Saints supporters know that there is going to be a few players leaving St Mary's next season and that in two weeks time when we are in July and the squad have received their loyalty bonus's there are going to be a few offers coming in thick and fast.

There are some Southampton fans who may be thinking that with no offers in yet for any of the squad, that we might not be in for a torrid summer with clubs tapping up our players.

Sadly they will be mistaken, very little transfer business is done prior to July 1st and there is a good reason for that, on that day footballers get their loyalty bonus's for still being at the club for the coming season.

This regulation is now a little outdated and much abused, whereas 20 years of so ago, a lot of transfer business was done virtually the moment the season ended, now it has just been pushed back to July, a player will say thank you very much for his loyalty bonus and then show no loyalty at all, but that is modern football.

But the Southampton Blitz is not too far away according to the72.co.uk, they claim that Leeds United will be heading South in July and that they have not one but two Saints players on their radar.

The first is Shea Charles, the Northern Ireland international is out of contract next year and with no sign of a new one being signed, it would seem that Saints will be willing to cash in on the man they signed from Manchester City in the summer of 2023.

His market value is said to be somewhere between £15-20k and that would be a good return on the £10 million forked out 3 years ago, hopefully with other interest in the midfielder also rumoured, it will push the asking price up to the top end.

But also linked with a permanent exit from St Mary's is Aaron Ramsdale and again it is Leeds United who are said to be interested.

Ramsdale spent last season on loan at Newcastle and given that he made just 12 Premier League appearances last year conceding 17 goals, starting and ending the season on the bench, the Geordies have declined to activate their option to buy at £20 million.

Ramsdale did not enjoy a great time at St James Park, adding to his League woes he also conceded 12 goals in just 4 Champions League outings and 12 goals in just 7 domestic cup competitions.

That gives him a record of 23 games played in all competitions and an astonishing 41 goals conceded, the first thing Leeds medical staff will be checking if the transfer proceeds is his back.

Of course this wasn't all his fault, Newcastle had an awful season, but it has seen his value drop a little and Saints will struggle to get his £25 million get out clause activated and even the £20 million option that Newcastle had matched.

So they will have to weigh up the situation, do they take the money now and run or do they take another hefty loan fee for him next season and hope that a good season will push up his valuation as he heads for the last year of his contract which ends in 2028.

The loss of Ramsdale will not greatly affect Saints, as he has not played for us in over a year, but £15-20 million in the coffers will significantly increase our transfer kitty.

The truth is as it always is in these situations is that it is never about who leaves, it is about who replaces them.

£35-40 million in the bank early doors would take the strain off our finances, meaning we would not be under pressure to sell other prime assets and also enable us to get business done early.

The last 3 transfer windows showed that we have our recruitment process back on track and if we could find the likes of Leo Scienza, Caspar Jander & Finn Azaz last summer, and Cyle Larin & Daniel Peretz in January, then we can repeat the process again.

It's going to be a busy summer and indeed it is still an uncertain one, but we finally have some stability in the club and we can build from there.

All Photos Via Reuters