Rafa Saints' rumour dashed

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has rubbished reports linking Rafael Benitez with a possible move to Southampton.

The Spanish media have been speculating that the Saints will approach the former Liverpool and Inter Milan boss as a successor to Nigel Adkins at St Mary's, following their frustrating start to the season in which they have lost four games in succession. The south-coast outfit have been unlucky in respective 3-2 defeats at the hands of Manchester City and Manchester United, but a 2-0 home defeat to Wigan and 6-1 mauling at Arsenal on Saturday appears to have put some pressure on Adkins. But, despite the reports claiming the Saints' board are looking to 54-year-old free agent Benitez to bring some experience into the club and keep them in the Premier League this season, Balague has taken to Twitter to deny the claims out of hand. He wrote: 'Nothing at all in the link of Rafa Benitez and Southampton'.