It may still be November, but Eddie Howe and the recruitment team will no doubt have already started working on their list of January and summer transfer targets.
The jury’s still out on the success of this past window, where the German pair of Malick Thiaw and Nick Woltemade have enjoyed an excellent start to life at St James’ Park, whilst the likes of Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey are still taking time to get into the swing of things.
So we must nail down every aspect of recruitment over the next few months, particularly in our problem areas out wide, at full-back and in goal.
There’s a big decision to be made in regards to the latter, particularly with Nick Pope’s recent form and the confirmation that he’s set for at least another year with us, with a new report giving us a big hint on the future of his no.2 and closest competitor…
According to The Chronicle’s Lee Ryder, Aaron Ramsdale is keen to make his current loan move a permanent one, having made his Premier League debut with us just this past weekend.
Details of the transfer fee have also emerged, with the report stating that Southampton are expected to demand £16m next summer to make the move permanent, having already banked a £4m loan fee.
The 27-year-old may have only made competitive appearances in the Carabao Cup and a second half substitution against Brentford, but his performances have drawn praise so far, with him making some superb stops in our 2-0 win over Spurs last month.
And the prospect of playing elite-level football rather than the Championship struggle Southampton have found themselves in is clearly a big motivator for Ramsdale, who may be in contention for an England spot for the World Cup next summer if he manages to usurp Pope and produce some good performances in the process.
Having been recalled to the Three Lions himself, Pope’s own hopes of a World Cup space were dealt a harsh blow as he was forced off at GTech Community Stadium with what looked to be a concussion.
But after some questionable displays over the last few weeks from the former Burnley ace, Ramsdale now has a golden opportunity to become Howe’s no.1 option.
Concussion protocols mean Pope is out for 12 days (from Sunday) and should therefore be fit for Man City a week on Saturday, but this could be Ramsdale’s chance to get a run in the side.
Pope has been one of Howe’s most dependable players, as well as one of the club’s many vice-captains, however, so there is no guarantee he is dropped from the side. We saw last season that after returning from injury, he immediately replaced the excellent Martin Dubravka in the run up to the Carabao Cup final, where Pope got the nod to start at Wembley over the Slovakian.
So it may take some top performances from Ramsdale and an impressive 10 days of training over the break if he wants to cement his spot between the sticks, as he won’t just be handed it after two poor games from Pope.