Someone out there is doing some sterling work in putting Mario Lemina's name in the shop window with media report linking him to at least four different clubs this morning, however it is fairly certain the one shirt he won't be pulling on this coming season is that of Southampton.

Earlier in the week it was suggested that Mario Lemina might be returning to the Saints squad for 2021/22 season, however that looks to be far off the mark and is based purely on a quote Ralph Hasenhuttl made about the returning loan players in general, where he said they would all be back to training with the squad, that the club had been monitoring their progress and he would be assessing whether they would be in his plans for the next year.

In truth he could say little else, football is a game both on and off the field and Ralph would be looking to try and get the biggest fee for any of them and from that respect he needs to give the impression that they are in the clubs plans.

This is even more so with Mario Lemina where the issue has not just been about his performances and the lack of consistency he has shown, but allegedly his behaviour off the pitch and his attitude.

Latest reports suggest that if Fulham had stayed up then they had an option to buy on his loan deal and would have activated that clause, sadly from a Saints financial perspective they went down and so did Saints hopes of getting Lemina off the books.

Newcastle United have been linked heavily this week with the media suggesting that Saints would be prepared to take a cut price fee of around £5 million to dispense with his services.

That is probably not that wide of the mark, we ditch Lemina and the money would be better used elsewhere and the saving on wages also.

But it seems that Newcastle now have some competition for the midfielder, Nice have been linked in the past week or so, but it now seems that they are joined by fellow French side Olympique Marseille and also the club Lemina spent a season on loan with in Turkey, Galatasaray.

This has to be all good for business from a Saints perspective, although these days club's don't hold the top cards in selling a player, gone are the days when a club would sell to the highest bidder, now the players themselves choose where they want to go and often will leave their club having to take a lower offer than others on the table, Spurs are masters of employing this sort of tactic, when they buy a player as we have often found to our cost.

The reports also suggest that the player is weighing up his options, he is talking to all interested parties and will be making his decision in the first week of August, Galatasaray are said to be looking at another loan deal, whilst i'm sure Saints would prefer to sell him and get a bigger fee.

Mario Lemina showed great promise when he came here, but it was clear from his attitude that playing football for him was not about reaching his undoubted potential, but enjoying the fruits of his labour with the least effort.

Now for Saints it's only about shifting him and getting something for our considerable outlay back in 2017.

Photo: Action Images

highfield49 added 08:51 - Jul 23 If Simeu and Ross sign contracts we will have got in two players who actually want to play for the team. Although neither player is likely to start against Everton neither was Lemina and if his wages are off the books, with a few £m recovered as well, it makes the overall financial hit look more reasonable. Some speculation in recent hours that he has arrived in Nice for a medical does that mean he has to self isolate or quarantine on his return? If so I hope he just stays in France and doesn't cause even more disruption to the club.

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Peterx added 12:10 - Jul 23 Perhaps we need someone in defensive midfield who can flex in a game from Defensive Midfield in our 4-2-2-2 to a CB in a back 3 when we run out of gas with our pressing game (normally round half time). Maybe that is why RH was taking another close look at him and also why the reported interest in Hayden. My view is ideally that would be someone with reasonable pace to make up for average pace we currently have in our CBs.

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UgandaSaint added 17:59 - Jul 24 Lemina has joined Nice for £4.7m. Good luck to him, when he tries he can be a class act.
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