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Chelsea Interest Could Mean Windfall For Saints

A few months ago Saints were looking to get perhaps half the fee they paid for Graziano Pelle if he departed in the summer, now that fee could quadruple due to Chelsea's interest.

Most Saints supporters assumed that Pelle would leave Saints quietly and return to Italy to end his career in Serie A and that we would perhaps be able to achieve a transfer fee for him of around £4 million, a sum worth about half of what we paid two years ago.

He has more then repaid that fee in the time he has been here and most Saints fans wish him all the best as his career enters its final phase.

But for the player himself it has been a dream since joining Saints as he has not only made a name for himself in the Premier League but won caps for his country and played in a European Championships.

Now though it looks like his career might take yet another turn.

Ronald Koeman leaving Saints perhaps suggested that Saints might make a bit more money than they would have expected, he was rumoured to be looking to sign Pelle for a third time and that would have pushed up the price given the money that he has at his disposal.

But now Chelsea and new boss Antonio Conte are linked and this has pushed the price up further, Korean's link pushed the asking up to around the £8 million Saints paid, but Chelsea coming in sees the media in a frenzy with £20 million being touted in at least one media outlet.

That is perhaps a bit too high, but £12.5 million seems to be the par score, a lot of money for a player in his 30's, but to Chelsea and Conte its change in their back pocket, they want proven strikers and are looking for a short term boost after last seasons disaster.

This could be a vital boost for Saints, certainly they will feel that if they could get £12.5 million for the player they could use it well in the transfer market and as they did with Pelle two years ago, find a player for around or even less than that price tag who will do as good a job.

Wherever he goes I wish Pelle well, he has been a great servant to Southampton Football Club and took us through a difficult time and into better ones, something that not many were predicting when he arrived from Feyenoord.

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