Southampton aren't down just yet, but the vultures are already starting to swarm, one approach that may please some of the Saints supporter base though is an approach from Turkish club Besiktas.
It is fair to say that Saints supporters are split about Mohammed Elyounoussi, some think that he is average and no worse than most of his other rivals for a place in the Southampton team, whilst others have made him their scapegoat and froth at the mouth before and after he plays for the side.
For me the answer is pretty much down the middle, he has contributed no more or less than any of the dozen or so players who vie for a place either wide in midfield or up front, those who deride him, cannot really name a player who has produced the goods and truly deserves to be a shoe in ahead of Elyounoussi and that is perhaps why we are where we are now.
I am certainly not going to make excuses for the Norwegian international, to be frank his five years at St Mary's have not exactly been covered in glory, when he joined in the summer of 2018 for £16 million there were high hopes for him, but it soon became apparent that he was struggling to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League.
After a poor first season at St Mary's he spent two season at Celtic in the Scottish Premier League where again he was reasonable at that level but not outstanding.
He returned to Saints last season and did ok and again this season he has played in most of the games in the Premier League, indeed the only outfield player to play more games is James Ward Prowse..
But it seems that he still has admirers on the continent as with his contract up at the end of the season, he is able to leave on a free transfer.
First to show their interest appear to be Turkish club Besiktas, media outlet Fotospor are reporting that
"Besiktas have ‘contacted’ the Southampton player, with the player’s agent being asked about what Elyounoussi’s demands would be should he be interested in moving to the Süper Lig."
The talks are said to have been ‘positive’, although the report does say that there was no direct talk of numbers when it comes to any potential contract.