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Mauricio Pellegrino claims Southampton were priced out of transfer deals

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Mauricio Pellegrino feels Southampton failed to substantially strengthen their squad during the transfer window because they were priced out of deals.

Saints lost star defender Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool for a reported £75million at the start of January, with £19.2million former Monaco forward Guido Carrillo the only subsequent arrival at St Mary’s.

The south coast club were heavily linked with a deadline-day move for Spartak Moscow’s Dutch winger Quincy Promes but the transfer was not completed, reportedly due to the Russian club’s lack of time to find a replacement.

Manager Pellegrino believes it is difficult to get value for money in the transfer market in the wake of recent deals, including Paul Pogba’s £89million switch from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016 and Neymar’s world record £198m move from Barcelona to Paris St Germain last summer.

“I think we were prepared. The question is in our targets, we couldn’t bring our targets,” said Pellegrino.

"Some of them because it was too expensive for us, some of them because they (other clubs) don’t want to accept our bids.

"And at the end, little by little, when you lose the target number one, you lose the target number two and the time is passing every single day it is more difficult because they (the selling club) don’t have time to replace.

"The market I think in the last two years change a lot, from Pogba, from Neymar, I think the transfer fees are massive.

“When you think about now the transfer fees of the players, it’s difficult to bring good players, good quality and that can play in the Premier League, that’s difficult.”

Southampton’s failure to add to the capture of Argentinian Carrillo leaves Pellegrino largely reliant on a struggling squad which has gone 12 Premier League games without a win.

That dreadful run of form, on the back of a 4-1 victory over Everton in late November, has seen Saints drop into the relegation zone.

Pellegrino, whose side face bottom club West Brom at The Hawthorns on Saturday, refused to criticise the contributions of his players and will wait until the campaign has finished to assess their overall performances.

“At the end of the season will be the moment to draw a conclusion about our performance, about what every single player did in this period of time and after to analyse,” the 46-year-old added.

"And maybe in June it will be easier.

“Right now it’s difficult to talk about.”

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Sourced from ESPN FC article

Southampton priced out of January transfer deals - Mauricio Pellegrino

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Mauricio Pellegrino feels Southampton failed to substantially strengthen their squad during the transfer window because they were priced out of deals.

Saints lost star defender Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool for a reported £75 million at the start of January, with £19.2m former Monaco forward Guido Carrillo the only subsequent arrival at St Mary’s.

The south coast club were heavily linked with a deadline-day move for Spartak Moscow’s Dutch winger Quincy Promes but the transfer was not completed, reportedly due to the Russian club’s lack of time to find a replacement.

Manager Pellegrino believes it is difficult to get value for money in the transfer market in the wake of recent deals, including Paul Pogba’s £89m switch from Juventus to Manchester United in 2016 and Neymar’s world record £198m move from Barcelona to Paris St Germain last summer.

"I think we were prepared. The question is in our targets, we couldn’t bring our targets,’’ said Pellegrino.

"Some of them because it was too expensive for us, some of them because they [other clubs] don’t want to accept our bids.

"And at the end, little by little, when you lose the target No. 1, you lose the target No. 2 and the time is passing every single day it is more difficult because they [the selling club] don’t have time to replace.

"The market I think in the last two years changed a lot, from Pogba, from Neymar, I think the transfer fees are massive.

"When you think about now the transfer fees of the players, it’s difficult to bring good players, good quality and that can play in the Premier League, that’s difficult.’’

Southampton’s failure to add to the capture of Argentinian Carrillo leaves Pellegrino largely reliant on a struggling squad which has gone 12 Premier League games without a win.

That dreadful run of form, on the back of a 4-1 victory over Everton in late November, has seen Saints drop into the relegation zone.

Pellegrino, whose side face bottom club West Brom at The Hawthorns on Saturday, refused to criticise the contributions of his players and will wait until the campaign has finished to assess their overall performances.

"At the end of the season will be the moment to draw a conclusion about our performance, about what every single player did in this period of time and after to analyse,’’ the 46-year-old added.

"And maybe in June it will be easier.

"Right now it’s difficult to talk about.’’

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Out of Africa: Sportsmail complete examination

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On Wednesday afternoon, West Ham United suspended director of transfers Tony Henry after he sparked a race row by admitting that the club did not want to sign any more African players because ‘they cause mayhem’.

The Hammers currently have seven players of African descent in their first team and have had a total of 15 in the Premier League era.

Following the fallout of Wednesday’s events, Sportsmail have completed an examination of where every Premier League club buys their talent.

It revealed that during the Premier League era, Tottenham have signed the greatest number of African players with 19, while Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle United and West Ham have all signed 15 apiece from the continent.

