According to Watford fans social media, the Hornets are said to be chasing a move for Saints central defender Jack Stephens, this could be part of a chain reaction should he leave.

Whilst I have never been the greatest fan of Jack Stephens I have to say I respect him as a good club man and squad player, he has had a role to play at St Mary's and I'm not facetious enough to say something nasty about him in this respect.

So the news that Watford may be coming in for him is good in that if we are willing to let him go then, it would leave us a little short in the central defender department, so you would assume that it would mean that we have incoming before the end of the transfer window.

During his time at St Mary's Jack has started 109 Premier League game in the 5 1/2 years since he made his Premier League debut in January 2017 at the age of 23, but the bulk of these were played in the early part of his time in the first team squad.

He has spent several spells out on loan, the first were at Swindon Town in League one across 1 1/2 seasons, followed by going for a years loan to Middlesbrough in the Championship, this was not successful and he was recalled in the January after making the first team just once in the League.

He then joined Coventry City for the rest of that season (2015/16) in League One.

Since then he has been a regular member of the Saints squad and at times commanded a spot as first choice, he is also versatile able to play in several positions, but ultimately the blunt truth is at Premier League player he is a good squad player.

I would suggest that given his contract and the wages he is being paid at Southampton, that a loan deal is the more likely of the two options and a permanent deal would be out of Watford's wage structure.

Photo: Action Images

highfield49 added 13:19 - Aug 15 Even if you're not wanting to be facetious Nick I'm willing to suggest that Jack Stephens moving to Watford is not going to leave us short in the central defender department. Hopefully this is indeed an indication of a bit more experience and organisation being introduced to the back line.
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mgprobert added 13:19 - Aug 15 From the moment I first saw Jack I thought he wasn't up to the job, although I expect football managers are better judges of these things. He always seems to give 100% however, which is all you can ask for as a fan, and anyway he's achieved so much more in the game than most of us fans will ever know - good luck to him
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felly1 added 13:20 - Aug 15 Oh Jackie boy. Nicks and many fans least favourite defender (but a good clubman.) Who will we pick on if he goes? I've always had an irrational soft spot for the lad to be honest. Not as bad as many make out, he was just an average player who was picked on by the school bullies. You nasty lot.
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codge added 13:35 - Aug 15 Hope it’s true finally won’t have to see his name in the lineup and dreading the outcome.
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IWOZTHERE added 13:50 - Aug 15 We were spoilt in the Fonte/VVD era. Compared to them JS made far too many mistakes, even more than Yosh. Since then We've wasted a fortune trying youngsters alongside Bednarek and I've come to think that he's not that bad and clubs need decent back-ups like him, happy to do that job. The youngsters haven't worked and though Sali and BK have potential, the back line is still not stable and error ridden. Stubborn Ralph has ignored the clamour for an experienced Leader which is a disgrace. We wouldn't miss him but that's no criticism, good luck to him I say!

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Sadoldgit added 14:11 - Aug 15 Stubborn Ralph? Don’t we have a recruitment team responsible for transfers? Haven’t we already shipped out Verstergaard and brought in another CB? I expect, if he had his way, there would be a number of other changes. We still have monetary constraints and have some deadwood that it is hard to shift. With all due respect to Jack Stephens, he was fine as a bench warmer but we need better. If he goes to Watford good luck to him and I expect he is better suited to the Championship.

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GRIM added 14:25 - Aug 15 Oh I hope this is true. As much as Jack is an OK guy he's unfortunately a very average defender. If he goes I wish him all the best & just hope we have a quality ctr back lined up to replace him. Also heard a whisper that Redmond could be going back to his former club Norwich. Can anyone confirm or deny this.
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City_boy added 15:13 - Aug 15 Best news I have heard all year ! I hear many saying what a great servant etc he has been, but who wouldn't be on the contract he had. No other club would have ever offered him anything close to the deals Saints gave him.
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sidsaint added 15:18 - Aug 15 Good squad man who always gave his best. If he is off I wish him well.
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IanRC added 15:20 - Aug 15 If true, why on earth did we not use him as leverage to acquire Denis.
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Block8 added 15:22 - Aug 15 Good luck to him, he has been a good servant to this club and maybe deserves a chance to shine elsewhere!
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GRIM added 15:43 - Aug 15 Let's not get ahead of ourselves, he's not gone yet. And it's probable he'll only go on loan which means he might be back.
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Colburn added 17:23 - Aug 15 Ian RC.. I totally agree! Jack was never a fashionable choice, old fashioned you could say in his style. It may be time for him to move on but sadly he was never given balanced reviews on this site. Fair enough he lacks pace and made mistakes but no more than the others. You gloss over the constant errors from Salisu, giving him almost a free pass and praise him when he's had a decent game. Jack was in periods magnificent, particularly after the Leicester 9-0 when he stood up and played his best run of games. Equally at the beginning of one season he was touted with a move away to a bigger club because of his form yet you never gave him praise even when he was outstanding. In reality he was always stepping in for shortened periods and you can't expect miracles from any player who is in and out of the side. To be blunt, he is the epitome of a victim bias where the writer remains so adamant and unmoving in their opinion that they can't bring themselves to give praise when deserved. I wish him every luck and best wishes wherever he goes, he would have spilled blood for the club and no bigger Saints fan in the dressing room than him. Shame on the narrow minded clowns who constantly knocked him on here.

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Block8 added 18:23 - Aug 15 Nice one Colburn and it's good to see I'm not the only one who see's that Salisu is still a work in progress!
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felly1 added 18:37 - Aug 15 Agreed Colburn, although I pressed the down icon by mistake! It amazes me how Nick like many others form an opinion on a player... good or bad, and then refuse to budge either through stubborness or a fragile ego and can never ever admit they are ever wrong.... People are strange!
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SanMarco added 22:22 - Aug 15 If thinking Jack is not particularly good makes one a 'narrow-minded clown' then I am certainly a clown. Seems a bit unfair because surely none of us ever want a player to not succeed at Saints and felly - surely your comment on forming an opinion only works if Jack actually got any better, which, sadly, he didn't. I didn't budge because Jack's talent didn't budge either.

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Jesus_02 added 15:20 - Aug 16 Damn it where are my driving gloves
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