With Saints looking for an option in the right back spot, could one of their old boys be a solution to the problem ?

Nathaniel Clyne left St Mary's for Liverpool in the summer of 2015 after a great 3 years at Saints, but like several others who left the club in that period, he has not found the success he was hoping for.

In Clyne's case that has not all been his fault, injuries have hampered his progress after initially playing virtually every Premier League game in his first two seasons, but at the start of the third he suffered a back injury which kept him out for all but the final month or so of the season in 2017/18 and he was an unused sub in Liverpool's defeat to Real Madrid in the 2018 Champions League Final.

By the start of 2018/19 Liverpool had a number of youngsters breaking through and Clyne was allowed to go on loan to Bournemouth in the January transfer window for the remainder of that season playing most of the remaining games.

His return to Liverpool perhaps saw him hope that he could force his way back into Jurgen Klopp's plans, but he suffered yet another serious setback an anterior cruciate ligament injury in a pre-season friendly against Borussia Dortmund and he would make no appearances in this still continuing season.

He is now back to fitness, but with his contract now up Liverpool are saying goodbye, indeed without any match action in over a year they are not extending his deal to cover the rest of the season but allowing him to go now so he can look for another club.

Could that club be Saints ?

Clyne has only just turned 29 and as a free transfer this would represent no outlay for Saints other than wages, the only question is whether he has fully recovered from the ACL injury.

If he has then he represents a good signing for someone, that will not be one of the Big Six clubs, but there will be plenty of interest in the rest of the Premier League, of course some of them will feel they already have adequate options in the right back position, but certainly Saints haven't.

Therefore signing Clyne could be a good option for Saints, getting in experience in the short term whilst they consider other options, whether that be Yan Valery or bringing in someone else.

Photo: Action Images

redwight added 10:22 - Jun 12 Cannot see a downside to this one.
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legod7 added 11:55 - Jun 12 Too old. Would only be a short term fix until Valery gets his act together.
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SaintPaulVW added 12:33 - Jun 12 Good player but his wages would probably be be the deal breaker.
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Saidou added 12:37 - Jun 12 thanks but no thanks. He still has injuries in him. There's a reason Liverpool don't want him anymore.
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NewburySaint added 13:14 - Jun 12 No thank you. Been, gone, forgotten. Also steer clear of any players with a history of back injury / injuries.
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Crispinmumbles added 13:20 - Jun 12 As said, it depedends on his fitness. We have such a poor history of signing old crocks. I remember Venison who said after retiring that he knew whenhe signed for us that his back was done and that he wouldn't be able to play. Two more words: Jaimie Redknapp.
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saintmark1976 added 13:32 - Jun 12 Please no. I don’t want to see any of the players who left for “pastures new” return to St Mary’s at any time in the future, irrespective of their current injury status. Accepting them back would send out completely the wrong message to the current squad.
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highfield49 added 16:49 - Jun 12 It would make more sense to offer Cedric a contract as it doesn't appear that Arsenal have any intention of extending his short stay.
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ItchenNorth added 20:27 - Jun 12 If we can be confident of fitness, it's a no brainer for me. At 29 we could get 3 seasons out of him no problem.
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Peterx added 07:54 - Jun 14 Lets stick with only signing players who are 24 or younger.
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