Latest reports suggest that Saints are interested in signing a midfielder from Fulham, sceptics will groan and say not another ex player returning to St Mary's, but it isn't Harrison Reed that is the centre of attention, so they can rest easy.

According to southamptonfcnews the man in question is Bobby De Cordova-Reid who has not signed a new contract at Fulham and is now a free agent.

Last season he played 33 times in the Premier League for the cottagers, although only 17 of them were in the starting line up, with the other 16 coming on as a substitute, primarily used out wide on either flank, he scored 6 goals and added another 2 assists.

Overall in 5 seasons at Craven Cottage he played 159 League games, with 101 of them coming in the Premier League, he also had a season with Cardiff in the top flight adding another 27 games.

Add to that around 200 games in the Championship for not only Fulham & Cardiff but also Bristol City and he could be a good addition as Saints build their squad for next season.

So although he turned 31 in February, he could still cut it at Premier League level and could fit the bill at St Mary's giving a balance of experience with De Cordoba-REid & Ryan Fraser and potential with the likes of Sam Edozie.

Some Saints supporters have not been too impressed with the players linked with Saints so far, but it should be remembered that building a squad is about balance, it is about getting in players that are low cost but with experience and also youngsters and finally some players at the top of their game.

All this has to be done without falling foul of financial fair play rules and also with one eye on the fact that if we are relegated we do not want to repeat mistakes of the past and find ourselves lumbered with players who we have paid large transfer fees for and are lumbered with their wages and can do nothing other than send them out on loan.

Photo: Action Images

davenbennett added 10:49 - Jun 22 I agree that we need to bring in experienced PL players, and if free, even better. D-R He scored more PL goals in one season than Ely, Djeneppo and Sulemane ever did. We are going to lose money on C-C, Lyanco, Big Paul, Perraud. Might break even with B-K. Due to structured deals we will still be paying for players no longer at the club. We also lost money last season. Only the £150m from sales balanced the books. So, limited budget. We may be able to spend £15m on Downes, with 1 or 2 others around same price. But that's it. Any more in means selling likes of KWP to raise funds. So, free transfers have to be part of the transfer strategy.

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Monksway added 13:22 - Jun 22 Agree with the post. We don't have the money to pay big transfer fees. I hope we make a few additions, manage to keep Downes KWP and Frazer and add some free transfers/ loans. I also really hope that Alcaraz, Edozie, Charles and Kamaldeen can make the grade this year and start becoming the players we hoped they would be.
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