Saints have offloaded both Harrison Reed and Mario Lemina to Fulham in what is a good piece of business for the club in trimming their squad and wage bill for the coming season.
There will be mixed feelings amongst Saints supporters about the departures of Harrison Reed and Mario Lemina to Fulham, but the reality of the situation is that this is good business as neither player played any part last season and to be blunt at all.
Mario Lemina has been nothing but trouble since he arrived at the club 3 years ago, at the time it looked a good piece of business to sign a player who had appeared for Juventus in the Champions league final, but someone at the club had not been doing their homework, he was certainly talented but had never applied that talent consistently and this would be the case at Saints.
He had been a bit player at Juve and we paid £18 million for a player who at 24 had started just 49 League games in his career, he had another 35 as sub, but in hindsight the warning signs were there.
It soon became clear that although he was undoubtedly a decent player he did not have the application and seemed to prefer a career as a well paid squad player than put the effort and dedication needed to succeed at the highest level.
He has a knack for saying the right things when he signs for clubs, at Galatasaray he gushed about them and his desire to play there this coming season, yet a few days later he was saying the same things about their big rivals Besiktas, seemingly having no shame.
Now he has joined Fulham on loan for the next year he is saying the same things about the Cottagers and their manager Scott Parker, but it should be noted that he would only join on loan, he would not take a drop in his high wages at St Mary's
There won't be many Saints fans who lose much sleep over his departure again, he has been disruptive to the squad with rumours of late nights and more worryingly a penchant for taking younger impressionable members of the squad with him.
The departure of Harrison Reed will see mixed feelings in the Saints support, his reputation in some part of the fan base is high and some touted him as a replacement for Pierre Emile Hojbjerg, but the reality is that he has played few games for the club, only 6 starts and another 11 as sub,
He has not played a competitive game for Saints since April 2017 and even in that season only managed an hour's game time in the Premier League and spent the time since out on loan, he has undoubtedly improved as a player in his three season out on loan, but the truth is he is not better than what we have, so to get the rumoured fee of £8 million is good business for us.
However Harrison leaves with the best wishes of all Saints fans ringing in his ears and all hope that he will be a success in the Premier League at Fulham although not when he plays against Saints.
So two departures that are good business for the club, but two contrasting messages from the Saints supporter base.