The one position that looks like it might need new signings in next season is the centre of the midfield, with 3 players already being linked for moves away from St Mary's to top flight clubs, it looks like we are ahead of the game.

The rumour mill is turning and although it hasn't been widely reported in the media, the whisper in the football world is that Saints are looking to sign Swansea City central/defensive midfielder Ethan Galbraith.

With the likes of Shea Charles, Casper Jander & Flynn Downes all potentially targets for other clubs, he could be a replacement for any of them.

At 25 the Northern Ireland International is an experienced player.

Beginning his career at Manchester United he was highly rated, but could not make the breakthrough to the first team other than 1 appearance in Europe.

He spent a successful 2021/22 season on loan at League One Doncaster before joining Salford City the following year also on loan.

In the summer of 2022 he joined Leyton Orient on a permanent deal and spent two years as a regular in their League One side.

That prompted Swansea City to sign him last season where he was an ever present before being injured for the final 7 games.

Now he is linked for a move to St Mary's for around £8.5 million, a tidy profit for the Welsh club.

The stumbling block might be Swansea's willingness to do business with us, although it would probably not stop the deal happening, the Swans would probably not make it easy for us and hold out on a few sticking points due to bad blood from the way that Russell Martin left to join us and subsequently signed some of his squad at Swansea.

We will see if this is just a whisper or turns out to be more substantial, certainly given the likelihood that we would be able to hold on to all three of Jander, Charles and Downes, he does look a contender to replace any of them.

All Photos Via Reuters