Do Saints Need to be Competitive in the Transfer Window for the Remainder of the Summer? Thats is the question our regular correspondent Dan asks in an in depth look at the summer window with nearly a month gone.

So far, this transfer window, with almost a month gone by, the club has invested just £5m into new players and that fee was paid for a back-up centre-back which may later prove to be a bargain.

Southampton fans are used to seeing their beloved club make transfers like these, young, promising players that are lost in the depths of low quality European leagues; I mean, we know all about that famous black box.

But this transfer window was always going to be a different one and when I say that I mean in the Premier League in general and not just specifically Saints. A lot of money was there to be spent among England’s 20 most elite clubs from TV deals, sponsorship etc. Manchester City have already broken the record for the amount of money spent by a single club in a single transfer window and the window hasn’t even been open for a month! In terms of Southampton, that doesn’t bother fans as we aren’t in a place to be competing with teams like City.

However, we will be competing to return to a 7th place finish (at least in my eyes that should be the ultimate goal) with an impressive new manager who seems to have put some light in the dark tunnel produced by Claude Puel. What is worrying to see for most fans though is the fact that the fellow teams who will be competing for these places as well are spending more than they ever have and the worry is that Saints will be left behind.

Yes, this is a football world where incredible values of inflation in the transfer market means that average players may have to be bought for fees around £20m but so far some quality players have been bought by the teams who will have similar ambitions to Southampton.

Of course, we know that Everton have always had good finances and so spending a lot of money on players already doesn’t seem too surprising, especially with their ambition. But some of the players that they have brought in may be overpriced but have a lot of quality and potential.

Take Jordan Pickford for example, his team finished bottom of the Premier League but he was a goalkeeper bought by Everton for £30m. I do think he is a very good prospect not only for Everton but England too however, the fee in my eyes is ridiculous.

Another example of overspending for what you’re getting is West Ham paying Stoke £25m for Marco Arnautovic who has always been in the shadow of Dusan Tadic since the Serbian arrived in the Premier League.

However, West Ham have also been very shrewd in the market in the sense that they secured the signature of Joe Hart for a season-long loan and have bought Javier Hernandez, a player Southampton should’ve definitely considered, for just £16m which isn’t a lot these days for the Premier League’s sixth best minutes per goal rate. Yes, he has very high wages but may just be the striker West Ham have always been looking for.

Southampton have always been very good at finding high quality players for low fees but now I think that we’re in a scenario where the fans want to see a statement of intent and see the cash splashed a little. Yes, there are arguments regarding the possibility of a takeover which may delay player investment and there are also arguments over the fact that we had the best squad already and if they play to their ability we already have a squad ready to compete for Europe.

But the key word there is “if”. If they play to their ability. It certainly seems that Pellegrino will be able to get more out of his players than Puel did with his positive attitude and approach to football but a few more additions were always necessary, especially in defence.

Just to put things into context, Bournemouth have already spent around £35m I believe and have also secured the signature of Jermain Defoe. They finished below us on goal difference and have signed a top young defender, a top goalkeeper, and a top striker. So, on paper, the little team from down the road will finish above us next season. Yes, you can argue that they were lucky and we have by far a better squad but in reality, there is a very good possibility that they continue to succeed.

I never thought that this window we would need to bring in a lot of players and completely change the squad, but I did feel like two or three more expensive, statement signings, would be crucial, not only to improve the squad, but to improve the mood of the fans who haven’t been best pleased with their club over the last couple of months.

I really do think that our current squad would be able to compete for 7th again under good management in Pellegrino, but some investment to show that we’re capable would ease the nerves of the fans who think that we’re going to fall behind.

