Once again it’s all change on the South Coast – another set of players departing, another manager upping sticks and a few new faces at St. Mary’s.
This transfer window has once again been particularly unkind to Southampton; the Saints have lost key players Victor Wanyama to Tottenham, Sadio Mane to Liverpool and Graziano Pelle to Shandong Luneng.
But as deadline day came and went, The Saints refused to do any more business having concluded their window early with the big-money signing of Sofiane Boufal from Lille.
It means Southampton have been able to replace their departed stars, but they can’t afford to keep doing so every single summer.
Ins
Nathan Redmond – Norwich City – £10m
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg – Bayern Munich – £12.8m
Alex McCarthy – Crystal Palace – Undisclosed
Jérémy Pied – OGC Nice – Free
Stuart Taylor – Free Agent – Free
Sofiane Boufal – Lille – £16m
Outs
Juanmi – Real Sociedad – Undisclosed
Sadio Mané – Liverpool – £34m
Victor Wanyama – Tottenham Hotspur – £11m
Graziano Pellè – Shandong Luneng – £12m
Bevis Mugabi – Yeovil Town – Free
Jordan Turnbull – Coventry City – Undisclosed
Jason McCarthy – Walsall – Loan
Paulo Gazzaniga – Rayo Vallecano – Loan
Sam Gallagher – Blackburn Rovers – Loan
Gastón Ramírez – Middlesbrough – Free
Will Britt – Salisbury – Free
Areas addressed
With the departures of Wanyama and Mane all focus had to be on revamping their midfield yet again.
Nathan Redmond would have stepped into the shoes of Mane, but Claude Puel’s insistence on using the former Norwich winger as a striker and far-fetched comparisons to Thierry Henry means he takes the place of Pelle.
Meanwhile club-record signing Sofiane Boufal had been touted for a while, and with 11 goals last season for Lille he will prove most welcome on the South Coast.
Manchester United’s Paul Pogba in action with Southampton’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg is an interesting signing, with the 20-year-old unable to force himself in Bayern Munich’s side. Having worked under Pep Guardiola the elements of the Spaniard’s passing and possession game are already evident, but a lot is expected of the Dane.
Otherwise goalkeeping cover is assured in Alex McCarthy and Stuart Taylor while full-back Jérémy Pied is set to miss a chunk of the season with a knee injury suffered in training.
Any regrets
A lot. The departures of key personnel for the third season in a row is not good for a club that wants to challenge among the Premier League’s elite.
The loss of Mane and Pelle in particular will hit Southampton hard after losing their goalscoring threats to bigger money.
With cash to burn, Puel may have to go into January with a shopping list of names to stop Southampton going backwards.
Verdict
Southampton are the epitome of a football club hitting the ‘glass ceiling’ with their inability to hold onto their key players.
The signings they’ve made need to step up quickly under a new manager who needs to impress quickly to steady the Southampton ship.
They still lack a top-quality striker with the jury out on Redmond, but the arrival of Boufal has softened the blow of losing Mane.
Grade: C
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