Saints fans are resigned to losing Dejan Lovren and are bracing themselves for Morgan Schneiderlin to go but news that talks are taking place between Saints and Arsenal about Callum Chambers could be a step too far.
In another summer the news that Arsenal are willing to pay around £16 million for a teenager who has barely played 20 games for the first team would perhaps be seen as a good deal, especially when you consider that the club have a very good player already playing in that man's position, however in the summer of 2014 it is a whole different ball game and if it goes thorough you have to ask questions about why it is happening.
On one hand this is not going to be a problem for the club and it does give them yet another big wedge to play with in the transfer market, but before we let any one else go we really need to start making signings ourselves to replace them.
There have been rumours coming out of the club about relationships being strained between the players and the person allegedly responsible for the contracts and the transfers Les Reed, certainly Reed does not appear to be a people person who the players look up to and under Nicola Cortese he was seen as the man who advised on a number of deals that have not turned out for the best, be it the big money signing of Osvaldo or the less expensive signings of Vegard Forren.
But it has been the transfer dealings this summer that have called into question who is calling the shots on when a succession of players seem to want away and are sold before we have signed the replacements. The PR work in these transfers has been lacking as has been the interaction between club and the players who want away, there seems to be a lack of clear understanding between both parties leading to the statements attributed to both Lallana and Lovren, this can all be avoided with strong firm leadership being shown by whoever is responsible for the player contracts etc.
ut perhaps what the fans most want to see is the club say "No" sometime, Lovren was only a year into a four year deal and now Chambers is seemingly away only a year after signing a four year contract, in short there is no reason for the club to sell either in terms of what players are worth now or the length of the contract remaining.
I am still confident that Ronald Koeman can rebuild the Saints squad and that ultimately we will still be in a far stronger position than most in the Premier league next season, however the club need to start showing the fans they are in the driving seat and to do this they need to start making a few new signings and they need to tell a few players that they will be going nowhere until replacements have been signed and that it is then in the best interests of the club itself.
There has been great upheaval in the boardroom at St Mary's and this has put the club in a far stronger position in commercial terms, but it seems in terms of player contracts and transfers it is still the same people in charge, if that is true then the worry is we will repeat the same mistakes we have previously made in the transfer market which has seen a great deal of money wasted.