One good thing these days is that Saints look to be one step ahead of the game when it comes to building a squad and whilst its worrying that a right back seems to be high on our list, it is also comforting.
In Nathaniel Clyne Saints have arguably the best right back in the country, however with 18 months on his contract left and a new one offered but not yet signed the club have to look at what options they have in the summer.
Should Saints achieve the dream of Champions league football then getting Clyne to sign a new deal will be easier, but should we fail then he is going to be prey to the likes of man Utd & Liverpool who will offer him big money deals that we may be unable to match.
That being the case then in the summer we will have to consider our options on Clyne and it could be that cashing in will be the way forward s it was in the summer of 2014.
But unlike last summer Saints have the chance to do their homework and sign players at the right price rather than being held to ransom by Clubs as they know we have money.
The latest playerto be linked with Saints is Parma right back Andrea Rispoli who at 26 has plenty of experience in Serie A
However this is a breakthrough season for Rispoli who has spent several seasons on loan away from Parma.
Parma however are bottom of Serie A and would prefer to hold on to Rispoli to help them stay up, Ronald Koeman however will know that right back is our achilles heal at the moment in that without Clyne wehave no real other options there other than going to three central defenders which may not suit every game, the Dutchman will be keen to look to bring in an aspiring right back such as Rispoli or Byram at Leeds not only as a potential replacement for Clyne should he leave in the summer, but as cover for him now.