Manchester United appear to have put in a cheeky bid for Mario Lemina, with Arsenal hovering,possibly not the news you want to hear if you are a supporter of the Red Devils or Gunners.

Mario Lemina is undoubtedly a quality player on his day, the problem has been for under half of the period he has been here he has either been injured or not on form.

Initially Lemina looked a real bargain when he joined the club from Juventus for £18 million in August 2017, but since then he has struggled to find consistency either in being free from injury or in form itself.

When he plays well he looks a player who could sparkle in the Manchester United midfield, but too often he looks nowhere near that class.

In his time at St Mary's he could have played around 76 times in the Premier League, he has managed only 38 starts plus another 8 as sub scoring only twice.

Now it seems that he is a luxury that Saints would be willing to let depart at the right price.

It will be disappointing should he go in that he really does have the potential to succeed at the highest level and the fact that he hasn't reached those heights enough times in the last two years asks some questions that may worry Manchester United fans who could see Paul Pogba replaced by Lemina.

The player himself seems happy to go, although he equally does not seem in a hurry nor does he seem worried should he have to stay, perhaps an it is this attitude that has prevented him from fulfilling his potential something he really perhaps should have done as he approaches 26 in September.

He loos to be heading for the exit and has been left out of the Saints squad to travel to Austria for a training camp, Saints are being reported as wanting to recoup at least the £18 million they paid back in 2017.

Certainly the centre of midfield is an area Saints have plenty of bodies in and could afford to let a player go in that department, Lemina has barely played under Hasenhuttl and from that perspective played little part in the way the Austrian revived the team after his arrival.

You have the feeling that with the rumours of off the field activities effecting his performance on the pitch that Saints are comfortable with Lemina going, perhaps he will go on to better things elsewhere, but for the moment Saints are quite happy to cut their losses on a player who has not really done it often enough for the fee paid.

Photo: Action Images

SaintBrock added 14:37 - Jul 9 Make of this what you will. Man U & Arsenal are usually linked to every foreign player on the market with astronomical transfer fees being touted around as though it is Monopoly money. Reality will prove to be somewhat different to all the agent hyperbole, both clubs are siubjec t to FPP rules just like the rest of us and either club is that careless with their money. Seems vey unlikely that a player who cannot tie down a first team place at SFC would be of any interest to either club

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SaintBrock added 14:37 - Jul 9 neither club
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arthurfane added 14:42 - Jul 9 I think there IS some mileage in this - he's clearly very, very talented and these clubs will (rightly, in my opinion) think they can unlock it as well as some consistency. Personally, I think Ralph is capable of doing so, so would be gutted if he went without securing a huge profit. Personally, I'd take nothing less than £30m...
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IanRC added 15:17 - Jul 9 I agree arthurfane, I will be disappointed if he leaves. I do not agree with the popular view that he has underperformed or looked uninterested. I think many forget he was carrying an injury problem for most of last season. My preference would be to let him work with Ralph and our new team for this next season. He still has three years left on his contract as I understand it so no rush and given his abilities, which few doubt, we should try to extract the best from him.

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BaselSaint added 15:32 - Jul 9 Bite your hand off for 40 Million.
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MRHALL93 added 16:51 - Jul 9 I can see him at United. With Herrea leaving and rumours of Matic and Pogba leaving they'll need another CM. Can't see him at Arsenal especially since they've already Torreira, Xhaka and Guendouzi. Apparently we've listed him for £18m, hopefully, we can make two teams fight for his signature and increase the value that we've listed him as.
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Sanguin added 16:59 - Jul 9 What are the rumours of off-field activities? I've not heard any rumours?
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SaintBrock added 18:46 - Jul 9 Usual unsubstantiated scuttle butt from that "other" website. He had one run in with the fuzz over drink driving IIRC.
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zonehead added 06:09 - Jul 10 He was the wrong fit from the start coming from Juventus to here, team spirit is everything and Ralph knows that
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redwight added 10:44 - Jul 10 Would be very disappointed to see him go. It will also be seen as a failure to bring out the best in a clearly talented player who could have gone on to become something really special. Fully expect to see this happen somewhere else...….if he is sold.
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