Earlier in the week we were talking about media speculation linking Carlos Alcaraz with Newcastle United, that sparked more speculation that Brentford were also tracking the Argentinian attacker, now Saints have mad a statement of intent.

When the stories in the media started about Newcastle tracking Charly Alcatraz started, most would not take these too seriously, after all there are still three months left until the January transfer window opens.

However as we have seen in the past, some of the Big 7 clubs like to get unsettling of a player in early, a few well placed stories by journalists friendly to the club, can go a long way towards creating a situation where the player himself becomes unsettled and wants the move.

The buying club can then try to use this to force the selling club to take a lower price to get rid of a player who clearly wants to go.

But as Newcastle saw back in the summer, we were in no mood to sell Tino Livramento to them at their bidding, their derisory initial offer of around £12 million was dismissed out of hand and we made it quite clear that we were not going to be taken advantage of.

But it still came as a surprise on Friday evening when Southampton announced that Alcaraz had signed a new 5 year deal at St Mary's. after all he had only signed his initial contract 10 months ago when joining the club.

This was a statement of intent from Saints that they are taking this promotion push seriously and are looking to hang on to their best players.

There will be some that will perhaps say that the club have only done this to make sure they get a bigger fee for Alcaraz in January or indeed next summer, but the truth in this deal is that the headline is bigger than the reality.

Alcaraz's original contract was to the summer of 2027, this deal extends it only by another year, if Southampton were bent on selling the player there was really no need to extend his contract.

So why did they ? The answer is that they want to keep the player, but recognise that he is on a lower wage than his worth to the team merits and of course what the likes of Newcastle are dangling in his direction.

This is about looking after the player first and foremost, recognising his worth, if Saints were going to take a big offer for him in January, there would be no point in spending good money on paying him more for a few months.

They have shown Alcaraz and indeed the rest of the squad that they are serious about getting promotion and keeping the key players who will be the foundation for rebuilding the squad if we return to the Premier League next season.

Charly Alcatraz said:

“I’m very happy to renew my contract with this great club that opened the doors for me to play here in Europe. It’s been really nice because I’ve learned so many things.

“I’ve become very fond of the people of Southampton because, from the day that I arrived, they showed me that they wanted me here. I’m very happy because they show me that they care and that I’m important for the team, and that makes me want to play even more.”

Director of Football Jason Wilcox said:

“We are all delighted Charly has signed his new contract and we are really pleased he has committed his future to our fantastic football club.

“This coincides with his full international call-up and we are all very proud of him. Charly has displayed so much potential since his arrival and has already made a huge impact despite his young age.

“He has the ability to score goals from midfield and we look forward to seeing him showcase his talent here at St Mary’s and beyond.”

Photo: Action Images

WestSussexSaint added 10:46 - Oct 7 Good for the club and Chaley. Hopefully that will help Che Adams in his decision about signing his new contract and also persuade Sulimana to stick around for this season at least.
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JoeEgg added 11:03 - Oct 7 Sulimana and Alcaraz are the key players in our search for more attacking football and more goals. Strange how both players at the start of the season didn't fit into Russell Martin's plans. Let us hope that Rotherham will feel the full force of these two exciting attackers.
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DellBoyWally added 11:20 - Oct 7 Charley played in the first 4 games: we didn't lose. He was missing for the 4 games we lost. Back for the last 2: we won! Playing for his national side alongside Messi won't do any harm!! As for Adams; I can see the club letting him go in January - assuming Stewart is playing by then!?!? And next summer we'll have Tall-Paul back.
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A1079 added 11:22 - Oct 7 Pleased he has signed an extension and I think he is a good player and has a good attitude. That said, call me cynical (and I am) but the likely rush to get him to sign an extension is that he is a player that some clubs are showing interest in and an extended contract retains his or improves his value and is an investment. But, good news either way.
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IanRC added 11:38 - Oct 7 Please persuade Sulemana to do the same.
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YosemiteSaint added 05:55 - Oct 8 Good news—especially if Martin actually plays him. :-/
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SaintEPW added 08:52 - Oct 8 Great News - Really impressive work. Well done Saints Who said that the Manager did not want Alcarez ??? Manager never said it. He just had an immense number of players in a bloated squad and all at the start of the season. There were many many reasons why a player might be selected and might not be selected at any point. Might be physical states, mental states. Also he had to work with the separate transfers/loans guys to ensure the right folks went out the door and the right folks stayed. Sometimes he would have been asked to play someone in order to show what he could do. Sometimes he would have to pick someone to find out what their capability was in the new system. This is very frustrating for Fans. We all want results. We want that within 10 games or less. We all get frustrated when the team does not do as well - e.g. like yesterday in 2nd half - when they lost their way with the new system they are playing - as Rotherham tightened up and left no space. Team did not quite know what to do. Hard to watch. But learning Plan B - when you are still learning Plan A is tough to do. I wish, as Fans, we would all do what Arsenal Management have done- they gave Arteta more than two seasons to work it all out - his squad - teach them the new way of playing - get some folks out the door at a decent price - test out some new players and some from the youth squad. He joined as Manager in 2019 - his 1st year of significant success was 2022. That takes more than 11 games in your 1st season.

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EvertonSaint added 08:06 - Oct 9 Doesn’t mean a thing. Sign him up for five years as we did for Lavia, Livramento etc, etc, then sell for high prices.
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