Ronald Koeman has said that despite the departure of Steven Caulker he will still only be looking to make a move for one player in the transfer window.

Ronald koeman has played down reports linking him with virtually every player on the continent and beyond in this transfer window, speaking ahead of tonight's game against Watford the Saints manager confirmed that firstly he would not be looking to replace Caulker.

“No because everybody is looking for centre backs and we need players at the moment who makes the team better and we need players that are better than the players that we have and not have numbers in the team,” he said. “We need young ones for that."

“We spoke about his situation and Steven came in in the summer, still before we signed Virgil van Dijk.

“We had Florin Gardos with a long term injury and he was a back-up at that moment.

“He didn’t play a lot and normally we have more defenders for that position and I am not the coach to complain his future and to stop his opportunity to play for Liverpool.”

“If we will bring in a player it will be one, not more,”

“We are not a club who will be worried and to bring in much more players than we need. No.”

Koeman also scotched rumours that he was about to make a move for Feyenoord's Tonny Vilhena and likewise a potential loan deal for former Saints star Calum Chambers, who is now at Arsenal, as “impossible.”

“I like enough players but it’s too expensive, It’s impossible for Southampton to bring in.

“It’s difficult in the winter and time to really bring in better players than we have.”

Koeman also denied that Manchester United had been in touch about Jake Hesketh .

“No. I don’t know,”

“I read something in the press about Man United. I don’t know.

“Jake Hesketh is an under-21 player. I don’t know the situation"

So is Koeman really only after one player and if so what one and in what position, he has previously stated that he was only after a striker and this would make sense given that the Jay Rodriguez injury situation is unclear and that Sadio Mane could go if not in this transfer window but in the summer.

But is that still his priority and he could be simply trying to deflect interest away from his true targets, certainly most managers when asked direct questions about possible transfer targets go into a default deny everything mode and Koeman is no different.

But he is right the squad is good enough yes perhaps a couple of the players are not yet to the standard that their predecessors where last season, but sometimes in football you have to build a squad over time rather than wit quick fixes ad Koeman certainly seems to think that he is going in the right direction.

Saints fans have to trust Koeman to get it right, but they have to understand that in football you cannot always keep having a better season than last, Saints have done well over the past two, this season now needs to be about consolidating those gains and then looking to move forward again, a top ten finish remains the aim and if that turns out to be the case then we will truly have foundations to build on to take the next step forward.

Photo: Action Images

perazi added 09:34 - Jan 13 Good article. I can't believe
0

Zambucco added 11:45 - Jan 13 “I like enough players but it’s too expensive, It’s impossible for Southampton to bring in. Maybe a message to the board to splash the cash?
4

IWOZTHERE added 12:11 - Jan 13 I hope it's a smokescreen. There's too much at stake to be complacent . I see the Clasie injury as being the most damaging issue we've suffered. He was supposed to be the answer to the faster development of our attacking play. Including VW we are well blessed in midfield but unless Clasie 'steps up', we have no-one else who looks comfortable when they stray over the halfway line, and the slow build up has caused a lot of our scoring problems. If Ron isn't looking for another attacking midfielder we can only hope that his faith in Clasie is justified. Still a gamble I think, because we've not had that much time to look at him and time is ticking away. I'm against the flow when I say I don't think just 'buying a striker' would solve our scoring woes and I also think that in a fully functioning team we could cover Cedric's occasional defensive lapses, he's got potential, but with what's at stake can we afford to take these risks? We need to move upwards anyway and be regarded as progressive again or in the summer merry go round we'll lose more than we gain. (once more).

3

SaintJez added 12:33 - Jan 13 Surprising comments from Koeman regarding Hesketh. Must be demotivating for the kid to be labelled "just an under 21 player" and "ask Martin Hunter or Les Reed regarding offers for him as the player is nothing to do with his first team". Is a bizarre way to motivate one of our brightest young talents and sure to have an impact on those at the academy or looking to join it. Assuming we don't lose any players except Caulker, I'd like Saints to sign 2. Charlie Austin and Adnan Januzaj would be my preferred 2. The latter of those might be a bit fanciful and have the same end product problem that already plagues us but I just feel this kid has bags of potential which just needs to be tapped into an nurtured. One day he could be a world beater if he could find himself at a club that will give him regular game time. Our midfield still dominates most games we play and there's 6 good players (VW, Romeu, Claisie, Davis, JWP and Reed) competing for 3 spots so I don't see much of a need to strengthen there. Cedric, despite a few mistakes, is clearly our best right back and needs to be given the chance to show what he can do without the pressure that 1 error will see him axed again. it's a big step from the relative ease of Portuguese football to up tempo premier league. He is good though. The future is not too bleak providing we don't make daft decisions on selection and tactics and we can bring in a bit more quality in the final third to spice it up.

1

DPeps added 12:51 - Jan 13 Great comments from IWOZ and SaintJez. Charlie Austin is one option but id be amazed if we signed him. His wages will be too much for us and QPR know how desperate we are so will ramp up the price. The chance to sign him was last summer. The way Koeman is talking I'd expect one very underwhelming signing!
1

SaintJez added 13:31 - Jan 13 Austin is out of contract in the summer I believe so transfer fee should be small. He'll want decent wages though. I remember him not completing one move because of a failed medical and the West Ham owner suggesting he had no ligaments in his knees. Think that was widely ridiculed but not sure if there's anything in that which could prevent a transfer and / or put him in the high risk category.

1

BoondockSaint added 13:31 - Jan 13 I would like two players: a defender who knows how to put his foot through the ball when it comes into our half rather than pass it back to our keeper or to the opposition, and a striker who knows where the net is without having to stop and look around for it and then still miss. If we can only get one player it better be one that can fire up the team and make them feel embarrassed not to put in a full effort for the whole game.

1

mesquita added 18:44 - Jan 14 let's keep it simple - "we will only buy players BETTER than the ones we have" - taking yesterdays starting 11 plus Pelle, Tadic and Wanyama, with JRod coming back soon - just who would you bring in and to replace who?
0

mesquita added 19:47 - Jan 16 yes, Charlie Austin qualifies by my criteria above
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls