Short [ish] update from source:



All based on last info they had as of Saturday evening:



On Stanciu: We still want him as well as Boufal, but Anderlect have tabled a bid a few £M in excess of ours, as they need an urgent Praet replacement. Current state of play is that the player wants to come to Southampton, but Steaua obviously want to maximize their profit on the player, and expect us to match the Anderlect bid.

Source doesn't know yet whether we will/have been prepared to go over our valuation of the player.



On Boufal: Nothing to add on general details, as after their/my initial recent posts, it is since all in the media already. Did refer to him as "Saint Sofiane" though. 😉 😇 Also suggested that if Stanciu arrives, the idea is for him to mainly occupy the "10" role, with Boufal playing on the left side of the front two, but knowing we have the option of using Boufal [and Tadic] in either position when he is ready to come into the side.



On JayRod: It was Jay who felt he needed to go out on loan to get more game time. Club always prefered him to stay and fight for a place but happy to go along with his wishes, and initial impressions after yesterday's game, are that Jay himself is a lot happier and may well yet decide to stay. It is completely up to the player what he wants to do.



On "The Diamond": Claude is not a one-formation man -- and has plenty of experience playing our high pressing 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 styles in France, but wants us to be capable of playing this way also, as another string to our bow for breaking down packed defences. It is not a set in stone only way of playing formation -- but one we need to learn to understand and perfect to be comfortable in it. The only way to do this is through regular practice both in training and under the pressure of real games. He is not inflexible, once we've got it, it will be one of a number of ways we're capable of playing, depending on the opposition and what each game requires. It has been very difficult to implement because we had so many first team players away on International duty in pre-season that are still learning and getting up to speed. We need to be patient and stick with it as we will reap the benefits in the long run.



That's all for now. As of tomorrow, I'll be away for a week for some much needed downtime, visiting Ms. Schitt's family in beautiful Limassol for some sun sand and relaxation, whilst trying to avoid being bitten by black widows! 🕷 😖 So don't expect to hear much from me for a short while.



Thanks for reading. :)





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