Back in the summer Saints were linked with Manchester United left back Brandon Williams, now those rumours surface again with no signs of Ryan Bertrand signing a new contract, Ralph Hasenhuttl again showing he won't wait around too long.
Ryan Bertrand has been a great servant for Saints since signing initially on loan in the summer of 2014, back then he was a 23 year old who had started only 21 Premier League games for Chelsea and 6 of the previous 9 seasons at the club had been spent out on loan including the latter half of the previous season.
He was at a crossroads in his career when he arrived at St Mary's a week short of his 24th birthday.
Since then he has been a mainstay of the Saints team, if he has been fit or not suspended he has played, of the 202 games in the Premier League he could have played, he has started 173 plus 1 as sub, that is a phenomenal record.
But he is at another crossroads, a few years ago he was being linked with Big Six clubs although this turned out to be more his agent trying to manufacture a big move for him, back in 2018 this plus the fact that he was dropped for that years World Cup in Russia for players that had barely played that season seemed to affect him, but in the last year or so he has picked himself up and is in great form under Ralph Hasenhuttl.
But he is at another set of crossroads, he will turn 32 before the start of next season and he has to decide whether to end his career at St Mary's or try and get one last pay day with a move elsewhere.
Saints have seemed keen to keep him at St Mary's but so far there has been no sign of a deal being struck with Bertrand seemingly wanting to bide his time and weigh up his options.
But as much as Ralph Hasenhuttl wants him to stay, the Austrian is not prepared to wait around and then find he is scrambling around in the summer to replace Bertrand if he decides to go.
Jake Vokins has looked the part when he has played, but that has been rare due to Bertrand's consistency and good form, when the veteran left back was injured a month or so ago, so was the 20 year old Vokins and he missed a great chance to force his way into the reckoning.
It seems that Hasenhuttl is undecided about Vokins in that the club have seemingly persued Brandon Williams of Manchester United back in the summer and are now being linked again.
Williams is a few months younger than Vokins, but has played far more games for United, although at the moment he finds himself 3rd in line for the left back spot.
So there are a few questions to be asked, are we serious about Williams or is he just being used as a tool to put pressure on Bertrand to sign a new deal ?
Do we rate Vokins and is Williams being looked at as a loan signing or do we see him as our left back on a permanent deal ?
So far Williams has only started 11 Premier League games for United plus another 7 as sub, although two of those sub appearances have been against Saints, in the 2-2 draw at Old Trafford back in the summer and a couple of weeks ago at St Mary's.
Williams has played more games in the cup competition for the Old Trafford side, making 23 appearances in total, mostly in the starting line up.
The fact that Saints have offered Bertrand a new deal seems to suggest they rate Vokins but he is not yet ready to step up, but it is clear they are exploring all options
The longer Ryan Bertrand continues to dither about making it an 8th season at St Mary's the more likely it is that Saints will pursue other options.
It is said that Williams could be a loan signing, if that is the case then it would seem that Ralph Hasenhuttl will be ruthless, after all Williams would not want to come just to sit on our bench, he can do that at Old Trafford.
It would be sad to see Ryan Bertrand leave, but he has to go sometime, the truth is that he is at an age where his ability to maintain the fitness standards needed in the Premier League these days is going to start to drop.
We would prefer that he could perhaps follow the path of Shane Long, who has gone from being a regular starter to being used off the bench and that is becoming less frequent, but that is still a vital role and it is a squad game now, just because a player is not as good as they were doesn't mean they are not contributing as Ralph Hasenhuttl said when speaking about Long this week.
Hopefully Bertrand will sign a new deal and have a couple of more seasons yet and like Long help to bring on his replacement and be able to plug the gaps when needed.