As reported by The Daily Echo, Southampton face a difficult dilemma this summer in determining whether Alex McCarthy is worth being one of two goalkeepers on a bumper contract at the club.

What’s the story?

McCarthy emerged as the number one shot-stopper at St Mary’s last season, at times looking like the only thing separating Southampton from relegation to the English Championship.

With just a single year left on his contract at the club, Saints now need to figure out whether he is worth a massive new contract or whether they should sell him to one of their Premier League rivals.

The Daily Echo report that he is attracting interest from the likes of Tottenham Hotspur.

The paper also say the club face offering him close to Fraser Forster’s wages if they want to keep him around, who is earning close to £58,000-a-week and is one of the squad’s highest earners.

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Is he worth that kind of outlay?

Goalkeepers are hard to come by, especially ones who showed the kind of form in the latter stages of the 2017/18 that McCarthy did.

He kept four clean sheets in 18 Premier League appearances, helping the club win points against the likes of Stoke, Leicester and Swansea, all crucial matches in the context of Saints’ top-flight survival.

Having two goalkeepers on big wages is a big ask for the club, especially with the prospect of selling Forster with his current deal in place unlikely.

However, McCarthy is clearly the better long-term investment out of the two and Southampton must do what they can to ensure they tie him down to his prime years, even if it means moving Forster on at a loss.