Rickie Lambert could be playing in the Premier league at St Mary's next season if the latest rumours turn out to be true.

Sadly though it won't be in a Saints shirt but possibly in the colours of AFC Bournemouth who are being linked with a move for one of the most popular players to play for Saints.

The Cherries will obviously need to strengthen their squad for their first ever season in the top flight of English football and they could even see it weakened as the same rumours linking Lambert also suggest that their leading goalscorer Callum Wilson might be a target for other Premier clubs with Arsenal being suggested as the most interested.

Whether Rickie Lambert goes to Bournemouth or not is unclear but it does seem likely he will leave Anfield this summer as brendon Rodgers attempts to revamp his squad again after a disastrous summer of dealing last year.

Lambert was a strange aquisition for liverpool due to not only his age (he turned 33 in February, but his style of play did not suit the type of game that Liverpool play which is based on the midfield getting the ball out quickly for fast strikers to run on to it, rahter than Rickie's strengths.

But it did have some logic in that Liverpool needed players to play in the cups both the Champions league and domestic and although Rickie would not have expected to start many league games he would have thought he would play in the cups.

In the end up to this weekend he had started 7 League games with 17 substitute appearances of various lengths, scoring 2 Premier league goals, in the FA Cup he started 1 game and came on as sub in 3 others plus 2 starts and 1 sub in the Capital One Cup, he did not score in any of these, in the Champions League he started 2 games and came on as sub in 2 others scoring 1 goal in the away leg at Ludogrets.

Sadly for Rickie none of the goals he scored was at Anfield all were away from home and with Liverpool having played their last game at home this term on Saturday if he leaves he will not have achieved his ambition to score at Anfield for his beloved Reds.

In hindsight it was not a good move for Rickie, this time last year he was amongst the top scorers in the Premier League, a regular in the England squad and playing week in week out, now he is a bit part player and unlikely to win another England cap, hopefully a move to another Premier club be it Bournemouth or even the likes of Aston Villa who tried to sign him in January might kick start his career again and perhaps allow him one last swansong.

Photo: Action Images

halftimeorange added 10:31 - May 18 If was cheap we should consider a move. His link-up play between the midfield and the forwards has not been replaced. Rickie probably has another season or two in him - at least in an impact role.
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SaintNick added 10:59 - May 18 We play a different game now on the field, also we are in for better quality younger players like Austin and Ings, we need to move forward not backwards
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SaintBrock added 11:23 - May 18 How sad it would be to see Ricky shuffled out of Anfield and trying to make a last go of it in a struggling ex-Championship side that likely will be bottom for most of the season like Cardiff and Reading and other Championship champions before them.
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halftimeorange added 11:39 - May 18 Perhaps sentimentalism over Rickie is getting the better of me however, whilst I would like Saints to sign both Austin and Ings, I do believe that Rickie would give us something neither of those have - picking a pass - and for what will be little money, what's the harm? Austin is a powerhouse goalscoring midfielder and Ings is a goal poacher. Rickie would make goals for the likes of them. Have you seen how poor our passing has been on many occasions since Christmas?

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ItchenNorth added 13:31 - May 18 If it really is an option for him; he should do it. He's now played for Liverpool (his dream), but there's not point sitting on the bench at his age. He'll have plenty of money in the bank now from his time with us and Liverpool as well, so wages should be an issue for him. If he can get 50% more games in at AFC Bournemouth, he'd be daft not to get out of Liverpool this summer.

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ItchenNorth added 13:32 - May 18 Wages shouldn't be a issue for him !!!!! Doh !
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SaintDownUnder added 14:05 - May 18 We should have signed Bentekkers in January. Would love to see him sign for us......
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DPeps added 14:51 - May 18 At the time I thought it was a good deal for all concerned, but as the season has gone on I think Rickie is the player we've missed the most
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landsdownsaint added 17:31 - May 18 Can't see we've missed RL ,I do wished he'd stayed ,he was a great player for us .
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