Swansea fans will not be too pleased with the news that their ex manager Russell Martin is about to return to the Liberty Stadium, he will be bearing gifts, but not the kind that the Swans fans want to hear, money in the shape of transfer fees.

The names of Joel Piroe and Nathan Wood will not be unfamiliar to Saints supporters, the two have been linked with a move to St Mary's over the past couple of months and as the last week of the transfer window approaches, it seems that Southampton, laden with the proceeds from the sales of Ward Prowse, Livramento & Lavia are about to get serious.

footballinsider247.com are claiming their sources have told them that a bid in about to be submitted by Saints for both Piroe & Wood.

That will be a blow to Leeds United who themselves have been interested in taking Piroe to Elland Road.

Both Piroe & Wood are both now in the last year of their contract and with money tight at the Liberty a double deal may well be attractive to Swansea who could quickly get this deal done and with cash in their pocket have time to spend it on strengthening their squad before the transfer window slams shut.

So this joint bid is no surprise, Russell Martin has been a fan of both players, having worked with them over the past 2 years and was instrumental in signing Wood, although Pirou had joined the club a month earlier than his arrival in Wales.

If Martin does get Piroe over the line then that surely would see Che Adams leaving the club and joining Everton, both Southampton & Adams himself seem relaxed about the current situation, neither are in a hurry to end the association, but both know that sometimes you have to move on.

Adams himself is in the final year of his contract, but seems happy to see it out if he has to, but equally accepting a bigger deal back to the Premier League is attractive.

Perhaps Russell Martin sees room in his squad for both Che Adams and Piroe, it would give Saints an edge in the attacking department with the versatile Adam Armstrong also able to play in a deeper role.

Photo: Action Images

Monksway added 11:22 - Aug 24 I think this would be a good outcome. How we leave room for Ballard to play at some point. I'd be inclined to start him against QPR if Adams is on his way and Downes is on the bench with Charles and the Armstrong's starting in midfield.
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SFC_Referee added 11:53 - Aug 24 I don’t think the signing of Piroe would necessarily mean the departure of Adams, as from what I’ve read he can also play on the wing, so could be one of the wide midfielders to start, in a more forward like position, rather than the likes of Edozie. As like what’s already been said on another thread, I think Everton have dropped their interest in Adams and I’ve not heard anyone else connected to him yet, so do think we may be able to keep hold of him (and maybe even renew his contract if both us and he do well this season heading back up to the prem). But one way or another I think that if we can get in these two as well as this Norwegian midfielder, then this window won’t have been a bad one whatsoever with us having been relegated, and how it all looked only like a fortnight ago or so.

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Bowlercow added 12:03 - Aug 24 I am greedy I want to keep Adams and Tella and get Piroe but if the world moves on and either or both leave then I am happy to see Dom Ballard get a run of games If we get both Swansea players at least they will be match ready if they understand the RM method and style of play
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saintsfanbrock added 19:25 - Aug 24 They fought us over releasing RM when it was probably in their interests to let him go, I fear the fall out from that might not help us if any other teams are interested.
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