It is becoming increasingly more clear that Southampton's chances of keeping hold of either – let alone both of – Romeo Lavia and James Ward-Prowse this summer are incredibly slim.
How much will Romeo Lavia cost?
Lavia is reportedly a target for both Liverpool and Chelsea, which is helping Southampton when it comes to negotiations over a possible fee.
The Saints are said to value Lavia at £45m, but with Manchester United and Arsenal also potentially interested, they could hold out for closer to £50m.
Ward-Prowse is valued at around the £40m mark, meanwhile, meaning Southampton could have plenty of money to play with when it comes to bringing in replacements.
Finding a successor for Lavia in particular is going to be incredibly difficult, but the south coast club may already have identified the perfect match.
According to the Daily Mail, a move for Leicester City's Hamza Choudhury has previously been discussed, albeit with a move looking unlikely at this stage.
Is Hamza Choudhury a good player?
Choudhury looked like being a huge talent when making his Premier League debut for Leicester shortly after turning 20, but instead, he found himself on loan in the Championship last season with Watford.
While the Hornets had an underwhelming campaign on the whole, Choudhury made his presence felt by leading the way in metrics such as tackles per game (3) and interceptions (2.3), while his 14 yellow cards were the joint-most of any player in the division, level with Reading's Andy Yiadom.
Indeed, only Sheffield United's Max Lowe (3.2) registered more tackles per game in the English second tier last season, as per WhoScored, while nobody managed more interceptions than Choudhury.
Southampton could do with a player who is capable of breaking up play and keeping things ticking over in the middle should Lavia depart, and the numbers point towards Choudhury being exactly that player.
The former England U21 international won 1.99 of his tackles per 90 minutes last season, according to FBref, which compares to 1.42 for Lavia in a division higher.
Choudhury also completed 86.2% of his passes, compared to 82.9% for Lavia, while he also offers more of a presence in the air, winning 67.7% of his aerial duels last season to Lavia's 41.2%.
This is not to say Choudhury is a better player than Lavia as such, but the 25-year-old has proven Championship quality and is a player who will no doubt feel he has a point to prove should Leicester again look to offload him.
Just as football reporter Ben Jacobs put it ahead of Choudhury's loan move to Watford last season, the Leicester academy graduate – on wages of £7.5k-per-week – "still has huge potential", which he went some way to showing during his eye-catching spell at Vicarage Road.
At a fraction of the price of the fees they will generate for both Lavia and Ward-Prowse, everything points towards Choudhury being a perfect fit for Southampton in their bid to earn a swift return to the Premier League.