It's a mad idea of course, but then money in football is a mad world anyway

I’ll say that figure again as it is worth repeating: that’s £27.5m.

Amid all the handwringing – understandable – from Saints’ fans this week over the almost certain loss of their star youngster, who along with team mates Ricky Lambert and Adam Lallana has been picked to play for England in the World Cup at Brazil, there has been little time to sit back and wonder at the sheer size of the sum on the table.

For £27.5m you can buy a lot of, well, other stuff. I’m not certain what the going rate for a new school is these days, but that would buy you a few classrooms or pay to staff them for a while.

The same goes for hospitals. Southampton Hospitals Trust wants to build a new children’s hospital. It will cost some £70m.

Liverpool, bytheway, has come in with an offer for Mr Lallana of around £20m. Put those two sums together, chuck in around £10m perhaps for teammate Morgan Schneiderlin who, I am informed Napoli quite fancy, and you are not far off paying for the whole children’s hospital. I could offer the Daily Echo five-a-side squad as replacements to Saints, waving my agent’s fee – well, I’d donate it to the hospital appeal.

It’s a silly dream of course. But it makes you think doesn’t it: three football players or a children’s hospital - which would you choose?