Saints are going to be very busy this weekend, a trip to Watford in the Championship may well be preceded by a hectic bout of transfer dealings. But of the five deals in the pipeline it is the departure that will hurt Saints fans.

Matteus Fernandes has been a fan favourite at St Mary's for the past year since arriving from Porto, he has been one of the best players in the Championship so far and although most accepted that he needed to be playing in a top flight League and would leave the club, the stories leaking out of St Mary's have not put the player in a bad light.

11 Years ago Adam Lallana left St Mary's in controversial fashion and went from hero to zero due what was perceived by the fan base as disloyal behaviour and up to his return a year ago, always received a hot welcome on his returns to his former home.

No one argued back then about why he wanted to depart, but he was seen as pushing the club into letting him go and even after joining the England squad for that summers World Cup left the camp to push through his move to Liverpool by having a medical.

Now it seems history is repeating itself as Matteus Fernandes is alleged to have gone to London for his medical without a deal between the two clubs agreed and without the knowledge or permission of Southampton FC itself.

This may result in a complaint from Saints going forward, they had accepted that Fernandes wanted to leave and why and appreciated those reasons, but all of that was blown out of the window in the space of one day as it seems the player and perhaps more accurately his agent, tried to push Saints into accepting a deal that they did not thing was matching their valuation of the player.

The more generous of Southampton supporters will perhaps give the player leeway and pin the blame on West Ham & his agent, they could have a point, Fernandes might well have travelled for the medical having been told by his agent that a fee had been agreed, he may have felt that he was free now to take that medical, but one thing is for sure if no deal had been done that West Ham would have certainly have known that they were not authorised to allow it to proceed.

Whether Fernandes's move will work out though is open for debate, West Ham are in absolute chaos and when Fernandes walks through the door on Monday, he might well be passing David Moyes going in the other direction, if that is the case a new manager might consider

That argument though is for the coming weeks, in the meantime it is just sad that after giving us so much pleasure and indeed being a ray of hope last season that Matteus Fernandes should be departing leaving a sour taste in the mouth.

But that is football and he is not the first nor the last player who will leave the club in controversial circumstances, once he is gone he is gone and we have to move forward and it seems that Johannes Spors has been pro active in that direction.

As Fernandes walks out the door metaphorically speaking as it seems that he has already done that, it seems that deal have been agreed to bring in four people to replace him.

The first is likely to be Finn Azaz from Middlesbrough, no one can complain about his pedigree, his record in the Championship over the last 3 seasons at Plymouth & then Boro are superb in Championship terms, if he comes in he has the ability to dominate games in this division as much if not more than Matteus Fernandes could do.

Also with the right pedigree is Tom Fellows who looks like he is joining from West Brom, the right winger (in footballing terms not political) has an impressive stat of 8 goals and 18 assists in 85 Championship games for the Baggies.

These two are truly positive signings.

Third through the now spinning St Mary's revolving door could be Caspar Jandar, the 22 year old central midfielder from 1FC Nurenberg, is a central midfielder and highly rated, he has not played in the top flight in Germany but been impressive in 2 Bundesliga, a defensive midfielder there to put pressure on Shea Charles & Flynn Downes with both Joe Aribl & Will Smallbone likely to leave.

The fourth arrival is said to be Leo Scienza from Heidenheim who may not be a familiar name to many, but are a German top flight club.

The 26 year old left winger( yes this is in footballing terms as well) had been a slow started in his career and only reached the Bundesliga last season, there he scored 3 times plus another 3 assists last season and in this one he has got off to a great start with a goal in Heidenheim's opening Bundesliga fixture.

So as Fernandes closes the door on his Saints career we will replace him with these four and perhaps more to follow, of the quartet set to arrive today, Aziz & Fellows have the proven track record and are superb signings that will not only strengthen our squad but wweaken those of Middlesbrough & West Brom, two clubs with promotion aspirations.

Jandar is up and coming in Germany and has the potential to step up to the plate and it is only Scienza who will perhaps not completely convince the fans from his stats.

IT should be noted that Saints are buying to get out of this division, perhaps not for the hoped for promotion back to the Premier League.

With only one winger in the first team squad, Ryan Fraser, this has severely hampered Will Still's ability to change formation, he has been forced to stick to the 3 at the back rather than go to a flat back 4 with wingers.

If all of these four do arrive then we are now strong in all areas, on paper the biggest and best squad in the Championship, with both experience and also youthful potential.

The balance has not been there for the first month of Will Still's reign, by next week it could be just right.

However I would still like to see a leader in the back four come in, Ben Mee is training at Sheffield United and is a free agent, someone get his phone number.

All Photos Via Reuters

Colburn added 09:46 - Aug 29 David Moyes is the Everton manager
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BigbadBarry8myboat added 09:54 - Aug 29 Couldn't agree more on the Ben Mee point.
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saintmark1976 added 10:16 - Aug 29 Any chance we could sign what every man and a his dog can see we need, a proper fit goal scoring centre forward who can hold the ball up for all these new wingers and midfielders to play off him ?
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kenis added 10:39 - Aug 29 Don’t want and don’t need Ben Mee. Nothing against him but even if / when THB leaves with Stephens, Wood, Edwards and Quarshie we have enough centre backs and we know Taylor, Bree, and even Charles can all cover there if there was a dramatic injury suspension or form crisis. Wood has been impressive and should be a starter at championship level which he won’t be if THB stays. Don’t see us getting a centre forward unless something falls in our lap that’s too good to turn down, Stewart, Armstrong and Archer should be more than enough with Downes unproven but clearly someone Spores thinks can cut it. Also I don’t understand why we’ve never even tried Breton Diaz and Armstrong in a two up top given their Blackburn days returns, looks like BBD will depart though given wage and position in the pecking order, think he just needs a run playing to get back on form. Our squad was too big, and looks like still will be even if Edozie, Aribo, BBD and THB go. I’d like to see Smallbone stay and force his way into the team, gives us something different alongside Downs/Charles or on right of both in a three.

