It`s true, of course.   It`s also the root of all evil. Some say it`s the road to happiness, others that money isn`t everything.....but it helps.

Now, as a Southampton fan since my introduction to the club`s old ground, The Dell, in 1946 I`ve seen countless players come and go - right back to Martin Chivers leaving his home town club and going to Tottenham.  In those days there was a certain sense of home town pride that one of our own had made it to the big city, the big club and the big time.   It may have been similar to when our esteemed academy used to produce players like Gareth Bale, Luke Shaw, Alex Oxtail-Chamberlain and a whole host more but they were not Southampton born and bred - rather they were scouted from elsewhere before being developed and moving on.  At least one of them, Theo Walcott, has had enough in his heart to want to come back to the club and repay some of the debt of his gratitude, but he`s a rare example.

We have just witnessed the subterfuge, the stealth even, by which Danny Ings has left to go to Aston Villa.   It came out of the blue, no hints or suspicion, he just left pretty much overnight in a deal by which Aston Villa will be paying him more money on a longer contract than Southampton were able, rather than prepared, to offer.   Now as a local lad born and raised in the SO postcode area he seemed content enough to return from Liverpool three years ago, go through a rehabilitation to overcome a serious knee injury, become the club`s talisman goal scorer, earning England call ups and settling back with his family in the area he knows so well.

So why move, especially when you already have enough money to make you wonder what you can spend it all on?  It can only be that money talks and Danny couldn`t resist the conversation.   But will he and his family be happy in the West Midlands?  For their sake, I hope so but I do wonder.  Maybe I`m just feeling something of a sense of loss at his leaving.

As part of that process, of course, Jack Grealish has left Aston Villa after 19 years to go to Manchester City.  In some respects his case is similar to that of Danny Ings, but he has issued probably the longest and most heartfelt message of goodbye to the Villa fans ever concocted by a departing player (or his agent.)   It seemed full of uncertainty, full of longing, almost as though he wanted someone to say, "It`s OK, Jack, people will understand."  And well they might, but the real question is, will Jack himself, like Ings and his family, live happily ever after?   Financially of course they will, but, as they say, money isn`t always everything, however loudly it might shout at you.

There`s an old saying but still true - you never find out how good a place is until you leave it.