Saints are likely to resist any late offers for striker Graziano Pelle with Juventus and Lazio monitoring his situation.

The big striker’s long term St Mary’s future hangs in the balance, with his contract expiring in 2017, and the club in no rush to discuss a new deal.

Despite his contribution to the club, Saints are wary that Pelle will turn 31 this summer, and with the signing of Charlie Austin boosting the striking ranks, tying the Italian down to an extended stay may not make business sense when they could still get a reasonable fee for him.

Saints’ preference has always been to keep the squad intact until the summer, but Pelle’s admirers in Italy are aware that the forward needs to hit form over the next few months to secure his place in the Italy side for this summer’s European Championships.

Reports in Italy suggest that several clubs are mulling over a late bid for Pelle to try and take advantage of the situation.

However, Ronald Koeman is likely to insist that Saints stick by their guns and keep Pelle at least until the summer, when it appears increasingly likely he will move on.

Though Pelle, who has scored 25 goals over two-and-a-half years at Saints, has been struggling with a knee injury recently, which has limited him to just nine minutes of game time in almost six weeks, he remains an important member of the squad.

Koeman is savouring having attacking options with Shane Long, Austin and Pelle to choose between when all three are available.

With Saints on good form and looking up the table, Koeman will not want disruption during January if he can help it.

The transfer window closes on Monday, and the expectation is that Pelle will still be a Saints player when it does.

Ahead of next season, however, Saints will have Long, Austin and hopefully the fit again Jay Rodriguez, who is battling back from surgery on his foot.

It’s for that reason that Saints remain cautious over an extended deal for Pelle, also knowing a strong performance from the striker in the Euros could see his price tag rise.

Koeman recently said: “The situation of Graziano is a little bit different than other players because Graziano will be 31 and 32 at the end of next year and that's difficult.

“It’s too early to conclude about his future. I know it’s left one season on the contract but it's too early now to talk about his future.”