In a long drawn out saga, Saints record signing should complete his loan move back to Italy today with hopefully a player or two coming back in the other direction.

The reasons why Osvaldo was a disaster at St Mary's can be discussed for hours on end and it will always puzzle me why after chasing a player for so long, making him our record signing and highest paid player to boot that we then proceeded not to play him in the position he actually played him, ie as the central striker.

The moment we did not do that and much of that blame has to go to former manager Mauricio Pochettino, the writing was on the wall and we now face seeing a player who cost us around £15 million for as little as £7 million, assuming of course that he is a hit at Inter and they want to excercise their option to buy him.

But it will hopefully be good news in terms of bodies in from the other direction with Saphir Taider and Ezequiel Schelotto joining Saints on similar one year loan deals with the option to buy.

The only real worry about their arrivals though is that they are midfielders and to be blunt we have plenty of them already, Saints supporters would much rather see the arrival of a central defender or two along with perhaps a striker.

Photo: Action Images

REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 09:12 - Aug 5 What are Saints playing at? Taider is a central midfielder so his arrival only means less game time for our best youngster JWP. Schelotto is a winger, which we need, but you don't have to look very hard find loads of Inter fans who think he's absolute rubbish and they're glad to see the back of him. At the moment Saints aren't anywhere near replacing the quality that they've lost. We've got a long, hard season ahead. Prepare for a relegation battle.

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montecristo added 09:17 - Aug 5 we are very short of quality at the back our defence is going to get found out where are the reinforcements for Lovren, its a must or we will struggle
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brady100 added 09:17 - Aug 5 Taider looks absolutley the cheap alternative for Rodwell. As for Schelotto I hope I am wrong but this looks an absolute disaster as @REEDY says....hardly glowing reports. Really starting to lose confidence in our ability to replace those that have been sold. Are three loan signings all the club can manage in 2 months!!
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law101 added 09:25 - Aug 5 Very short of quality in central defence and how we can start the season with just one senior striker is beyond me, especially one with no PL experience.
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montecristo added 09:26 - Aug 5 why are we getting a midfielder, in , does the club plan to sell JWP?? If they do they are asking for trouble, not even the most apathic Saints fan or KL appologist could live with that one, Board beware...
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SaintNick added 09:29 - Aug 5 Some of you are blinded by price tags, our best signings over the past few years are those we have signed in the £7 - 8 million bracket, ie those with experience and with the hunger to succeed. Our worst signing have been the marque signings where we have been blinded by the price tag. Why is Taider a cheap alternative to Rodwell, one is an international midfielder the other has hardly played in two years. Taider could represent a far better bet Perhaps Schelotto isnt rated by Inter fans, but then again perhaps his face doesnt fit at the club and he needs a new challenge yes we need central defenders but this deal has to be taken in isolation, we are getting a massive weekly wage off our books and doing a deal to bring in two players, our squad was neglected under Pochettino we will have improved it by this deal. Now we need to improve it further by bringing in a central defender

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law101 added 09:41 - Aug 5 I take your point Nick but I look at it like this. OUT: Lallana, Lovren, Shaw, Lambert and Chambers. All players who we know can perform to a high standard in the PL. We are now relying completely on Pelle, a 29 year old who has effectively had to good years in his career to date and in a far less competitive league. We have also now brought in two relatively unknown players from Italy. Our last two signings from Serie A have been a huge disappointment, with both struggling to come to terms with the pace of the league. Now I am playing devils advocate here as from what I have seen of Pelle, I think he will prove a good player but we shouldn’t ignore the risks we are taking. With all the criticism of the board these last few months these two loan signings and significant lack of any other transfer movement so close to our first game is shambolic.

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ItchenNorth added 10:00 - Aug 5 I think Taider would be a good addition to the squad. After all just by shipping out Osvaldo to Inter doesn't mean we can just take the pick of their best center backs or strikers. Taider can play a number of roles in midfield too, defensive, wide or attacking. He is young, an international and no doubt hungry to prove he can cut it in the Prem given this new chance. Lets not forget Inter are far bigger than Saints so the views of their fans can be blinkered and harsh if the kid hasn't cut it so far for them. He was very good at Bologna a couple season ago.