Photo: Action Images

redandwhitesupporter added 12:15 - Jul 26 Good piece Dan
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IWOZTHERE added 12:37 - Jul 26 I wish Bednarek well but we can't rely on him to step straight in. He's another 'nearly man as yet. We have a squad full of them and if our other top players get the VVD disease it's a frightening prospect. We desperately need some proven quality just to hold our own, but also to demonstrate to Romeu, Bert etc that we are ambitious.
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IWOZTHERE added 12:41 - Jul 26 If selling VVD is the only way to fund the purchase of two or three quality players, then so be it.
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Keesie66 added 13:16 - Jul 26 Nice article, the additional factor here is that it is not just the supporters who are looking at the transfer window..... obviously players we approach that will be approached by other clubs too will look again at the inactivity + threat of VVD leaving..... we are not exactly looking ambitious are we....
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BoondockSaint added 13:17 - Jul 26 The "famous black box" is just a painted Nintendo with Football Manager in it. I don't agree that other teams have overspent, because it's all silly money these days so you just have to get on with it. Pickford is a great signing. And is actually 25 million with add-ons it could be 30. Many games last season he was keeping Sunderland in games they had no business being competitive in. You'd be watching the game, and thinking "He's way too good for this team. Imagine him on a quality team!" And the reason he isn't the England keeper yet is the he hasn't figured out how to make at least one completely idiotic howler every game as Hart and Forster do. Arnautovic for me is another player I would have liked the Saints to get. He'd bring a bit of fire and grit to the team, and wouldn't get bullied off the ball like JWP and others. You have to be competitive in the transfer market to be competitive on the pitch. As usual, when it comes to new signings, Les dithers while other teams snap up the talent.

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larry12 added 13:47 - Jul 26 I know you mean well, Nick, with articles promoting debate, BUT................. Saints need to be competitive in this window like we need the Sun, surfers need the Moon, fish need the sea, Liverhampton need VVD, MIke Ashley shouldn't get pissed outside his house, etc.
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patred added 14:33 - Jul 26 This is all dependant on who we sell, and WHEN we sell. Leaving it till the last week of the window will seriously damage us. If, for instance, the rumours are true that Bertrand and Cedric are off, as well as Van Dijk, and they all left in the week before the deadline...we'de be up the creek. We need to be proactive in getting replacements, good replacements! Our record for that is very poor, scouring the list of non-contracted players after the window is shut is not the best place to shop for players, as we know to our cost. And it's very rare to get our type of players near the deadline date.

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SaintPaulVW added 14:40 - Jul 26 Put this up on the Facebook alert but presumably a main problem at the moment could be that if KL is in final discussions with Lander over the proposed sale then effectively Lander have the final say so over any transfers in this period. If this has stalled then transfer activity will also have stalled until the deal is formally off.
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landerwal added 15:41 - Jul 26 I think we should continue the way we have been over the past few seasons, buying in good players at a reasonable price, a system that has served us well. The Spuds have bought no one as yet and sold Walker for £45m. Their owner has said that the the present level of spending by clubs in the Premiership is unsustainable, especially with the huge wage bills that will have to be paid. I think he is right. Most of the top clubs have enormous debts and are running up even bigger ones with their present spending levels. If financial circumstances change, a lot of clubs could be in big trouble. I for one would prefer Saints were not one of them.

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sidsaint added 15:55 - Jul 26 Yes if we are ambitious, and with the way the fixtures have fallen, we need to have a good start and not wait until January to strengthen. The run in looks difficult. If we had replaced Mane and Pelle last summer and Fonte as soon as it was obvious he was going to go we would have got a lot closer to Everton. Please don't repeat last summer Les. Bournemouth, Leicester, West Ham, Everton and WBA have shown ambition. I know we have a new manager who needs to assess the squad but VVD aside Isn't there meant to be a lot of tv money sloshing around, wasn't the championship play off a £100m match? Time to crank up the all seeing all powerful black box.

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SanDiegoSaint added 16:12 - Jul 26 I agree with landerwal, TV viewership is dropping both in the UK and US. As such the huge flush of untold riches cannot be relied upon. Better to sit still, save a stockpile of cash and then when the bubble bursts and takes out the over spenders, we can buy again at sensible prices. I have another point. The club has achieved amazing success with its current strategy. Why would they change? Conventional wisdom says you have to spend huge amounts of money to be successful. Conventional wisdom can be wrong. What more does the club have to achieve before it becomes obvious that they know what they are doing? Because apparently qualifying for Europe, getting with in minutes of a major domestic trophy, and the longest sustained run of success in the clubs history isn't enough!!

