The official line on Stuart Armstrong is that he has a minor calf injury, but whispers on the rumour mill are suggesting that the Scotsman could be leaving Southampton and that is his reason for being left out of the side.
Saints fans were baffled when Stuart Armstrong was only on the bench at Everton, they were even more perplexed when he didn't even appear on the list of subs for the visit of Manchester United on Sunday and now we have two explanations appearing for his absence.
The official club line is that Armstrong had a minor calf injury and that comes through Adam Blackmore of the BBC, a man who has reported and commentated on Saints for over a decade and knows the club inside out, he usually has his finger on the pulse and he is the man the club will trust when it comes to news.
He can only put out what he has been told but he is also man that is not afraid to put a story out there or tell it how it is.
The second story is saying that Armstrong wants to leave the club and head back to Scotland, this is interesting in that if that is the case it appears that this is little more than a case of home sickness rather than wanting to leave for a "bigger club" as was the case with our three main departures of the summer.
But why would he suddenly want to return to Scotland now, three years after he arrived and at a time when his career has never been at such a high point and at 29 he has become an established Premier League player ?
You could understand if it was for another club in the Premier League tempting him, but having signed a new deal in January of this year that ties him in to 2024 when he will be 32, it does seem strange.
His options in Scotland are basically limited to one club, his former side Celtic, after all he is unlikely to be able to go to their rivals Rangers and the rest of the SPL haven't got enough money but would his old club be in a position to afford him . Saints paid £7.2 million in 2018 and he is worth more than that now, but more to the point would be his wages, Celtic would be unable to get anywhere near what he is on at St Mary's.
So this is a strange situation and one that it seems Saints are standing firm on until the transfer window closes , perhaps in the expectation that should they blink then another suitor will emerge, one in England with the money to do business.
With Ralph Hasenhuttl you are either in or out and at the moment it seems that Stuart Armstrong is out.
However there could be a twist, Saints are said to be interested in Celtic's Ryan Christie, essentially a player very similar to Armstrong in that he can play right across the midfield, could it be that Saints are ready to swap Armstrong for a younger version of himself.
So with the transfer window due to shut in a weeks time there could be some movement in both directions between Celtic and Southampton.
I would suspect most Saints supporters are hoping that Armstrong's absence is nothing more than a calf injury, but this is Southampton FC and nothing is rarely that straightforward at this club, but it seems that should the truth be that Armstrong does want to return back to Scotland for personal reasons, then the situation could be well in hand.