Saints are being touted as being the favourites to land Theo Walcott and bring him back home to where it all started.
Theo Walcott left Southampton Football Club in January 2006 and now 12 years later he is set to return in what would be seen as a marque signing for Saints.
It has to be said that Walcott's time at Arsenal has not been the raging success that he would have hoped for and although he has at times hit some great form, at others he has been distinctly average.
This season he has been restricted to just 4 appearances as a substitute in the Premier League, although he has sat on the bench for most of the other games and played a few in the Europa League etc.
But he is very much a fringe player now and turning 29 in a few months with 18 months left on his contract he is at a crossroads in his career, knowing that if he is to have any chance of making the England World Cup squad then he needs to be playing regularly as well as playing well.
Certainly his former Arsenal colleague and another former Saints player Alex Oxlade Camberlain seems to be finding a new lease of life at Liverpool and that might encourage Walcott that his future lies away from Arsenal.
Saints are going to have to pay big to sign him as although the limited time left on his deal at the Emirates will reduce the asking price along with the Gunners wanting to get him off the wage bill, but Arsenal wll hope that reported interest from Everton, West Ham & Newcastle will open a bidding war and get them top dollar.
But the insider info is that Walcott would prefer a return to the South Coast rather than a move up North, although West Ham could be an attraction to him as they have the ability to pay his wage demands.