Arsene Wenger is set to arrive at St Mary's on Boxing Day armed with a bid for Saints midfielder Victor Wanyama.

Victor Wanyama is about to be the subject of a bid by Arsenal according to London based media sources with the Gunners boss seemingly opening the bidding at £15 million.

That sounds a little cheap for a player who cost £12 million 2 1/2 years ago and now has enhanced his reputation with a series of great displays in the premier League for Saints.

But the reality is also that with his contract ending in the summer of 2017 and no sign of him putting pen to paper on another Saints will have to lose the Kenyan next summer if they are to get any money back on him rather than lose him on a free.

A few months ago Wanyama was immense, of late he has been a shadow of his former self and there are those that would be glad to see the back of him after the antics of August.

The feeling is that Saints might be tempted at £20 million given that they have no shortage of central midfielders and that Romeu is pushing for a regular place in the starting line up and could replace Wanyama.

Saints have also been linked with several holding midfielders in the run up to the January window and although some supporters might not like to hear it and will scream accusations about lack of ambition, they have to realise that the Premier league is a funny place and that as was shown with the situation at Chelsea, players these days don't love the clubs they play for, kissing the badge is hollow and they can hold the fate of a manager in their hands.

Wanyama leaving would be a blow, but given the overall situation might be the best thing in the long run for Southampton Football Club, although in the short term a little bit painful.

Sadly it is the way of the World these days, money and status talk in football.

Photo: Action Images

DPeps added 10:27 - Dec 22 It would surprise me if Arsenal are interested to be honest. Wenger ideally wants all his players to be creative and attacking-minded - this includes all the good DMs he's had. For all his ability, forward passing and moving forward with the ball quickly are not VWs strengths. I'm in two minds about selling him in Jan. I think VW was flattered by playing alongside MS and this season he's been exposed a bit. Out of context £15 million might be good business for a player who almost certainly won't sign an extension with us. However, we need stability and squad options at the moment so best not to sell I reckon

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schatfield added 10:38 - Dec 22 Strong as an ox, but can't pass the ball at all. I would bit their hands off for 15M.
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LesVivian added 10:53 - Dec 22 I reckon we could get 20, but he will not represent the massive losses of AL, NC and particularly MC. He can't pass, and gets too easily booked, although not so much recently, as he has lost interest!
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IWOZTHERE added 10:59 - Dec 22 As a rule I'm against selling our top players, but he hasn't been one of our top players for quite a while. The doubts over his mindset we could do without at present. Rk has enough worries over cobbling together a functioning midfield as it is. He is not currently worth his place whether he is staying or going.
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Alehouse added 11:00 - Dec 22 I can't believe this one either. There's no way Arsenal would want a player with the passing accuracy and range of Wanyama. He does not seem to have any awareness of the players around him and doesn't think about what he can do with the ball before he receives it. Romeu is a satisfactory replacement defensively but won't solve our main problem which is that we haven't got a quality midfielder who can hold the ball and pick a pass from an advanced position. That's why when the wide routes are closed down we resort to lumping it upfield to Pelle.

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dirk_doone added 11:20 - Dec 22 Wenger is no fool. Some of our fans are. Wanyama is one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League. Unfortunately for him, he is now surrounded by lightweights. He'd do at least as well for Arsenal as he did for us last season.
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saintjeff52 added 11:20 - Dec 22 Ronald has told the World " No one is for sale, not even for £100m". So there.
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SanMarco added 11:23 - Dec 22 Agree with DPeps and Alehouse that this seems highly unlikely. If it was to be true I think, unless we get silly money, we should NOT set the precedent of selling a major asset in January (I know he has been rubbish lately but he still counts as that). Our pattern of selling/having to sell key players in the summer seems likely to continue but if we start indicating that January is now OK.....

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law101 added 11:45 - Dec 22 Fans and pundits alike get on such a bandwagon. Wanyama is a good player, particularly when away from home. In my opinion he is not nearly good enough to play for a top 4 club, let alone Arsenal who move the ball quickly in transition from defence to attack. I don't know If these so called experts have watched any of our games, but his ponderous style and limited range of passing is way below Schneiderlin.

