Southampton linked with two Stoke City midfielders

It was inevitable, wasn’t it?

The only certainties in life: death, taxes, and a football manager getting linked to the signing of some of his old players from his previous club.

Former Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has only been at Southampton for a matter of days, but the Saints are already being linked to some of Sparky’s old players from the Potters.

And that’s despite it being common knowledge Hughes currently only has a contract with Southampton until the end of this 2017/18 Premier League campaign which, by the way, could still end in relegation.

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Last week, The Mirror [H/T Football Fancast*] was claiming Southampton are looking to by Welsh midfielder Joe Allen from Stoke - a signing which would likely improve Saints’ disconnected passing in the middle of the park.

Now, The Express and a number of other tabloids are linking Stoke’s Xherdan Shaqiri.

Swiss-Kosovan winger Shaqiri, who Stoke bought from Inter Milan for a fee of £12million in 2015, has scored 17 goals in 85 appearances for the Midlands club.

If there was any morsel of truth in either story, I’d be excited. But both stories seem to be cheap, easy articles put together as the international break inevitably produces less click-worthy stories to write.

*Sorry for linking to Football Fancast. They’re the worst.