Some clubs have signed more players from an African country than any other overseas nationality, including West Brom, who have signed four Nigerian players during their time in the top-flight, and Stoke, who have brought in five from Senegal.

In the case of many clubs, there have been more signings of African players than South American ones. For example, Arsenal have signed 15 African players as opposed to 11 from South American countries, and Tottenham have bought 19 from Africa and 12 from South America.

Of course, the vast majority of incoming signings come from the United Kingdom or European countries, with France often cropping up as the most common nationality of top-flight footballers.

For instance, Arsenal have signed 28 French players since 1992, Newcastle 29, Tottenham 15 and Manchester City 13.

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Sourced from Daily Echo article

Saints must rediscover their good looks

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MAURICIO Pellegrino knows Saints are perhaps looking ugly right now, but believes a few wins will make them “handsome, with blond hair and blue eyes”.

The under-pressure boss revealed that he and the Saints hierarchy, including chairman Ralph Krueger, had late night talks at St Mary’s after the Brighton draw on Wednesday night, in which they discussed how the club can pull themselves away from the Premier League’s relegation zone.

The Argentine boss, who has led 18th-placed Saints on a winless run of 12 games in the top-flight, knows emotions are running high right now but believes a much-needed victory can change everything quickly - and they can regain their good looks once more.

Ahead of Saturday’s huge match at fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion, he said: “You have to be careful with your analysis because psychologically the belief or the feeling the people have got about some players, about us, about the manager, about the club, about the board, is not the best.

“Football is an emotional game. When you lose everyone is unhappy, when you win everyone looks really handsome, with blond [hair] and blue eyes. But when you lose you are not too handsome.”

“I like the adrenaline, I like the pressure, I like to talk to my players even in a difficult situation like right now,” he continued.

“It’s part of our life. I feel alive in this job, but who wants to be on the side of the loser? Nobody.

“But sometimes, if you want to play the game, you have to lose. You will smell better when you win.”

Pellegrino insists everyone at Saints is pulling in the same direction at this difficult time and spoke about Wednesday night’s meeting at St Mary’s.

“The chairman is here and last night we were talking until midnight all together, trying to give our ideas, trying to hear the people, trying to empathise with everybody,” he said.

“We are confident, we are well prepared, most of our players are physically fit and ready.

“We’ve got preparation and we got a big test Saturday and in two or three weeks everything can change. We don’t need two years.”

He added: “We comment a lot about the players and how we can help turn this situation.

“We are not happy with this and I want good results because I received a lot of support from the beginning. This club and these people deserve more.”

The 46-year-old St Mary’s chief describes a real togetherness at Saints right now.

“No, everybody,” he said, when asked if everyone at the club is pulling in the same direction.

“Because all of us in this club are part of the context.

“My context are my players, the board, the fans, our position and, with some capacity, with some weakness, I am part of the context.

“You can change a couple of players but the context is more or less the same and one person will not be responsible about everything. This is my feeling.”

The West Brom game pitches 18th against 20th in the Premier League and Pellegrino knows it will be huge for their survival hopes.

“It’s an important game for us. Obviously we want to win, especially against teams in this group at the bottom,” he said.

“We must try and win games and move on the season, but we have to think about one game at a time.

“We must use the use positive side of every single game. After the goal (against Brighton) we controlled the game totally, but we need to increase the tempo to try to create more.

“We have to be more aggressive in the final third. Perhaps away we’ll have more space and it might be easier in this aspect.

“At the same time, though, we have to control the opponent. They are really strong in set plays, in counter-attacking play, but I think we are ready to compete.”

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Sourced from Sky Sports article

Southampton were priced out of transfer deals, says Mauricio Pellegrino

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Southampton were priced out of transfer deals, says Mauricio Pellegrino

Mauricio Pellegrino says Southampton failed to substantially strengthen their squad because they were priced out of deals in the January transfer window.

Southampton sold defender Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool for £75m at the start of the window but only spent £19.2m of that on their own signings - with striker Guido Carrillo arriving from Monaco on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

Southampton were working on a deal for Spartak Moscow winger Quincy Promes but the Russian club’s struggle to replace the Dutchman meant the transfer was abandoned on Deadline Day, according to Sky sources.

Pellegrino says Southampton had sufficiently prepared for the transfer window but had bids for their targets knocked back by selling clubs.

“I think we were prepared. The question is in our targets, we couldn’t bring our targets,” he said.

"Some of them because it was too expensive for us, some of them because they [other clubs] don’t want to accept our bids.

