According to The Daily Echo, Southampton are not looking to offload Che Adams in the January transfer window as Ralph Hasenhuttl does not want to weaken his frontline.

What's the word, then?

Well, the former Birmingham striker - who scored 22 Championship goals last season - has been linked with a January switch to Leeds, with The Athletic's Phil Hay reporting that Adams is Marcelo Bielsa's No.1 transfer target this month.

"The Athletic understands that Leeds have made Southampton’s Che Adams their number one target, despite Adams starting for Southampton as recently as Boxing Day."

The 23-year-old has struggled at St Mary's since making a £15m move from Birmingham back in the summer, failing to score a goal for the Saints in 17 appearances so far this season.

However, despite his poor form, The Daily Echo report that the Englishman will not be going anywhere as the former RB Leipzig boss does not want to lose any of his forward options this month.

The correct decision

Southampton are certainly making the right decision to keep Adams at the club this month.

Despite his lack of goals, the Saints No.10 is still a necessary player to have amongst the squad given Hasenhuttl's preference to play with two strikers - the Austrian has rotated between Danny Ings, Michael Obafemi, Shane Long and Adams so far this season, so weakening that bunch down to just three players would leave the frontline in a precarious position, even more so with Southampton in a relegation battle.

Furthermore, it would also mean that the south coast side would have to get active in the market in order to find a replacement for Adams, taking them away from their priorities which should really be scouring Europe for a new full-back or two - Hasenhuttl himself has outlined the wide defensive areas as positions that the club "must do something in".

"It is absolutely clear that we must do something with the full-back positions. This is definitely a position we're looking at for the moment and we will do something."

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In conclusion, it would feel as if getting rid of Adams this month would be a thankless task if it happened, so the news that Southampton plan to keep him is reassuring, for it is undoubtedly the correct decision.

In other news, Carl Anka has made an interesting claim about the future of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg...