Saints could be going back to Chelsea to bring in another rising star on loan for the coming season although they do face competition.

Saints are being touted as being favourites to land Chelsea's Ruben Loftus Cheek on a season long loan beating off competition from Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Brighton.

Saints seem to have a close relationship with Chelsea and in recent years have taken Ryan Bertrand initially on loan and then on a permanent deal and of course Oriol Romeu, this makes us very attractive to Chelsea's legion of rising stars who cannot get near the first team at Stamford Bridge despite being Premier League quality.

Turning 22 next January Loftus Cheek is at a crossroads in his career, he has started only 6 Premier League games for the Blues plus another 16 as sub and has not that many more apppearances in the other competitions, he has never been out on loan and now needs to get regular first team football.

Loftus Cheek plays primarily as a central midfielder and can also play in a more advanced role behind the strikers and it could be in this position Saints are looking at signing him.

Although Saints have a strong central midfield it is a very defensive roster and even the most attacking player James Ward Prowse doesn't score many goals, there is a need for more firepower in the centre.

The media has Saints as favourites but that has little more substance than Saints reputation for developing young players and the track record of igniting the careers of Bertrand and Romeu.

Photo: Action Images

highfield49 added 11:09 - Jul 8 A loan deal with an option to buy might be the way to go rather than develop the player for his club's future benefit? To me he is one of those players that you are aware of but see playing so rarely that you know almost nothing about their true ability. That said we seem to be top heavy with mid-fielders lacking eye catching flare, surely if Loftus Cheek is on the radar we need to get one or two off the wage bill?

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petedoors1 added 11:22 - Jul 8 He sounds like a good replacement for JWP.
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kenis added 15:25 - Jul 8 Petedoors1, JWP is going nowhere and we'd be crazy to let him go. England U21 captain, getting better every season, might not be best suited to 4-2-3-1 formation but great player to have in the squad and future club captain.
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ChristchurchSaint added 16:00 - Jul 8 Highfield, I doubt if Chelsea want to lose him permanently. They are probably looking for a smaller club to play him on a regular basis, and then if he turns out to be the real deal, they will recall him rapidly at the end of the season. Personally, I would stay well away.
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pete_boggs added 17:26 - Jul 8 Agree a good swap for JWP who doesn't score, can't tackle , few assists and no pace. JWP will NEVER be captain and will drift off eventually to the lower leagues when Reed is forced out by new owners.
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Horndeansaint added 18:09 - Jul 8 PB. WAC. You seem no more likely to spot a talented footballer than a fillet of wet fish heading to slap you right between the eyes. With so called fans like you, who needs JCL's?
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pete_boggs added 20:41 - Jul 8 If you think that JWP is talented you're from CC Land. NO-ONE has EVER expressed any interest in signing him, perhaps you might take this as a clue. I would prefer to slap myself with fish rather than watch a JWP best-of video even if it would only last about 10 seconds for his highlights.
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BoondockSaint added 00:58 - Jul 9 JWP needs to start hitting the weight room, not to mention those free kicks this year! He s a good player, has potential, but not the one the TV presenters seem to think......if he was, Les would have shipped him off to the Scouse two years ago!
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highfield49 added 09:36 - Jul 9 ChristchurchSaint you could be right, but then again Ake got recalled by Chelsea from his Bournemouth loan last season only to end up signing for them a few weeks ago. Maybe they had an option to buy clause in his loan deal? Tbh I've no idea whether Loftus Cheek would add a missing dimension to our midfield but for me it's an area where we have too many players without flare and, despite others dislike of JWP, the one who frustrates me the most is Tadic.

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TeamCortese added 11:24 - Jul 9 Someone like Fabian Delph would be a good signing. He has a high work rate but can also score goals. I wouldn't call him a flair player but he would definitely bring in more energy to the final third from our midfield. On a wider note, what I don't understand is why we're not linked with decent signings but rather up and coming players? I don’t mind that to an extent but it can’t be our overriding transfer strategy. We’re not a newly promoted team or a bottom half club anymore. We’re in the Top 8 for crying out loud! This is really frustrating me. I just don't understand why no potential new owners have gone in for us yet. Lander doesn’t sound too promising and to be quite frank I’m not particularly excited by them. We're the biggest club outside of London in the South Coast. We've had amazing success over the last 7-years. It doesn't make sense—we’re literally a no-brainer investment. It's clear to see that Everton’s new owner (Farhad Moshiri) is living up to his promises. Our owner on the other hand is taking forever to find new investment and is essentially screwing us over in keeping up with the Top 7.

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SaintBrock added 16:18 - Jul 9 Let's face it petedoors1 anybody would be a good replacement for Ward-Prowse and Clasie and Hojberg are already here lurking somewhere in the background
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BoondockSaint added 01:33 - Jul 10 TeamCortese is right-why are we not a very attractive investment that should be getting lots of investing offers? It was the same when we nearly went out of business: a team and facilities that could be had for a song, and it seemed no one was interested, and certainly not UK investors. It's a mystery! What is not a mystery is the image of the club when we go shopping. We are seen as a stepping stone club and the only players that want to come here are the ones that figure they will have one good year with us and then be off to the Scouse or Spuds with a big pay rise. We never seem to get players in their prime, sending the message to potential signings and the league that we want to compete and accomplish something here.

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