Saints are holding out for a permanent deal to get rid of record signing Guido Carrillo but could yet be forced to loan him out again.

The 28-year-old has been one of the biggest transfer flops of recent times with Saints having smashed their club record to land him from Monaco for £19.1m in January 2018.

After just a handful of games without scoring and following the sacking of Mauricio Pellegrino he was deemed surplus to requirements and spent last season on loan with Leganes, reuniting with the former Saints boss, scoring five times in La Liga.

Leganes are keen to try and get Carrillo back for next season and the Daily Echo understands they have formally approached Saints to try and seal another loan.

However, the club are currently assessing their options as they would prefer to cut their losses and sell Carrillo.

There have been reports of interest in Carrillo from other clubs, including Boca Juniors.

It has left Saints in a somewhat tricky situation as they attempt to keep all options on the table but also not risk the chance of the loan deal disappearing if they cannot sell him.

Saints are understandably keen to try and recoup as much of the money that they paid for Carrillo just a year and a half ago as they can.

With Saints aiming to trim their squad this summer it would make perfect sense to sell Carrillo, even at a reduced fee, and accept the fact this was a signing that just didn’t work out.

But Saints also cannot all but give him away.

Carrillo still has another two years left to run on a very lucrative contract and if Saints were to loan him out again for another season they are aware his value will have plummeted if they try and sell him again in a year’s time.

Therefore, the time to try and squeeze out the maximum possible value is this summer.

But the offer for him to link up again with Pellegrino in Spain remains an interesting one for the player and also Saints.

If they decide they cannot get value by selling Carrillo then the chance to get Leganes to at least cover a chunk of his sizeable wages is a better option than forcing him into Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad because there is no other option.

However, they have to cautious on timing as if Leganes are made to wait too long while Saints sit it out in the hope that bids for a permanent sale roll in they could move on which leave the club in a tricky situation.

The only other possibility is that if the impasse continues and Carrillo returns to pre-season training with Saints that he pulls off an unlikely turnaround and impresses Hasenhuttl enough to be considered for his plans.