Saints are warning off other clubs from bidding for Jay Rodriguez in the summer by putting a big price tag on his head.
According to the Manchester Evening News who would obviously have sources close to Manchester City, Saints have brushed off a tentative enquiry from City by saying that they will not entertain offers beneath £20 million for Jay Rodriguez.
This is a big price for a player who as well as entering the last year of his contract,has not played in over a year and would represent a big gamble for any club at that price.
But it does make a statement of intent from Saints who are wasting no time in showing that they will deal with things a tad differently this year than they did in the early stages of last summer when they got caught napping a little and situations with certain players occurred which did not repeat themselves later in the transfer window and certainly wont happen again in this coming one.
Saints are caught in a quandary with Rodriguez though, on one hand they will not want to see his contract run down and leave for nothing, but on the other hand they will not want to sell a player cheaply only to see him make a full recovery and go on to prosper.
That is why they probably see the best option as being to sit tight on him for the coming season, if it turns out he is not the player he was then they can assess his value to the club going forward, if he does recapture his form then perhaps the benefits of that will enable Saints to recoup their money through increased income from league position or Cup runs.
So that seems the likeliest scenario at present, but by slapping a big transfer fee on his head, Saints could also be seen as doing two things,firstly they are setting out their stall and making it clear on what price they will start to talk, unlike last season where Liverpool and Spurs seemed keen to try and lure our players away cheaply, but also they are saying that a big bid will perhaps tempt them.
That would perhaps be the best scenario, I think Saints would rather have £20 million in their pockets for Rodriguez, money that can be reinvested in the summer, rather than take the gamble on his fitness next season, I would say that as a club we would be just as happy with getting that cash for J Rod and using it to land Danny Ings or Charlie Austin to name but two targets we have been linked to, than gambling on Rodriguez.
In some respects its a no lose situation for Saints if the big bids come in, but the dichotomy is that it could also turn out to be a no win one as well.
So Saints need to play a tight game on this one and it seems that they have already started.