According to some areas of the media Saints are looking to spend big on a right back, but why would they do that whilst Cedric Soares is at the club.

The Daily Mirror have run with a story that they have taken from a European media outlet claiming that Saints are about to hijack Napoli's move to sign Lille's right back Kevin Malcuit at the final hour.

According to the Mirror Saints have made the top bid for Malcuit who only joined Lille from Saint Etienne last summer for £8 million , the paper is also suggesting that Saints are willing to double that to land the player.

Malcuit at 27 has been a relative late starter in the big time, although his first appearances were with Monaco in Ligue 1 in France he left early in his career for lower league French clubs and as late as 2014/15 season was still in the third tier of their system.

He joined Saint Etienne in the summer of 2015 but played little in his first season before breaking through in 2016/17 prompting a big money move to Lille.

In many respects he is the blueprint of players Saints like to sign, but with Cedric Soares at the club, why would they want to pay the sort of money for a back up to Cedric.

Although it would be nice, Saints cannot afford to have two expensive players for a specialised position, full back is not like midfield or central defence, there is no room for two right backs in a game, you are either playing or not.

This leaves only two possible scenarios, this is either just the players agent trying to stir up interest and Saints will pay more in terms of wages than Napoli, or it is part of a strategy that will see Cedric leave.

If Malcuit does arrive then as stated it could signify the departure of Soares, although English clubs only have a week to go before the transfer window shuts, they could still sell players up until the official window closure date at the end of the month, so they have a little more time to sell and Cedric is a player who would be in demand.

So this rumour is difficult to call especially since Matt Targett slotted so easily into the right back position on Wednesday evening leading many Saints fans to think that keeping Targett would be a good option in that we would then have two quality left backs and one quality right back, but with both Targett and Bertrand able to play on the right, it would give us good cover, not to mention the emerging Jan Valery.

Photo: Action Images

TimSaint added 09:02 - Aug 3 Not needed unless Cedric goes. We have obviously lost Pied, but have JWP, Stephens, Yoshi, Targett, Reed (?) and Davis (?) who could all potentially slot in at right back, not to mention young Valery.
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highfield49 added 10:21 - Aug 3 If Cedric is on the move, for whatever reasons, then this signing makes sense. That said, of the current potential backups neither Stephens nor Yoshi are adequate even short term. Targett demonstrated mid week that he can not only pick a pass but also cross a good ball with either foot and we'd be crazy to let him go to Fulham. Of the others Reed is a grafter rather than a flair player and Davis is, sadly, past his best. JWP could actually be ousted from the team by Targett in my opinion. Malcuit is a full back, wing back and winger so clearly has a bit of pace so would be an interesting buy, but surely a forward of the Pelle type is a greater priority to give options up front. Like others I see no point in Long being in the future plans as he blocks players like Sims from getting game time. Interesting days ahead to see who moves to free up wages and add to the transfer kitty.

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DPeps added 10:29 - Aug 3 Maybe this guy is an upgrade on Cedric? Cedric is decent enough going forward but, partly because of his height, he can struggle defensively. Malcuit is just about 6ft, so should cope better
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SanMarco added 10:59 - Aug 3 If this is true then Cedric is obviously going. I would not be too upset at that, as long as the replacement is good enough. I agree with DPeps on the height issue. Crosses from our left to the far post were a problem over the past couple of seasons. Of course, would be partially solved by higher quality CBs but still an issue. The players mentioned by TimSaint are all 'emergency' right-backs and most, if not all, don't even merit selection in their 'specialist' position.

