Leo Scienza has spent the summer as the subject of transfer talk from five different countries. Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Fulham, Everton and Leeds United have all been credited with interest, and reports this week put Southampton's asking price at £35 million.
The Saints have also been described as reluctant to let him leave without a fight, even as the noise around him grows louder by the week.
Scienza has been wanted since the turn of the year, with the interest building in stages, an approach here, a valuation leak there. What has changed is the tone.
Southampton's stance has hardened from managing interest to actively resisting a sale, right as supporters seem to have made their own minds up.
What fans want to happen
On a Southampton fan forum thread discussing the growing interest, opinion settled quickly around one idea, sell him, but only for a serious fee.
One fan argued for a fee in the £20 million to £25 million range as a starting point. Another pushed back hard, insisting anything under £30 million would be short-changing the club and that a sensible number closer to £50 million made more sense for a player with three years left on his contract.
A third fan admitted a reluctance to see him go but could not argue against the size of the payout on offer.
Nobody on that thread wanted Scienza kept at any cost, and nobody wanted him sold cheaply either. The debate was about the size of the fee, not whether a sale made sense in the first place.
What Saints Marching's reporting backs up
Saints Marching made its case for selling back in May, and little in its reporting since has argued the other way. Its verdict was blunt: sell him, get the best possible price and use the money well.
That piece cited Scienza's season: seven goals and ten assists in 37 Championship appearances. FotMob rated him at 7.36 on average, comfortably the best output at the club last year.
The financial case backs the same argument. Southampton paid a reported £7.8 million for Scienza only a year ago. Transfermarkt now lists his market value at around £10 million, well below what Southampton are reportedly demanding this summer.
Saints Marching noted separately that Scienza has been open about wanting Premier League football since before he even signed.
None of that guarantees a smooth exit. Southampton's reported reluctance this week suggests a boardroom still weighing up whether to gamble on keeping him for one more promotion push. But the reasoning Saints Marching laid out when it argued that selling Scienza made sense still holds up against everything reported since, including the growing transfer speculation that has followed.
This piece backs the fan majority. The finances support cashing in, and Scienza's own ambitions point away from St Mary's, whatever hesitation the boardroom is showing this week.
Add us as a preferred source on Google