Southampton’s transfer hopes might have been ruined by Barcelona deal

Follow us on Google Discover

“Really, wow”.

That was the wide-eyed response of Belgium U19 coach Wesley Sonck to Romeo Lavia’s Premier League debut during Southampton’s 4-1 defeat to a Dejan Kulusevski-inspired Tottenham Hotspur on opening weekend. And he wasn’t the only one taken aback by a supremely confident performance from an 18-year-old who plays the game with a maturity far beyond his tender age.

Positives were in short supply for Ralph Hasenhuttl in North London. But the way Lavia strolled across the pitch, moving the ball as efficiently and effectively as you’d expect from a midfielder who learned his trade at Manchester City, will raise hopes that Southampton have unearthed another diamond in the rough.

Another Virgil van Dijk, Gareth Bale or Sadio Mane.

“I already knew that Romeo had enormous footballing qualities,” Sonck adds. “I didn’t know that he could also do that at Premier League level. What he showed against Tottenham was really… wow.”

Romeo Lavia in, Ibrahima Diallo out at Southampton?

One man who might not have been all-that thrilled to see Lavia take to top-flight football like the proverbial duck to water, however, is Ibrahima Diallo. The former Brest dynamo started just 10 Premier League games across 2021/22. Now, with Lavia and Oriol Romeu seemingly ahead of him in Hasenhuttl’s pecking order, things could get worse before they get better as far as Diallo is concerned.

Especially now that one potential escape route appears to have slipped through the Frenchman’s fingers.

According to L’Equipe, Valencia held talks with Diallo in July. And Southampton had no plans to stand in his way either; Willing to cash in on a player who has struggled to build upon a promising first season on the banks of the Solent.

Diallo is back to square one as of today, however. Valencia are on the verge of completing the signing of Barcelona starlet Nico Gonzalez instead; A restrictive transfer budget forcing them to prioritise a 20-year-old loanee over the likes of Diallo, Lucas Torreira or Arthur.

“I’m very happy. I’ve been excited to get here,” Nico told Cadena Cope after arriving in Valencia on Wednesday night.

Diallo played just 15 minutes off the bench as Southampton began the new season with a crushing defeat in the capital. Unless he can find a way out before the window closes, cameo appearances like this may be all Diallo has to look forward to in 2022/23.