Morgan Schneiderlin has been linked with a move to Arsenal in every season since he arrived back in 2008, but he is now finding that rumour is often different from reality.

Saints fans have been resigned to losing Morgan Schneiderlin for almost a year now after the French midfielders tantrum last summer when he was told he would not be allowed to join the exodus out of St Mary's.

The Southampton faithful didn't begrudge Schneiderlin his move though, they recognised the contribution and loyalty he had put into Saints since his arrival, of course no one likes to see a star player leave, but when they have done for the club what Schneiderlin has, then they see him go with their best wishes ringing in their ears.

But what looked like the most certain transfer of the summer is now seemingly turning into a soap opera with no one putting in a serious offer, not even Manchester United the club with whom he has allegedly already agreed personal terms.

Schneiderlin's problem is that he doesn't appear to be anyone's first choice, not Arsenal's who not only have dithered due to the form of players already at the Emirates, but they also seem to prefer a number of other potential candidates possibly because of the cost.

Manchester United appeared to covet the player, their PR department was in overdrive and they made sure headline after headline in the national press told of the impending arrival of Schneiderlin at Old Trafford, even to the point that it shut Tottenham up about wanting to sign the player, the media was under the impression that this was the most done of done deals this summer.

But suddenly right at the predicted brink something has happened, United have taken a step back, perhaps its because of the fact that they are hopefully (for them) going to land Sergio Ramos from Real Madrid, suddenly it seemed that Schneiderlin is no longer a priority.

But it could be more sinister than that, Schneiderlin despite his high price doesn't appear to be United's first choice target either, that seems to be Bayern Munich's Bastian Sweinsteiger and at the moment it looks like United have gone to a lot of trouble to take their 2nd or even 3rd choice target in Schneiderlin to the very brink of a transfer and then held back by not putting in a serious bid, certainly now all the delays are all at United's end, Saints just want to get on with it so they can continue their rebuilding .

Why would they do that ?

Well the cynical would say that this is gamesmanship at the highest level, they are using Schneiderlin as bait for the likes of Sweinsteiger, showing him that if he doesn't make his mind up soon then the chance is gone, unlike Brendan Rodgers who in the case of Adam Lallana made public threats about going elsewhere if the deal wasn't done, United are being more subtle and some would say more devious.

So what will happen to Morgan Schneiderlin if Sweinsteiger should suddenly decide his future is at Old Trafford ?

The answer is he would find himself in limbo, perhaps Arsenal would come back in, perhaps Tottenham Hotspur genuinely have enough money but that is plenty of maybe's and he may find himself in limbo and facing having to stay at St Mary's, his problem is that the big club's don't seem to be sure and Saints rise means that they are as good as anyone else out there in terms of what they can offer both on and off the field.

But this scenario may not suit Saints, unless Schneiderlin is happy to sign a new contract then his staying another season is not the good news that some would think, Saints strategy relies on raking in the odd big fee every now and then and the clu would not want to find themselves in the situation they do now with Nathaniel Clyne ie a player with only a year left on his contract and therefore worth less than his actual value.

This being the case i feel Saints might prefer to cash in now and bring in their preferred replacements.

So Morgan Schneiderlin could be finding out the harsh reality in football in the next few days.

Photo: Action Images

DPeps added 08:45 - Jun 30 I think your description of United's cynical tactics is probably very accurate. The best thing we can do is buy a CM soon in order to strengthen our position. At the moment other clubs know that Morgan wants to leave and that we're happy to sell. Buy a decent CM (e.g. Clasie, Cabaye) and that'll encourage Morgan and the vulture clubs to make a decision one way or another. Even if Morgan stays, which I doubt, we still need another CM as Steven Davis doesn't have much more to offer, in my humble opinion.

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TimSaint added 08:45 - Jun 30 According to Sport1, a German site, Bastian is quoted as saying that he wants to stay with Bayern to win the Champions League and a 4th consecutive league title !! If that really is the case, then I guess Utd will go for their 2nd or 3rd choice target of Morgan. Many conflicting reports are flying around at the moment, but it certainly seems that at the moment there are no bids for him and Morgan was training with Saints yesterday. Apparently Arsenal have missed out / lost interest in Vidal, so they may be back in for Morgan - but as long as he doesn't go to Spurs (who wouldn't pay 25m and are not Champs League),I just hope he gets his move quickly. We have funds available to buy his replacement anyway, so should crack on with that, then secure Toby next week.

