Reports are emerging that Athletico Madrid have failed to cancel Saints buy out clause for Toby Alderweireld.
Sky Sports are saying that Saints as is known had an option to buy Toby Alderweireld for £6.8 million at the end of his loan period, however Athletico Madrid had the option to buy out that clause for £1.5 million and it was expected that they were going to do so,
It's now emerging that the Spanish Club have failed to exercise that right and that Saints are prepared to take legal action if Athletico do a deal with Spurs for the player ahead of them.
Crucially it is also reported that Alderweireld himself is happy to stay at Saints although he would not be adverse to moving to Spurs if they had won the bidding war that Athletico were hoping to instigate.
At the moment its all a little muddled but it should become clear within the next few days.
Certainly Athletico do not appear to have been that ethical in the way they have conducted their business over the past month, firstly trying to force a deal with Chelsea as part of a deal that would bring Felipe Luis to Spain and waging a media campaign that made many believe that Chelsea were desperate to sign Alderweireld.
Then they courted Spurs to drive up the price, now it seems that in all the commotion they forgot to do their paperwork and might well now pay the price.
In essence it could be a useful bargaining tool for Saints, I for one would be quite happy to see a compromise reached where we signed Alderweireld even if it meant paying slightly more than the contracted £6.8 million in order to smooth through the deal.