Southampton have suffered a transfer blow on wide attacker target Adnane Abid but it may not be a regrettable mistake in the long run.
In the build-up to the summer transfer window, Southampton fans must have spent sleepless nights over who will be leading their flanks next season. But guess what? It seems that the Saints aren't going to need this discussion at all in the wake of the rumoured Tyler Dibling snub.
Consequently, it's fair to expect that the club will hardly bother about adding fresh legs to their wide attacking ranks. That too, could be solely for squad depth purposes and not for a front-three makeover.
With that in mind, losing transfer ground on wing playmakers is pointless for a while and the recent Adnane Abid update won't annoy the fans much. Last month, Abid was viewed as an appreciable summer target among the Southampton transfer chiefs and signing him for the U21 side could have been a possibility.
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Still, call it a conservative approach towards the Belgian league due to Gavin Bazunu's awful six-month spell, the Saints recruiting Abid was a meagre likelihood from the beginning.
Plus, coincidentally, Walfoot has suggested that Bazunu's short-term employers, Standard Liege, are the ones onboarding Abid on their books.
From Southampton's perspective, arranging further loan moves for Bazunu should be the priority to avoid stalling his development. Also, re-evaluating their current signing needs can do them a world of good when their selling approach isn't yielding swift results.
Hence, the writing on the wall calls for this slow-ish transfer momentum to continue at St. Mary's. Coming to the fans, they shouldn't express their dissatisfaction with the board if they had to welcome all but a handful of faces on the field in a matter of months.
After all, there can't be plenty of newcomers if there aren't enough exits through the door.