Southampton Squad Should They Stay Or Should They Go !
Wednesday, 4th Jun 2025 10:00
This summer will see Saints trying to offload a lot of players in the squad, some of them are obvious and the fans will see them as dead wood, but others may be more contentious and divide fan opinion, here we give our take on who should stay and who should go. Do you agree ?
This article is a simple one, although it will be a long one, so spread into several parts, it is a list of the squad players, a rough guide to their valuation and our verdict on whether they should have a future at St Mary's.
It will divide opinion on some and on others it may seem obvious to keep them, everyone would ideally say keep but it won't be so simple.
Anyway eyes down look in and give your opinions in the comments section at the bottom of the article.
We start with the goalkeepers.
Aaron Ramsdale.
A player we would all love to keep, but financially that is not going to happen, we need to get the £20 million we paid for him back in the coffers and his £100,000 a week off the wage bill.
Sadly it is both the player and the club's interest for a parting of the ways, His market value is around £20-25 million, Saints will take the lower offer if it is the only one on the table and it will get their initial outlay back.
Verdict- Sell ! Transfer fee expected £20 million.
Gavin Bazunu.
The young keeper has his critics, mainly due to being thrown into a car crash of a team 3 years ago in the Premier League as a 20 year old, that wasn't his fault and it affected his confidence, but there is no need for some of the hatred shown towards him in some sections of the support.
He can still have a future at the club and could flourish back in the Championship, a team in any division does not go 23 League games unbeaten if a goalkeeper is as poor as some would claim.
Verdict - Keep.
Alex McCarthy.
A difficult one, on one hand he is highly experienced, but on the other he is ok for the odd game due to injury to the first choice but not for longer spells, if Gavin Bazunu is number one you need cover for him that can step in to the job for longer term in case of injury.
Verdict Tough one I would say sell, but at his age and with a year left on his contract it would be difficult to get a fee, even more difficult to get someone to meet his current wages. Fee achievable Nil.
Joe Lumley.
Out of contract this summer and likely to leave the club, however still only 30 and proven at Championship level, he could be a better bet than Alex McCarthy as back up, I think at the moment the club are having a long look at both keepers as an option, but they know it will be hard to shift McCarthy due to his wages.
Verdict - Keep but only if we can move Alex McCarthy on. Transfer fee achievable - Nil he is out of contract.
Overall I would think that Saints would prefer a clean sweep here apart from perhaps Gavin Bazunu who they feel has a good future ahead of him and is Championship level at least.
That may well see both McCarthy and Lumley leave and fresh blood brought in as back up, that would be an acceptable situation for most Saints fans who want to see a bloated squad slashed in number and re populated with new blood.
That is the goalkeepers reviewed, in part two we will look at the full back situation.
But it won't be as simple as that
All Photos Via Reuters
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