Saints have seemingly chased Feyenoord's Tonny Vilhena since the moment Ronald Koeman arrived at St Mary's, but could now lose out on the player to Leicester City.

Ronald Koeman has long been an admirer of Tonny Vilhena hs former player at Feyenoord, giving the 21 year old midfielder his debut only a few weeks after his 17th birthday.

Virtually the day after he arrived on the South Coast, Koeman was linked with Vilhena and it looked like he would land the youngster last summer along with Jordy Clasie, but at the time Vilhena had family issues with his Mother being ill and he did not wish to move away from the Rotterdam area.

It was widely assumed in the football world that Vilhena would leave Feyenoord this summer though and that his close relationship with Ronald Koeman would mean that the only place he would go to would be Southampton.

Now that is set to be tested with reports that Leicester City are wanting to add the Dutchman to their squad for the 2016/17 season and with the lure of Champions League football it could be hard for Vilhena to resist.

However the Ace in Saints pack is Koeman and that could still give the advantage over Leicester, if Vilhena was desperate for Champions League football then he could stay at Feyenoord and have that. Koeman will point out to Vilhena the long term strategy that Saints are employing whereas with all due respect to Leicester City they have achieved their success with much less of a foundation or long term plan than Saints.

Champions League football for Leicester might be a step too far given the limitations of their squad and that could impact on their League form, the likes of Jamie Vardy and Danny Drinkwater have been excellent and deserve the plaudits, but having had fairly standard careers for a long time, the question that football fans will pose is whether they are able to replicate this form next season or whether it was a one season wonder.

This will be the question that Koeman will pose to Vilhena, that is assuming he is on Saints wish list and will Saints be able to offer the player a much better long term prospect of a successful Premier League career at St Mary's than the King Power.

Photo: Action Images

bstokesaint added 12:51 - Apr 28 Hats off to Leicester, they have done a great job in the PL this season and I think for consistency deserve the title. They will get found out in Europe though. They've been very lucky to escape injuries, which is something we weren't fortunate with when we had our best success in the PL. If the player is serious about developing his game you'd have to say Southampton under Koeman are the better proposition.

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A1079 added 13:10 - Apr 28 Leicester will be an attraction because of their winning the league, European championship and the safe hands of Ranieri. It is highly doubtful they will emulate next season what they have achieved this, but you can't rule it out, but whether they ever do again or not, at least they can say they achieved it once (which is the same amount of times as England winning the world cup). If Saints are serious about signing Vilhena or any player they need to get on with it and not pussy foot around as they are prone to do. I am doubtful how much Koeman will be a positive factor this summer, unless he signs an extension to his existing contract the end of this season. It will be widely known he is in his last year, even if he sees it out, and many will see that as a similar position to a lame duck President or Primeminister in his final year - very little is achieved and motivation drops off. I honestly believe our manager situation needs to be resolved this summer or we will spend most of next season with endless gossip and talk as to whether Koeman will stay or where he will go to (I don't think he has any intention of staying unless Liebherr has some grand vision for the club but would love to be proved wrong - it would be a fantastic boost if he signed a new contract now).

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IWOZTHERE added 15:05 - Apr 28 It's absolutely essential he signs soon. Transfer plans may be put 'on hold', existing players may be unsettled, and it might mean we'll be 'treading water' next season.
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