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bstokesaint added 12:36 - Aug 3 I always get excited about transfer news, but I still can't see this season being much better than last without the addition of a striker. This surely should be our top priority. Please let's not have another season without goals!
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bstokesaint added 12:36 - Aug 3 I always get excited about transfer news, but I still can't see this season being much better than last without the addition of a striker. This surely should be our top priority. Please let's not have another season without goals!
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A1079 added 12:58 - Aug 3 Tend to agree with bstokesaint. What seemed to start as a well intentioned close season with some momentum to get some deals done quickly and early and to allow some time to bed in, the one area that has been screaming out for resolution for several windows now, appears to perversely be a blind spot for our club management at all levels. I am hardly alone in this thinking, I cannot see a single person on this forum who at some time in the recent past, has not stated that the 2 priorities were the defence and more striking power. Possibly we have now dealt with the defence - reserve judgement at this point. But, if we fail to deal with the striker aspect again and scoring remains an issue (Austin is ok but is injury prone, Long simply doesn't seem to know how to score, Gallager - I have seen little to suggest that he is the answer) then you are placing a hell of alot of responsibility on our defence and goalkeeper to not make mistakes.

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BoondockSaint added 13:14 - Aug 3 Can't see this deal happening unless we free up a ton of money in the next few days. If you read between the lines of Hughes of the "Hughes admits departures are needed.." post of the 23rd, he's saying the board won't let him sign more players until they off-load a bunch of players. And again, as A1079 and others have pointed out: We need a proper striker!
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pintsizedsaint added 13:42 - Aug 3 Not a bad potential signing at all, although probably not in the priority category (unless Cédric goes or there is a genuine concern that he needs “genuine” cOmpetition to avoid complacency). I’m now believing CB is the main priority; I’m just not convinced with Hoedt and Stephens at moment (particularly the former). I think a striker would be useful, but I’m getting fed up with the snipes at the club given this has not happened yet. In today’s market getting an established striker costs serious money and they are few and far between. I suspect SaInts have been looking but nothing concrete has emerged.

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petesmaterob added 13:59 - Aug 3 what has happened to developing our own players. Why are the FIFA Playstation and fantasy league fans so keen on spending money on foreign players. We have wasted so much money as a club and country whilst without a doubt French, German and Spanish teams would have invested the money rather than just spent it. Whilst on the subject I believe we have the strikers we have just not played them the right way over the last two years. Very slow build up allowing teams to get back and defend. Get forward faster and get Redmond to head for goal and have a go and we would score a lot more with the existing forwards - even Shane Long, sorry Pete mate!!

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SaintStu7 added 15:18 - Aug 3 I agree that we should be using our youth players and squad to fill in backup roles. Fed up of wasting millions on foreign second rate players to sit on the bench. Bringing in these type of players rips the soul out of the club, there needs to be some progression for the young players who nearly always seem to turn out better than imports and don’t cost anything if they don’t work out. Also agree that we have the strikers already just need to stay fit and actually play to their strengths.

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A1079 added 16:26 - Aug 3 Good points from petematerob and Saintstu7.
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underweststand added 16:41 - Aug 3 There are two sides to this coin. Cedric (like Long) is a nice guy and a fan favourite to some, but last season showed his great weakness in his lack of aggression especially at defending corners when we conceded several times because of this. His wing back role looks exciting but rarely finishes with a good centre or goal chance. Sooner of later we'll need a top class replacement, and not another Martina or Pied. LB Targett looked good at RB on Wed. but IF we are going to refuse a big money offer (and keep him) we have to play him every week, but that obviously won't be at the expense of Bertrand. Valery is a good U23 prospect but untried at Prem. level and "converting " Yoshida, Bednarek or Stephens to RB isn't the answer either. Having followed the likes of Hesketh, Mc Queen and Reed since their U18 days , it's a key season for them too. Will they make it ..or end up moving to Championship / L1 sides for a relatively small fee? If we don't keep them, why do we have an Academy .. when we only breed them to eventually move on to other clubs.

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aceofthebase added 21:16 - Aug 3 Cedric has never been on my teamsheet. Too small to head out and on his own side does not prevent the crosses getting over, unlike Clyne. We do need a replacement or we are going to be shipping goals left right and centre. I know nothing about Malcuit but hopefully, we purchase him and make him the no1 right back. Targett as wing back was what I suggested ( or rather a more attacking role) and he looked the part last game. He was also an improvement on Cedric.

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