Saints have signed Belgian winger Steven De Ridder
The signing of the wide man from Dutch club De Graafschap could mean Saints are about to get Ridder Alex Oxlade Chamberlain.
De Ridder at 24 is experienced in the Dutch leagues and is described as having lightening pace and able to play on both wings, given that Saints are not short of widemen with Lallana, Guly, Forte, Chamberlain augmented by Dickson, Butterfield or Richardson, plus the errant Puncheon, it tends to suggest that at least two of these need to go, probably Puncheon and Chamberlain.
Information on De Ridder is scant, certainly he appears to have played a decent number of game for De Graafschap in the 3 years he has been there, enough to suggest that he was something more than just a squad player.
The big question though is whether he will turn out to be a little gem or another in a long line of foreign signings to arrive at St Mary's in recent years who have never quite lived up to their billings and have spend most of their time here not getting a game.
On the face of it De Ridder could have the potential to be better than what we already have if Chamberlain leaves, if he were to stay, its hard to see where he would get a game.
Saints fans should approach this signing with an open mind, it will tell us a lot about how our scouting system is starting to work at the moment.