It can be a hectic four weeks for managers in the January transfer window.
Some refuse to be drawn into activity, content with their current squad, while others hint at their desperation to strengthen or signal a major message of intent to their rivals.
And in the Premier League there has been plenty of rumours swirling around over possible incomings and outgoings.
So here at talkSPORT, we’ve decided to look at what we believe is a priority for every top flight club in the winter market.
Mamadou Sakho is set to decide his future in the next 48 hours with Southampton favourites to sign the Liverpool outcast.
Sakho knows he must quit Anfield to relaunch his stalled career and the France defender has attracted interest from Southampton, West Ham, Sevilla and Galatasaray.
Sakho, 26, would prefer to join another Premier League club and is understood to favour a move to Southampton.
Saints are more stable than West Ham and he knows compatriot Claude Puel from playing against him in France.
Southampton feel Sakho could replace wantaway captain Jose Fonte and Puel has excluded him from his EFL Cup squad to face Liverpool because he handed in a transfer request.
Sakho is considering his various offers and is expected to make a decision before the end of the week.
Liverpool want a cash deal for the former Paris St Germain centre-half, who has not played this season after spectacularly falling out with Jurgen Klopp on the club’s US summer tour.
However the Reds may have to accept a loan move with a view to a permanent deal in the summer to offload Sakho.
West Brom and Southampton interested in Manolo Gabbiadini deal, report Sky in Italy
West Brom and Southampton are interested in signing Napoli striker Manolo Gabbiadini, according to Sky in Italy.
Gabbiadini is set to leave Napoli in January and has been reportedly linked with a host of clubs, predominately in the Premier League and Germany’s Bundesliga.
The 25-year-old has scored four goals in 18 appearances this season and was on target in Napoli’s 2-1 win over Sampdoria last Saturday.
Wolfsburg are reported to want Gabbiadini on loan but Napoli reportedly prefer a permanent deal, valuing their player at close to £20m.
Agent Silvio Pagliari recently said in the Italian press: "The decision is made, Manolo is leaving. We’ll have it arranged at the end of next week.
"Premier League or Bundesliga? He’ll definitely join one out of those two leagues.
“He is very suitable for both, since being a technical as well as a powerful player. But, before all is done, you won’t hear me saying where he could go.”
“We played Liverpool in the Premier League and it was a strong game for us with organisation,” said the Frenchman.
"We played strong and were strong in defence.
"We played at a good level but it will be important for this game to have more of the ball and try and have control of the game.
"Their ability to control the ball along with good pressing, with technical players, is exciting. We want to exploit them.
"The players are ready for the game. It is an exciting challenge for us. The Premier League game was strong, there are many games in January, different possibilities.
“This game is important and I think my players are ready for the game.”
| Spartak Moscow eyeing Jose Fonte | Spartak Moscow have emerged as shock contenders to sign Jose Fonte this month. Russian news outlet Sport Express … 10-01-2017 |
| Palace lining up a shock move for Fonte | Southampton club captain Jose Fonte is being linked with a surprise move to Crystal Palace this month. According to … 10-01-2017 |
Sutton United manager Paul Doswell admitted at the weekend that he was “devastated” after the BBC opted not to show his side’s third-round tie against AFC Wimbledon, but will he or Neal Ardley get a second bite of the cherry once their replay has been decided? Telegraph Sport has polished off its crystal ball and predicted which games television schedulers will chose to show at the end of the month and selected a handful that they really should consider . . .
Just six miles apart, this west London derby will have fans of the mid-table Championship side buzzing at the prospect of exacting revenge on their richer and more illustrious neighbours following the 4-0 drubbing they endured at Stamford Bridge in 2013.
It should be a cause for celebration, a time to reflect on the achievement of Claude Puel leading Southampton to their first League Cup semifinal in three decades only months after taking charge at St Mary’s.
Excited fans should be queuing round the block to get their hands on tickets for Wednesday’s mouth-watering first-leg at home to Jurgen Klopp’s free-scoring Liverpool.
But instead the build up to the biggest game of Southampton’s season, and arguably their biggest since returning to the Premier League in 2012, has been overshadowed by criticism of Puel’s boring playing style and apathy from the stands.
Apathy that runs so deep that rather than having to turn people away at the ticket office Southampton are struggling to sell out despite charging just £20 a seat.
Having watched their side score just 10 Premier League home goals all season, crash out of Europe without managing a single goal in three Europa League away games and labour to a 2-2 draw at Championship Norwich in the FA Cup third round, it is not hard to see where the fans’ frustration stems from.
Puel’s prematch news conferences, streamed by the club’s media department on their in-house YouTube channel, do little to change the perception of the Frenchman as anything other than dour – reflected in the eyes of supporters’ by his possession-obsessed tactics.
Despite being encouraged by his PR advisers to adopt a more upbeat demeanour in front of the media, Puel, who it has to be said is a pleasant enough guy, flatly refused to discuss the possibility of taking Southampton to their first major final in 14 years, trotting out the same “We are only looking at the next game,” cliché he has all season.
Come on, Claude. This the one time you can allow yourself to get swept away in the occasion. But still there was no flicker of a smile, no hint of a glint in the eye.
Perhaps we should have come to expect such a pragmatic attitude from a manager who as a player built his reputation on being a hard-working midfielder, solid but certainly not spectacular. Five words which could be used to sum up Southampton’s season so far.
However, there could yet be a spectacular end to the campaign, a Wembley date with Manchester United or Hull, and possibly even a first meaningful trophy since the 1976 FA Cup final.
But to turn that pipedream into reality, you sense Puel will have to become more ambitious on and off the pitch.
While Southampton’s stubborn defensive display in their 0-0 Premier League draw at home to Liverpool was admirable enough, a similar result on Wednesday will surely not be enough to take into a second leg at an expectant Anfield.
Puel has to send his side out to play on the front foot and try to catch Liverpool by surprise in the early exchanges and hope to exploit the defensive vulnerabilities that continue to undermine Klopp’s attempts to bring the glory days back to Merseyside.
It is what Puel’s predecessors, Ronald Koeman and Mauricio Pochettino, would have done, but would be going away from all we have seen from the former Monaco and Nice coach in his brief tenure on the south coast.
Instead it is likely Puel will ask his players to dominate the ball and restrict Liverpool’s army of attacking talent.
But will that be enough to secure progress over two legs? Enough to outscore Liverpool in 180 minutes of football? The answer to both these questions is almost certainly no.
That is why Puel needs to change his strategy and give those stay-away supporters what they want. Attack, attack, attack.
Alex Crook is ESPN FC’s Southampton blogger. Follow him on Twitter @alex_crook
Crystal Palace have appointed ex-Saints coach Sammy Lee as their new assistant manager, the Premier League club have announced.
Lee has joined the coaching staff at Selhurst Park, reuniting with new Palace boss Sam Allardyce, who he worked under during their time at Bolton from 2005 until 2007.
The 57-year-old has also enjoyed coaching spells with the England national team as well as roles at Liverpool and Saints at the end of last season.
Lee,who also played for Saints briefly in 1989/90, joined with goalkeeper coach Dave Watson in 2014, when Ronald Koeman arrived as manager.
The Liverpool legend rejected the assistant manager’s role at Brighton & Hove Albion to take the coaching role at Saints.
After two seasons, he left last July after Claude Puel’s arrival as manager.
Allardyce was delighted to welcome Lee back to his management set-up and told the club’s official website: "I am looking forward to once again working with Sammy.
“It was great working with him at Bolton and he is someone who has a wealth of experience both at club and international level over the years as well.”
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