During the tail-end of last season and the following summer, the St. Mary’s faithful saw their collective of popular names, from Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw to Mauricio Pochettino, become linked with high-profile moves away from the Saints.

Such promising form in the 2013/14 Premier League season sent shock waves around the rest of England’s footballing community, fuelling transfer stories and the next crazy money rumour ready to do the rounds. Whilst the last thing Southampton fans would want is for their current crop of stars to be similarly linked away from St. Mary’s, Ronald Koeman’s impressive start to life as Southampton boss seems to have done just that.

Koeman has been linked with a prestigious move back to the Barcelona by the Mail, a club that he once captained. As this is a move that would certainly be welcomed by the Dutchman, could such a dramatic deal really happen? And what would life be like for Southampton without their enigmatic leader?

What makes this story so believable is the affection that Koeman is held in around the Camp Nou. The former Feyenoord boss is just as much, if not more, of a favourite at Barcelona than he currently is with the Saints and an offer to return to Catalonia would be too good for almost any manager to turn down. Although half a season in the Premier League may seem like too short a time period to really get to know a manager, in today’s fickle footballing world, a half a season is often all it takes to seal an illustrious move to greater pastures.

The reported bust-ups with current Barcelona boss Luis Enrique and several of his main stars – most notably Lionel Messi – has helped add fuel to the Koeman fire. While there remain few concrete details about the supposed tension in the Barcelona camp, and there is always a certain amount of gossip around such things, the seed has nonetheless been planted regarding a managerial change at the Nou Camp.

However, The Daily Mail also reported that Koeman denied he will be making an immediate return to La Liga. Southampton’s Champions League push is thought to be at the forefront of his mind right now, and if the Saints can achieve the impossible and qualify for Europe’s most sought-after competition, the Dutch boss would be mad to leave a team that are so clearly on the up. They have defied all odds so far this season, and whilst several of the players and backroom staff were in place before their new manager’s arrival, Ronald Koeman deserves a huge share of the credit.

If the worst were to happen to Southampton however, and their main man leave for the glory of Barcelona, the South Coast side could be in a tough spot of bother to say the very least. Koeman is largely responsible for the new signings brought into the club, and if the likes of Graziano Pelle were ready to jump ship with him once already, who’s to say that their ties to the Dutchman wouldn’t give them reason to make another similar move in the future.

Ultimately the situation with Ronald Koeman, despite the seeming immediacy of the reports linking him to Barcelona, remains very much up in the air at this current stage. It swings on several different factors, with Southampton and Barcelona’s league form for the rest of the 2014/15 season likely to prove a major deciding factor.

Whilst a move away from St. Mary’s would certainly seem premature this season, if Ronald Koeman goes on to continue his impressive start to life in the Premier League, a move back to Barcelona would simply become inevitable, however harsh that seems on the Southampton faithful.