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Manager Claims Saints Deal Is Close !
Monday, 20th May 2019 10:36

There are many rumours at this time of yer and it is hard to sort out the wheat fro the chafe, which are agent talk, which are stalking horses and which have any substance, but now a claim direct from the selling manager's mouth.

Saints have been linked with Standard Liege's Moussa Djenepo before, the player who will turn 21 next month and can play either as a forward or a striker fits Ralph Hasenhuttl's blueprint and is an easy fit to suggest as a potential transfer target and no doubt his agent will be trying to link his client with not just Saints but a few other clubs to drum up interest.

But now some more concrete rumours emerge that Djenepo could be on his way to St Mary's in quotes from Standard Liege's manager Michel Preud’homme speaking after the end of the Jupiler Pro League season in Belgium.

A week or so ago rumours did the rounds in Belgium that Saints had made a monster bid for the player, said to be in the region of 23 million euros, this was said to be being denied by Standard Liege in the press, but the rumours abounded.

Michel Preud’homme was quoted as saying :

“When you see that a team like Southampton can make an offer of €22m for a player like him, it’s hard to say no. Has there been an offer? It’s close."

“There are noises, chats, contacts, but the offer in itself has yet to be confirmed”.

So according to the manager of Standard Liege Saints have been in talks and discussions including price have been taking place, so perhaps this is a little more than rumour and has some substance although that does not mean that the deal will get over the line as there are sure to be other clubs involved.

But is the player worth £20 m the rough exchange rate in £'s, after all like Moi Elyounoussi he has a good reputation but it is in a League that is far from the strongest in Europe.

Transfermarkt reveal that Djenepo was signed by Standard Liege 2 years ago for £45k and that they think his current market value is around £4.5k, however what that is based on is unclear and a player is worth what a club is prepared to pay.

Certainly his stats are impressive, in the main Jupiler League season he played 25 times and scored 7 goals along with 3 assists, in the play offs he played 7 times with 1 goal and 1 assist and in the Europa League he added a further 5 appearances and 3 goals.

So his stats are impressive, but the question is whether he has been truly tested, questions like this have been asked about both Sadio Mane who joined from the Austrian League with success and the aforementioned Elyounoussi from Switzerland with no success so far.

It sounds a little like 22 mlilion euros is the starting asking price from SL, but the actual price might be a bit lower.

From this viewpoint you have to feel that Djenepo would be in direct competition with Che Adams of Birmingham in Saints sights, that being the case and Adams currenly being quoted as a £15 million target, you have to say that Djenepo might well be a fall back option for Saints should the Adams deal not happen.

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halftimeorange added 11:09 - May 20
Following the death of competitive English football as we know it at Wembley on Saturday, it does make me wonder whether we will ever be seriously able to compete, no matter how much we pay for players. It is not easy to get excited about new signings when we can afford to pay only a third of what Man City can dish out, knowing that if our manager is able to forge a winning team at St Marys then he, too, is likely to be attracted elsewhere by silly money. I guess that at least while we have Ralph, he is likely to generally bring in players that he knows and trusts. I have renewed my ST so I must have some hope!
6

dirk_doone added 11:32 - May 20
Let's hope he's Ralph's choice and not another one of Ross's.

There isn't much info about him online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moussa_Djenepo
1

dirk_doone added 12:11 - May 20
halftimeorange, there is still hope: football didn't die when Bury beat Derby 6-0 in the 1903 FA Cup Final and when Man City were in the Third Division just 20 years ago, their fans probably thought they'd never be able to compete with United or even us. Teams are constantly moving up and down the leagues.
0

SonicBoom added 13:13 - May 20
Wow - so in this case buying a young English player (Adams) is actually cheaper than a European alternative. First time for everything......
3

dirk_doone added 13:52 - May 20
If Ross's recent record is anything to go by, he is probably going to pay far too much for him. Standard Liege paid just £45k for him less than 2 years ago.
0

underweststand added 15:44 - May 20
We trust in Ralph may sound OK, but only he knows what formations he wants the team to play and a lot of these "guess who's the the gossip of the week" tales lead nowhere.

If we were indeed going for Che Adams - why the change of heart if the fees are similar?

I think most of us would agree that we need another CB + extra cover at FB, but primarily another striker to... play alongside / cover for / complement Danny ings, and pick up extra goals from other players along the way.

I think the real question will NOT be... who are we going to sign, but who will be left after the dealing to get rid of those who are ..."surplus to requirements" in Ralph's planning.
Stand by for surprises.
0

A_Saint_in_Stoke added 23:10 - May 20
A safer bet, in my opinion, is Brum's Adams, a good championship player know's how to step up to Premiership standards ............ I have been Sooo disappointed with Elyounoussi taken from an inferior lower Switzerland league - with no success so far.
3

JimmyMeliaPhD added 02:55 - May 21
I've said it here a lot of times before...a squad salary cap is the only thing that will stop the procession of the rich getting richer.
1

BaselSaint added 07:57 - May 21
Its as if you need to spend in excess of 20 mill just to have a chance of staying in the league
0

LoisDeem added 11:28 - May 21
Agree with Jimmy Melia -squad salary cap for top six to pay no more than Saints do now.
This will make the whole league a lot more interesting -especially if the goalkeepers are the highest earners. The following season the media can introduce a wage structure (for their puppets) based on the existing finishing position payment, with even manager's earnings related.
0

SaintBrock added 13:44 - May 21
Unfortunately that is not going to happen. A European Super League looks ever more likely and when it comes the money will go with it and the days of milk and honey will be a distant memory for those players who are not good enough to make the ESL club squads.

In a free market it is impossible to control salaries.
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