The media in the West Midlands are claiming that the deal for Mario Lemina is in the "Last Straight" Saints fans will be hoping it is, but will it be a permanent deal or a loan to Wolves.

Mario Lemina's career so far has been one of spending a small time at each club with limited success, never truly being a first choice player and then leaving before his reputation is sullied.

That seems to be the case at St Mary's, whilst he undoubtedly showed his class at times, too often he was missing when it truly counted and fans were truly split between those who thought he was a waste of time and those who were convinced of his talent but not of his application.

Certainly there were rumours of his lifestyle choices , driving around in fast cars and late nights etc and he seemed to be injured as much as he was fit, or should we say unvailable.

Now it seems that he is heading to Wolverhampton Wanderers and the media in the West Midlands is convinced the deal is about to go through.

Wolves bossNuno Espirito Santo is believed to see a new centre midfielder as high on his list of transfer priorities with just three days left of the window.

Lemina has fallen out of favour under Saints boss Ralph Hassenhuttl and has been given permission to speak to other clubs in this window, rumours of Manchester United and Arsenal had surfaced but seem to have been nothing more than his agent stirring up the market.

Saints seem happy to let him go and haven't made too much fuss about the situation and only appear concerned about whether it be a loan move or a permanent deal.

Obviously Saints preference would be a clean break from the player, hopefully most of his transfer fee recouped and getting his wages off the bill, but the players reputation in the game goes before him and it seems Wolves are more cautious, they would prefer a years loan with an option to buy.

For Saints that is not good, although they would get his wages off the books, an option to buy is worth little more than the paper it is written on and the likelihood is that if Lemina repeats his times and form at St Mary's then Wolves would politely decline to take up the option.

As with Cedric going to Inter Milan the worry for Saints is that the player is ony a stop gap for Wolves and nothing else.

Photo: Action Images

Chesham_Saint added 09:03 - Aug 6 I thought this article was an investigation into the sexual preferences of Saints fans in the 21st century, then I realised the ‘Last straight Saints fans’ meant something else...
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Colburn added 11:11 - Aug 6 Let's hope it's done in time for us to get in a centre back. Go and take your tablets Chesham saint..
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bstokesaint added 12:23 - Aug 6 What a joke. Was this part of his “2 season plan” too? So much for vaulting onto the next big thing. Of course it could have been his agent making up a load of bull. I don’t think I’ll hold the fast car thing against him mind. If I was earning £100k a week I’d be purchasing a couple of supercars myself. On reflection I’ve not seen a Peugeot 106 or Ford Fiesta in the players’ car park, which are both ideal for inner city living. So in other news, where are these defenders?

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Chesham_Saint added 12:45 - Aug 6 Thanks Coburn, I have now...!
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SaintBrock added 14:00 - Aug 6 "Mario Lemina's career so far has been one of spending a small time at each club with limited success, never truly being a first choice player and then leaving before his reputation is sullied". How can you write such speculative gibberish Nick, when you know absolutely nothing about he player.
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saintmark1976 added 15:06 - Aug 6 SaintBrock, I suspect Nick writes gibberish purely to antagonise people like you and I to respond.After all,without contributions from people with different opinions there would be no purpose in having a site in the first place. Does Nick believe all that he posts? I would suggest that in a large number of cases the answer is "no" but we can't criticise him for effort, after all he has got a site to run and maintain.

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BoondockSaint added 16:04 - Aug 6 SaintBrock- Lemina's career stats on Wikipedia support Nick's assessment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Lemina
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KriSaint added 16:17 - Aug 6 He was worth buying but has not lived up to expectations and at the minute he is not considered more than a squad player. Being the narcissist he is, he now wants to leave, before it becomes evident for everybody, that he is NOT in our starting 11 when everybody is fit. The bottom line is: Can we get rid of him without loosing some of the money we paid for him? I hope so. Good luck to him in another club, which will probably be Wolves. (Meaning a step down in my book).

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SaintStu7 added 16:17 - Aug 6 Not sure how you can accuse Nick of writing ‘speculative’ gibberish when he’s commenting on the facts of the past. Speculative gibberish would be writing he’s going to Wolves to be the new Patrick Veira with nobs on!
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KohSamuiSaints added 16:31 - Aug 6 I personally think he has shown real quality on the pitch ... yes he’s bit of a flashy brat off the pitch with Ballottelli’s ex girlfriend ... Ralph needs to sit him down and teach him how to grow up off the pitch and mentor him ... with all the back staff football clubs have there must be a sociologist or someone who can get his head right ... I know if we sell him he will be the best player on the park showing that we were wrong to not show faith in him .... Give the guy a chance , at least until the January window ... I’m convinced he’s worth keeping ..#COYS

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brady100 added 17:57 - Aug 6 I do agree that in the main, Lemina is a selfish waste of space... but there is a part of me that wonders why we are selling to a PL rival. It would be very frustrating if he eventually started to use some of the talent he has.
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