, but just moving a few on would help because it will give the Saints more strength and money. Simple as that.

"They're not going to spend endlessly, they need a budget. If you can get Onuachu and Bella-Kotchap and Alcaraz out in the next week or two then great, you can attack the transfer window a bit better.

"If you can get O'Riley done , but is the Brighton thing a distraction to put pressure on Saints to go Celtic's way? We'll see.

"Carvalho is an interesting one, I think he'd like to play for Russell Martin. One or the other is not bad, but both would be great."

Of course this is just Adam Blackmore's opinion, but you would hope that it would be a bit more informed than most, given his everyday connection with the club.

But it does show that Saints have a strategy for this window, although with the sheer number of players being linked, it is hard to see which of them is a genuine target and which is a stalking horse.

Interestingly Blackmore intimates that Brighton's interest in Matt O'Riley may not be as concrete as some media outlets would have you believe, in this case you would think he would have been speaking to his colleagues at the BBC down in Sussex who cover the Seagulls and perhaps got an inkling of their take on it.

So this could be an interesting week or two and indeed a crucial one if we are to get off to a good start in the coming season, it seems Saints have the funds to do what they want to do, but if they are to really strengthen in all areas, then they need to get a few off the books as well.

Photo: Action Images

derbydog added 08:53 - Aug 7 You would have thought we have enough surplus players who would do a job for say Celtic and Sunderland to grease the wheels of deals for O’Reilly and Clarke and get our squad down in terms of size and wages. Or young players who could be loaned out to help these clubs and us in terms of getting them experience.I doubt we could tempt Liverpool for anything other than cash!

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SaintNick added 09:30 - Aug 7 We have plenty of surplus players, but it is their wages that is the problem, they won't take a massive pay cut to join a Scottish or Championship club
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janecook added 10:02 - Aug 7 I would like Saints to sell Mara, Manning, McCarthy, Onuachu, Bella-Kotchap & Stephens before the season starts.
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IanRC added 10:41 - Aug 7 I think letting Alcaraz go would be a huge mistake. Would like to see O’Reilly and another good striker. Not sure I want to bow to bully boy Liverpool’s exorbitant demands though.
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highfield49 added 10:50 - Aug 7 I'm sure most of us have a list of players surplus to requirements janecook, I'd certainly add a few to your list. However, as Nick has already pointed out, it's difficult to move on players in the middle of lucrative contracts. Add into the mix players who won't move unless their existing contracts are paid up and clubs unwilling to meet player valuations and the market grinds to a halt. Should we find ourselves sufficiently fortunate to acquire O'Riley and Carvalho, and a quality goalkeeper please, that adds to the wage bill and also the glut of non featuring players at the club. The only answer can be loan moves, almost certainly subsidised, because several current players have very little future at SFC other than meeting their contract obligations. Wage considerations will frequently be an issue because we have signed too many players with potential rather than proven ability and if that potential doesn't meet expectation the asset becomes a liability.

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arfurdent added 10:58 - Aug 7 pink shirts should help with loan moves
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Bowlercow added 11:01 - Aug 7 ABK is a quality player but his heart and his head are not connected to Saints Mara doesn't appear to have what it takes to be a PL player KWP has fallen out of love with either the staff or the club Tall Paul wouldn't suit the possession game Alcaraz could be a star but will only get limited minutes if we get O'Riley AND Carvaeho Selling them could be worth £70/80m which could get us MO FC and a top keeper

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saintpete01 added 11:18 - Aug 7 Alcaraz out Really I think Mr Blackmore should go back to Reporting the schools Egg and Spoon Race
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ElSanto added 11:36 - Aug 7 £70/80m BowlerCow? What are you smoking!? ABK maybe £10m (injury prone) Mara maybe £7/8m (if anyone actually wants him) KWP maybe £15m (just wait 1 year and get him for free at 28) Tall P maybe £8m Alcaraz £10m (if anyone wants to pay that for him & on £40k/week) I count £50m and that’s ONLY if people actually want these players. Like I said ABK hasn’t done jack merd for a while and has injuries. Mara couldn’t be consistent even in the championship and has too laid back an attitude. Alcaraz is still a gamble and wasn’t wanted by Juve. If I was a club I’d only want two of our players. KWP and I would be waiting to try and get him cheap at the end of the window when we are desperate to get money for him to pay for our other targets. And the other would be tall Paul, but I’d probably only buy him if I was in a weaker league, still think he could work in a higher league, but still a gamble.

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saintpaz added 12:45 - Aug 7 any sign of a no 1 anywhere? Still need 2 cm's with experience, one creator and another general (imagine if Downes gets injured) and a proper number 9 4 players at least needed and with that, quality
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JoeEgg added 12:52 - Aug 7 Despite all the talk and all the comings and goings our squad is no stronger than it was last year in the championship. Lambs to the slaughter unless we sign some real quality before the season starts.
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Bowlercow added 13:13 - Aug 7 Elsanto Alcaraz £30m If Lavia was 50 Tall Paul £10m ABK £20m KWP £20m Mara £10m If I'm 20m over we will still get the £70m Let's wait and see who is nearest Unfortunately my days of smoking anything good are long gone
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ElSanto added 15:24 - Aug 7 Lavia was 50m because he was bossing midfields as an 18yr old in the premier league. He performed against the top teams. Had the pedigree that he came from Man city and had rave reviews from Pep. Listened to managers and did what he was asked to do - disrupt play, not lose possession and control a midfield. More importantly he had two of the richest clubs in a transfer battle for him and he had loads of time eft on his contract. A perfect storm for a high price. I have no doubt Lavia will be a success when he gets back from injury at a top team. Alcaraz comes from a south amercian league. Looks to be a positive player who has a bit of flair. But that's about it. He hasn't been consistent over a number of games (or he would be starting every match), he looses possession too much, is probably a bit home sick and doesn't speak the language. If we want Alcaraz to be worth 30m, we need him to buckle down for a season here in the premier league, bide his time and learn to play for a manager, learn English and have a voice on the field, score some goals from midfield as well as being tighter with and without possesion, get stronger and fitter etc. If we want to sell him now he is worth maybe what we paid for him on his wages after scoring a few goals over a year ago in premiership. In my opinion, of course.

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ElSanto added 15:29 - Aug 7 Maybe I was a touch low with ABK based on his age and the fact he has German caps and 2 years left on his contract. But with his injury problems, I might not want to spend over 10m on him. In fact, transfermarket website has his current value at 12m euros, so about 10m. We shall see. Prob have most clubs asking for loans, as per usual. Alcaraz might suit this for us as he has many years left on his contract and if it goes well we might fetch a higher value for him. ABK would only have a year left on his contract if we season loaned him again, thus reducing his value. Same with Sekou.

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sledger added 10:55 - Aug 10 cant sell mara what would the coke heads sing,on second thoughts they would probably still sing it here or not.
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