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saintmark1976 added 09:02 - Jun 30 As I posted previously Morgan is a good player but not a great player.What he does he does well ie sitting in front of the back line as a defensive holding mid fielder.Does he contribute much else? In my opinion not a lot particularly in regard to scoring goals where his goals per games ratio is poor. Arsenal do not fancy him and it now appears that Man U may well be having doubts at the suggested price of £25 million.If he goes to Old Trafford then I wish him well but as the escapees from last summer found there is no certainty in football. A big price tag does not guarantee success on the pitch.

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Fordy added 09:22 - Jun 30 Mark I think you are in a minority of Saints fans in thinking that Morgan is a "good but not great player". The amount of times I have seen him totally dominate the midfield and the low number of goals we have conceded the last few years has a lot to do with him. I don't care about his number of goals, that's not his job. Claude Makelele was one of the very best holding midfielders and he hardly ever scored. The goals don't matter.

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montecristo added 09:35 - Jun 30 I am coming round to the view that the so called top clubs are fearful of what Saints might do with a hugetransfer budget there is no doubt that Saints black box has put the fear of god in these clubs and therefore hanfing over huge wads ofcash to Saints may not be seen to be a good move as he will simplly be replaced by one of the best wheeler dealers around.He could yet still be all be at Saints come the beginning of the season.

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Bison added 09:48 - Jun 30 We have 3 holding midfielders with MS , VW and HR who have EPL experience and Victor has CL experience. What we need is someone who can drive us forward and improve our goal output from midfield. Have we even scored a freekick since Ricky left ? Get Cabaye in , if we have to sell Morgan to do it so be it, we will be a stronger team.
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StRipper added 09:55 - Jun 30 It's all a bit cat and mouse, isn't it? The delay in transfer completion could be for other reasons. If not indecisiveness on the part of United and Arsenal, this could be a side effect of Schneiderlin making it so transparent that he only wants an EPL top 4 club. This has kind of removed the pressure on them to get the deal done quickly as they know they won't lose him to other suitors and they can wait to see who blinks first before a bid goes in. They may also be a bit nervous about being another Saints victim in the transfer market, unlike gung ho Liverpool, and funding our progress. Especially having seen what happened last year, leading to losses against us in the league for both clubs, they must be a bit nervous about us. United and Arsenal took a similar age to get many deals done last summer, to the extent that they lost a few targets to the big boys. Never mind for them though, always plenty of fish in the sea. That also has the added advantage for them of delaying Saints preparations for next season, having openly said we will only sign Schneiderlins replacement once he departs. For our part, I'll be amazed if we are not waiting to sign Clasie as other rumoured Saints interests seem to be moving on to other clubs. We only moved on Soares and maybe Juanmi when we had to because other clubs were placing bids.

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montecristo added 10:11 - Jun 30 I forgot to mention that if LVG wants to sign a top class defensive midfielder then as good as Spider is there are better players around, admittedly more expensive, but Id be very surprised if LVG did not rate Carvalho above Schneiderlin as well as Schweinsteiger who in my view is a non starter, he is a one club man, period. But Carvalho would be a marquee signing which to be blunt Schneiderlin is not. I think he may be staying at Saints,

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ExiledSupporter added 11:24 - Jun 30 While all this hoo-ha continues perhaps Saints should make a cheap and wise move for Guidetti |||(who we were supposedly interested in last summer before he went on loan to Celtic) who will tomorrow be a free agent since his contract with Man City will then expire. He would be a really good signing, who Koeman knows well, for no fee at all. Perhaps then we will find that MS has decided to stay with us and sign a new contract...that would be a good week!

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SaintBrock added 21:27 - Jun 30 Most of our players sought by top clubs are UK home grown and they are attractive and fetch high fees just because they are (mainly) English and sorely needed to top up the big clubs home grown quotas so they are prepared to pay big fees just to ensure compliance with the EUFA ruling. Morgan Schneiderlin is French and has played for the French national side and is only of use to top clubs if he has genuine world class ability and can add something they don't already have in other players. Even then French players do not attract the fees that English players attract simply because there is no reason other than football reasons to sign a French player and £25m+ is a huge fee for a player they need only as a back-up. Hence the apparent lukewarm attitudes of Arsenal, United and the rest towards Morgan.

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