The Saints made Mario Lemina their £18m record signing in 2017 – but the midfielder’s Premier League career at St Mary’s appears to be over.
Southampton could recoup £7 million for forgotten midfielder Mario Lemina, according to Turkish Football, with Galatasaray looking to sign the journeyman for a cut-price deal next summer.
A player who featured in the 2017 Champions League final for Juventus now finds himself well down the pecking order at St Mary’s.
Southampton appeared to have pulled off one hell of a coup when they snapped up Lemina for a club-record fee of £18 million but, three years on, they would be lucky to recoup even half of that outlay for a player who former vice-chairman Les Reed once described as ‘outstanding’ (BBC).
The Gabonese international fell out of favour with Ralph Hasenhuttl last season and a permanent move to Galatasaray, who Lemina joined on loan last year, is on the cards.
According to Turkish Football, however, the reigning Turkish champions only want to pay £7 million as they cannot afford to trigger the £14 million clause in his contract. Southampton may still be tempted to cash in, however, given that Lemina is unlikely to ever play in the red and white stripes again.
The Telegraph reported last week that a former Marseille star is one of four big-money flops who The Saints plan to sell in the months ahead, including Wesley Hoedt, Moi Elyounoussi and Guido Carrillo.
Getting Elyounoussi off the books could be relatively straightforward, however, given that the former Basel winger has rebuilt his reputation in style during an exceptional loan spell at Celtic.
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