03 Jul 2016 13:44:41
So if Pellé does become subject to bids after his Euro 2016 performance and the club does decide to sell him, who would Puel go for?

Alassane Pléa is a young striker who Puel signed at Nice during his last season there, bagging 9 goals in 52 appearances in his first full season as a starting XI striker. Not a bad record considering what Shane Long's record was like before we signed him from Hull!

Another player could be Sebastien Haller, another young French striker who's impressed for FC Utrecht, bagging 19 goals in 35 appearances for them. This is probably the most likely signing, considering Southampton's scouting being well and truly stuck in in the Eredivisie and Puel could be looking to bring fellow countrymen in to make communication with the squad a little bit easier.

1.) 03 Jul 2016
03 Jul 2016 15:53:22
I'd rather just promote one/ both of Sam Gallagher/ Ryan Seager.

2.) 03 Jul 2016
03 Jul 2016 16:15:33
9 in 52? I'd leave well alone.

3.) 03 Jul 2016
03 Jul 2016 16:30:27
Apparently it was agreed that wanyama, mane and pelle would be sold before koeman bailed to Everton. I remember seeing on here last year that we were linked with haller so could be something in it.

4.) 03 Jul 2016
03 Jul 2016 16:47:16
Agree with JP saint, we need a player that will bag 20+ goals if we want to 'March on'

5.) 03 Jul 2016
03 Jul 2016 19:13:12
WillsaSaint - Every club in the Premiership needs a player that scores 20 goals a year. how many achieved that last year 4-5?

Sam Gallagher will get his chance I'm sure, he played well in my opinion last 6 games of the season in the development squad.

Sebastian Haller looks a sensible bet, I'm sure that if Jay Rodrigues get back to 90% we will be well set, we might need an established player if we thing about Europe, its probably not possible but Sam Vokes would be good, especially if we let Pelle go which is financially the right thing to do, but as long as Shane Long stays (which I hope) and Charlie Austin plus Dusan Tadic we are not to weak.

I think we need a holding midfielder, Steve Davies, might drop back a little but we need another Schniderlin type player and maybe another bit of cover should Fonte or Van Dyke pick up an injury.

We probably need a bit of cover for a goalkeeper, I'm happy for Gazzaniga to be given a fair crack but i'd Forster got injured and we have the European schedule we are too skinny.

All interesting though. looking forward to it, only 6 weeks now. :-)

6.) 03 Jul 2016
03 Jul 2016 22:01:44
Agreed with all the Pléa criticism but he spent most of his season playing LW off the bench, where he was assisting the strikers.

If versatility is what we really need, then someone like Pléa would be a superb young signing, especially under Puel's striking coaching that's already starting to become a huge selling point of his appointment. In the busy European fixtures, having Plea available to play on the wings and upfront could give us that flexibility that we've lost with Mané.

7.) 03 Jul 2016
03 Jul 2016 23:17:56
Just remember we were the only team last year that had 3+ players score 10+ goals, granted Mane has left and Pelle looks on his way out. But Austin has the potential to reach 15 goals and so does Long. If Rodriguez can get back to where he was 3 seasons ago then he could 10 goals plus.

I think the main problem with our attack last year was inconsistency, Pelle is a good striker. However, he seems to score a clump of goals in a handful of games and then go on massive dry spells.

I'm sure Puel has an idea on who he wants to sign, he's already said he wants to work on the youth academy, so hopefully we should see younger saints boys develop. I'd prefer it if we could develop a squad from our own academy and build a team from that foundation then buying players from all over Europe.

8.) 03 Jul 2016
03 Jul 2016 23:36:50
Totally agree Jay, however if we were to drop them in the deep end now it could not only be detrimental to our season and how we perform but also to their confidence and their future careers.

If we have the right mix of experience being brought in and fresh youngsters with tonnes of ability coming through, then we'd be in a much better position than simply promoting from within.

In the last half an hour though, it's emerged that Puel is targeting Sidibe from Lille, of whom was voted into the Ligue 1 Team of the Season. He can play left back and right back and would most likely be a replacement for Cedric if he does indeed leave for Barcelona.