SAINTS are no stranger to a January panic buy turning bizarre but the Mislav Orsic saga will still go down as exactly that.

At least the Croatian international did not cost £20million and break the club’s record transfer in the process, like Guido Carillo’s 2018 move from AS Monaco.

But it will arguably be even more fateful with Orsic signed fresh from the World Cup to make an instant impact at St Mary’s – five months and six league minutes later the club are relegated.

Orsic’s representative is understandably unhappy with the 30 year old’s involvement in England as Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic warns Orsic he will not play for his country if inactive.

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Saints are likely even more unhappy with the situation but manager Ruben Selles insists Orsic is working well to be in contention – he just is not picking him.

Daily Echo: Southampton manager Ruben Selles does not know what the future holds for him (Joe Giddens/PA)

The Spaniard has exacerbated these situations with a well-meaning but equally blatantly designed dishonesty, leaving supporters without the answers that explain why he is not involved.

While the Daily Echo understood nothing was agreed with Saints as of the start of this week, Turkish reports now suggest Orsic could be on his way to the Super Lig next month.

Trabzonspor have been named as the interested party with rumours of their president visiting England to discuss a deal – which could take shape as an initial loan.

Orsic cost Saints around £6million and recouping even half of that could be considered a bonus given the deterioration of his situation since January.

The 26-cap international had earned his lucrative move to the Premier League with 13 goals in 27 appearances in the first half of the season, including Champions League finishes.

Orsic made his Saints debut as a late substitute in the League Cup win over Manchester City before playing the final six minutes of a Premier League defeat at home to Aston Villa.

His only three other appearances would be cup starts against Newcastle United, Blackpool and Grimsby Town – admittedly, he did not excel – but he was surely no worse than any other player.

Orsic has only made the matchday squad twice more in the league under Selles, despite the Spaniard’s protestations that he has not been frozen out when asked by the Daily Echo.

Saints have actually scored 11 goals in their last eight games under Selles despite not winning any of them so his omission is not really an argument that you would die on the hill of.

And he clearly is not going to play any role for the club now, but even when Saints could not buy a goal he was nowhere to be seen and clearly never going to be included.

Orsic arrived with international pedigree and was wanted by Nathan Jones to make an immediate impact on a squad that had very little experience within its ranks.

While Paul Onuachu cost the club three times as much so is arguably a worse deal, the total and utter nothingness of an exciting signing like Orsic is puzzling.

Adam Armstrong – who has scored three Premier League goals in 65 appearances and is clearly not good enough – remains so unbelievably far ahead of Orsic in Selles’s view.

Obviously, it might simply be the case that either Orsic's attitude or football is not up to the standard required - but the Saints manager is not telling us that, fuelling speculation. 

While Saints were already only heading in one direction, these are the transfers that needed to change fortunes or else relegation would be a certainty. They did not and now it is.