Southampton: Saints linked with loan for Danny Drinkwater

Late last night Southampton found themselves linked with Chelsea midfielder Danny Drinkwater, who is surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge.

The English midfielder doesn’t appear to be a part of Maurizio Sarri’s plans for the upcoming campaign, especially after they spent north of £50 million on Jorginho.

Now, it appears that the Blues are keen to loan out the 28-year-old, with the Mirror linking him with Crystal Palace, Southampton and former club Leicester.

Drinkwater was signed for a very hefty fee of £35 million last summer, as what was seen by some as a move to improve the Blues’ homegrown quota. Since then however, they have signed Ross Barkley from Chelsea and even Rob Green.

However the Saints have a plethora of midfielders already, with as many as seven players capable of playing in the middle of the park. Therefore, unless at least two are headed for the exit door, a loan for Drinkwater seems unlikely.

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However Mario Lemina’s future has been up in the air for a lot of the summer, having been linked with Liverpool, Arsenal and most recently Manchester City.

Furthermore Steven Davis’ fitness issues have caused the Saints to potentially look at moving him back to his former club Rangers, however nothing materialised.

And finally despite it looking like he may play a role for the side as a right-wing-back, Southampton could yet surprise their supporters by loaning out Harrison Reed, much like they did with Sam Gallagher last summer, after giving off the idea he may play a role in the first-team.

Ultimately though the Saints don’t really need Drinkwater even if Lemina goes, which seems unlikely at this point in the window anyway.

In addition the fans wouldn’t be particularly pleased if the club do sign another midfielder, as strengthening out wide and up front is much more important as we come towards the last week or so of the transfer window.

Whilst Drinkwater is a quality player its debatable whether he’d make the first team over Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg or Mario Lemina, whilst Staurt Armstrong has bedded in quick too.

Therefore, it seems safe to say this is probably just tabloid nonsense without any real interest from the Saints.