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1teeminants added 13:09 - Dec 22 It will be very interesting to see what happens with the Leicester and Evwrton stars in this transfer window. I keep being told that we must sell to survive and well always just be a mid table club just little old saints bless em. Let's see palace Leicester and Everton survive the transfer window and then I'll judge about who is ambitious and who isn't.
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halftimeorange added 13:09 - Dec 22 On his day Wanyama is really good at breaking up the play and when he has the ball he is not easy to knock off it. What he does need is a player to take the ball that he's won and create something with it which Morgan inevitably did and Clasie has as yet been unable to do. I could see Wenger come calling because Arsenal, whilst very gifted, are short of a hard man in Wanyama's style. In a successful team Wanyama would shine as he showed for us much of last season.

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SaintBrock added 13:44 - Dec 22 Let him go, let hm go, let him go... Ho Ho!
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ItchenNorth added 13:50 - Dec 22 It would be a mistake to sell Wanyama. The guys a beast in midfield. It's not a Sunderland or a Villa after him, it's seemingly top four clubs; that tells you everything you need to know about how he's viewed. I can't believe some fans are happy to write VW off after a dip in form. Christ; let's sell the lot of them, forms been that bad recently!!
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simmo400 added 13:50 - Dec 22 Think most are getting confused. The reason he would move clubs is to play less and treble his wages. Win Win. Don't feel it's a question of fitting in any team. That goes for any sold past players.
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TissLeGod added 14:00 - Dec 22 I agree we would be foolish to sell. Haven't we all been bemoaning the fact all our best players have gone causing our current predicament. We know he's not playing that well, but he is someone who has had potential and we'd be much weaker if he went - so why would we want that? The January window is unlikely to unearth any gems, and is usually desperation a la Harry's mercenaries who did nothing to prevent the drop. We need him more now that we did at the beginning of the season - so we should hold out and deal with it at the end of the season. He's not a Wenger type player, and he takes a season to buy anyone, by which time Spuds or Klopp will be in for him.

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A1079 added 16:04 - Dec 22 We may have no shortage of midfielders but none of them seem to be any good this season, least, not the ones that have played in the first team. Having said that, not sure about this one. I have no problem with Wanyama going as I don't think his heart has ever been at this club and least of all now (though he is not the only foreign player giving that impression at the moment) but is January a good time? Will be ok if we use the money to get someone in that will make a difference to the team for the remainder of the season and someone who wants to stay and play for the club.

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law101 added 16:09 - Dec 22 I agree it is foolish to sell, or write him off after a poor spell. I just think there are better players than Wanyama in that position. All very well saying 'top 4 clubs want him', the fact is only Spurs were in for him over the summer. The grass is not always greener and I hope his form improves and he stays until the end of the season.
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aceofthebase added 17:29 - Dec 22 VW needs another good player to play alongside him and that is the same for anyone. He has had some terrific games gor us but partnering him with lightweights such as Cladie and jwp has been a big problem. If he no longer wants to play for us then he has to go tho'. We really do need a replacement or two and a goalscorer and a right back and a ..........
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rankxerox added 18:06 - Dec 22 Sell him
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TeamCortese added 08:42 - Dec 23 Wow! The opinions on this poll are incredibly fickle it beggars belief. The real question is If Wanyama is as bad as a lot of people have made him out to be then why aren't the top 4 clubs in for other Southampton players in that position instead? i.e. JWP, Davis, Romeu, and Clasie. It's simply because they're not good enough for those bracket of clubs. Victor Wanyama has proved he has what it takes to play at the highest level in the EPL. He's made a lot quality attacking players look very ordinary. Not to mention before he joined Saints he put in a performance for Celtic against Barcelona where he got MoM playing against players like Messi, Xavi and Iniesta. And let's not forget he's only 24! He's still yet to reach peak form of his career. If this speculation has any truth to it I'm just flabbergasted why the board would even consider this at this stage of the season. Just crazy. What we should be doing is focusing on getting a new striker and a Xabi Alonso type midfielder who turns defence into attack very quickly to partner alongside him. Lastly, I totally agree with 1teeminants. Let's see how our rivals react to speculation surrounding their players. Especially Leicester and Everton. I don't seem to be hearing much about Ross Barkley or Lukaku going in Jan let alone Mahrez or Vardy.

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saintjeff52 added 12:22 - Dec 23 Listen to, or watch Ronald's Pre-Match News Conference. He reiterates that NO ONE is leaving SFC. Is that clear enough for you all ?
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