Most Saints fans would say that Russell Martin should prioritise a Goalkeeper, striker & central midfielder in that order, but the manager also has other targets that in the meantime he is pursuing and they say there is no smoke without fire and with a winger also seeming to be a priority it is natural to be linked with a few.

Read social media surrounding Southampton FC and you will read a lot of the same thing and that is why we are not being linked with signings in key positions, yet we are chasing other targets.

The answer is that we are likely exploring all our options, we keep our cards close to our chest but that does not stop others speculating in the media and of course there is then to good old rumour spread by agents.

So I think the latest rumour on givemesport.com could well be the latter.

According to this report Ipswich Town have had an £18 million bid for winger Jack Clarke turned down and are looking for nearer £25 million and Southampton are said to be keen.

Just how keen they actually are is open to speculation and most reports put Clarke's actual value to be around the £18 million the Tractor Boys have tabled.

Clarke was undoubtably a big success for the Mackems last term scoring 15 goals and 4 assists in the Championship, he was a big factor in our 5-0 defeat up at the Stadium Of Light back in September and luckily for us missed their 4-2 defeat at St Mary's.

So are Saints willing to up the ante on this one, indeed how higher are Ipswich willing to go, I would suggest that £25 million for Clarke who is untried at Premier League level is a lot of money and with Clarke being primarily a left winger, if we signed him it would spell the end of our interest in signing Ryan Fraser on a permanent basis.

Photo: Action Images

harrapuk added 12:49 - Jul 26 Does are need for another striker assume that Ross Stewart will be about as much use to us as Rod Stewart?
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Block8 added 16:07 - Jul 26 Not only is he untried at PL level, he also likes to run at defenders from deep? Will he be allowed to do that under our system, around 80% of our passes are collected with back to goal. How many time did we play a ball for a winger to run onto, very few! We seem to sign wingers and try to turn them into wing backs, which is weird, considering an attacking FB would cost a lot less than a winger. Personally I would rather we kept our money on this one and put it towards ensuring we get O'Reily and A N other decent striker?

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Colburn added 17:03 - Jul 26 The way to stop the rumours is to do all of your business as early as possible. The best chance we have of surviving in the Prem is to do all of your business as early as possible, after all 1 point could make the difference.. While I appreciate that’s easier said than done, we have loaded our early business in the defence and haven’t brought in a single attacker yet we’ve lost 2 including Stuey. I am really concerned that whoever we bring in now has missed pre season and will take time to gel. Romano is reporting that Atalanta are in pole position for O’Riley and I can’t understand why we didn’t tie this one up weeks ago. Happy to spend 20 million on a CB but faffing around with the player we most need to stay up. This seems crazy to me. I know we have to be patient but I am yet to have the confidence in our board in respect of transfers after buying a load of kids which saw us relegated. I hope they prove my concerns to be wasted energy very soon but we really haven’t got ourselves prepared for the season and haggling over a few million could be a false economy if we finish 2 places lower than if we were prepared. We have made some great purchases but again we’re frighteningly short in attack and trying to buy a Ferrari with Fiat funds offering 14 for O’Riley judging by his record.

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SaintPaulVW added 18:12 - Jul 26 Really need a Prem quality Striker and a Goalkeeper. Clarke, Oreilly, Szmodics etc would be great to have but without the other two we're in for a tough old season
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