Fraser Forster seems to be in demand, which could be good for Saints bank balance, with Chelsea said to be set to offer him a way out of St Mary's.
It had widely been assumed that Celtic would be the goalkeepers destination next season after a successful period on loan for this one, however perhaps the Glasgow club's reluctance to get serious with an offer and try to get him on the cheap could back fire on them.
Saints have been keen to get the reported wages in the £80k a week region off the books as well as bring in a transfer fee with Forster still valued at around £10 million.
This is our preferred option, however Celtic seem unwilling or unable to come to the table with something that will attract Saints.
That led to reports that the best offer from Celtic would be another season on loan that would take the keeper to the start of the final year of his contract in the summer of 2021, this is not attractive to Saints as it would still leave them effectively still paying part of Forster's wages.
But now it seems that several other clubs are interested and the main one appears to be Chelsea who are said to be willing to match Saints valuation of the player,
The Blues see Forster as a short term stopgap at best as well as a competent number two keeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, who became the most expensive keeper in history when he joined Chelsea for £72million in 2018, but he has had two mixed seasons at Stamford Bridge, while his deputy Willy Caballero is 38 and has just a year left on his contract, although Arrizabalaga was restored to the starting XI before the mid-March lockdown.
Chelsea are thinking big next season and aim to restore themselves to their former glory and have already demonstrated their ambition by agreeing to sign Timo Werner in a £54million deal to be completed later this month.
They know if they are to get serious then they need to have a keeper who not only can provide back up, but is of the quality to step into the breach should Arrizabalga either be injured or more worryingly lose form again.
This is bad news for Celtic who now have to weigh up whether they can match Chelsea or for that matter several other Premier League clubs in a similar position said to be interested.
For Forster it is also a dilemma, ideally he would prefer to go to Celtic on a decent salary, but is aware that unless it is on loan then he would be taking a hit on his wages, but he would be playing first team football which at age 32 would see him entering his final period as a potential starter, but at Chelsea he would have to compromise game time for salary.
Saints will be pleased at the latest news as it will put Forster in the spotlight and he still has a lot to offer as a keeper and it is said that there are some Premier League clubs now considering him as a first choice, so it will create competition for his services, but for Celtic it is a setback, there was a feeling that they thought they were the only offer on the table so were trying to get another loan deal and therefore get him on the cheap, this now seems not to be the case.