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 10:05 - Aug 5 Yeah it’s a shambles. The club are supposed to have a team of scouts finding suitable players. Surely they would've had targets lined up for months now? We need a centre back so you'd think they'd have a list of 10 or so hand-picked players fully scouted and assessed. All that's needed is for someone to crack on and try to get a deal done for one of them? It seems like the club are spending all of their time getting the best deal for players leaving rather than focusing on getting players in. How long has it taken to finally offload Osvaldo for the season? The board say all the right things but there's no substance to any of it. All talk and no action. They keep saying there's no rush to get players in and they'll only do deals that are right for the club, well we'll see if that's still the case on deadline day when they are scratching around and panicking. That's the way it's heading. I feel sorry for Koeman. He’s right up against it. Welcome to the Premier League. Let the nightmare commence. Starting with a reality check against Leverkusen.

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Jesus_02 added 10:43 - Aug 5 @REEDYREEDOREEDZ I really dont think the scouts are not identifying players, i just dont think that Les is as good a salesman as Cortese (the pantomime villan) I still dont rank Osvaldo's signing as the disaster it is painted as. The club will "loose" around 5m in transfer fees but he was part of the reason why players like Wanyama and Lovren signed. At the time he signed i remember everyone being really happy! Spurs are apparently trying to offload a defender they bough for 8.5m. Its what happens when you take risks...that and relative success (6th?)

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samspade10 added 10:47 - Aug 5 Throughout this hellish pre-season, TUI has provided level headed and reasonable observations and criticism. Thank you for that. I trust Koeman to choose players that will fit in at Saints.
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Jesus_02 added 11:16 - Aug 5 @samspade10. Spot on mate. Our only option is trust Koeman and I think he has a great presence. While I often disagree with Nicks opinion it is at least reasonable and level headed. In terms of Pre-season, I can’t wait for it to end so we can all become football fans again rather than business strategists!
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 12:20 - Aug 5 Why are we not recruiting players? Where is the problem? Are we not having bids accepted because the selling clubs are pushing for more and trying to rip us off? Are players rejecting us outright because they don't want to play for us? How are we going to get any top quality players in if the board aren't willing to spend £2m-£3m over the top on them? The selling club knows how much money we have and if they don't need the money then they're in a good position to up the price. We won't get any deals done unless we pay about 20% over the top. The sooner Reed realises this then the sooner we get the players in and aren't f***ing about on deadline day buying the likes of Yoshida and Mayuka. He faces the decision of either paying over the top or not getting in the right calibre of players. If we don't get in the right calibre of player then we're in big trouble.

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saintnige added 14:15 - Aug 5 I have been a Saints fan since 1965 and have seen some terrible times and, of course, some great times. Part of me is still reeling from the sale of Martin Chivers to Spurs and I'm not entirely sure I've forgiven Mike Channon for his brief sojourn at Citeh. Barely a year ago, we were grateful to have remained in the PL with perhaps a game or so to spare. Now we are reacting as if the European Champions League has been snatched from our grasoping hands. I believe Koeman will get it sufficiently right to see us into the next 5 year plan. I believe that the players we are getting in want to play for the club and that they will give of their best. Much as I would love (I'd reeeeeeeally love...) us to beat Liverpool 9-0 on day one then it might not happen. I'd like to see the two Celtic players coming in and I'd like us to play football the likes of which I could only dream of before last season -- although I still think we could be stronger against the bigger teams. In short -- it doesn't really matter who's coming in, we have a good team that will still get better. I, for one, am really looking forward to this season, and the four after it! Koeman you Reds!!!

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davepid added 19:43 - Aug 5 Hi Am I right to think our central defenders are still 2 from Wanmanya, Fonte, Yoshida and Hoovield. If so wont we struggle as the season takes its toll of injuries/ suspensions/poor form?
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