Saints are being linked with Feyenoord's Tonny Vilhena in the January transfer window, will Ronald Koeman get his man at the fourth attempt ?

Saints are once again being linked with Tonny Vilhena, the midfielder was linked with Saints in the summer of 2014 after Koeman's arrival at St Mary's, again in the January transfer window and for a third time in the summer of 2015.

Last season Vilhena was not in favour but a change in manager along with an illness to his Mother meant that he opted to stay at Feyenoord to be near her and to see if he could force his way back into the team.

That has not happened and Vilhena has found himself on the bench for most of the season and now it is believed that he has decided his future lies away from Rotterdam and Saints are being touted as being the favourites to sign him.

His contract is up in the summer of 2016 and he could sign a pre contract deal with Saints in January or join them permanently then.

A pre contract deal could be the most likely with Saints well stocked in the midfield department, but with Wanyama's future far from certain, Saints could well look to get Vilhena signed one way or another for 2015/16.

However Vilhena is more of an attacking midfielder than a holding one and that could mean that James Ward Prowse will be the player under most pressure should Vilhena arrive, although Koeman might be considering JWP in a deeper role in the future.

Photo: Action Images

thedelldays added 10:48 - Oct 10 linked where?
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IWOZTHERE added 13:32 - Oct 10 This won't go away but looks like an agent 'feed' to me. If VW can't sort out his emissions and goes, we wil be left with a big hole. Valuable though JWP may be. he's not the 'tank' that VW is, and I think we would have to get a ready made replacement rather than invest in another 'squaddie'. We've still got to incorporate Clasie, and it would no doubt push Harrison Reed further down the pecking order as well.

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SaintNick added 13:46 - Oct 10 I would say that JWP would play beside Romeu if Wanyama left or indeed Clasie
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IWOZTHERE added 14:14 - Oct 10 I think we agree that Romeu would become the 'mainstay' if we lost VW (and if early yellow cards aren't a habit) but I think the others are too lightweight for the role, particularly on heavier pitches.
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Aussie added 06:54 - Oct 11 When Vilhena was first linked I was quite interested, as a replacement for Jack Cork (hoping he would be able to adapt defensively). But now I don't think it's worth it, wouldn't want to hurt the development of Reed or Ward-Prowse - as everyone else has said. I think they all (and Clasie) would be best suited to the box to box defensive midfielder, similar to how James McCarthy at Everton and Morgan Schneiderlin now at United play. Prowsey is maybe better further forward currently, but hopefully will improve defensively. The more defensive player of a classic midfield two is where we have less options, Wanyama and Romeu, but then next in line would probably be Dom Gape.

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SaintBrock added 08:10 - Oct 11 Sort out his emissions IWOZTHERE !!! ? Tell him to stop eating Broccoli and Pasta. Could be why he seems jet propelled at times? Wonder what Jose & Dirk have to say about it? And we thought those nose plasters were to improve breathing....
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