Reports are suggesting that Saints are quoting £10 million to Sheffield United for striker Charlie Austin, but are they likely to get anywhere near that price ?
Charlie Austin is surplus to requirements at St Mary's, there is no doubting his goalscoring ablity, but is fitness is the issue and his ability to fit into Ralph Hasenhuttl's high tempo game.
Saints got Austin back in January 2016 for a bargain £4 million and on his debut he repaid a big chunk of that when he came on at Old Trafford and scored a late winner to give Saints a 1-0 victory.
That goal alone was worth almost half his fee come the end of season table in prize money and it also meant that Saints leapfrogged West Ham into 6th and therefore qualified for the Europa League group stages rather than the qualifying rounds.
Typically though Austin would play only a handful more games that season before getting injured
The following season under Claude Puel saw him manage only 15 games in the Premier League, indeed he was injured in December and only returned for the final couple of games, but he still scored 6 times and his goals were vital in the end table to see Saints again finish 7th.
Under Mauricio Pellegrino in 2017/18 saw his most prolific time at the club, he played in 24 Premier League games and scored 7 times a decent ratio and again come the end of the season as Saints scraped to safety, his goals were crucial from the early part of the season being worth 7 points.
Last season saw him play 25 times, but only 11 were starts and 14 were off the bench and once Ralph Hasenhuttl arrived the writing was on the wall, however his late winner against Arsenal to give the Austrian a win in his first home game was woth much more than the two points alone, it gave Saints fans hope and cemented the bond between the Austrian manager and his new club's fans.
Charlie Austin's record at Saints in terms of games played is not great, in the Premier League he could have played in around 140 games, he started only 34 with another 37 off the bench, meaning he missed around half mainly through injury.
But his 16 League goals for the team cannot be underestimated and showed that he can do a job for somebody, he is a goalscorer but not in a team that needs it's forwards to work a little harder than Charlie's body will let him.
No one can question his commitment and ability to score, only his fitness.
So for a team like Sheffield United just promoted to the Premier League he could be a good investment, he will get you vital goals and that could be the difference between the Blades surviving or going straight back down.
The only question is how much is he going to be worth, he is in the last year of his contract and will be turning 30 next week so he will be a cut price short term signing.
His goal ratio at Saints equated to 9 Premier League goals a season if he played every game and although that doesn't sound great the truth is very few players outside of the Big Six get into double figures these days, if Austin could get 9 goals for Sheffield United then they would have a good chance of staying up.
A mid 20's player getting 9 goals in the Premier League a season would set you back £20 million, but Charlie will be in his 30's by the time he makes his debut for a new club.
Therefore the fee will be a lot less, Saints will ask for £10 million and point to how little that fee would be should he stay fit and score goals, that is true and the Blades have indicated they will not be spending big for their return to the top flight.
That being the case Charlie Austin fits the bill a short term fix that means that if they do not survive then they are not stuck with a high earner who will cost them a fortune in wages over a long term.
Charlie Austin has been good value for Saints at £4 million, those who just look at goals scored will claim he has not been a success, but overall all things taken into account he has been.
I think that £10 million is the asking price, but he will go for less than that, we have had our money's worth anything above that £4 million fee we paid back in January 2016 is profit, truth is though he has already repaid that fee, so everything is profit.
I would expect to see this deal done at about £7 million.