According to this mornings Daily Express Manchester United are preparing a bid for Ryan Bertrand, but could this mean a return to St Mary's for Luke Shaw.
The Old Trafford club are being rumoured to be looking to prise Ryan Bertrand away from St Mary's, although the reality is that Saints will turn down all bids in January.
However they may find it hard to resist n the summer, but they will be looking for top dollar from United before they are tempted to sell.
This could mean that United will look to a cash plus player deal and the player in question could be Luke Shaw whose career has nosedived since leaving St Mary's in the summer of 2014.
If Bertrand was to move to Old Trafford his fee would almost certainly have to match the £30 million that took his predecessor Shaw to Old Trafford.
That would leave Shaw surplus to requirements at United with the Red Devils looking to offload him.
The problem that they would have is that by the summer of 2016 Shaw will have been out of action for almost a year with a broken leg, there is a slight chance he could return for the final games of this season and he will be keen to do so given that next year is European Championship year, but if he is forced out till nest season then when he returns he could find that not only has Ryan Bertrand nicked his England place, but also on the verge of his Old Trafford one.
The issue Manchester United would have in selling Shaw is that few clubs would have the clout for either his wages or his transfer fee, but a deal with Saints for Bertrand could allow some trading to go on.
Shaw himself might be very reluctant to leave Old Trafford, but he may find that he is out in the cold and "encouraged" to move on, his time there has not been successful and been blighted by injury and questions have been asked about his overall ability to fit into United's system of playing due to his pace or lack of it over distance and his crossing ability.
With the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea etc being unlikely to be interested, it might not suit Shaw to take a backwards step, but it could be in his long term interests and that could see his return to the South Coast.
This is of course very speculative, but no more speculative than most other rumours, these days the Premier League and indeed football in general is a very fluid system and players and managers rarely stay at clubs longer than 2-3 years.