According to the latest on the rumour mill Tottenham Hotspur are about to try and prise Dejan Lovren away from St Mary's.

Lets be frank this is nothing we didn't expect, in fact the biggest surprise is that Mauricio Pochettino hasn't been linked with one of our players before this weekend, now it seems our ex manager is about to offer £15 million for Lovren, over twice the fee we paid a year ago.

Personally if I was the man making the decision at St Mary's I would tell them where to get off, I can understand why Adam Lallana would want to go to Liverpool and Luke Shaw to Manchester United, but Lovren going to Spurs is not much of a step up in terms of Champions League football ambition for the Croatian.

Lovren is the only player so far to put in a transfer request citing his ambition to play Champions League football as the reason for wanting away, that being the case it will be easy to rebuff Spurs offer and easy to tell the player himself bluntly why they have been turned down and why they will be continued to be turned down.

As mentioned I understand why a player would want to join a club who is in the Champions League or in the case of Shaw Manchester United who sadly as much as we don't like to admit are a class above most club's in England, Champions League or not, but other than that club's like Saints have to start making sure that contracts for four years mean contracts for four years etc, of course a good offer will always be considered and the players ambition's should also be part of that decision, but if a player is clearly going just for the money, then why should the selling club not make money their priority too.

Photo: Action Images

derbydog added 09:55 - Jun 23 If Lovren wanted to play Champions League Football he could have stayed at Lyon who were regularly qualifying for it. We should politely remind him of that and that a year ago he was saying he wanted to play in the Premier League. Which he is... And as for Lallana, having seen the constant hustle for a move through the press, and pictures of his back garden, maybe Mark Clattenburg was right -- he is not the same person he was before his England call up. Both players are being linked by the press with Liverpool, as has Chambers over this past weekend. What parts of "not for sale" and "under long-term contract here" do LIverpool not fully understand? I'll bet they will be the first to complain when the press and/or his agent try and move Suarez on to Real Madrid.

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Jesus_02 added 10:20 - Jun 23 The truth is if we buy 3-4 decent players we will be pushing Liverpool next season and the likes of Lovren and Lallana will know this. There would not have been any of this clamour if Cortese and Poch hadn’t left. This doesn’t mean that there is weakness, only that the media and other clubs have seized an opportunity to plant seeds of doubt in players and supporters minds. The appointment of Koeman was a big statement. I see no reason not to expect further statements

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montecristo added 12:09 - Jun 23 well said, Nick its about time that some common sense prevailed when discussing the meaning of contract. Players cannot as is often reported , break them at will, and Saints are no longer minnows to be trodden on. This summer, where Saints are concerned is all about laying down some parameters for other clubs and players alike, leaving the message that the club will not be pushed around , ignored, belittled and generally abused , merely because some club , manager or player takes a fancy to a transfer involving one of our players. If even ten percent of what we read about players wanting to leave , tear up their contracts, put in transfer requests, I think it is high time they were read the riot act, told how many beans make five and reminded who got them where they are in the first place. God I wish I could have a go at them myself, it would not take me long..

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Smellysk added 12:57 - Jun 23 Simply fact of the matter is... Spurs are a step up from Southampton, plus he knows the manager well...contracts are broken all the time, if a player wants to leave, he will....
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SaintDownUnder added 14:24 - Jun 23 In terms of ability and quality Lovren is the best signing saints have made in years, losing him will hurt us more than Shaw or Lallana, he was class last season. . Sadly it was his relationship with Mopo and the vision/promise of European football that was the catalyst for him signing. In short I don't think he has any real loyalty to the club. Fair play to him being up front about this and putting in a transfer request and thus being prepared to forgo financially as a result. Contracts are important but only in that they give you leverage to command an agreeable price in these situations. The reality is the club wont risk an unhappy player putting in uncommitted performances and thus reducing their 'asset' value. Yes this is unprofessional, but sadly its a risk that the board are unlikely to accept. Maybe Koeman can persuade him otherwise, but I think its a question of when and how much. Like I say he'll be difficult to replace.

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BarnetSaint added 17:36 - Jun 23 One of the main reasons that Levi poached the pooch is because he envisaged he would entice some of his former players. You can bet your bottom dollar Levi had told pooch to identify which of our players he fancies ( lovren is def one) and he'll provide the £ to bid. Hopefully we'll tell them where to go, but Levi has seen the enormous profits he made on bale so he'll see us as his cash cow. Do one Levi ( and pooch for that matter)

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trampslykeus added 16:44 - Jun 24 Man Utd have supposedly got to £34 million for Luke and £40 mill is being stated. The papers have us demanding £30 mill for Lallana. Saints have actually said nothing official as yet so we unable to determine whether these figures have been invented by the media. God forbid. But how is Lovren only worth £15 million in a market as per the other two. Surely that offer will be bounced straight away.

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