The Daily Echo is hinting that Saints are not going to be making any permanent new signings in January but rely on loans.

Some may slag off the Daily Echo at times, but usually the local paper has a far greater handle on a football club than its colleagues in the national media, the local reporters have a far more personal and trusting relationship with the football club and its players and management.

So when the Daily Echo hints that Saints will only be in the market for loans in January it means only one of two things, either the paper has been briefed and has been asked to prepare the ground to placate fans, or it has been briefed and asked to help to put up a smokescreen to help the club.

Possibly a bit of both could be at play as Ronald Koeman attempts to strengthen his squad in January.

But if Saints were to make only loan additions in January this doesn't neccessarily mean that this is a bad thing, indeed with speculation rising about the future of Morgan Schneiderlin, Jack Cork and Jay Rodriguez perhaps its is better to err on the side of caution.

In today's press conference when asked about departures in January, Koeman was emphatic
"We don't sell in January." he stated. Of course that could change if Koeman feels it would be right for the club and squad but the message is clear, we dont have to sell and we will decide if and when.

That being the case then it could make sense to err on the side of caution when making signings in January given that our priorities now might be different than those in the summer if there are the expected departures then so Koeman might feel it better to make temporary changes to the squad now that work with the players he has this season, then re evaluate in the summer.

One arrival that looks likely is Eljero Elia from Werder Bremen on loan, Elia is a talent that has gone astray of late but he is still young enough to get back on track, according to the Daily Echo, the winger is on the verge of completing a loan move to St Mary's that will enable to club to assess him and whether to make the deal permanent.

This makes sense in that if say jay Rodriguez was to sign a new contract and Sadio Mane was to return from Africa rejuvenated and perform to the talents he obviously has, it could render signing Elias pointless, however should Rodriguez want to go and Mane not come up to standard then we would have the option to make the deal permanent.

Saints other problem in this window is that Paul Mitchell in leaving his role of head of recruitment to join Spurs will also be chasing the same players he identified for Saints over the past months, Saints now have to change tack and possibly look at players that Mitchell will not be aware of, this means the recruitment process might not be as thorough as we would like, so loan moves make sounder sense at the moment.

Photo: Action Images

VeloSaint added 15:17 - Dec 23 Sensible, in the main we need short term cover and unless a player who we want on a perm deal is available at a knock down price why pay over the odds now? Think we'll go for Ings in the summer but almost zero chance of Burnley even considering selling in Jan, so we wait. Glad Elia is only a loan option as well, looks risky on paper, gives us a chance to assess and see how he fits in.

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schatfield added 15:43 - Dec 23 Not surprised given the FFP regulations as well. We had to loan out Ramirez to get people in the summer, and likely would have to do the same again in Jan if we wanted someone. Loans get round that problem partially.
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TygerUppercut added 16:28 - Dec 23 Hi is it true that you can only include 2 loan players in the matchday squad ? If so & saints are looking for loans in jan then hopefully means Bert & or Toby are about to be made permanent - fingers crossed !
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