Saints look set to snatch the latest prodigy in Europe from under the noses of the elite due to our reputation for developing young players.
Martin Odegaard is hot property, the 16 year old Norwegian is wanted by a host of top European clubs including Liverpool, Arsenal, Man Utd, Man City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, all of whom have been courting him over the past few months.
However the teenager who has recently broken into the first team at Stromsgodset and won his first cap for the Norwegian senior team is rumoured to be about to snub all of them and head to St Mary's.
Sources in Norway are saying that Odegaard's preferred option would be a move to Southampton due to our reputation for developing and bringing on players.
Certainly he would get more of a chance for first team action than any of the above clubs mentioned and it perhaps says a lot about our reputation in Europe for this that players our interested in signing for us.
Perhaps money will conquer all because almost certainly the European super clubs will offer him big bucks to put pen to paper, but the reality is that if a player has confidence in his own ability then he will get the chance for it to shine far quicker than it will do almost anywhere else in the Premier League and a host of other European clubs.