The Athletic’s Southampton correspondent Carl Anka has added an intriguing dimension to the exit talk surrounding Che Adams.
Recently, the former Birmingham striker – who cost the Saints £15m back in the summer – has been strongly linked with a move to Leeds with Marcelo Bielsa’s side believed to ‘want’ the English forward this month, according to The Athletic’s Phil Hay.
However, Ralph Hasenhuttl recently poured cold water on those links, saying that there is “absolutely no” chance that the 23-year-old leaves St Mary’s this January as “we need every player”.
Despite that, Anka has added some fuel to the fire.
What did he say?
When asked if Adams could move to Leeds in his Q & A session with supporters, Anka wrote: “Interesting one. From what I understand Leeds are front-runners for the forward *if* he is available, but yesterday Ralph said he’s not expecting any outgoings this month.
“I don’t think Adams will leave until/unless RH is sure he has a replacement. I do not see a replacement. Yet.”
One word adds intriguing new dimension to exit talk
While the majority of Anka’s response is pretty much in line with what Hasenhuttl said on the situation, one word does throw up a lot of intrigue and adds a fresh, new dimension to the exit talk surrounding Adams.
“Yet”.
It would be speculative to try and figure out what Anka is getting at here, although it does make you think.
Anka could’ve just followed suit with what Hasenhuttl said by leaving his comment with “I do not see a replacement”, but the added “yet” suggests that this situation might not be as clear cut as the former RB Leipzig manager attempted to make it out to be in his pre-Leicester press conference on Thursday.
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Furthermore, Anka also said that there is a 30% chance that Southampton sign a new striker and Adams leaves this month.
With 20 days of the window left, keep an eye out for fresh developments on this Adams-related transfer saga.
In other news, it is back to the drawing board for Southampton after they lose out on a transfer target to this Championship side…