Agent: 'Billy Sharp keen to leave Southampton'

The agent of Billy Sharp has claimed that the striker is keen to leave Southampton in search of first-team football.

The 27-year-old, who spent last season on loan at Nottingham Forest, was left out of the club's pre-season trips to Spain and Austria.

"He wants to play football, he doesn't just want to sit out the last two years of his contract," James Featherstone told PA.

"But if he doesn't get an opportunity at Southampton and it is getting close to transfer deadline day at the end of August, or when the loan window opens back up a couple of weeks after, we will have to start making a decision about what is best for Billy."

Sharp joined the Saints from Doncaster Rovers in January 2012.