Saints have been linked to signing an out of contract International defender, but will they be scuppered by red tape.
The International defender in question is former Juventus centre half Martin Caceres,
Whispers back in December were saying that Saints were trying to land an out oc contract defender but where waiting for work permit issues to be completed before announcing anything, although no names were being bandied about at that stage.
Now Caceres name is coming up and he could still be signed due to the fact that he is out of contract since being released by Juventus in the summer.
However he would possibly be initially barred from a work permit being a non EU national and needing to have played 30 % of his Countries International matches in the past two years.
Given that due to injury his last appearance for Uruguay was back in November 2015 there is a good chance that this could be the case.
Any potential club could then appeal but that gets complicated.
The appeals process is a points based system under which the panel will award points depending on the circumstances of the transfer. If a player scores four points or more, the panel may recommend that the application is granted. Nonetheless, the panel can still reject the application even if four or more points are scored.
Criteria Points
The value of the transfer fee being paid for the player is in the top 25% of all transfers to Premier League clubs in the previous 2 windows 3 points
The value of the transfer fee being paid for the player is between the 50th and 75th % of all transfers to Premier League clubs in the previous 2 windows 2 points
The wages being paid to the player by the applicant club is in the top 25% of the top 30 earners at the club 3 points
The wages being paid to the player by the applicant club are between the 50th and 75th % of all the top 30 earners at the club 2 points
The player’s current club is in a Top League[3] and the player has played in 30% or more of the available domestic league minutes 1 point
The player’s current club has played in the group stages or onwards of the Champions League, Europa League or the Copa Libertadores within the last 12 months and the player has played in 30% or more of the available domestic league minutes 1 point
If the player does not meet the above points based system review, there is a secondary examination under which if the player scores 5 points or more, the panel may recommend that an application is granted. Points can be scored if, for example, the player has played in the final qualification rounds of the Champions League, Europa League or the Copa Libertadores within the last 12 months and the player has played in 30% or more of the available domestic league minutes.
The review at this stage is more flexible meaning that the panel can take into account the circumstances if no transfer fee is payable (perhaps because the player has reached the end of his contract) or if the player satisfies some but not all of the automatic criteria.
If the player fails to score 5 points or more, there is one final review stage during which further arguments can be made if there are extenuating circumstances that are beyond the control of the player or national association (for example, a long term injury or suspension that has prevented the player from appearing in the last year).
So picking out the bones of that I would hazard a guess that if the target is Caceres then it would have been initially turned down though not playing enough International games, turned down at the second stage through not enough points and could now be at the third or fourth stage.
What we don't know though is if the appeals process has already been exhausted or if indeed it is Caceres that we were attempting to sign.
Saints fans would hope that the chase for a central defender is not quite over, but the problem would be that Caceres for instance or any other out of contract player now havent played since the summer and would be very short of match fitness, although in the longer term this would help us out, in the short term when we really need them it doesn't