The media are reporting that Saints are talking to Barcelona about taking one of their central defenders on loan for the season.
Saints reportedly want to take Barcelona starlet Jean-Clair Todibo on loan for the coming season according to a report from the Sunday People.
The report adds that the Catalan side rate the 19 year old Frenchman extremely highly and feel that he would benefit from a season away from the Nou Camp as he continues to perfect his game.
Todibo only joined Barca back in January after breaking into the first team in France with Toulouse and he made a couple of appearances for them at the tail end of last season.
Turning 20 in December he can play as either a central defender or as a defensive midfielder, Saints would seem to be a good fit for him and this could be a big influence on Barcelona in choosing a club they would loan him out to, as we have a reputation for giving the youngsters a chance.
Although the signing would only be for the season and highly unlikely to have an option to buy, although as we have seen those options are absolutely worthless other than fixing a price.
These days loan signings are a good way of bringing in players destined for big things but at clubs where the situation isn't right to allow them to break through, we have used loan signings in the past to our advantage including that of Toby Alderweireld and although that ended on a sour note, the fact was that we were still better having him on a temporary basis for one season than we would have been without him.
This would not be the first time we have loaned a player from the Catalan Giants, 25 years ago we borrowed Ronnie Ekelund, a player still talked about by fans of a certain age, even though a back injury curtailed his appearances for the club,he formed a electric partnership with Matthew Le Tissier scoring 5 goals in only 15 starts plus another 2 off the bench in the Premier League.
Sadly the back injury he suffered virtually ended his career, at least to the standard he should have reached, although after returning to Spain he spent tie on loan before ending his career in the USA with San Jose Earthquakes where he is today in a coaching capacity.