Saints are said to have made an enquiry about taking Manchester United's left back Brandon Williams on loan, but the big question is why would they want to do this.

Media reports suggest that Saints have spoken to Manchester United about left back Brandon Williams, this seems a strange move given that Ryan Bertrand is still in good form and in Jake Vokins Saints have a potential replacement already lined up.

Although Williams is a talent, having only turned 20 a month ago he has little experience in the Premier League, last season he made 19 appearances, 11 of them in the starting line up and completed 1,005 minutes of football. Including 15 off the bench against Saints back in July.

So he has a few more minutes under his belt than Jake Vokins, but not that much more and it is hard to see how either Saints or indeed the player would benefit from the move, unless it is intended to move Ryan Bertrand on to another club before the window finally shuts.

But this would surely be folly, with a central defence still very vulnerable, Bertrand is the only experienced player in the back line, at the moment to play even Jake Vokins or Williams if he arrived would not be good.

Indeed what would be served for the player by sitting on our bench rather than United's, the fact is he is closer to a game in their first team than he would be our's, Luke Shaw has hardly been convincing since he joined United from Saints in the summer of 2014 and as he starts his 7th season at Old Trafford, yesterday's defeat to Spurs was only his 99th Premier League appearance for the Red Devils.

Last season's 24 appearances in the league was only the second time he has got into the 20's in terms of appearances and he has never made 30.

So in the short term Williams would surely be better staying where he is, he has a better chance of a game there than he has at St Mary's where in the same Bertrand has played 185 times in the Premier League for Saints and conversely has only failed to play over 30 games in a season twice.

So this deal sounds strange and more likely his agent trying to talk up his player, unless of course there is a longer term plan in place that involves Bertrand moving to another Premier League club, although it is hard to see who would be interested who would offer him a better level than Saints.

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Ron11 added 09:00 - Oct 5 I know he's out on loan again, but is Tom O Connor not a good prospect also?
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underweststand added 09:06 - Oct 5 Far more names being "linked" with Saints than for a long time past. The key question is WHAT do we really need to add to the squad?. Yet another CB?.. or an extra FB?.. and surely another striker to complement Danny Ings' . Much good effort from Che Adams in every game, but he still can't score. Ralph has expressed his desire to sign players around 20-ish who can be developed further, but what about our own Academy lads who seem to have "missed the boat "? Vokins and Smallbone are still on a learning curve, and despite the success of their youth careers the progress of Hesketh, Sims, Slattery and Obafemi has come to an abrupt halt. We have yet to see Salisu and Diallo playing in a Saints shirt, and what if we bring in the likes of Loftus -Cheek ?..we won't be sharing his huge salary with Chelsea just to have him come off the bench for the last 10 minutes of a game. The real question is not WHO we sign now, but WHO will they replace in the long term?

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Saintaxidriver added 09:41 - Oct 5 Just newspaper nonsense!
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Block8 added 10:04 - Oct 5 Personally I'd like to see another striker in (on loan) & let Obafemi out on loan, to get some game time in. This is surely a better way to gauge his potential! He's not convinced me in the few games he has played.
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michaeljoycetf added 10:13 - Oct 5 You are questioning the judgement of the manager who brought KWP to the club. I think that you should put trust in Ralph who has proved beyond doubt that he possesses the ability to spot a suitable player for our side.
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Saidou added 10:44 - Oct 5 Any player we send out on loan will eventually be sold.
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erick added 11:41 - Oct 5 Southampton not looking for a defensive option at the moment another midfielder and a winger. Agents pushing names
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WestSussexSaint added 13:31 - Oct 5 Although he has played left back recently for Man U he can play across the back line so I suspect this is about having cover in multiple positions. Reports are that Man U aren’t keen (perhaps they need every defender available after yesterday’s mess) so I doubt this will happen. As for Theo though.......
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underweststand added 14:46 - Oct 5 This is one deal that won't happen. After their fiasco game against Spurs (at least OUR home defeat doesn't look so bad) .but Man U.will need rapid reappraisal of their defence. Expect OGS to revamp his backline for their next game, so my guess is he'll keep the lad. If that type of result continues...(one lives in hope) .. MU may become cannon-foder for whoever they meet in the coming weeks..months ?.

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