Tottenham Hotspur are running short on homegrown players and have been tipped to bring released Saints star Kyle Walker-Peters as a valuable addition to maintain that criteria.
Football and in general, the Premier League appears as a simple sport with the most victories crowning the eventual champion. Despite that, there are many finer details that may be deemed insignificant but can have long-lasting and unexpected conclusions at the end of the day.
If you need a recent example, then look no further than former Saints star Romeo Lavia who now knows the dreamy trophy lifts have the potential to turn embarrassing too.
Delving deep on that unfortunate individual evening, the squad selection was at fault but Chelsea may soon find their London neighbours Tottenham Hotspurs too struggling with a crucial roster-related rule.
We're talking about meeting the Premier League's homegrown criteria where Spurs can have a hard time brainstorming their way through that. The reason being they parted ways with Saints fan favourite Fraser Forster among a bunch of other players who contributed to those eight necessary spots.
Walker-Peters' emotional Tottenham homecoming isn't ruled out
According to the Premier League records, their current tally has fallen well inside the red-zone which is undesirable, to say the least. But there's still a long way to go into the top-flight campaign and journalist Graeme Bailey believes they will find a solution without much hassle.
The catch is that it could very well be out of contract Saint Kyle Walker-Peters with EFL Analysis quoting Bailey: "Everton, Fulham, and West Ham like him, and even Tottenham, who were considering bringing him back as a homegrown player."
On a side note, Southampton can at least proudly brag about never running into these headaches but this slight upper hand will only invite more Premier League attention to their academy prodigies down the road.