"Nonsense" - Southampton FC tipped to snub Russell Martin's Rangers transfer raid | OneFootball

Rangers reportedly want to bring in one of their new boss' favourite players.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Flynn Downes has been linked with a move to Rangers this summer, one that would see him reconnect with former Southampton boss Russell Martin.

It was only last summer that the Hampshire side got Martin his midfield linchpin after a stellar season at St Mary's on loan from West Ham United. In the 2023/24 campaign, he started 31 of the 33 games that he played for Southampton in the Championship.

This first XI regularity carried on into the season just gone, although Martin's presence at the club didn't as he was sacked in December following a horrendously poor start to the season.

Now Martin has a new home, Ibrox, and, according to Alan Nixon, he is looking to reunite with Downes up in Scotland.

Rangers are now owned by 49ers Enterprises, who also own Leeds United, and they are planning to give their new boss a strong budget, relative to the league to work with.

Nixon said that the price of Downes would be set at more than £10 million.

However, this, according to him, would eat up a lot of the money that Martin will have to spend this summer, and Southampton-focused outlet, the Daily Echo, have reported that Saints would definitely not consider selling Downes, who they paid £18 million for and gave a four-year deal to, for anything close to that value.

Southampton won't let Flynn Downes leave for £10 million

There's very little chance of Rangers pulling off a move for the 26-year-old this summer, according to Football League World's Southampton fan pundit Martin Sanders.

"I think it's a load of nonsense, to be honest," he said on the Downes, Martin links. "Rangers haven't spent that sort of money on a single player in years - I believe it was back in 2000 they spent £12 million on Tore Andre Flo.

"But the American owners plan to invest £20 million in summer signings. Downes alone would cost them £20 million, for me, for Saints to sell him. They signed him for £18 million, they wouldn't sell him for any less than £15 million, and he'd be quite important next season.

"I think Downes definitely stays with Saints next season. I don't see him going to Rangers, because they don't have the money. There was talk of Cameron Archer as well, but Saints signed Archer for £15 million so they could blow their whole transfer budget on one player."

Flynn Downes to Rangers is a very hard move to imagine

If you're the Southampton hierarchy, why would you consider letting a player who is more than proven in the Championship leave the club this summer for anything less than you paid for him just a year ago? It simply wouldn't make sense.

Obviously, Martin is a big fan of Downes. The pair worked together at Swansea City before the midfielder moved to the London Stadium. But, in his pursuit of Celtic, who have won four Scottish Premiership titles in a row, why would he use up most of his monetary resources on one player? Again, it wouldn't make sense.