The rumour mill is saying that former Saints legend Alan Pardew is weighing up signing Jason Puncheon in the summer

Jason Puncheon is out of contract in the summer and the jungle drums are beating uip in Newcastle that Alan Pardew will try and arrange a reunion in the summer with the player whom he signed three years ago for Saints.

Opinion on Jason Puncheon is still divided amongst Saints supporters, there are those that feel he has made a full redemption for his past sins and that he is now a Premiership footballer, there are those that feel that a leopard doesnt change his spots and Puncheon wouldnt be the first player whose form suddenly and drastically improves in the final months of a contract to earn himself either a new deal or a lucrative one elsewhere and there are those that feel whatever the reason, Puncheon on his day has had some good games, but too often there have been indifferent performances, especially away from home or against the better sides at St Mary's.

I must admit Im tending to fall in that latter category, I dont feel that Puncheon isnt trying in some games, I just feel that he isnt up to it when harder work has to be done, granted he was very good against Man City, but then again those who were at Man United or Wigan would have seen a player who was hauled off at half time in both games, I just have a feeling that when the chips are down Jason Puncheon isnt the man that you need and due to our place in the pecking order in this division the chips are likely to be down more often that they are up and in that situation we need a player who is more than a fast track bully.

But more than that if Saints are truly determined to take that next step forward and are willing to pay the oney to do it, as failed bids in the January transfer window indicated, then surely we are looking for a little bit better quality than Jason Puncheon, yes perhaps he has redeemed himself and perhaps he has put in some great displays, but perhaps he has missed his chance at Saints as we move on to bigger things.

I find it strange that Pardew himself would go after Puncheon, again Newcastle have the money, they can go after better players themselves.

Whatever the final outcome of this long running saga, it can only have a positive effect for Saints this season in that the player himself will be upping his game, whether the rewards for doing so see him back at St Mary's as a Saints player next season or plying his trade elsewhere are yet to be seen, but Puncheon himself will know that turning 27 in the summer he has yet to really fulfill his potential and in that case maybe he has turned a corner and grown up at last, certainly at his age he is perhaps now looking at securing the biggest contract of his career.  

Photo: Action Images

LennyJam added 13:27 - Feb 21 isnt trying in some games. yet been better this season than lallana and ramirez to replace puncheon would cost over £5m we already have him and he is where he wants to be, the premier league I think it would be a huge mistake to not pull out the stops to get him
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ThereIn76 added 14:19 - Feb 21 Punch has been our best attacking midfielder this season, as well as being the joint 2nd top scorer. You don't let goalscoring midfielders leave on a free. Sure we could sign someone better but we'd have to pay through the nose to do that.
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Fordy added 14:21 - Feb 21 Surely it's best to get him to sign a contract whatever? If we don't want him then we can sell him for some money rather than let him go for nothing. The danger is he then lets his foot off the pedal and starts coasting. If that is the case we drop him and unless we put him on silly wages someone will come in for him. I'd sign him up as we don't exactly have a huge amount of options down that right side.

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green added 14:39 - Feb 21 Did Alan Pardew really do enough to be called a "former Saints legend"?
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Saint_bezzer added 15:01 - Feb 21 I wouldn't call Alan Pardew a Saints Legend!! For all we know Puncheon may have a clause in his contract that says he gets an atomic renewal if we stay up and that's why negotiations haven't started. Like Danny Butterfield getting an extension when we got promoted to the championship. In my opinion Puncheon has been our best midfielder over the whole season so far, having said that since MP has taken over every player has stepped up a gear, most notably Steven Davis apart from Puncheon.

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LondonSaint added 16:09 - Feb 21 Saint_bezzer, what is this atomic renewal and where can I get one?!
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Saint_bezzer added 16:28 - Feb 21 LondonSaint it's like an automatic renewal but without the auto correct.
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LondonSaint added 23:37 - Feb 21 I see! And here was I thinking it was an alternate power source for the Southampton bus!
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felly1 added 00:05 - Feb 22 Overall I think he's been quite impressive this season, he's good enough for a mid-table Prem side which in reality is all we can aspire to at present. If we stay up and push on next season I would expect a better class of player but right now we need him .
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stmichael added 11:04 - Feb 22 why would any club want to let a quality player go for free? Even if we sign him up , buy a better replacement and then sell him for a couple of million. Makes no sense whatsoever not to sign him up for a new deal.
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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 11:44 - Feb 22 The Puncheon links to Newcastle is just lazy journalism. Saints are playing Newcastle this weekend, Puncheon's contract is running out, Pardew signed Puncheon previously. You put it all together and you get a bullsh1t story. I don't think Puncheon is going anywhere. He'll get a new deal at Saints once we've secured our place in the Premiership. Saints to win at Newcastle BTW.

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SaintNick added 13:08 - Feb 22 Couple of things, 2 1/2 years ago people were in uproar when pardew was sacked, how short some peoples memories are, one thing about pardew, he was responsible for building the nucleus of the side that got back to back promotions, his part in our resurgence seems easily forgotten by some. Secondly its ok saying sign Puncheon up and then sell him on if he isnt up to it, but the reason why he didnt leave during the last couple of years when he was mainly out on loan was because of wages, no one was willing to pay him what he was on at saints, my suspicion is that with promotion bonus's Puncheon is now on far more than we would be willing to pay him for a new contract and thats why negotiations are going nowhere at present as he isnt willing to take a drop in pay for the last months of his contract

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