Premier League strugglers Southampton loaned Mario Lemina to Turkish giants Galatasaray – will he ever play under Ralph Hasenhuttl again?
Last month, the Independent provided a list of players who Southampton are desperate to get off the wage bill this summer.
And you’d struggle to find a single soul on the South Coast who is against the idea of cashing in on Guido Carrillo and Wesley Hoedt. The potential departure of Mario Lemina, however, might stir up altogether different feelings.
A former Marseille and Juventus midfielder who arrived at St Mary’s after featuring in a Champions League final, the £18 million Gabonese international felt like a coup for a mid-table outfit like Southampton.
And, for a while at least, he looked like a bargain of a signing too, a class above in Mauricio Pellegrino’s struggling side.
But Lemina quickly fell down the pecking order once Ralph Hasenhuttl brought his high-octane brand of furious, pressing football on the South Coast. Now, it feels very unlikely that we will ever see Lemina wearing those iconic red and white stripes again.
Turkish Football reports that the 26-year-old could make his loan move to Galatasaray permanent for just £7 million – a fee that would see Southampton make an £11 million loss.
You’d imagine that Gala would jump at the chance to land an accomplished, experienced midfielder like Lemina on the cheap. Especially when you consider that no one in the entirety of Turkey’s top flight can match him when it comes to passing accuracy.
92 per cent of Lemina’s attempts have found the target.
With 2.2 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game, he ranks right at the top of Galatasaray’s roster for the defensive side of the game too (WhoScored).
If £16 million looked like a bargain, £7 million certainly is.
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