"And at the end, little by little, when you lose the target number one, you lose the target number two and the time is passing every single day it is more difficult because they (the selling club) don’t have time to replace.

"The market I think in the last two years change a lot, from Pogba, from Neymar, I think the transfer fees are massive.

“When you think about now the transfer fees of the players, it’s difficult to bring good players, good quality and that can play in the Premier League, that’s difficult.”

Southampton have gone 12 games without a win and have dropped into the relegation zone ahead of Saturday’s game against West Brom at the Hawthorns.

Pellegrino refused to criticise his players and says he will judge his squad at the end of the season.

“At the end of the season will be the moment to draw a conclusion about our performance, about what every single player did in this period of time and after to analyse,” he said.

“And maybe in June it will be easier, right now it’s difficult to talk about.”

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Journalist @ChapmanJ92 gives us the lowdown on #WBA ahead of #SaintsFC’s trip to The Hawthorns: http://sfcne.ws/ITWBA1718

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 02/02/2018 09:59:37

| | Premier League transfer news, analysis: total January spend, trendsFOXSPORTSAU |
| | Mauricio Pellegrino claims that Southampton were priced out of January dealsREADSOUTHAMPTON |

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Pellegrino: ‘Carrillo needs time to adapt’

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MAURICIO Pellegrino admits club-record signing Guido Carrillo will take time to adapt to Saints’ style of play.

The St Mary’s chief reckons the Argentine striker, who moved to Saints from Monaco for £19.2m last month, will need to have a bedding in period before he starts to get to his “best level”.

“Yes, for sure and the player has to adapt to his team-mates,” Pellegrino said, ahead of tomorrow’s game against West Bromwich Albion.

“Obviously the dynamics of the team, the movement, the profile of his team-mates too.

“It’s not the same for him if Tadic plays on the right or Prowsey, Davo, or Sofiane. It depends how the full-backs are too. He has to know.

“The connection of the players is unlimited and it’s something, when you bring someone in, everything changes.”

Pellegrino, who will monitor the fitness of Manolo Gabbiadini after the Italian picked up a slight hip injury in the Brighton draw on Wednesday night, does, however, see potential in going two up top and playing another striker alongside Carrillo.

He said: “Yes, why not? They play yesterday 30 minutes and afterwards with Manolo; Manolo play with Charlie (Austin), Shane play with Charlie.

“Sometimes we did well, sometimes not too much but it’s one possibility.”

He added: “You never know the evolution of the team, again Brighton in some moments we play with Shane (Long) with Manolo (Gabbiadini). I think if they do the right movements, I think they can play together.

“I think we have a team that we are comfortable when we move the ball on the ground but to try to do this, you have to be in the right situations, in the right positions, don’t be at the same line all the time, when someone comes, the other has to run, has to be a good understanding but, yes, it’s one possibility.”

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 02/02/2018 10:59:47

| | Vital Preview - Premier League - 3rd-5th February 2018VITALFOOTBALL |
| | More Reliable Than An Octopus 2017/18? (2/2/18)VITALFOOTBALL |
| | Reed’s eager for City home comfortTHEPINKUN |
| | The Saints Injury List Cleared NicelyVITALFOOTBALL |
| | Saints fail to add more in January because of financial constraints, says PellegrinoNBCSPORTS |

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#SaintsFC fans are being encouraged to join #WBA supporters in a tribute to Cyrille Regis at tomorrow’s match. Read… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/959380626179682304

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 02/02/2018 11:59:59

| | These two players should follow Quincy Promes to Southampton in the summer if he joins | | Where football transfer …THETRANSFERTAVERN |

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Inside Track: West Brom

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How would you assess West Brom’s survival prospects on current form?

There’s quite an odd feeling about the place at the moment – with Alan Pardew finally, in recent weeks, appearing to have an effect on the side, it’s coincided with the club slipping to the bottom of the league. The win at Liverpool in the FA Cup was as well as the Baggies have played in a long time. They’re starting to score goals and have had a positive transfer window.

How has the team’s approach changed under Alan Pardew, and have performances improved?

From the first match, performances have improved. The football was becoming unwatchable under Tony Pulis, whose marriage with the club had run its course. Though results didn’t pick up immediately, the FA Cup win at Exeter seemed to remind the players how to win a game of football. They’ve won two and drawn one of the four matches since.

What was the general reaction to the signing of Daniel Sturridge on loan from Liverpool?

Sheer delight – with a touch of caution. Bringing in a striker of Sturridge’s calibre has given Pardew, the fanbase and most likely the dressing room a welcome lift. His experience and scoring record speak for themselves, so Albion need to get him up and running as quickly as possible. His injury record is well documented of course, so Sturridge will need to be handled carefully.

