It could all be a smokescreen but Saints seem to be distancing themselves from the rumours that they have put in a bid for Charlie Austin.

In modern football there is rumour and counter rumour a plenty during the transfer windows with clubs not shy in using the media to try and unsettle players and also to try and put other clubs off of the scent.

So when the Daily Echo says it understands that Saints have no interest in signing Charlie Austin and whats more have not put in a bid, the first question is whether this is just Saints trying to play down their interest so that the price won't be driven up.

I have to say though that I was surprised at the so called News that Saints were interested in the soon to be ex QPR striker, that is no slur on Austin, but more about the fact that after the aquisition of Juanmi, Saints have five proven attacking options at the club and if Austin arrived it would be hard to keep them all happy.

Indeed it will be difficult enough to do that at the moment with five so adding another option especially one so high profile as Austin would surely see someone leave.

At the moment though we seem to have the right balance of striking options at the club, with each offering something a little different from his rivals for a space in the team.

Pelle came in for stick from some last year but ultimately there were only nine Premier league players that scored more than him and that is a good stat for a player who didn't take penalties of free kicks as did his predecessor Rickie Lambert.

Then we have Sadio Mane who offers blistering pace and an eye for goal as well as the ability to play in a more wide position or as a central striker.

Shane Long like Mane can play in several attacking positions, however his pace is more in short bursts and that causes panic in defences as we found on several occasions last season when he closed down defenders and goalkeepers.

Jay Rodriguez will be like a new signing, he scored 15 goals in the Premier before his injury ended his season early, in many ways he has the most in his locker, he can run at defenders, shoot from distance, he can head a ball and has genuine quality, the only question is will he be the same player in the coming season, if he is then we will truly be a force to be reckoned with.

Lastly the newly signed Juanmi, again different from anything else we have and appears to be a nippy forward in the mould of a Marian Pahars, he will perhaps start fifth in line but could be worth his salt coming off the bench late on when we need to go two up top and to play off Pelle.

These five offer us probably a better attack than any other club in the Premier outside of the top four and that could be crucial in nicking a few more points as well as having a squad to fight on all four fronts next season.

All of this being the case I can't see Charlie Austin coming unless we lose one perhaps two of the players we already have, probably the player he is nearest too in type of play of our current strike force is Pelle, if Austin came it could mean Saints cashing in on him.

With a European Championships coming up next season neither pelle or Austin can afford not to be an automatic choice for their club if they want to be a part of their countries squad.

Personally unless we can get Austin at a really bargain price, I would much rather we now focus on other areas of the team and getting in players that can keep up our defensive record as well as perhaps provide the ammunition for our strikers to score with, Pelle might have got some stick last erm, but at times he was working hard and not getting much in the way of chances, we need to create more clear cut chances for our strikers.

Photo: Action Images

DPeps added 15:39 - Jun 22 Personally, I can't see us signing Austin. He's English and other clubs want him, so his asking price will be way above what he's worth. He'd be a good addition but probably not at the price that we'd have to pay. I think we need more direct competition for Pelle, but don't think Austin is who we'll go for
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sidsaint added 17:22 - Jun 22 We do not have a 20 goal a season man in the squad unless Jay Rod comes back in great form which must be a doubt. Juanmi is probably one for the future and does not have a prolific scoring record. Pelle as last season shows can have a long barren spell, and Long has never scored lots of goals. Austin's goal against us at SMS was pure class and the number he scored with a relegated club is impressive. At the right price I feel he would be an asset.

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SonicBoom added 17:26 - Jun 22 You keep saying that Pelle was the ninth highest goalscorer but is that good? It doesn't sound it considering he played virtually every game. He also hit the post more than anyone else in the division. I quite like Pelle but he needs to be withdrawn when not in form. He had a very long goal drought last year so realistically he could and should have got closer to twenty.

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surreysaint added 17:29 - Jun 22 I agree with Nick, although I guess it all depends on whether RK sees J-Rod as a 'leading the line' attacker. It is how he came to us, though MP very cleverly found him a unique role - not quite striker, not quite winger - that really worked for us. If RK doesn't see him as a line leader, then we need one as backup for Pelle and Austin fits that bill. If he likes J-Rod up top then Pelle, J-Rod and Sammy G are plenty of competition for the 1 position. Then, as Nick says, we have plenty of options to play off of either of them.

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SaintBrock added 22:29 - Jun 23 Doubtful he is fast enough or tricky enough for the way Saints are developing the team and no way he is going to displace Graziano Pelle or JayRod
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