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jameslastfan added 10:39 - Aug 29 I won’t think badly on MF, he has been a star and by all accounts has had the right conversations with Will Still. He is young and ambitious and proven u21 internationally so wants to move that on to represent his country - fair enough. If it goes wrong at WH then equally it can’t be said he knew nothing about it - they are in a pickle and management changes and all that uncertainty could affect him. I suspect he is good enough to make the move a success though but if he went for an unscheduled medical that will have to be taken up properly - but he didn’t just jump in the car and pop along - this was a WH arranged session and they will need to take the responsibility.

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PezzaSaint added 11:01 - Aug 29 MF wanted to go, he wants to try and force his way into Portugal’s World Cup squad and with all due respect to the Saints he won’t improve his chances playing in the Championship! Good luck to him!
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highfield49 added 11:06 - Aug 29 No doubt at all, Fernandes is a very good footballer but I very much doubt if he'll change West Ham's season around. Although it would have been a bonus to keep him at St Marys Azaz and Fellows should provide more goals and pressure on opponents. Let's be realistic, if Dibling and Fernandes had reached peak performance levels they would have be poached by the wealthy elite anyway. Fingers crossed, but in my view the club has gained from the transfer activity.

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saintpete01 added 11:10 - Aug 29 Coming soon new Eastenders Team WEST SPAM SOUTHAMPTON
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ItchenNorth added 12:22 - Aug 29 BigbadBarry8myboat - you got a 'like' from me, just for that username 😂
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allsaint54 added 13:32 - Aug 29 Lets hope JWP wasn't included as part of Fernandez deal. Great shame he's gone, but hopefully money will be spent wisely, not least a striker who looks as though he can score as we only have Archer who looks half decent up front.
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onetowatch added 14:13 - Aug 29 Seriously Kenis!!!???? You honestly don't think that the shambles that is our defence, wouldn't benefit from Ben Mees'experience and organisation!!!??? If I questioned your opinion on that, then, to be honest, I don't know where to start on wanting Smallbone to 'force his way into the team'. I have no idea what you've been watching n recent seasons. WS still hasn't learn to turn with the ball yet, let alone force anything....

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IanRC added 16:38 - Aug 29 If Saints did not give permission WHU should be properly sanctioned for an improper approach however given the incompetence/ corruption (take your choice) of the authorities they will doubtless escape punishment. Just as Liverpool did when they poached Van Dyck. Hope we have a very good sell on clause. I am not very familiar with the incoming players but for now happy to trust in the views shared above. I thought Archer looked well up for it on Tuesday and his goal was very well taken. Would like to see him and a fully fit Stewart together. Not sure what is going on with Adam Armstrong but he has looked well off the pace recently, perhaps another fully fit ? Would love to see WHU relegated and us promoted, might then have a chance of buying back Fernandes - LOL

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SaintPaulVW added 17:07 - Aug 29 Four in and One out surely?!?! Azaz, Jander and Fellows have all been confirmed. Matty F was a great player but the deal is that they make a name for themselves and move on. By moving it means we can buy these 3. As long as one of them is as good as Matty, then rinse and repeat. I'll break into 'Circle of life' in a minute.
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Monksway added 17:50 - Aug 29 So far it's 3 in and1 out with hopefully Scienza to come today or tomorrow. Sad to see Fernandes go regardless of any last minute media driven nonsense. However, squad feels more balanced. Interesting to see who is heading for the exit door now. Aribo and Edozie, perhaps Armstrong and Diaz and either Edwards or Smallbone. I'd really like Still to play Edwards tomorrow as a holding midfielder in front of a back four. I'm not sure that Smallbone is Still's sort of midfielder so maybe that will promote a move. Interesting few days but pretty good work to date.

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EvertonSaint added 19:52 - Aug 29 It has been quite a turnover this summer, but who else will leave St Mary’s by Monday evening. I make it 16 so far. I really do hope there are at least two more. Kamaldeen Sulemana Kyle Walker-Peters Paul Onuachu Joe Lumley Adam Lallana (Coach Role) Samuel Amo-Ameyaw Jan Bednarek Aaron Ramsdale Samuel Edozie Tyler Dibling Juan Larios Yukinari Sugawara Joachim Katie Sanda Juan Armel Bella-Kotchap Mateus Fernandes

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SanMarco added 11:50 - Aug 30 I've lost track of it all. We do seem to be a good CB and a good goal scorer short but what do I know. On the point of Wet Spam breaking rules. Look at the world: Laws, rules, principles - they're yesterday's news. It's all about power, corruption and lies now.
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YosemiteSaint added 19:25 - Aug 30 We certainly couls use defenders and goals. At the same time, if we're promoted will any of these signings make us any more competitive in the Prem? If not, i wonder if the money's well spent. (I'm not keen on us being a perennial yo-yo club.)
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Monksway added 15:58 - Aug 31 Busy day tomorrow in theory. Edozie, Aribo, Smallbone, Breton-Diaz, Harwood-Bellis/Taylor/Edwards and maybe Armstrong could all be heading out. New winger and maybe the Russian coming in if we are to believe the media.
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