Cedric Soares and Saints were conned somewhat by Inter Milan's intentions when they took the player to Italy, but there could be hope yet for a happy ending to the tale.
When Inter Milan too Cedric on loan back in January the deal included terms for the deal to be made permanent in the summer, leading both Saints and Cedric himself to feel that his future lay in Milan.
However almost as soon as he arrived the Italian pres were suggesting that Cedric was just a stop gap and no more than back up whilst their regular right back recovered from injury.
This soon proved to be the case and he has started just two games in Serie A plus another from the bench a total of 169 minutes football and although he has played 4 times in the Europa League, it is clear that Inter Milan have duped both Saints and the player that he was coming with a view to a permanent deal.
It is now over two months since his last appearance on the pitch for Inter and although he has been an unused sub for most of that time it seems that Inter have not given him a chance to show what he could do and therefore had no intention of ever signing him permanently.
This has left Cedric in limbo and it is fair to say he might well have got a lot more than 169 minutes for Saints, even after the emergence of Valery in the team.
But there is hope for Cedric, media reports in Portugal are saying that his old club Sporting Lisbon are keen on taking him back.
Still aged only 27, with a year left on his contract he could be had at a bargain rate for a player of his quality and would be a superb signing at the right price, what that price might be though is open to debate.
Saints signed Cedric for around £6.5 million four years ago and have had good value for money, his current market value is listed as around £13 million, but that is taking into account the deal that Saints had agreed with Inter in January and now with only a year on his contract Saints will have to take a lot less.
I would say the starting point for negotiations will be around £7 million from any buying club with Saints wanting around £10 million and a deal will be struck somewhere in between.