Who have been Albion’s standout players of late?

Jonny Evans is a class act, and his transfer suitors are well known – yet Ahmed Hegazi has been imperious in recent weeks. The towering Egyptian has found his feet in the Premier League and now looks like he’s been playing in the division for a number of years. Elsewhere, Salomon Rondon has been playing well without scoring, and the midfield trio of Grzegorz Krychowiak, Chris Brunt and Gareth Barry have excelled. Then there’s Jay Rodriguez, which brings us onto the next question…

How has Jay Rodriguez performed in his debut season at The Hawthorns?

Having started really brightly, when he scored a couple of goals in league and cup, Rodriguez faded under Pulis in the months of October and November. Since, though, he’s rediscovered form, which has coincided with Albion’s upturn as a collective. J-Rod has five in his last six games, and I wouldn’t put another one past him on Saturday!

What do you expect from the game on Saturday?

It’ll be an emotional occasion – it’s the first game at The Hawthorns since the death of Cyrille Regis and the club has a whole host of tributes planned pre-match, some of which Saints fans are invited to join in. As regards to the game, the importance of it – on either side of the fence – can’t be underestimated. It took a bit of a wonder goal to separate the sides in the reverse fixture, and I can see a similarly tight affair, with plenty of nerves. Perhaps a goal either way? A draw really is no good to either side.

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 02/02/2018 13:00:11

| | West Brom v Southampton: Struggling Saints’ form is none too handsomeEVESTAR |

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:speaking_head: “It’s a massive game for us. We have to go into it with the feeling we are playing a final.” #saintsfc

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Pellegrino: It’s a massive game for us

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Saints were frustrated during a 1-1 home draw with Brighton on Wednesday, meaning they remain in the bottom three, with this weekend’s opponents.

“It’s a massive game for us. We have to go with the feeling that we’re playing a final,” Pellegrino asserted.

“We have to be focused in every single action from the beginning until the end. We are really well prepared and it’s an amazing opportunity.

“Obviously to try to play quick enough to create the space. We have to move the ball quicker than them. The most difficult thing in modern football is to create chances and be efficient in this moment.”

“West Brom have got a couple of good results. In set-plays they are strong, with big players and they are playing well so it will be really tough.

“We have to be grateful with our supporters. They are always behind us in a difficult situation. We want to give them a good performance, with energy on the pitch. Together we can be stronger.”

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Saints fans encouraged to join Cyrille Regis tributes

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Southampton fans are being encouraged to arrive early at The Hawthorns tomorrow to join West Bromwich Albion supporters in a celebration of the life of Cyrille Regis.

The Albion legend, who passed away last month, will be remembered during the hour prior to kick-off through a special series of tributes and dedications, as well as a minute’s applause.

Former Saints forward Rod Wallace is among the ex-players due to be present to celebrate the impact of Regis.

Supporters are being asked to bring scarves to raise during the special video tribute that will be played inside the stadium a few minutes before kick-off, with Albion welcoming Saints fans to get involved should they wish to be a part of it.

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Butterfield: A winning mentality

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A comeback win over Leicester City last weekend secured their sixth victory on the bounce, and while Butterfield is delighted with the positive run of results, he is aware that Spurs present one of the toughest tests in the fixture calendar.

The young Saints are currently third in the table, within a whisker of Arsenal, who sit second, but Butterfield has reiterated the importance placed on development - and is delighted with the progress made in recent weeks.

“We hope to keep the good fortune going, the lads proved at Leicester last week that they’re capable of combatting teams who play a different style,” the ex-Saints defender began.

“We defended in an organised manner, as a team, but Spurs are a good side. Their league position doesn’t reflect their quality. We imagine Spurs will set up strongly, in preparation for their FA Youth Cup tie, but we’re in good form and looking forward to it.”

He added: "The lads are still growing in confidence. There are big clubs with big reputations in our league, and we’re very competitive. We’re believing that we can begin to get close to Chelsea at the top of the table.

"They’re developing a winning mentality, and we’ve crept up the league in to a competitive position. Next season Radhi will be inheriting a group of winners.

“There are individuals capable of competing at Under-23s level, and hopefully the first-team - Michael [Obafemi] has proven that. We’re feeling buoyant at the moment and you can see the positive outcomes.”

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Summary of non-mainstream articles: 02/02/2018 14:00:23

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| Daniel Sturridge In Line For First West Brom Start Against SouthamptonTHESPORTSMAN |

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The Ugly Inside News for Southampton

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@jackstephens_18 GOAL: #SaintsFC 1-1 #BHAFC (@jackstephens_18 64)

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