Jay Rodriguez has had a second operation on his injured knee, but this could mean that he is highly unlikely to leave the club in January's transfer window
Rodriguez has had a routine clear out operation on the knee to aid his recovery and from that point of view it is nothing to worry about, however it does mean that it will be January before he has a chance of kicking a ball in the first team again.
Jay Rod was rumoured to be ahead of schedule in his recovery and that lead to speculation that he might return to action as early as the first week in December, however those hopes have now been dashed, but that early comeback had also lead to more speculation that Spurs and Liverpool would be making offers in January.
By then if Rodriguez had returned to action they would have had a good idea as to his fitness levels etc, however now if they did launch a bid it would be a very expensive gamble with no guarantee he would recover his former form in the short term or indeed longer.
Now the silver lining for Saints could be that they will not be under pressure to sell, as Rodriguez will still be recuperating in January and under medical care from the club, to change the medical staff at that crucial time could be disastrous so Jay Rod's head is less likely to be turned by the overtures of others at least till he has completely finished treatment and made a full recovery.
But this is merely an issue that will affect potential suitors and indeed the player's attitude himself, there is of course the small matter that Saints will not want to sell the player given that Sadio Mane will be absent for up to a month.
Make no mistake though, the next few weeks are massive for Saints in terms of repelling all boarders in January, where we stand when the New Year arrives will help determine how easy or hard it will be to persuade players to stay.