Interesting news has emerged from Spain as it seems that Athletico Madrid are keen to land Morgan Schneiderlin.

In recent weeks some rumours coming out of North London have suggested that Arsene Wenger has been impressed enough by the form of Francis Coquelin to consider ending his interest in Morgan Schneiderlin and saving himself £25 million by sticking with what he already has in that department.

Schneiderlin of course made it quite clear that he will only go to a club in the Champions League meaning that narrows down his options if he wants to stay in the Premier league, indeed it might narrow it down to zero.

But now Athletico Madrid are rumoured to be showing an interest and are prepared to use Toby Alderweireld as the bait to try and lure Saints into selling.

Certainly Alderweireld would be an attractive option for Saints and Athletico would be a consideration for Schneiderlin.

The issue though could be Athletico's ability to fund the deal, Schneiderlin has a price on his head of £25 million and would be looking for wages to match that valuation, Alderweireld although his value has risen after a great season at St Mary's would at best be worth around half of that £25 million, leaving the Spanish club to find around £13 million to top up the deal.

The key could be if Athletico have any other players that Saints would be interested in, Athletico are not as rich as their Madrid rivals and need to keep balancing the books, a swap deal involving Alderweireld and at least one other player would allow them to do that and perhaps fund a £5-6 Million payment for the balance of the transfer.

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