Sky Sports are reporting that Saints and Vitesse Arnhem have agreed a fee for the transfer of Alexander Buttner to St Mary's.

Rumours have been rife for the last week that Saints would be signing Alexander Buttner from Vitesse Arnhem with reports that the player had been staying at a hotel in Botley prior to talks with the club and several quotes attributed to the player speaking highly of Saints, the stumbling block was the fee and now it seems thats out of the way and the player is reported by Vitesse on their official website to be heading to Southampton for a medical.

The confusion now is whereabouts on the pitch does Buttner actually play, it seems that he has been used by Vitesse as both a left sided full back and in midfield, so the question here is whether he has been bought to replace Danny Fox or whether Nigel Adkins is instead planning to use him on the wide left side of midfield with aAdam Lallana being moved more central.

Adam Lallana is of course one of Saints best players and certainly one of those of Premier quality, however there is one reason that he has not been the subject of any serious bids from Premiership clubs before and that is a lack of pace, wide players in the Premiership have to be able to track back and this is certainly not Adam's strength, he has the skill and every other attribute needed for a Premiership player, but genuine pace is not one of them, so could Nigel Adkins be considering a tactical reshuffle.

If we are to not get exposed to pace down the left side of the pitch, we need to have players there that can match the opposition stride for stride, the Fox/Lallana combination was a match for any team in the attacking play, but even in the Championship our left back would often be exposed when on the back foot, also in the centre of the park, Schneiderlin, Cork and Hammond are all too defenisvely minded and rarely got forward and created or indeed scored goals, perhaps Nigel Adkins has seen this and is going to solve two problems by the signing of Buttner.

Certainly it could be a viable option, Buttner playing in midfield has the engine and experience we need and if Lallana was moved to a central role he could indeed be a revelaltion, he would get the ball a lot more and could do a lot more damage from this position, it could also solve the problem in that area, Cork, Schneiderlin and even Chaplow could hold the centre giving Lallana a bit of a free creative role where he could link with the forwards even more.

Hopefully this option might be in Nigel's thoughts, at times last season we were too predictable in the centre and so we need to do something different, this might just save us a few bob in the transfer markey allowing us to invest that money in other areas.       

Photo: Action Images

ericofarabia added 16:32 - Jul 6 Hope they realise we have signed Buttner and not Butland!!
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Zambucco added 19:10 - Jul 6 I spoke to Nigel yesterday, and yes Nick you are 100% correct, with the tactical shift. He also added that there will be another 2 quality signings before the season starts, a goalkeeper, he confirmed that they are about to increase the bid for Butland, there will also be a very high profile centre back. He also hinted that there could be a massive surprise signing, reminiscant of the Kevin Keegan signing. He confided that he's under enormous pressure as Nicola has stated that he wants Europe next season! This is all very confidential and off the record, please do not tell anybody

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tiptop added 19:31 - Jul 6 Nice to see a new signing to satisfy the transfer lust. Good work Zambucco. Nigel has calmed me down with that revelation! Buttner will hopefully prove a good signing. He was clearly being watched and sought after by teams with the ability to pay more than us..well I think so anyway. Both full back positions are a prob for Saints as we stand I think, as well as center half and midfield general. Moving Adam into the middle is something I repeatedly pleaded for, although Nigel didn't listen to me during our discussions last season! Formation of course has a baring on that. So next up a centre half, a goaly, a right back, right winger with pace and ability and midfield general. The real madrid winger being touted is right sided. http://www.cottagersconfidential.com/2012/7/4/3136682/fulham-and-southampton-mak

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SingaporeSaint added 21:47 - Jul 6 I'd play him Left Back with Lallana staying where he is.. We have also just signed Steven Davis from Rangers - good midfielder.. Who is the mystery superstar then? Some rumours around Theo and Adam Johnson - wages would be the issue for both, but they would both fit the mould of the type of player we want on the right hand side.
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tiptop added 22:47 - Jul 6 Striker. Check. Midfield general. Check. Left back. Check. As far as Adam as a constant fixture on the left? Nic makes a valid point in terms of his lack of pace and tracking back. He can add much needed added creativity in the centre. Next. Centre half and right side..x2 Quick dealings this eve. Good work NA & NC. Lets hope they do the job.. in Nigel we trust
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BlackRod added 22:59 - Jul 6 High profile signing is Adam Johnson. This is getting closer but negotiations around pay are still going on. NC will go on negotiating until there is blood on the floor. It will happen in the next two weeks if it's going to happen. Adam is inpressed with the setup at Southampton and is keen to come here so my money is on this going ahead. Butner deal is dead.
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BlackRod added 23:03 - Jul 6 Sorry I meant Butland deal is dead. Just as well. Would have been confusing to have two 'Buts' in the team as well as all the 'ifs'
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slynch added 12:11 - Jul 7 Kelv Rich Fonte Jos Butt Guly Davies Fox Lala Sharp Lambo Harding, DeRidda, Lee, JRod, Seabourne, Spider, GK(?)
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