Manchester United and Liverpool are set to go head to head in a bid to sign Saints right back Nathaniel Clyne, however there is a long way to go yet.
Nathaniel Clyne is yet to sign a new contract for Saints and only has 18 months left on his existing one, negotiations have opened between club and player, but as of yet nothing has been agreed or signed against a background of Brendan Rodgers and Louis Van Gaal doing their best to unsettle the player with the usual press speculation that they are interested.
In some respects you cannot blame Clyne for hesitating in signing a new deal, of course the interest from other clubs will help push up his salary, but what will dictate how much the club can pay is going to be where they finish at the end of the season.
Clyne will be well aware that if Saints should reach the Champions League then they will be able to pay him a lot more than they would otherwise so it is understandable that he would prefer to wait till the summer to decide his long term future with the club.
So League position will determine just where Nathaniel Clyne is playing for the 2015/16 season, if Saints can push United out of a Champions league spot then they will hold the nap hand, it will not just be about money, but the opportunity to play at the highest level, if he can get that with Saints then it will make it easier for the club to hold on to him.
But as reported on this site yesterday, Saints are already weighing up options to replace him, Sam Byram of Leeds United is being monitored, whether we like it or not its a fact of life that players stay with clubs for very short periods these days and that being the case Saints are now very proactive in identifying replacements for all of the squad not just those likely to go soon.
Like last summer it is always going to be about rebuilding, Saints know each and every player has his price, when that price is exceeded its time to sell him and replace him, hopefully with that replacement already within the ranks.
Some fans will not like the sound of this, but it is reality, if Saints were to lose Clyne and Schneiderlin in the summer then that would bring in the best part of £50 million add that to the money we will bring in from the Premier and TV etc and we can improve the squad no end and that is what it is all about improving season in season out so we have the squad to compete for the top 4 year in year out.
So of course the best thing for Saints would be to keep Clyne, indeed keep all our players, in the short term that probably is still a pipedream, but if we can repeat last summers wheeling and dealing then perhaps it wont be as far off as many would think.