There are many Saints supporters who would have liked to have seen Stuart Armstrong stay another year at St Mary's, but the Scottish midfielder was the one who opted to not sign a new deal for the club.

Stuart Armstrong ended his six year association with Southampton FC and I would say the majority of the fan base were disappointed to see him go, but the decision to leave was not the club's it was the player himself who decided not to sign a new deal and move on.

Now it is reported by The Daily Echo that he is at Premier League club Brentford on trial.

It is strange that he is having to go on trial first rather than be just signed and perhaps it suggests why the player has parted company with Southampton.

At age 32 he is heading into the twilight of his career and after adding the fact that in 23/24 he started just 33 games in the regular season plus another 9 off the bench, but played the full 90 minutes on just 10 occasions, the previous season also saw him with fitness issues that meant he started just 14 games as Saints headed to relegation.

This perhaps suggests that the contract offered by the club was not enough to make him stay, that both parties felt it was time to move on.

Personally I would have liked to have seen him stay, but I understand why the club might have felt it time to part company and not feel able to offer him a deal that suited him.

I do find it a little insulting that Brentford need to have him on trial, surely they know enough about him as a player to make a decision without making him play for a contract, however he did finish the season on the injury list, so they might want to see that he has recovered.

Photo: Action Images

Block8 added 09:57 - Jul 21 From Brentford's perspective they potentially have a talented midfield player for free, signing on fee excluded. However he struggled for fitness for more than just one season and seemed to be unable to complete a run of games without a "rest" I liked him he was direct and offered something we didn't have going forward. I think Charley can resume that forward momentum given a bit of game time, tuition and learns the language. Good luck to Stuey but We March On. COYR

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Bowlercow added 10:38 - Jul 21 I would have kept him for his skill even if he could only manage limited minutes
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landsdownsaint added 12:34 - Jul 21 Unfortunately he’s not what we need to stay in the prem but best wishes to him on his future
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Peterx added 08:36 - Jul 25 This hurts.
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