It is quite simply a deal that works for everybody.

Graziano Pelle’s likely move to China makes sense whatever way you look at it.

The big striker has been an excellent signing for the club. Just £8m for two good seasons, arguably the peak of his career, and 30 goals in all competitions is pretty good value on its own.

Then throw into that a profit of £5m when you sell him on at pretty much 31, suffering knee problems and with just a year left on his contract and it looks truly sensational.

From the player’s point of view it’s easy to see why you might want the move.

At his age he knows he has just one big contract left in him.

Saints were never going to offer him a huge multiple year deal, but to sign for three years on around £6m a year is massive. It’s a life changing cash.

Pelle is a man of the world too, he loves travel, and you can imagine that trying a new culture and a new lifestyle appeals just as much as the impact on his bank balance.

Had Pelle stayed he wasn’t likely to be in the team every week.

His form was streaky enough during his time at Saints anyway, but Shane Long had got ahead of him last season and there was a feeling that his powers at Premier League level might have been on the decline.

In fairness, the general reaction of most Saints fans has been a slight element of sadness to see a player who they obviously enjoyed watching depart, but an acceptance that this is a good deal for all concerned.

The greater debate is over whether Saints need to replace Pelle.

The club’s signing of Charlie Austin was a pre-emptive strike as they were keenly aware that Pelle would likely be gone by the end of this summer, if not in the previous January window.

With Austin, Shane Long and Jay Rodriguez as options for a single position, and Ryan Seager on the fringes as a young striker who is developing, you the club can argue they are well stacked.

It is certainly hard to justify four frontline big earners, and a developing youngster, for just one solitary role in the team.

Certainly there would seem no point whatsoever in only getting in another body who would likely sit on the bench, so then you would effectively be looking for a frontline striker better than all those you have got, thus pushing them down to being substitutes.

That would certainly cost a vast sum of money, and would have to be a signing completely out of the Saints mould that would potentially disrupt the equilibrium the club have strived for.

If there is a hint in pre-season that Rodriguez is not fully fit then Saints may well revisit the need for another striker but, for now at least, the dust will be allowed to settle on this move before any rash decisions are made.

It is just common sense.