Sofiane Boufal will not be going to the World Cup this summer and is getting little sympathy from Southampton fans.
Southampton winger Sofiane Boufal has been left out of the Morocco squad for this summer’s World Cup – and many Saints fans are not in a sympathetic mood.
Boufal, Southampton’s record signing following his £16m arrival from Lille in 2016, fell out spectacularly with manager Mark Hughes in the penultimate month of the 2017-18 season. The 24-year-old angered his manager after refusing to warm up during a clash against Chelsea in April, as reported by BBC Sport, and was exiled to the club’s Under-23 ranks, failing to make the match squad for the club’s final six matches of the season.
Any hopes of putting a rotten campaign behind him in Russia this summer have now been extinguished, failing to make the cut for Herve Renard’s 23-man squad.
Given the spectacularly bad timing of his spat with Hughes – while the club were fighting tooth and nail for Premier League survival – news of his omission hasn’t caused a great deal of outrage down on the south coast.
Boufal recently told SFR Sport he intents to find another club this summer, with a return to France his immediate priority.
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