Dan Neil will not be plying his trade at Southampton next season.
Instead, the ex-Sunderland midfielder will be lining up for Scottish giants Rangers, despite it being reported previously that the tenacious battler was in advanced talks about moving to the South Coast.
This will be a blow to Southampton's confidence, considering the transfer window has worked mostly in their favour so far with both Cyle Larin and Daniel Peretz returning to St. Mary's for good.
Losing out on Neil's signature will mean Tonda Eckert's men are still on the hunt for some midfield reinforcements, with Shea Charles potentially on the move.
The Championship titans are allegedly looking at one Premier League youngster, in particular, to get over their Neil woes...
Southampton's new transfer pursuit
Every passing day seems to throw up a new transfer rumour involving Southampton adding in a fresh central midfield body.
The latest rumour suggests that Eckert and Co. are keen on snapping Alfie Devine from Tottenham Hotspur as a new midfield option, with Devine picking up a standout eight goals and six assists last campaign for Preston North End.
This would only be on a loan basis, however, so if Southampton want to land a more long-lasting signing, who can be both a replacement for Charles, but also soften the blow of Neil moving to Ibrox, the better signing to pursue here could be to try and sign Justin Devenny.
At just 22 years of age, Devenny is very highly rated at Crystal Palace, but he will surely be eager for more regular first team football, and the Saints could gift that to him, if they're willing to cough up £5m for his services.
That's the touted price tag, according to journalist Alan Nixon, and it might well prove to be an excellent signing in the long-run, as Southampton forget about losing out on Neil quickly.
He could be a perfect Neil alternative
The real draw behind landing Neil would've been the fact he was available on a free transfer. On top of that, he's a serial promotion expert, having won three promotions with both the Black Cats and Ipswich Town.
Yet, despite only still being 22 years of age, Devenny has hit even higher heights than his Rangers counterpart during his fledgling career, having lifted the Europa Conference League just last campaign with Oliver Glasner's Eagles.
He would even pick up a goal and assist for his troubles as Palace went all the way in the much maligned European competition.
At £5m, the expectation will be that the Northern Irishman can acclimatise to the demands of the Championship well, having already battled against the likes of Rayo Vallecano in some testing environments and shone.
He has 44 Premier League appearances under his belt, too, alongside 14 Northern Ireland caps, which has seen him feature next to Charles for his international team.
In a strange turn of events, he could come soon in to replace the void left behind by Charles, away from being purchased as a Neil alternative with his willingness to play all across the midfield positions again making him an attractive buy.
He can even be a stand-in fullback if necessary, with Neil more programmed to only play in the middle of the park, as he struggled to stand out last campaign for Ipswich with zero goals and zero assists amassed.
On the contrary, Devenny stood out whenever he was launched into the first team picture at Selhurst Park under Glasner, with £5m possibly looked at as being a fantastic steal, if he can guide the Saints to promotion during his debut season.
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