Southampton transfer news: Midfielder will definitely leave Saints in January | OneFootball

According to Southampton transfer news from the reliable journalist David Ornstein, Lesley Ugochukwu will return to Chelsea in the January transfer window.

Southampton signed Lesley Ugochukwu on loan from Chelsea in the summer transfer window. The midfielder, with Premier League experience, was seen as a good signing at the time due to the Saints wanting to build a Premier League ready squad.

However, as time has elapsed, we can now write this signing off as nothing more than a panic signing. It is through no fault of Ugochukwu as he is clearly a talented midfielder with a bright future ahead of him. It is more the fault of the Southampton owners who went into this season with no plan.

Southampton transfer news: Lesley Ugochukwu will leave in January

David Ornstein has now predicted that Southampton will lose players in the January transfer window. First and foremost, he highlighted the Chelsea midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu as one of those who will leave St Marys Stadium in the new year.

In his own words (quoted by Give Me Sport), Ornstein said: “They'll lose players like Lesley Ugochukwu back to Chelsea when he gets called back for from his loan. I'm sure there may be players who return from loan. They may be able to do a bit here and there. They'll just be looking for an upturn in performance and try and make the best of the remainder of what's been a pretty difficult season.”

So, there are a few different avenues Southampton could take in the January transfer window. This, without a doubt, is good news for Southampton fans.

Of course, when it comes to signing players on loan, there is the cap on Premier League loaned players which Southampton are working within. Therefore, returning Ugochukwu makes sense for all parites.

For Ugochukwu, it means he is able to fight for his place in a team competing for a Champions League spot. Otherwise, he is able to go out on loan to a different club until the end of the season - One who could offer him more game time than Southampton did.

For Chelsea, it would allow them to have better control over Ugochukwu's future. At the moment, they are helplessly watching their player rot away on the Southampton bench.

For Southampton, most importantly, it opens up another allocation for the new manager to sign a Premier League player on loan. This could be the catalyst to keeping Southampton afloat, or at least we hope.