Southampton may be forced to shell out if they want to extend Alex McCarthy’s contract with the club this summer.
The 28-year old goalkeeper is out of contract next summer and Saints may need to make him one of their highest earners in order to extend his deal.
Having replaced Fraser Forster as the club’s Number One this season, the former back-up has attracted interest from other Premier League clubs thanks to his impressive late-season form, with Tottenham said to be particularly interested.
Spurs and other interested parties will be well aware of McCarthy’s contract situation, and if Saints cannot convince him to re-sign then they may be forced to sell for a knockdown price instead of losing him for nothing next summer.
Southampton’s issue however, is that they would likely need to give McCarthy a large pay rise to do so.
Forster signed a new bumper five-year deal last summer that made him one of the South Coast club’s highest earners, and having supplanted him as first choice between the sticks, McCarthy is likely to demand a similar deal.
Ideally, Southampton would like to get Forster off their books, but having signed a £3million-a-year deal, it seems implausible that another club will take the England international on such high wages, especially given his disappointing form last season.
