Southampton's reported interest in Hibernian midfielder Josh Mulligan tells you something. Not just about who they want to bring in but about who they expect to lose in the summer.
Tonda Eckert's side head into a second consecutive Championship season with a midfield that, on paper, looks well-stocked. Downes, Jander, Charles, and Bragg have been amongst the Championship's elite performers since the turn of the year.
Laughable offers for Jander and Charles
Flynn Downes was one of the best players in the division during the run-in. Caspar Jander has attracted interest from RB Leipzig, VfB Stuttgart, Ajax and Premier League clubs after a debut season in which he started 34 Championship games. Shea Charles has a laughable £20 million from Leeds United on the table.
The problem is that Southampton cannot realistically hold on to all of them, and the Mulligan approach looks like the club already knows that.
Stuttgart remain keen on Jander and would need to sell before meeting Southampton's £21.6 million asking price, while Charles' future grows more uncertain by the day. Downes, for all his quality, has shown little reason to stay in the second tier if a Premier League club comes knocking. Ipswich Town must surely be considering a bid.
Southampton have been here before
That is where Mulligan comes in. Reports suggest the south coast club is keen on the Hibernian man, with West Ham United also circling.
At 23, the Hibs number 20 is a combative presence who averaged 4.7 duels won per league game across 24 Scottish Premiership appearances last season, while contributing three goals and five assists from 33 outings in all competitions.
He is not a like-for-like replacement for either Jander or Downes, but he is the kind of player who covers ground, wins the ball and makes life difficult. This is exactly the sort of profile Eckert has consistently favoured in the engine room.
The Scottish Premiership has served Southampton well in this regard before. Victor Wanyama arrived from Celtic in 2013 and became one of the most dominant holding midfielders in the Premier League. Southampton's recruitment team know the league, and they know what a player who has thrived in its physical demands can bring to the Championship.
Mulligan will not replace a Jander or a Downes in quality terms. But that is precisely the point.
You do not start enquiring about a combative Scottish Premiership midfielder in June unless you already know the men ahead of him in the pecking order are heading elsewhere.
The shape of Southampton's summer is starting to become clear, and it has the familiar feel of a club about to sell well and rebuild smartly with Johannes Spors working his magic.
Whether smartly will be enough to get them promoted is another question entirely.
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