Leo Scienza has three years left on his Southampton contract, and if a supporters' forum thread from this month is anything to go by, plenty of fans have already worked out what should happen next.
Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Leeds United and a scattering of clubs from Spain and Italy have all been credited with interest in the Brazilian this summer. Southampton have set a £35 million price tag and, according to reports from clubs chasing him, have shown little appetite to move off it cheaply.
What Saints supporters are actually saying
Posting under a fansnetwork.co.uk thread on the Tottenham links, one fan summed up the mood in five words on the 16th July: "Sell him to the highest bidder."
Another fan agreed, reasoning that banking "up to £35m for Scienza" would fund a proper rebuild and let the club start "clearing the dead wood."
Another regular on the site said he would be content once Southampton hit their asking price, adding that Scienza is an exciting watch but not a top-half Premier League player in his eyes. A fourth fan admitted he would hate to see Scienza leave but could not justify denying him the move once it nets the club a handsome payout.
Read down that thread and a pattern appears. Fondness for Scienza personally sits next to a clear preference for taking the fee rather than digging in to keep him past this summer. That is a shift from May, when he was voted the club's Players' and Fans' Player of the Season.
Why Saints Marching reporting backs the sell case
Saints Marching reached the same conclusion before that forum thread existed. Writing in May, they put it bluntly in a piece arguing that selling Scienza is the answer: "Sell him. Get the best possible price. Use the money well." They pointed to a fee nearly four times what Southampton paid Heidenheim for the winger only a year earlier.
Back in April, Saints Marching had already flagged that Southampton fans were bracing for exactly this scenario, noting that promotion, not the player's own wishes, would decide how hard the club fought to keep him.
Southampton missed that promotion. Scienza still finished the season with 7 goals and 10 assists in 37 games, backed by a 7.36 rating on FotMob, the best return of any Saints player last season. Transfermarkt's own market value sits nowhere near the £35 million Southampton are demanding, which only strengthens the case for cashing in while five clubs are still queuing up.
Southampton have chosen to hold out for their number rather than sell on the cheap. Fans on that forum thread and our own reporting both point the other way. Taking the fee this summer looks like the sensible outcome, not a reluctant one forced on the club by circumstance.
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