Its the last day of the transfer window and it starts with more news of players on the way out than on the way in.

As we enter the last hours of the January transfer window, all the rumour appears to be on outgoings rather than incoming.

The big news though does not seem to be talk of Luke Shaw leaving, the public stance from the Saints camp seems to be that Shaw doesn't want to move and is going nowhere, but interestingly there is little real paper talk of pressure, of course there is the usual lazy journalism with snippets in the gossip columns of the nationals, but no real concrete evidence that any of the alleged interested parties have actually put in any bids at all.

There is a lot of bluster from the press but no action from the club's, this is of course good news for Saints, not only in the short term, but perhaps a longer period in that the top club's that would be able to entice him away, don't seem to be focusing on Luke, perhaps they don't feel that at this moment in time he is ready to step into their first team or is better than what they already have, but the interest is just not there.

Most likely big move on the Saints front is Osvaldo where as you can see in the papers, the press is being briefed as to the likelihood of the move as well as the type of move and fee involved, it is entirely likely that he will be a Juventus player come the end of this evening.

Jack Cork is still the subject of interest from Swansea, in many respects no one could blame him if he left, if Wanyama had not been injured this would certainly have happened from the point of view Cork could not have been happy at the way he was frozen out of the side earlier in the season, that was a very strange situation that if it had happened to some players would have lead to rumours of bust ups etc, Cork though is a model professional, has just got on with it and not moaned publicly.

Now he is back in the team and has been as good as any player since his return, but the question he has to ask himself is whether on Wanyama's return he will fins himself back in the cold, perhaps he will be willing to hang on to the end of the season to find out if things have changed, but how Pochettino treated Cork is a big mystery and if it doesn't change then I feel Jack will be Jacking in at Saints come the summer with no shortage of Premier League suitors.

So with the outgoings discussed what about the incomings ?

There is little being linked with Saints at the moment, the obvious like David Astori but apart from that not a lot else, the first thing to remember though is that long before the current boardroom situation flared up Mauriccio Pochettino was stating that he didnt expect to do much business in the January window, nothing probably has changed in that area, like any manager Pochettino will look to improve his squad, but the fact is Saints don't need to in this transfer window, they are probably better off planning for the summer than paying over the odds now.

The reality is though that the Club don't need to spend because of their position in the League, it would take a collapse of Biblical proportions to see us being relegated and the same sort of thing in reverse if we look upwards, when Mauricio Pochettino took over last season he earned 19 points from his last 16 games exactly the same as his predecessor in his last 16, starting before the Arsenal game we had 16 left, we have got a point out of that, if Pochettino repeats the very average form of the tail end of last season that would give us 50 points, he has a stronger squad now to do that so there is no reason why he shouldn't, put bluntly progress should be a steady thing we do not need to panic by

As I said in an article a month ago, now is the time to blood a few players and find out if they have what it takes to be a Premier league player, the departure of Osvaldo opens a door for Sam Gallagher, if he takes it then great, if he doesnt then we will know long before the summer that we need to be looking at another forward.

So although I of course would be delighted to be surprised by the arrival of a new signing, I won't be disappointed if no one is bought.

Photo: Action Images

davidhosey added 11:06 - Jan 31 All true Nick. Normally at this time of year I am praying for one or two unexpected quality players to arrive, but as we are safe I can understand waiting until the summer. However wouldn't it be nice if they did sign a good central defender as Lovren could be out for some time. I know Hoiveldt tries hard but he simply cannot cope in this league.
0

SaintNick added 11:31 - Jan 31 I would love us to get a quality signing in the centre of defence, but I would rather us wait till the summer and get the right man rather than make the mistake we did last January with Forren
0

montecristo added 12:01 - Jan 31 word is Sergio Garcia may be on the way of Osvaldo is sold....
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Rochdale Polls