Southampton are adamant to avoid Flynn Downes' sealing a club return throughout the coming campaign.
It's the third year running and Southampton fans know that a transfer window is quite incomplete without the constant Flynn Downes rumours. Then, whether that be his West Ham arrival, penning down permanent terms at St. Mary's or a sudden isolation from the winter matchday squads, Downes has always left Saints closer to labelling him a former player.
Yet, somehow that moment hasn't arrived. On top of that, Southampton's decision makers don't intend to offload Downes from the team, especially not on one condition.
To deny his former club from taking the 26-year-old along with them during the summer. Well, Downes has donned a host of different kits before Southampton's, so more precisely, the Saints want him to remain at an arm's length only from Ipswich Town.
Pointing to the straightforward reason, the Saints Extra quoted journalist Alfie House's update: "Southampton would not consider selling midfielder Flynn Downes to a promotion rival such as Ipswich."
Saints don't intend Downes to tread Vestergaard's path
Now, Swansea is another of Downes' old stomping grounds but they have lost some top-six momentum in recent years and Southampton also won't expect big performance surprises from them. Hence, it all comes down to Ipswich here, and it's good for the fans to see the board taking lessons from the past.
In the past, they have assisted Leicester City's promotion charge with former Saints centre-back Jannik Vestergaard bolstering the Foxes' back-five formations. So much so, that at one point Southampton's own Premier League qualification was falling in jeopardy with Vestergaard closing on the league title elsewhere.
Even now, the Denmark international will be gladly awaiting the top of the table six-pointer games against Southampton. So, it's only fair that Downes doesn't begin mirroring everything Vestergaard did after leaving the club, rather, not when the Saints are fighting the same battle.