A key signing last September just a pity that we coulnd't persuade him to sign on a permanent basis last August.

It is understandable why Saints could not persuade Toby Alderweireld to join Saints on a permanent basis, after all last August when we secured his signature on deadline day we were not a very attractive proposition for him to move to lock stock and barrell.

As Ronald Koeman persued him in the weeks before the season started the media was full of reports of how Saints were in meltdown and our opening games probably did not give him the confidence that we were going to progress in the coming season, so why would he want to leave a Champions League club to join one being predicted to fight relegation.

But Ronald Koeman worked his magic and convinced him to give us a try on loan with a view to a permanent deal, however that seems to be backfiring in that due to his phenomenal form, it seems bigger clubs are now after Toby and Athletico seem sure to pay the £1.5 million get out clause to revoke that deal and put him out to the highist bidder.

The irony of the situation is that if we had been in the position we are now a year ago we would have had him signed sealed and delivered on a permanent deal and this perhaps emphasises just why Europa League qualification is important to a club like Saints, it enables us to show we mean business and it will help us sign players like Toby who are pushing to be in the list of top players and want the showcase of even the Europa league to help them improve and progress forward.

Sadly for Saints it looks like its too late to shut the stable door now, however there may still be hope, media reports of clubs wanting Toby are at the meoment just that, there may not be as much substance in them as we might think.

Toby was a class player last season, his only downfall was that he picked up the odd niggly injury along the way, although I did think that the worst ones were because he was playing in the centre of midfield at the time and as good as he was, perhaps his muscles were not quite up to that, however he did play 26 out of the 35 games he could have in the league and that is a good total.

He formed a good partnership with Jose Fone and Fraser Forster behind them both and it perhaps pertinent that the end of season faltered a little when we did not have Forster in goal and Toby was being played in midfield.

If Toby had played just a few more matches then I think he would have been player of the year, the only think that stopped him was that missing 9 matches and indeed 3 before he signed was perhaps too many to warrant that accolade, but you have to say that perhaps no other player had the consistency in every match they played at Toby did.

It would be good to have him back at Saints, indeed brilliant, but no one can begrudge him choosing one of the Champions League clubs over Saints if he can get a regular game at that club.

Photo: Action Images

mesquita added 11:16 - Jun 5 I believe that the position with Toby ought to be very clear. Yes, he was just about our best player last season, part of a defence that had the second best goals against record and I agree that he was not quite the same player in midfield. He has said that he would prefer to stay with us if that was possible, so, we should be prepared to pay whatever it takes to sign him permanently. Our defence was the basis on our success we should not give it up lightly (including Clyne).

1

Manchester City Polls