It is the last few weeks of the transfer window and regular as clockwork in the last couple of years in each transfer window suddenly springs up rumours that Sam Edozie is wanted by a plethora of clubs both here and in Europe.

Sam Edozie joined Southampton in the summer of 2022 from Manchester City & perhaps Southampton supporters were expecting a little too much from a player who cost £10 million, but at 19 had made just one appearance in Manchester City's first team, that being a start in the Charity Shield game of 2021 when he played just over an hour.

Indeed in hindsight we should not be surprised that so many of the City youngsters we bought around that time failed, Edozie, Juan Larios & Gavin Bazunu all ill equipped to be plunged into the chaos that was Saints 2022/23 relegation season.

Edozie would make 17 Premier League appearances that season and you could see his potential, but it was stifled in that car crash season, he was not alone in that.

In 2023/24 he was a more regular player and would make 32 regular season appearances in the Championship as well as 2 more in the play offs where he would come on as a 35th minute sub for David Brooks and play a big part of our 1-0 win over Leeds United at Wembley, ironically coming off for Ryan Manning in the closing stages as we looked to see out our win.

He would score 6 times that season, but 5 of those would be before the turn of the year and in January the rumours of a move were already surfacing.

It was clear in the summer of 2024 that Russell Martin did not see Edozie as part of his squad and he was shipped out on loan to Anderlecht in Belgium on the last day of the transfer window, Maxwell Cornett seemingly his replacement.

He would have a reasonable time in Brussels but even on his return, the rumours of a move were surfacing, but in the summer of 2025 & January 2026 nothing came of them, his agent seemingly very keen to link him with a number of big names on the continent.

So he was back into the Saints squad for last season, but a mysterious ailment kept him out of first team contention until February, rumours abounded that he was suffering with sulking.

Although he was linked with a move in January, again nothing happened and it seemed that Tonda Eckert offered the olive branch and he was back into the squad the week after the transfer window shut.

He played a decent part in the final part of the season, so when June & July went by without any links coming into the media, you thought that perhaps he wanted to stay.

But as we enter the last few weeks of the window it seems that is not the case the72.co.uk are reporting that European clubs are eying Sam Edozie, I am not sure why he is so popular in Europe.

They say "Edozie is a target for Paderborn, FC Copenhagen and several Championship sides"

They go on to point out that he is now in the last year of his contract and that could mean that it is the club who are doing the media briefing this time rather than his agent.

So it would seem that Edozie is one of the players Saints are keen to get some return on their outlay on and also free up some wages.

It all sounds good, but from afar, the failure to move him on permanently over the past 2 years seems to suggest that there is something that prevents him going, perhaps the size of his salary.

But now as he enters the last year, he might be more willing to take a drop in wages in order to get the security of a 2 or 3 year deal.

All Photos Via Reuters or Southampton FC