Saints have signed Argentinian born goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga from Gillingham with Tommy Forecast going the other way.
Saints seem to have signalled their intent to start the season with Kelvin Davis in goal after signing Paulo Gazzaniga from Gillingham for an undisclosed fee with Tommy Forecast joining the Kent club on a season long loan as part of the deal, however with Gazzaniga's lack of experience the big question is in what capacity to they intend to use him in the coming year, at only 20 has he been brought for the developement squad, with another experienced keeper coming in or has he been signed as back up to Kelvin and to push him for his place.
If its the latter then the worry could be that in many respects he is at the same level as Bart Bialkowski and this being the case his lack of experience is a worry, a year ago he was released from Valencia in Spain after rising no higher than training with the 4th team plus a few youth team games.
How Gillingham picked him up is uncertain, but they liked what they saw and gave him a two year deal, initially he was second choice and by January had only a Johnstone's Paint trophy and Fa Cup appearance to his name, butb he got into the side in January and held on to his place, playing 19 games keeping 7 clean sheets in the process, which brought him to the attention of Saints amongst other clubs.
He now arrives at St Mary', undoubtably one for the future, but does he have the experience that we need next season ? that is the key, in many respects his career mirrors the early rise of Bart Bialkowski with a promising begining, the big question now is unlike Bart can he push on and realise his potential, will he be the next Joe Hart or the next Bialkowski.
Some of you might accuse me of a bit of negativity on this signing, I dont mean to be, I am trying to assess the situation as it is, there is little evidence of him as a keeper as he has so little track record, yes he is heralded as a big talent, but a year ago he was being released from Valencia after struggling to get into their youth team, what has happened in the short time since ?
I really do hope that he goes on to become Saints keeper for the next decade, however at this time I am worried that he is not ready for the Premier and i do hope that we are looking at a truly experienced Premier keeper whilst bringing on Paulo without pressure, being thrown in at the deep end can make or break a young keeper, I want him to blossom naturally not to be thrown to the lions because we have no choice.