Saints have been in the market for a keeper to put pressure on both Gavin Bazunu & Alex McCarthy, but fans will be divided as to whether the new signing will dothat, read on to find out who the new man is.

BBC Sport is reporting that Southampton have signed goalkeeper George Long from fellow Championship club Norwich City.

The 31 year old who will turn 32 in November has had a steady career since starting with Sheffield United back in the 2010/11 season.

He spent 7 seasons at Bramall Lane making exactly 100 League appearances, all but 1 in League One, the other in the Championship on his debut.

He had a few seasons out on loan in hit time there playing for Oxford United, Motherwell and AFC Wimbledon, before joining Hull City in 2018/19, he was regular choice in just one of those season playing 45 games in the Championship.

After that he was at Millwall for two seasons, again he was first choice in just one season, playing 36 times in 2022/23.

he joined Norwich in the summer of 2024 and was back up to ex Saint Angus Gunn, playing just 7 League games in his first season and then 9 last season.

So it does not look likely that George Long will be looked at as a rival for Gavin Bazunu, it seems that Will Still has faith in our current number 1 and the club are just looking for a 3rd keeper who can offer experience at this level.

I won't insult everybody by quoting both the player and the club from the official website, .

All Photos Via Reuters

dirk_doone added 18:55 - Aug 25 Just when you thought Sport Republic's recruitment couldn't get any worse, they go and siign the worst goalkeeper in professional football. These comments from Norwich fans sum up just how bad he is: "George Long The worst keeper I’ve ever seen in yellow and green" "Beyond inept. He's clearly way out of his depth." "Never want to see him in a Norwich shirt again," "He wouldn't have made sub in my under 10's team"

2

mascott514 added 19:19 - Aug 25 Its fine Gavin is our No1 and appears to be improving from two years ago Just need a bit of cover at a reasonable price
0

Butty101 added 19:33 - Aug 25 Lol Gavin improving…. He can’t find his bearings
0

Bowlercow added 20:17 - Aug 25 From a training perspective we need to have 3 keepers He doesn't need to be able to challenge Baz or Mac It is just a numbers game Everything our management team do meets with criticism on these threads Whatever happened to wait and see
3

BigbadBarry8myboat added 21:51 - Aug 25 So in the last week or so. What do we now need? 1) A commanding CB. 2) A creative midfielder 3) A striker. It's not a which do we need but a "we need all of them" scenario.
4

beynali73 added 09:59 - Aug 26 Hi Bowlercow, I understand your comment and it's much healthier outlook than doom and gloom but I think the issue isn't one signing its the wider actions of sports republic. I've read this morning that the striker who came over Wellington earlier this year has been sold to SR's Turkish club. If this is true it is another strange transaction. SR are often a hive of activity in terms of young players that arrive at Saints to then be loaned out straight away. Lots of financial transactions and paperwork without a positive impact on the first team. It begs the question of what is happening. Running a successful football club requires both long and mid term planning but also it needs to address the current deficiencies in the first team, of which Saints have at least 2 (stopping and scoring goals) The manager has said he does not have the players to set up the team as he wishes. Not many days left to address the first team issues and as you say we should wait and see but based on the last 3 years of SR's first team football decisions what is the likelihood of bringing a commanding CB and a proven striker? If I was a betting man I'd say 100-1.

0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Derby County Polls