With Saints relegation all but confirmed, the vultures are starting to hover over St Mary's to pick the bones of the 2024/25 season squad, that is not a bad thing for Southampton in the long run, it will enable us to rebuild, as long as we keep the foundations of the squad.

According to givemesport.com Taylor Harwood-Bellis is on the wish list of Crystal Palace.

They say that the defender has recently signed with the Unique Sports Group agency, who have a close working relationship with Palace and that could be one of the reasons as to why the South London club are linked.

Harwood-Bellis signed a 4 year contract with Saints last summer so is contracted to the club until July 2028, so that means Saints are under no pressure to sell.

From a Palace perspective it will be whether they can meet Saints valuation of the player and also match his current salary at St Mary's.

You would imagine that THB is one of the highest earners at the club, so therefore it will not be nailed on that he can find a club that is able or rather willing to fork out a sizable figure, who has been solid, but not standout for Southampton this season.

If Harwood-Bellis does go then Saints are not short of replacements to step into the breach, although the futures of Jan Bednarek & Jack Stephens are unclear, Bednarek will have two years left on his deal and Stephens contract will end, the club still have Nathan Wood & Ronnie Edwards who are both proven at Championship level, as well as potentially Armel Bella-Kotchap, who again might find it difficult to find a a club who will meet his own wage demands.

The reality of relegation is that most of our key players will leave this summer, but we will still have the foundations of the squad that won promotion in 2023/24 and with the money brought in from those transferred, that should provide the foundation for another promotion campaign.

All Photos Via Reuters

Bowlercow added 15:44 - Feb 28 Our new team next year:> Bazunu Sugawara Wood Edwards Wellington Charles Smallbone Fernandez BBDiaz Adam Armstrong Dom Ballard Sell the rest for around £120m and spend it all
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Jesus_02 added 16:48 - Feb 28 Not sure sugawara or fernandez will hang about. We should get more than 120m in though, spending it will be an issue though
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SaintPaulVW added 20:31 - Feb 28 He looked great last year. Hasn't played well this season but is that down to him or the poor organisation from both managers and poor recruitment around him. I'm sure he won't stay with us next year, so the only positive spin I can put on it is the more interest the better!
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SanMarco added 09:24 - Mar 3 I know these are only rumours but it always interesting to see the level of clubs interested in various players. Like Downes, Harwood-Bellis has not really moved forward this season. Not all his fault of course (and some would say not his fault at all) but a fact nonetheless. I doubt we will see Liverpool and Arsenal in the rumours in coming weeks...
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saint901 added 10:52 - Mar 3 I think his head has already gone and that he will lead an exodus of perhaps seven or either players out of the club. We then all comment on how we will rebuild and in a season or three be once again up with the contenders. We won't. Or at least we won't unless there are some radical changes elsewhere. Our once renowned talent spotting and development system is history. Yes we have Dibling, but that's one player in how many seasons? Our selection of manager has failed us. RM and his methods were barely suited to the Championship and only because Leeds imploded at the end of the season did we get promoted and only then because the last few league games and the playoff games saw us apply a more direct approach. Selecting a manager who knows how to play in the Champ is key and that's not comrade Ivan. We are - and have been for two seasons - lacking any reliable talent as a goal scorer. Fixing that is going to cost money and should be a priority. Unfortunately we will see the financial plan of buying young players to sell on at a profit, take priority over having a team with any chance of success. That is an ownership problem. Do they want playing success and kudos of a profit? (I think we know the answer). Personally I'm looking forward to life in the Champ/League 1 until we fix some of the above and if we never get to the PL again in my lifetime, I'll not be sorry.

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andoverpedro added 08:02 - Mar 4 Perhaps they are after Bednerek ha ha ha aha ha
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underweststand added 08:44 - Mar 4 Every player wants to play at the highest level they can, and after getting his England debut - and a goal, it's no surprise that THB would want to move on, and such would be a win-win situation. Sad as it maybe, fans shouldn't lose their cool when players want to leave for better opportunities but we must acknowledge that ambition is not a dirty word especially in a sport where you are only as good as your last game, and that the next bad injury might be career-ending. It's clear that there are others who will disappear during the summer, and it's not a case of who will leave, but who will be left afterwards. Looking at options and possible new signings, I think we need a real striker with a good career tally, and although it may cost a packet for his salary, we could do worse than have Danny Ings back in the twilight of his career when his WHam contract goes out in the summer. What might our squad look like in August ?..I think Bowlercow had a few good suggestions (above) and when looking for a new back line maybe Wood and Edwards would be a good CB partnership plus some promising U21 lads like Ballard, Robinson, Payne and Bragg and with Sam A-A and Edozie still on the books there is a lot of new blood good enough for the Championship. Our problem before has always been losing those good young talents because " the regular player " is always first choice, and they lose out.

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