Southampton could lose another player in the transfer window after late bids have been lodged with parent club Everton from Germany & Yorkshire for defender Mason Holgate.

The rumour mill is starting to turn faster as the closure of the transfer window approaches it's last 24 hours and the latest news concerning Saints is that Everton are considering offers from both Sheffield United and Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart.

footballinsider247 are saying that both clubs have been in touch with the toffees.

Everton or at least their manager Sean Dyche do not seem to care where or for whom Holgate plays, for them the only consideration is financial, as long as someone matches or beats what Saints are paying, then they will look to do business.

But before any deal can be done then Everton have to recall the player from his loan spell at Southampton and more to the point Saints have to agree that he can go back to Goodison Park so that Everton can complete the deal.

But as mentioned Everton don't care about whether the player is getting game time or not, in their current perilous financial position, they cannot afford to let any club take him on loan for less than his current deal and if that means that Holgate stays on Saints bench for the rest of the season then Sean Dyche for one won't be losing any sleep.

From a Saints perspective although Holgate is not the most popular player with some Saints fans, he has had some good games and if he goes then it leaves Saints with only 3 experienced recognised central defenders, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Jan Bednarek and Jack Stephens, the question is whether that is enough, yes Shea Charles has played there and James Bree has also slotted in at Luton in that position before, but is that enough ?

Personally unless we get in a player as good as Holgate and I sincerely doubt we would be able to given the partnership that THB & Bednarek have formed, then I would rather see Holgate stay.

Photo: Action Images

andywelsh added 21:46 - Jan 31 Nick I think the driving factor here is that we currently have six loan players and only five can be selected on match days. If as I suspect the least rated is Holgate and with Charles and Bree able to cover it would almost be unfair to keep him when he may get more game time elsewhere.
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