He will not want to play for Saints in the Championship next season.

Sure his family are Saints fans ? hopefully that Will swing it for us

I think this would be good as long as the fee isn't outrageous. He is a far better player than Redmond ever will be.

If it's less than £20m and he reduces his wage demands then why not? I think I'd rather see Sturridge on loan until the end of the season. We need a clinical finisher which Walcott isn't. But I don't think the club like taking players on loan without an option to buy.

Walcott is no longer the child prodigy about to take thePremier League by storm but he is a class act we could very much do with right now. His direct pace is a threat againts any team but I agree a striker up top is still needed. We have never replaced Pelle, a strong player up top to hold the ball up and bring others into play. The likes of Redmond, Tadic and Boufal may start to look much better players if they had someone to play off.

There's no doubt that Walcott is better than what we currently have. Sign him up! As long as he's willing to take a pay cut...

As for Sturridge, he is finished! He's lost his pace, sharpness, movement. He's only good for finishing chances put on a plate for him. OK, that's better than Shane Long can do in front of goal, but Sturridge would be no better than Gabbiadini and is not the type of striker we need. Unless the playing style radically changes, which I can't see happening, then we need a target man like Lambert or Pelle to hit with crosses from out wide.

According to Sky he is open to a cut in wages if it means regular play.

I think this development sits in a wider appreciation of where we are as a club. Basically, i think the shine started to dull when we lost Mane and Pelle. Interestingly, both players were an example of the great scouting we have in place: Mane for Lallana and Pelle for Lambert. Both went on to easily fill (if not exceed) the outgoing places.

Of course, we lost both again (although only Mane was due to our position as a club, Pelle was getting too old for EPL and wanted the big paycheck before reitrement).

I think our scouting did well on paper again: Redmond for Mane and Austin for Pelle. However, any transfer is a gamble, and these havent paid off (yet). Redmond has clear potential but we took a punt on whether he could improve his finishing. He hasn't (yet) - and i think his mentality means he needs time (and some of the spotlight off him) in order to develop. We brought in Boufal too, but that has also not resulted in instant success.

Austin clearly has what Pelle had in terms of goalscoring, but we took a punt on him being injury free. That's not panned out as well as it could, but its not over.

Going back to Redmond/Boufal, that is where Walcott comes in. Clearly Saints have seen that the club needs a proven finisher - one with pace. He's not the young prodigy anymore and he now has a better fit to coming back to his former club (as opposed to taking a sidestep to a top 4-5 club). Wallcott is no stranger to the limelight and pressure (something Redmond lacks) and knows the EPL by heart (something Boufal lacks).

Interestingly he would provide some cover for Redmond in that Saints fans wouldnt be so impatient or reliant on Redmond to become the next biggest thing. This may ease the pressure off him and allow him to develop.

BTW, I think Puel's comments about Redmond being the next Henry were well intentioned, but had the opposite effect on Redmond.

Just some thoughts, but i think Saints know that Mane has not been replaced effectively yet, and Walcott may well be the jigsaw piece desperately needed.

I would love to see him come back at any price...he knows where the goal is, still has pace and is the cross between Manolo (goal scorer) and Shane (sheer pace) we are crying out for.

Please please please push the boat out. He would be the difference between relegation scrap and mid table

We are dying the death of a thousand cuts and it'll take more than one or two players coming in to change things around. We've sold our future. Walcott is part of our past and will be no more successful here than he has been at Arsenal. Nobody on earth can make a silk purse from a sow's ear and that is all we've been left with.

Also, after being taken by swen as a non playing wonderkid, he has missed the last two world cups with injury and will be desperate for game time to make his case for Russia.