Mark Hughes has spoken about the last week of the transfer window, although he did not rule out a new signing, he did not inspire confidence that a new face would be brought in.

The problem with football managers speaking to the press is that they rarely ever reveal the real truth, it is not in their interests to show their hand, whether it is about team selection or transfer targets.

From a transfer point of view the last week of any window is a rush with teams trying to hijack deals etc, Mark Hughes would rather that everything is done quickly and quietly, that being the case why would he want to alert anyone that a signing is in the pipeline.

He said:

“At this moment in time as we stand here we are probably at a point where we are not likely to do any business, but you never know.

“If there is something that presents itself and makes sense and you have the means and resources to do it then we will look at it.

“As we stand I wouldn’t have thought we would be doing much.”

Very non committal from the Saints boss, but exactly what you would expect any manager to say at this stage, why would Hughes say that we are desperate for a striker for instance and see every club we contact raise the price as we know we are desperate.

Far better to give the impression as he has done we are happy with what we have got but ruling nothing out.

Saints have got a lot of business done early this year which is good, the difficulty now though is that the UK transfer window shuts three weeks earlier than in the rest of Europe, as we know a lot of business is done in the last weeks of that window, clubs lile to sell late in the window to push up prices as the deadline looms, on the continent we will now suffer as they prefer to wait to see what develops in those final weeks rather than sell early to the English clubs.

Hughes also confirmed that the club are not expecting any departures before Thursday evening, some younger players may go on loan but they are still trying to find a club for Fraser Forster.

“We have a lot of interest in a lot of the younger players but they may be best served staying here and waiting for an opportunity.

“It’s maybe a different conversation in January if I haven’t been able to give them decent enough game time. Then it might be preferable to send them out, but I think at the moment we keep everybody in house.”

The Forster situation is a difficult one for Saints.

He wants to play games and having slipped to third choice that is not likely to happen at Saints at the moment unless injuries or serious loss of form. the issue of the major contract after signing a new five-year deal last summer makes it more difficult to do anything but a loan deal de to his wages.

“Fraser is looking at options really,” admitted Hughes.

“I had a conversation with him earlier in the season and said from his point of view he needs to get back playing and he agrees with that.

“We are looking at options and seeing if we could get him to a place that he would feel is appropriate for his talents.

“We haven’t been able to manage that so we will have to play that by ear.”

So five more days to go on the transfer window, reading between the lines it looks like we won't lose anybody of note, that we are probably looking for a striker but time is running out, my personal opinion is that we do need a striker, but as long as everyone stays then we are in better shape than we were a year ago, we just need to use our striking options in the right way, something we never did under either Puel or Pellegrino.

Yes another striker would be good, but we can get by as long as they are all fit.

Photo: Action Images

dirk_doone added 11:53 - Aug 5 The problem is that he cannot place any trust in our head of recruitment, Ross Wilson. We needed a goal scorer and he brought in Carrillo. We neded central defenders and he brought in Hoedt, Bednarek and Vestergaard. That's all the van Dijk money wasted on a bunch of slow, mediocre players, who aren't good enough or fast enough for the Premier League. Who would he waste money on next?

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ronniedavies added 12:49 - Aug 5 Crazy decision to loan out Carrillo the guy didn’t really get the chance to shine in such little time last season. He’s now proving his worth with 2 goals yesterday in La Liga warm up match against Real Zaragoza. Whoever farmed out our most expensive player needs shooting as it’s going to backfire big time unless we find a suitable replacement in the next few days

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halftimeorange added 13:28 - Aug 5 I'd like to know what MH privately thinks. We couldn't score last season with much the same front line so, unless he truly believes that Armstrong's creativity will put chances on a plate for our goal-shy misfiring attackers, he must know both we and him are in for a rough ride. I'm disappointed that he hasn't apparently insisted on a sharpshooter being recruited. No goals for won't bring the crowds back.

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aceofthebase added 14:52 - Aug 5 No-one wants to buy our fading players, and can you blame them.
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highfield49 added 15:05 - Aug 5 As media speak gives plenty of scope for interpretation I think what was said is that Forster could have gone to Burnley but Hart was a cheaper option for them as he was willing to compromise part of his ego and wages to play football.
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A1079 added 18:38 - Aug 5 If there was no serious intention of bolstering our attack, which now appears to be the case, then why on earth would we have loaned out Carillo. I accept he did not look like the answer to our scoring problems, but neither was he the question. He did not really get the chance and MH seems to have given up on him and Boufal all too readily with no plan B. To be blunt, I think MH has made an error of judgement to give up on Carillo so quickly when there was no financial gain in doing so (or minimal gain at least). What started as a promising close season with some hope now feels like a missed opportunity to put right the obvious wrongs of the last 2 seasons.

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underweststand added 20:45 - Aug 5 Although it's been a short time since signings the new players they all look to have good potential, but the problem still exists in the lack of form of those that we have already - many of whom have very LONG contracts (oops). Rather than a rash of new signings, we need to get the best out of those who we have. Forster, Clasie, Boufal and Carrillo all failed to convince MH that they are worth a squad place and the fact that they all command considerable salaries doesn't help, and it's non-sensical to keep them on when they need game time , but it shouldn't be with us . Unless we rack a good points tally in the first half dozen games I expect to see the faces change on the bench, and some U23 prospects getting game time. More signings? - Hughes sounds doubtful, but it may be that some of our intended targets chose not to come (after seeing our last seasons finish), or went elsewhere, but they have the right to choose . Interesting to note that the average age of the squad is dropping all the time. We had one of the lowest in the Prem.last season, and have very few players over 30 still here. Given time the younger players should build on their skills, but MH must also realise that IF we have failed (for whatever reason) to sign those we were after - then there is little sense in spending money on (say) ...your 4th choice player - just for the sake of it. NOTE: (to date) MH has resisted the temptation to sign ANY of his former players.

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Keesie66 added 09:57 - Aug 6 I am genuinely surprised when I read that Calum Chambers is heading for Fulham on a season long loan and Perez of Arsenal is being sold at around £7 million... were these not opportunities for the Saints ......
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bstokesaint added 12:46 - Aug 6 I don’t want to be accused of hitting the panic button early doors, but it does really feel like after making a promising start to the window we’ve stuttered and come up short in the window. I still think Gabbi and Austin are natural goalscorers, but it would be a miracle if both could stay fit. Long will give it his all as always, but he won’t get a bag full of goals. We know that. We are crying out for a centre-forward to hold the ball up. Our success in recent seasons has come from hold-up men like Lambert or Pelle. We miss that. I can’t bear the prospect of another season of toothless attacks. I’m taking my boys to their first game of the season next weekend and I’m scared they’ll be bored senseless and the atmosphere flat after we settle into the dull pattern of the last couple of seasons.

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