Saints are in negotiations with a left sided Dutch player if the rumour mill and the players own comments in the media are anything to go by.
Vitesse Arnhem player Alexander Buttner is close to signing for Saints, on Sunday night he was alledged to be staying in an hotel in Botley prior to talks with the club today, Buttner has also been acreditted with comenting favourably in the Dutch press about a move to Southampton and how le likes the area and the club.
Buttner is in many respects the type of player that the Saints scouting system targets, after originally being part of the jax youth set up he joined Vitesse Arnhem at 16 and now at 23 years old he has the right combination of youth and experience and has been a regular in the Vitesse side for the last four seasons, playing 32 out of 34 games last term and scoring 5 goals in the process as Vitesse finished seventh in the league qualifying for the Europa League in the process. In total he has made 107 Eridivisie appearances for Vitesse scoring 10 goals along the way.
Buttner has played mainly on the left side of midfield for the club, although at times he has played at left back and as a wing back, his form saw him named in the provisional 36 man Dutch squad for Euro 2012, one of nine uncapped players, although he did not make the final cut, with the Netherlands poor showing at the tournament and the need for change, he is seen as very much part of those changes and is expected to be named in the next squad and to win his first cap in the near future.
With only a year of his contract left at Vitesse, he would be available at a reasonable fee and both club and player could well see this as the right time to move on, certainly there has been other Premier interest with both QPR & Fulham linked with him, however his comments in the press about Saints show that his knowledge of the club and area seems to be fairly comprehensive with it seemingly being his destination of choice, as we know in football however what a player says and what eventually happens are sometimes quite different and there is a long road between the two, hopefully though this wont be the case with Alexander Buttner as he does seem the type of player we need.