Everton's latest transfer pursuit could be Pierre Emille Hojbjerg according to the press, but if this latest rumour is true could Saints do a swap deal rather than straight cash for reportedly £35 million.

Pierre Emile Hojbjerg has provoked mixed opinions amongst some Saints supporters so much so that after the latest rumour some fans were contradicting themselves on one hand demanding that he not be sold even at the high price tag quoted and on the other claiming he is not that good this season, such is the duality of being a Saints supporter these days.

Personally I think he has had a far better season than some would give him credit for and is a vital cog in our side, certainly like many of our squad he is valued far higher by other club's than by his own fans, but if Everton are willing to pay £35 million then I think that is good business, especially as we already have a ready made replacement in the club in Oriol Romeu and that would solve that problem.

But could it be that Saints will not take a straight cash deal for the Danish player whose name sounds French, but take a cash plus player deal and reunite Morgan Schneiderlin a French player whose name sounds German with St Mary's.

When Schneiderlin left St Mary's in the summer of 2015 to Manchester United it looked like he had a glittering career ahead of him, but he would start just 25 Premier League games for United plus another as sub and be sold on to Everton in January 2017.

His time at Goodison Park has been little better, in his 3 years there 56 starts in the League plus another 14 as sub has not been the mark of a player who was absolute class at Saints.

If Hojbjerg was to go to Everton that would surely limit Schneiderlin's opportunities still further, so there is scope for Saints to consider making him part of the deal.

Schneiderlin cost Everton £20 million but having just turned 30 and his contract expiring in the summer of next year, he would be valued at far less than that, I would suggest a fee for Hojbjerg of around £25 million plus Schneiderlin would be good business for Saints.

The French midfielder with the German name would be the type of leader that we need in the centre of our midfield and although his age would not quite fit our demographic for the players we usually sign, sometimes you have to think outside of the box and he is just what we need at the moment.

This might also appeal to Schneiderlin himself who surely cannot have enjoyed his time since he left Saints.

Personally I think that should this deal happen as I have suggested it would be forward thinking for Saints rather than just another sale, but even for straight cash I would say that if Everton are truly willing/silly enough to offer us £35 million for Hojbjerg then I would take it.

Photo: Action Images

kenis added 09:54 - Jan 24 If we won’t sell Romeu can see us letting PEH go either - unless like Lemina (shame we can’t get him to want to play here) there was always an agreement he’d be able to go or he’s indicated he will run down his contract. I did think what about Slattery, he seemed to be pushing the first time by has dropped off. Would like Schneiderlin back but it rarely works out (and his wages would likely make him the highest paid player at the club) and no player can be guaranteed a starting place.

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highfield49 added 10:51 - Jan 24 Sorry Nick, I don't think that's a good deal at all. As much as we all loved Spiderman, and Wanyama, they both chose to leave for the lure of bigger clubs but never achieved anything, apart from a healthier bank balance of course. As for £35m for PEH then we'd be daft not to take the cash and use it wisely. The truth is of course, like you keep pointing out, this is the silly season where the truth of stories should be taken with a large pinch of salt.

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1970 added 11:01 - Jan 24 He never wanted to play for us and even threw his toys out of the pram to get his dream move, we shouldn't sell anyone in this window except vestergaard , lamina,hoedt, carillo sorry if I missed anyone I'm a little tired lol got to beat spuds tomorrow just to hear moaninhos excuses there fans must be getting sick of him coyr
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saintmark1976 added 11:30 - Jan 24 Absolutely not Spider. The last thing we want at the moment is some supposed "big time Charlie" who has achieved nothing since he moved, returning. In regard to PEH isn't he in the process of trying to negotiate a new contract with the Saints at present? If so I suggest that this £35 million figure may well just be his agent talking.
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SaintPaulVW added 11:42 - Jan 24 The Everton fans I know say MS has been totally appalling since he joined them. They cannot understand how we rated him so highly. His wages will be a big issue too. I'd rather have the happy memories than see him back if that is the case. If it's there straight cash of £35 million for me. I agree PEH is often underrated but usually dajfu. Bit of a 'jack of all trades' midfielder compared to Romeu. Contract is starting to wind down so may be best to cash in now if he's not looking like signing a new one.

