Southampton could do a lot worse than bringing in Jason Denayer from Manchester City alongside Barcelona’s Marlon.
That will not come as a surprise to anyone as Denayer has never looked like breaking into the team under either Manuel Pellegrini or Pep Guardiola, instead finding himself on loan at several clubs.
The Belgian has spent a year with Celtic, another with Sunderland, and two in Turkey at Galatasaray since 2014 and will surely be looking to make a permanent move somewhere soon.
As reported by the MEN, the worry for City is that his wages might put clubs off, should he want the same elsewhere, although his fall from the Belgian national team must surely be motivation for him to find a club to settle at.
Denayer was a part of his country’s Euro 2016 squad but has notfeatured since and, if he truly does want a place to grow, there may be none better than Southampton.
The 23-year-old’s best season yet came at Celtic as part of a formidable defensive duo with former Saint Virgil van Dijk. Denayer was named Scotland’s Young Player of the Year that season and made the Team of the Year alongside Van Dijk.
That was enough for him to admit that playing with Van Dijk again at Southampton was his first choice when he joined Sunderland – and perhaps this is why he should get the chance to play there.
Van Dijk leaving has left a gap in Southampton’s side that was glaringly obvious last season – one reportedly set to be filled by Barcelona’s Marlon.
But it is not a space that should be taken by a single player; if Marlon is a gamble, why not limit the risk by bringing in someone like Denayer?
Southampton did wonders for Van Dijk and they could do the same for his former Celtic partner.
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