Josh Sims loan at Doncaster Rovers is set to end on January 16th when he will be due to return to Southampton, but it seems another club have set their sights on him with QPR said to be about to make an offer.

Doncaster Rovers will be keen to keep Josh Sims on their books for the second half of the League One season as they try to secure promotion to the Championship.

However there is doubt about whether they can risk his wages on the books with the current Covid 19 restrictions meaning there has to be some doubt as to whether the League One season can be completed.

It is also highly unlikely that Sims will be fit enough to play until early February at least after suffering a hamstring injury in late December that is estimated will keep him out for 6 weeks.

But one club who are interested in signing him are QPR and they are said to be about to try and negotiate a permanent transfer for Sims.

The London side are struggling against relegation from the Championship at the moment and are only two points above the drop zone and see Sims as an option to boost their chances of survival.

QPR want a permanent deal, but given that Sims is out of contract at the end o the season their is likely to be a minimum fee paid, it is more likely that the main part of the deal will be that they have to take on his full contract payments including bonus's due in the summer, therefore relieving Saints of the financial burden of having to meet any shortfalls up as they have to do in his current deal at Doncaster.

However there could be leeway for a small fee, but nothing to write home about.

Sims has always been a popular player with Saints supporters, but he has not proved to be rated as highly by a number of Saints manager's and Ralph Hasenhuttl has more faith in the likes of Nathan Tella to be the future of Southampton rather than Sims.

The winger has played 20 Premier League games for Saints, but only 4 of them have been in the starting line up, the last of his batch of appearances cam after he returned from a loan spell in the second half of the 2018/19 season, when Ralph used him on 7 occasions, however with his last appearance being almost two years ago now it is clear that his future lies away from St Mary's

Photo: Action Images

Boris1977 added 10:21 - Jan 6 A real pity. He seems to be an ideal Ralph type of player in terms of young, grounded, athetic, willing to learn and dedicated but it just has not happened for him. I'd like him to stay until the end of the season and see what happens once he gets his fitness back. He'll be remembered for his break and pass to Long to seal the place at Wembley but I was hoping his legacy would go beyond that. That doesnt look likey - best f luck whatever way his career goes.

3

mattlegod added 10:25 - Jan 6 Can't believe we Josh doesn't fit into the Southampton way, it's clear without Redmond and Djenepo we lack a natural left sided player.
1

perazi added 10:48 - Jan 6 I have been surprised and disappointed that Ralph hasn't persisted with Sims. From limited opportunities he showed much ability. That run at Anfield and the slide rule pass to Long and his second half performance against Spurs in 2018? or 2019 were great memories. Hard to see Tella being a better player....but in Ralph we trust.
3

halftimeorange added 11:07 - Jan 6 Matt Targett was never my favourite but, he seems to have made his mark elsewhere and I though that Josh Sims showed more promise. Harrison Reed has put in some good and determined performances in a weakish Fulham team. Look at Walker-Peters for an example of a player not fancied by successive managers at his parent club. Whilst (like many others) I'd be sad to see Sims walk out of the St Mary's door, I think that's the route he'll be taking.

3

SaintPaulVW added 11:11 - Jan 6 Like the above comments, I am a bit surprised that he seems to have been overlooked. It used to be a shot in the arm when he would come on. Someone to run at defences and chase balls knocked into space. However, if for whatever reason it isn't going to work out at Saints for him, with football being such a short career it's time for him to move on. Prior to injury, he was showing what he could do at Doncaster, so I'm not surprised that other clubs are interested.

2

underweststand added 11:34 - Jan 6 I join others in praise of Josh Sims, but he (like some others in his Academy generation) ..has been the victim of managerial changes and deemed "unsuitable" .... by some. Some of his first team apps. have been memorable..his assist to Charlie Austin barely a a minute after coming on as sub.at SMS.. and the inch-perfect cross-field pass to Shane Long in the FL Cup semi final v. Liverpool was a text-book classic. BUT the lad is a good footballer, and deserves regular games, and if Ralph has no place for him, we should respect that, and try to get the best deal for both Player AND Saints - whilst we still have his contract. QPR (if that is the interested party) have some millions in the bank - having sold Ese to Palace - and I think Josh would do well there, and he would certainly get more game-time than if he were to get a contract extension and stay on with Saints.

3

derbydog added 13:15 - Jan 6 Bonus’s Nick? Really...one of your more amusing greengrocer’s apostrophes...
0

aceofthebase added 20:00 - Jan 6 I'm hoping that we do not lose Valery. The lad has plenty to offer and we could all see how well he played against Liverpool in a more forward position.
0

SaintNick added 08:06 - Jan 7 I actually like Sims too, but the reality is for one reason or another he hasn't done it for Saints on enough occasions. One thing no one has really brought up is why he hasn't been snatched by a bigger club, if he is as good as some claim, why didn't a Championship club get him on loan rather than a League One club ? QPR are in now but they are struggling. Josh probably has a bigger reputation amongst Saints fans than his actual contributions merit, that is probably evidenced by the ack of interest in him from top Championship clubs or even some Premier League clubs, they must have watched him yet no one has taken a punt.

0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Southampton Polls