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bstokesaint added 13:17 - Jan 24 I have to admit I was one of Hojbjerg's biggest fans when we first arrived. I thought he looked a class above at the time, but his performances of late seem to have less brilliant. I think I’d say the same of Romeu, who has progressively got worse in my opinion. Both seem to be prone to an error and a few bad passes (and lots of pointless passes). £35m would be silly money provided we were able to find a replacement or a youth team player ready to step up to the plate. More controversially I’d love to see Morgan back if he fancied it. He’d have something to prove to the Premier League and he could be the leader we look for on the pitch. Along with Lambert they are two of the best players we’ve brought into the club in terms of what we paid for them. I certainly don’t hold it against Morgan that in an era where it felt everyone in the squad was looking to jump ship, that he felt some entitlement to the big time after 7 excellent years’ service and he didn’t refuse to play like others or make long-term commitments to the club, which he would later go on to break. He’s had his chance now and if he wants another one to prove he’s still got it then this could be it. It’s not a situation to dissimilar to Bertrand. He was at Chelski and sampled the CL, but he wanted regular football and found somewhere where he can do that. Having ambition doesn’t necessarily make you the bad guy. Only when you’re a completely disrespectful **** in the way you go about it.

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davidargyll added 17:02 - Jan 24 For Christ's sake, one minute everybody is saying don't believe a word of any transfer rumour, it's all agents' and press talk; the next minute every bleeding rumour is being reported, as if it is, if not exactly gospel, certainly believeable enough to warrant repeating!. For goodness sake, can nobody take what RH said only yesterday as being straight, honest and truthful?? Just to remind everybody, he said NOBODY IS LEAVING - unless they come knocking at his door which they haven't. So can we just have a transfer gossip-free zone on here at least until 31st January, or until something is confirmed by all parties, pur-lease!!!

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SanMarco added 17:54 - Jan 24 I didn't know that 'Hojbjerg' sounded French. Schneiderlin is actually a German name. Strasbourg is on the border and has been German in the past. I don't think this rumour is true. If it was I would take 35m for Hojbjerg but think that Spiderman peaked in his last 2 years with us and has been on the way down ever since.
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underweststand added 18:02 - Jan 24 The big question is ..Should we expect to see the "same" Schneiderlin back to be the same player as he was when he left us ? Obviously not. The fact that he didn't do well at MU or Everton might also depend on the position /formation he was involved in. Players who don't make it in other sides aren't necessarily poor players. Ryan Bertrand and Jack Cork were pushed around half-a-dozen clubs as loan outs and no-one thought o buy them before they came to us , but both DAJFU ..and more ..and it might be argued that Cork was an even better player AFTER he left us. Schneiderlin was honest enough to give us a good season before he finally left for MU when the rest of " the deserters" had already fled to Liverpool. He was always a good playmaker and though he might not have a lot of pace now, he could be the sort of experienced MF we need to complement JWP and Armstrong now that Davis has gone. However, I doubt that the deal might come off. PEH has always talked about ambition and I wouldn't blame a player for wanting to better himself - even if he leaves us to do it. I think the whole thing is a column-filler for some lazy journo', but IF it did come off... we must be sure get valutaions correct. I don't see PEH as a vital part of our team - even though he has the armband ahead of Prowsie.

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aceofthebase added 19:38 - Jan 24 Please help me underweststand or anyone, I hate not having the knowledge. What the heck does DAJFU mean?
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underweststand added 22:03 - Jan 24 to ; ace of the base DAJFU = do a job for us .....
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SaintPaulVW added 22:07 - Jan 24 Aceof the base DAJFU = Did a Job for us
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saintpete01 added 11:08 - Jan 25 He has to stay His name is on my saints shirt 🤭😂
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aceofthebase added 11:27 - Jan 25 thanks guys. Wiki was no help. PS I did one for us first thing this morning
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LoisDeem added 09:35 - Jan 27 Not much foresight if this sort of deal is even being considered. Some Saints fans need to get real too, we should keep good, young and improving players as long as we can, and not even look at old, over the hill, green grass grazers, who've burnt their boots. Generally though, our stock is going up, so I do trust Ralph to start getting a financial return on some of our peripheral players, though not at the heavy previous cost. PS: I don't like to see know all upper case initials either, as they are easily misunderstood, Fraser Forster Saint!

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