Southampton's long term pursuit to take Brandon Williams from Old Trafford To St Mary's on loan could be about to come to a dead end with Manchester united said to be demanding a £2 million loan fee, will Saints budge and pay it ?
Saints appear to have coveted Brandon Williams for some time allegedly trying to take him on loan last summer and then again in the January transfer window, they looked to have made it third time lucky when it seemed that both clubs had agreed a package that would see the 20 year old spend the 2021/22 season at St Mary's in exchange for paying his £65k a week wages in full.
But now it seems that it has come to a halt with United demanding a £2 million loan fee on top.
That would mean that with wages and loan fee combined it would cost Saints somewhere in the region of £5.5 million for the season.
That is a big figure for a player who so far has played just 21 times in the Premier Leagueand 1,191 minutes in total, just over 13 games in total game time.
Last season he started just 2 games and another 2 off the bench and was an unused sub on 16 occasions, his career seemingly stalling after a promising breakthrough the season before.
Some would say why don't Saints just pay the fee and be done with it, but when you look at Williams career it has been mainly played as a left back with occasional periods on his natural side on the right, with Saints signing Romain Peraud this summer to replace Ryan Bertrand and Kyle Walker Peters one of our most consistent performers last season , the big question is just where will we play him.
What is the point in spending £5.5 million of a very limited budget on a player who could well be spending as much time on the bench as he did at Old Trafford.
It has been said he can play as a wing back so could fill a gap in a more attacking role for us out wide, but again would he get in the side ahead of some of the more experienced players that we have available, including our recent permanent signing Theo Walcott.
Brandon Williams who turning 21 in September has plenty of potential, but so far most of his experience has been in the early round of cup competitions rather than at the highest level of the Premier League.
It is hard to see why Saints are pursuing him so avidly and for that matter why United would let him go to a club where he may well not be a first choice.
We are short of cover for the full backs, but we do have players who can fill in at those positions and cover for full backs is surely not a priority compared with other positions.