Saints are being linked with a Liverpool striker, but will the Virgil Van Dijk issue make Saints favourites to land him or the deal dead in the water before it starts.
Saints are being linked with Danny Ings of Liverpool, the striker who signed for the Anfield club in the summer of 2015 has seen his career stall initially after injuries but since then he has failed to force his way into a Liverpool team top heavy on attacking players.
Hes has started only 3 Premier League games for the club with a further 3 as sub and his 17 minute appearance as a sub in Liverpool EFL Cup defeat at Leicester when he could not even get in the starting line up of a virtual Liverpool reserve team was an indication that he perhaps needs to leave Anfield if he wants to kick start his career
Ings is a local lad who grew up in Netley Abbey and played first for Bournemouth and then Burnley before his move to Merseyside.
But will Saints chances of landing him either on loan of permanently be hindered by the current relationship between Saints and Liverpool, as much as we are seemingly refusing to do business Liverpool they are not going to be keen to talk to us either, unless of course it involves Virgil Van Dijk moving to Anfield.
That could be a key part if Saints are actually interested in the deal and certainly they have been linked with Ings before so there is every reason to believe that they could be, it will be a case of whether Saints are ready to cash in and whether Ings would be seen as a solution to the goal scoring problems if they have not been solved by January.
There will be competition for Ing's signature, West Ham, Newcastle and Crystal Palace are also being linked, but there is also the issue of the players fitness, he has barely played and has had two lengthy spells out due to injury, like Jay Rodriguez there are bound to be doubts he can recapture his previous form, that being the case a loan move is more likely so any prospective buyer can assess his condition before laying out a substantial transfer fee