With the opening of the transfer window now less than two weeks away the rumours are flying round, but do most of them have any truth behind them.

The January transfer window is one that Saints have publicly stated in the past that they do not want to get involved in if they can help it.

The reason is it is silly season, the selling clubs know that in the main the buying clubs are desperate for one reason or another and therefore they hang on for as long as possible and prices get inflated as a result of this.

That was the case last January when Saints ended up buying Guido Carrillo for around £20 million a price that was at least £6 million over the real figure and probably you can add a few more to that.

Was it a waste of money, perhaps most Saints fans would say yes, I would counter that with the argument that Carrillo was a last gasp gamble where we paid a high price, but although he played little part due to Mark Hughes determination to work with a small group of players whom he knew, the Argentinian striker did play a small part prior to Hughes arrival that helped Saints survive and that being the case we paid a high price, but it was a small one given the gamble paid off and we stayed up.

But Saints will be keen to avoid that in January if they can, naturally all the mutterings from the club have been about how they are happy with the squad they have and do not intend to get involved with this season's January window, but behind the scenes they will have identified where they need to strengthen and who they will target, they will just want to give the impression that if they are over quoted they will walk away.

The next few weeks are crucial, if we win a few more games between now and the mid January then we won't be desperate enough to pay too much over the odds, selling clubs will know that and we will be able to perhaps steal a player or two at the going rate rather than over the top.

Now we are seeing the first shots being fired, agents putting rumours out into the media about their clients to stir up interest, claiming this club or that one want their client, this will now intensify and come to the boil on the 12th strike of the clock at midnight on 31st December.

But remember it's silly season, don't take anything that is said seriously, including Saints claims that they have no interest in buying in January, everyone is playing a game and the only truth is when a player puts his signature on the line and that only happens when his club and agent have exhausted every possibility of another club coming in and offering more.

Photo: Action Images

mgprobert added 10:19 - Dec 19 The silly season never seems to stop these days, made especially worse with the viral increase in clickbait headlines looking for revenue - "Will 6' 4'' left handed manager splash out on £15m tattood goal machine for new club?...former page 3 model thinks so!" Look out for Poch to Man Utd, so Ralph to Spurs rumours
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Sanguin added 11:01 - Dec 19 But surely there’s truth in the rumours that Hassenhuttl has had discussions with Tottenham about taking over when Pochettino goes to Man Utd?
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landerwal added 12:46 - Dec 19 Apparently, according to the Daily Mail via the BBC gossip page l, we are tracking Fulham goalkeeper Marcus Benelli. How ridiculous, when keepers are one position in the side that we have more than adequate cover.
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underweststand added 13:07 - Dec 19 SILLY SEASON is well-named as in summertime it deteriortates to the ridiculous level of .. ." former Saints star saves cat from drowning In garden pool " to the cruelly desperate December panic of ..." who Saints OUGHT to buy in January to stave off relegation ". I'm convinced that many agents have their own sites and hock around all their clients names in an effort to get a better move - or a least they pay others to run these stupid Fake News stories..and innocent fans get lured into betting on a name that is probably a non-runner from day 1. As ever the bookies seldom lose. Now we will have weeks - if not months of who will eventually take the Poison Chalice soon to be on offer at Old Trafford. Personally I care less about Man U than the average " Man Citeh " fan does. Several weeks ago, I suggested that our game v.MU would either bring about the sacking of Mark Hughes, or Jose Mourinho. As it was Hughes won buy a distance, but the MU Board must have started thinking hard after our 2-0 goal went in, and had we not gifted United a point in that game, Jose would have been out the door, (or rather out of his expensive hotel) - the following day. Although I doubt if Ralph H. would have been quite so high on MU's "Jose replacement list" , I certainly glad he sighed for us when he did. Mauricio Pochettino must (secretly) regret signing his new 5 year contract with Spurs , in the summer especially after the Real Madrid job became vacant the following week. Now we wait to see if United are prepared to pay £25 million compensation to get him away from Spurs, in addition to a similar sum as "pay-off " for Jose Mourinho before they start promising the new manager another £200 million to help correct their problems. Daft I call it.

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wibbersda added 14:57 - Dec 19 To confirm you prediction it has already started https://football-transfer-rumours.com/does-eye-catching-report-mean-southampton-
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 20:30 - Dec 19 You're having a laugh! There is no defending the signing of Carrillo, he has to go down as one of the club's worst signings of all time! For a supposed target man he's not strong enough, not good enough in the air, poor touch, no pace, I can't actually think of one good attribute he has. Hughes didn't play him because he could see he was rubbish. When we signed him the Monaco fans couldn't believe how much we'd paid or even that we'd want to sign him. It makes a mockery of the much lauded 'black box', he couldn't have been scouted much at all. It was a desperate signing and an absolutely ridiculous one. There were probably many better strikers available for less money in the Championship. And to make it worse we are still paying the bulk of his wages. Absolute shambles under Reed & Co. Hopefully never repeated.

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alicetaylor added 02:27 - Dec 20 I am happy to find this post very useful for me http://outlookentrarno.com
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underweststand added 16:46 - Dec 20 to REEDYREEDOREEDZ.... I'd go along with almost everything you wrote, but think the club's thinking might have gone along the lines of ; They first considered replacing Pellegrino after the Boxing Day fiasco v. Spurs, after which Saints had their best spell of the season with a....0-0 away v. MU, and a Cup run beating Fulham and Watford, interspersed with us being "robbed at the death" by a handball goal at Watford and then getting a point at home v Spurs. By the time we beat WBA we had reached a "heady 14th place" and then beat them again in the Cup. This only delayed the inevitable. Still smarting from the ill-timed Puel dismissal, they perservered in their contraversail support of Pellegrino with no obvious alternative option. In fairness - giving Pellegrino the OK to sign Carrillo (who must have been a long way down the Black Box's list ) was a bad decision, made worse because he was MP 's old player and hoped he could re-ignite his previous good form. A bitter lesson and equally expensive mistake to the catastrophic occasion when Nicola Cortese allowed Pochettino to sign Dani Osvaldo with the intention of rehabilitating him. (In Carrillo's defence) I'd say wasn't the worst player on the pitch when he did play, and got little /no real service up front). Few foreign players hit the ground running when they come to the Prem. and Carrillo was no exception. Hughes saw no future for him, and loaned him out, and yet last month he was leading scorer in the Spanish League.(!) Football history is full of stories of players who were disaster at one club, only to become a legend somewhere else. In retrospect, we might have kept Jay Rodrigues - a bit longer.

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