According to an article by the Daily Mail taken up by other Saints fan websites, Saints could be about to spend big in January.

When I first read the headlines on other Saints based websites I got quite excited, that was until I discovered that the source of this story was an article by the Daily Mail, not giving any real insider info, but just assessing each Premier league squad and their needs in January.

That being the case they had merely cobbled together a list of players linked with Saints in the past couple of weeks, assessed who might leave and then come up with a magical figure to spend.

So the headlines Saints to spend £35 million is based on an article that is complete speculation.

But that doesn't mean Saints are not about to spend big, the club are aware that they are still not as clear from the bottom three as they would like and they do intend to spend and i can see them spending over £20 million in January based on what they spent in the summer.

Back in the summer they had to be careful on buying in players because they had so many on the wage bill they had to loan out, but that is changing and freeing up wages to spend elsewhere.

It cannot be denied that Saints would like to get several off the wage bill but that won't be easy given the wages that some are on.

The club itself is saying nothing, that is understandable, no club leaks it's intended targets and spending to the press that would be madness, but interviews with Ralph Hasenhuttl suggest that a central defender and right back are priorities.

Recent good form means that the right back position is not a problem with Cedric hitting form and keen to push up his own wages when he leaves in the summer out of contract, so Ralph will sign a right back if the right player comes along as he can then ship Cedric out on loan, but if not he will keep him.

Central defence is the main priority and I can see Saints spending out here and this is where the bulk of the money spent will go and it could be £20 million, but again only of the deal is right, January transfer windows are notoriously over priced.

The good news is that in this window we have Matt Crocker who will have an input into the club despite not working here full time yet and his advice will be crucial.

So there will be business done in January, maybe the bulk of it on loan, yes we could spend big, but the Daily mail story has about as much substance as this article or indeed any other I have seen on the internet.

Agents spreading rumours on the internet are rife, the truth is not rumour, it only emerges when a deal is done.

Photo: Action Images

saintmark1976 added 13:29 - Jan 3 For once I rather hope that we don't go into the market. We've had some very good results recently and team spirit appears to have returned.Why bother to risk upsetting our current players in what appears to be an improving situation with the purchase of January window over priced players?
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schatfield added 13:35 - Jan 3 I dont agree on central defense being the priority (we have a first choice with back up), i think we will target the LB and RB positions with those 2 about to become out of contract.
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oliward added 14:01 - Jan 3 We had a problem in defense. That problem looks to be sorting itself out. JB and JS look highly accomplished right now. Bertie also. What does £20million buy? Another Vestergard or Hoedt? No thank you. How pressing is it that we spend big given our form in decent weeks? I feel time is on our side and we’re not that desperate right now.
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Colburn added 15:06 - Jan 3 In a word.. No. I can't see us spending 35 unless we bring in 20. The positive side of the January window is that possible targets will be more interested in coming to us than a month ago. With our form, only second to Liverpool in the last 8 games, and sat in 12th with 25 points, we are a team on the up and now a fun team to play in. I agree with others who feel that full back positions are the more pressing issues to solve than CB. Clean sheets against Chelsea and Spurs shows good development for Stephens and Bednarek. Time at the crease... We need a RB for sure as we know Cedric has one foot out of the door and we need another tiger to sit in front of the CB's. If we fill those two, we will have a goid balance to finish the season. What about Danso? Maybe next year he will kick on and we have Ramsay too who looked good when he came in. Whatever we do, we can look forward to the rest of the season after the recent performances

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landerwal added 15:35 - Jan 3 I agree that defence is not now such a priority. 20 million wasted on yet another CB does not get me excited. A decent left/ right back and cover for PH and JWP in midfield is as far as I'd go. Our two CBs now are gaining in confidence and playing together well. Why buy another CB who will need time to bed in and whose introduction to an established team could be disastrous as many teams have found out to their cost in the past.

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LordDZLucan added 17:22 - Jan 3 I agree with all the contributors above. And to my mind a more pressing priority is to sort out the contracts of those players who are able to leave in the summer but who ideally we want to keep.
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underweststand added 18:10 - Jan 3 Many nervous contributors ave been screaming for yet another CB signing since LAST January, and it's clear that Vestergaard isn't what we hoped for and much as I respect him ..Maya Yoshida is only likely to come in emergencies, (PLUS at the moment there aren't any likely U23 candidates for the post of an extra CB). Cedric will go / wants to go / and ought to go ..so we have another RB as priority no.1 A few peopel have mentioned the case for getting cover at LB , although Bertrand has been back in form since returning from his injury. Jake Vokins was vaunted as a possible, but one player we have (seemingly) forgotten is Sam Mc Queen . Loaned out by successive managers only to get crocked twice but should soon be back in the squad. So'ton-born Sam has been with the club since aged 8 and is in the same 1994 crop that has produced so many of our best U23 players. His rare appearances " in between managerial changes" showed that he is capable of DAJFU at LB or as a wing back. Danso hasn't come into Ralph's's plans yet ..(thankfully he is only a loan ).. BUT I don't see us spending £35 mill, but maybe the 2 options above totalling +/- £20 million?

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bstokesaint added 20:38 - Jan 3 We’ll never spend anywhere near that, if anything, although the sudden optimism does concern me a little. I’m all for letting the current centre back partnership develop, as it’s the most successful this season to date, but not more than a month ago we were a club in crisis. I can’t help feel that we’re only a couple of injuries from falling back again. I’d also be very concerned if Ings was to pick up an injury. There are numerous positions in the team where cover is sparse.

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