Exclusive: Southampton turn down Smallbone bid but player desperate to move

Not a day seems to go by at the moment without Southampton being in the news because of transfer wheeler dealing, and this time it’s their 23-year-old, Will Smallbone, that is making the headlines.

The Saints have been at the centre of a couple of ‘will they, won’t they’ transfers so far this summer, but at the time of writing, both Romeo Lavia and James Ward-Prowse are still their players. That’s despite the evident courting of both Liverpool and West Ham United respectively.

Despite being relegated to the Championship, Southampton’s board have held firm on the prices for both players, and it appears as though both will be kept if the potential buying clubs don’t reach their valuations.

Another player who appears desperate for a move away from St. Mary’s is Will Smallbone.

Sources told CaughtOffside exclusively that Southampton, however, have turned down a £7m bid from Sheffield United for Smallbone’s services.

They’ve also revealed that the Blades will pay the salary that the player is demanding, something that his current club are unwilling or unable to do.

At present it doesn’t appear to be a happy ship down on the south coast, and their moods won’t have been enhanced by an embarrassing Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Gillingham on Tuesday night.

With a few weeks left of the window, time will tell if Smallbone – and Lavia and Ward-Prowse – get their moves away.