The Scottish media is reporting that Steven Davis is on the verge of a return to his former club Glasgow Rangers. He should leave with our applause ringing in his ears for a true club legend.

Reports in Scotland are saying that Steven Davis will complete a medical this week and rejoin the club that Saints signed him from Glasgow Rangers, they are also reporting that in able to do so that he is willing to take a massive pay cut and take a salary less than he could have obtained elsewhere .

It is stated that Davis is on £60,000 a week at Saints in a deal that expires this summer and although with first team opportunities at St Mary's looking rare he could stay and take the money, that he would prefer first team football and he wants to return to Ibrox where he spent 4 1/2 years before heading to the South Coast, even though he would earn less than he could get by signing for an English club.

Essentially Davis is willing to write off around 1.25 milion plus bonus's and that is good news for Saints who need to trim the wage bill from a squad that is carrying too many players on not in first team contention.

The reports from Scotland suggest that Davis has agreed an 18 month deal and he will be a big boost to Rangers title challenge as they look to be able to truly take on Celtic for the first time since Davis departed in 2012 with the club in financial meltdown.

Back then Rangers loss was Saints gain and after legal wrangling around whether Rangers players back then were entitled to a free transfer or not Saints eventually paid a fee rumoured to be around £750k.

This has proved to be a bargain and arguably on a pound for pound basis since our return to the Premier League in 2012 Davis could be said to be our best signing.

Davis has fallen very much into the unsung hero grouping at St Mary's, like players in the past like Nick Holmes whilst others have taken the headlines he has just got on with being a consistent 7/8 out of 10 week in week out and until injury hit a year ago he was the first name on the team sheet.

That is shown by the fact that since his arrival and his goal scoring debut at Manchester City in August 2012 he has played 160 (33) games in the Premier League scoring 12 times, if you disregard this season up to his injury last January he has averaged around 32 Premier League appearances a season (even taking it to now its almost 30).

This shows how vital he was to the team and it is no coincidence that without him in the team we have lacked leadership on the pitch and this has cost us dearly, a fit Steven Davis over the last 12 months would have seen us pick up a few more points that is for sure.

But age and injury happen to all players and sadly having turned 34 on January 1st Steven Davis is at the end of his time at St Mary's it seems, however in a slower paced SPL he has a lot to offer and almost certainly will help Rangers towards their goal in the next 18 months.

The word Legend is bandied around a lot these days and I would say that Steven Davis should leave Southampton FC with that accolade, he has played well over 200 games for the club and you would be surprised how few players have actually played that many games in our history.

In the Premier League era ie since 1992, only 7 have played more and since our return to the top flight no one has played more games than Steven Davis.

In total The Northern Irleland international has played 226 times in all competitions including the Europa League and the League Cup where he became one of a select bunch of players who can say they have played in a major cup final for the club.

This is more than many who are classed as club legends, in the recent past Adam Lallana & Rickie Lambert have all played a similar number of games for the club and the likes of Antti Niemi , Kevin Keegan, Mark Dennis, Alan Shearer, Marian Pahars, Mark Wright all touted as club legends less.

Put simply Steven Davis has earned his right to be classed as a club legend on all scales, in terms of appearances in almost a century of being in the football league only around 50 players have played more games for Saints than Steven Davis, only around 40 since World War 2, this perhaps puts his achievements into perspective.

On the pitch he has been worth that accolade as well being Mr Consistency if he hadn't been then he would not have played so many games.

So good luck to Steven Davis in the rest of your career, you might not have written the headlines as did some of those you played with but you have been a true legend at this football club !

Photo: Action Images

amsterdamsaint added 12:57 - Jan 2 Fantastic player for the Saints. We will miss him. A very calm under pressure and a clever player.
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mikesaint added 14:07 - Jan 2 Very good player for Saints 10 times better than Ward-Prowse will ever be. Good luck to you Steve.
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underweststand added 15:19 - Jan 2 Stephen Davis was the model footballer and later captain in our earlier Prem. seasons. His vision and passing were often excellent, and one felt he might have had many more goals had he been able to finish some of the chances that came his way. Over 100 caps for N.I. speaks for itself , as does his captaincy of his country's team. We got him for - almost nothing - and it's only fair that we grant him a free transfer now whilst he still has a few more seasons in him. Returning to Rangers must be some sort of a reward for him in itself. His consistancy was prrobabaly one of the reasons that Ward-Prowse was never able to establish himself in the side. NOTE to mikesaint. ..its obvious that Davis was much better than Prowsey, but he is 10 years older and 100 international caps better off then JWP. If Prowsey is ever going to become a first team regular - now is his chance.

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SaintBrock added 16:07 - Jan 2 Nothing subtle about Davis but every club needs one player with a big heart and a powerful engine. Hojberg is the obvious successor.
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schatfield added 16:49 - Jan 2 good player on his day (and had plenty of off days), but no where near to be considered a legend
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ChristchurchSaint added 18:33 - Jan 2 100% agree. Excellent player with an excellent attitude. Good luck SD!
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bstokesaint added 21:38 - Jan 2 Stevey D has been a great servant to Saints. He was instrumental in Saints earlier, more successful time back in the Prem. His attitude to take a pay cut and continue playing instead of opting for some ridiculous final pay day speaks volumes. I thank him and wish him all the best.
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