Jack Cork has left St Mary's for Swansea City in a move that will disappoint Saints supporters given that he was always one of the more popular players.

Jack Corks departure for the Welsh Valley's is not entirely unexpected, but this was not a move where the player wanted to move away because he wanted more money and a big club, this was a player who wanted to play more games and at Saints he felt that he would not get that given the players that we already have and perhaps those that might come in.

Saints could have done with keeping Cork a little longer given our injury list and the irony is if the transfer window had been in February then Cork would have ben facing his new team today, Saints have quickly confirmed that he will be unable to play for the Swans in this fixture against us.

But ultimately Cork wanted first team football on a more regular basis and he was certainly good enough for that at well over half the teams in the Premier league, it is just unfortunate that Saints are particularly strong in the central midfield area.

Saints boss Ronald Koeman confirmed that on the club's official website.

“I said before the club offered him a contract but his feeling was not good to stay more time in the club because he likes to play more games.

“I can’t guarantee players that because we have tough competition between our midfield players. Harry Reed is developing in a very good way; it’s always up to the player.”

Saints certainly have had value for money from Cork in his 3 1/2 seasons at St Mary's, he played in every league game in his first season as Saints stormed to promotion from the Championship and in his second after an initial injury he was again a vital part of the side finishing runner up in the fans player of the year award.

last season though the arrival of Victor Wanyama saw the writing on the wall and Mauricio Pochettino ostracised him in a big way with Cork playing 9 minutes of football before Wanyama got injured in December, however Cork came in and played well enough to eventually keep Wanyama out of the side on his return and again was runner up in the fans player of the year awards.

Initially this season looked good for Cork and Ronald Koeman appeared to rate him, but there was rotation between the player and Wanyama with Koeman using both tactically to their strengths, however as the season progressed Wanyama certainly seemed to have added a certain something extra to his game and was overtaking Cork and that would have figured greatly in his thoughts.

Its bad timing for Saints though as we are chasing a top 4 spot, but clearly the manager feels that it is better to get some money in now rather than see him go anyway in the summer for free.

The main thing now is to land one possibly two of the targets to replace Cork and to do it quickly.

Good luck to Jack Cork he has been a fabulous servant to Saints in both his spells at the club and I wish him well as im sure do most Saints fans.

Photo: Action Images

stmichael added 13:28 - Jan 31 As we are 3rd in the league this will pass without too much comment. 3rd bottom the club would be getting pelters. Will wait to see what we do before passing too much comment but initially don't think we have been too smart regarding JC.
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sidsaint added 14:43 - Jan 31 Sorry to see Jack go. I think we should have offered him a new deal last summer or at the latest early in the season. Good luck Jack you always put in a full shift.
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welhamdowed added 21:10 - Jan 31 I never have overly rated JC like some fans, but to be fair he never really let us down when he played and did have some good performances in a saints shirt, but not often enough to be a regular. For me he was a decent squad player, but doesn't have the defensive qualities of Vic or Spider and didn't deliver a key pass often enough. Good luck to him, I hope he gets a good run at Swansea.

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