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SaintBrock added 16:25 - Jul 26 Good article Nick. Sadly many Saints fans are delusional about our ability to turn lead into gold. The truth is maybe not so palatable, that our recruitment of recent years has turned up more failures than successes and so has our Academy. Last season was the wake-up call but poor old Puel carried the can for that when in reality he hadn't a hope in hell of continuing the upward progression of the club after the exodus of our best talent. now there is no talent and Pellegrino

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Cjay80 added 20:34 - Jul 26 We don't need to spend crazy money or overhaul the squad but we do need to improve it. I would have liked to see Harry Maguire, Kelechi Iheanacho, Javier Hernandez and Gylfi Sigurdson, none of which we have even tried to get. Still available are Ben Gibson, Demarai Gray, Troy Feeney or even a cheeky loan attempt with Cedric's compatriot Renato Sanches to get his career back on track. What is frustrating is the complete silence when everyone around us is bolstering for the new season. I am excited for the new gaffer and better football but am starting to worry that we are falling behind at the moment

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SanMarco added 22:14 - Jul 26 Do Saints Need to be Competitive in the Transfer Window? What religion is the Pope? What do bears do in the woods? Next question please...
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TeamCortese added 07:28 - Jul 27 There seems to be a recurring theme here. Everyone seems to using words like 'replacements', 'ambition', 'inactivity'. This really p***es me off because this feels very similar to last summer. KL has had over 9-10 months to decide on new investors! What is all this dithering about? Just make a bloody decision. They should have just made their terms final and provided a deadline (say by the end of last season). If Lander aren't suitable why hasn't there been any mention of other investors? Surely we must be an attractive investment? What could be putting us off from new investors? It amazes me the level of ineptitude when it comes to the runnings of Saints FC. It feels like we're the only club run by bell-ends who always just manage to find very good managers and subsequently luck-out during the season. I don't buy into this black-box nonsense. Football is a simple game. I've mentioned before if the black-box was so good why didn't we buy people Ousmane Dembele (Messi wants him at Barca btw), Mbappe, Dele Alli, Kane, Dier and even Moussa Dembele etc. Surely those players would have been on the radar. For crying out loud Ousmane Demebele has only been at Dortmund for one season. The guy is only 20 and is already an integral member of a Champions League side. You're telling me we didn't spot him at Renne? Where is the black-box for that case? Absolute bollocks! What are these people smoking.... If you look at our previous managers we've been extremely lucky. Mauricio Pochettino is one of the most sought after coaches on the planet. Ronald Koeman is clearly making in-roads at Everton and I have no doubt will be poached by bigger clubs within the next couple of years. The truth is if we had average managers with the budgets offered to our predecessors there's no way we would have made it into the top 10. Could you imagine if our MoPo and Roko were actually backed by decent board members? We could be challenging the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool. I'm soo frustrated and also falling out of love with the club over the lack of proactiveness. This has been ongoing for 3 years now. I don't feel valued as a fan at the moment. I don't feel like our voices are being heard. It's the same pattern every summer. I just don't get it. Why are these people involved in the football? They're the kind of people who are killing the game. JUST GET OUT!

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pete_boggs added 10:39 - Jul 27 As I've said before the non-football clowns in the offices are holding hands and leading us bit by bit to the Championship. Team Cortese is right, they must have been laughing their heads off when we recently, consistently, over achieved with top managers.
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stfrancisofbenali added 14:09 - Jul 27 It is very clear we have decided on a policy of treading water which means, in real terms, we are heading backwards, fast. West Ham finished below us last season, despite scoring 6 more goals than us. They have gone out and spent £36M in the last two weeks on strikers, one of whom (Hernandez) is a proven goal-poacher and who we were linked with when he left Untied in 2015. Interestingly we weren't linked at all this time around. West Ham have improved and by comparison, we are in reverse. Remember, only Sunderland scored fewer goals at home than us last season, so to neglect the facts in front of us and not sign a striker/attacking midfielder is professional suicide.

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