Could Saints be about to make the first signing of the summer.
Saints are reportably bidding for Billy Sharp of Doncaster Rovers, early in the week it was reported that Ipswich had put in a bid of around £2.3 million for the striker, an offer which was turned down by the Doncaster board, however sources are saying that Saints have made a bid, one that also includes Joseph Mills who has spent time there on loan last season an this could be more acceptable to the Yorkshire Club.
Sharp is 25 years old and at 5ft 7 ins is more a player in the David Connolly mould than Rickie Lambert, he started his career at Sheffield United but was released after only a couple of sub appearances in the league.
He joined Scunthorpe for £100,000 in the summer of 2005 and in two seasons made 80(2) league appearances for them hit 53 goals, Nigel Adkins wasnt the manager at the time he joined the Iron, bt did work with hism for the second half of the 2006/07 season, his good form leading to a move back to his original club Sheffield United for a fee reported to be £2 million
His second spell at Bramall Lane met with mixed success and in the September of 2009 he went on a season long loan to Doncaster Rovers, in the summer of 2010 he was in demand as the Blades looked to cut their costs and Burnely had a bid of £1 million accepted, hwoever the player turned this down and looked to have his heart set on the Keepmoat with Donny finally getting their man with a club record fee of £1.15 million, ironically beating their previous record set for ex Saint Matt Mills, the brother of supposed makeweight in this deal Joseph.
Last season saw him play 27(2) times for Rovers, his appearances limited by firstly a hamstring injury and then a hernia, however his tally of 15 goals was a decent total.
Whether this will prove to be just a rumour of otherwise we are yet to see, but there are certainly enough Southampton twists to this story to make it worthwhile, we will soon find out whether Nigel Adkins Scunthorpe connection will swing the deal in our favour