Report: Southampton refuse to part ways with Oriol Romeu

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The Southampton midfielder was heavily linked with a move back to Spain.

According to a report from the Daily Echo, Southampton aren’t willing to allow Oriol Romeu to leave the club in this month’s transfer window.

Spanish outlet AS reported last week that the former Chelsea midfielder is set for a move to La Liga side Celta Vigo for a fee of about £8.5 million.

Romeu moved to Southampton from Stamford Bridge back in the summer of 2015 for £5 million (BBC) and has played over 175 games for the club in all competitions so far.

The 28-year-old started each of Southampton’s first 12 games in the league this season. Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side were in deep trouble at that stage having won just twice, making them one of the favourites to go down.

The Spaniard hasn’t started a single game since and the Saints’ form has taken an incredibly positive turn. Southampton are now 13th in the league and are edging towards safety, something that looked unlikely at one point.

The report claims that Southampton do not want to let go of the 28-year-old this month due to their lack of backup options, the same reason why they rejected a move for Che Adams from Championship side Leeds United.

Losing Romeu will leave the Saints with just James Ward-Prowse, Stuart Armstrong and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the heart of their midfield. Selling the Spaniard and losing one of the above three to injury or suspension could cost Southampton dearly and they cannot afford to do so.

Romeu still has 18 months left on his current deal. He is unlikely to extend that contract considering his lack of game time in recent weeks and move back to Spain would have made a lot of sense for him.

However, if the report is anything to go by, he is set to stay at the St Mary’s for the next six months at the very least which gives Hasenhuttl sufficient time to find a replacement for him before the start of next season.