Southampton have been asked to rethink their summer plans involving twice top-flight demoted star Samuel Edozie, and a former young forward's sale can be a good lesson.
Relegation is always detrimental to a club's domestic standing but Aaron Ramsdale having no suitors willing to cross the price-tag barrier shows that the players can't always go unscathed either.
Hence, it's understandable to wear the Southampton board's hat and quickly form a mini list of transferable talents who have seen multiple of those red-marked drops in top-flight football. Later, attempt to sell them if any transfer discussions start snowballing around them.
If Saints wish to see these steps in action, then Samuel Edozie's regularly twisting rumours are sufficient examples in this regard. Now, the club's financial health might become even more greener than it was previously.
Yet, the point is Edozie isn't just any flopped wonderkid, and former English midfielder Lee Hendrie wants Southampton to know this before it's too late.
Insisting Saints to rethink their Edozie opinions, the Football League World quoted Hendrie saying: "Seeing what players have achieved in the Premier League at that level, then you're always going to get teams who are bigger, maybe playing in Europe, around Europe that would certainly want to take Edozie. I think if you can keep hold of these players, then you can build around these young and talented players they have at the football club."
Edozie can take bigger first division strides as Tella
Additionally, Southampton must recognise the narrowing likenesses between Edozie and former youth attacker Nathan Tella. Both of them came from two esteemed Premier League academies and were shining stars in age-level tournaments, yet, couldn't combine the best of both senior form as well as playing time at St. Mary's.
With Tella, the Saints never budged even once when Bundesliga side Leverkusen came with a £20m paycheck. Fast forward to two years, and Tella may not have netted ten league goals every season but he has proven his immense utility in that team.
Similarly, Edozie might raise his scoring charts in a blink if any abroad outfit sways him away for almost half of Tella's fee. Eventually, Southampton must test Edozie one last time, and if he flattered to impress, then the January window is always there to offload him on a loan basis and pocket a good transfer amount next summer.