The Saints fought a second successive relegation battle in the Premier League this season.
Southampton midfielder Oriol Romeu has given his assessment of the 2018-19 season and looked ahead to what the following campaign could bring.
The Saints began the Premier League season poorly under Mark Hughes and fought against relegation but the December arrival of Ralph Hasenhuttl proved an inspired signing for the club.
With just one fixture to go, Southampton are seven points clear of the drop zone and as such can see the season out without too many worries when they host Huddersfield Town at St Mary’s Stadium.
However, when Romeu joined the Saints in the summer of 2015 under Ronald Koeman’s watch, they had finished seventh in the table the season gone by, then finished sixth in 2016 and eighth in 2017, but then came the struggles of 2017-18 in which they finished 17th.
While Southampton have certainly improved under Hasenhuttl, they didn’t sign any players in January and there were some nervy moments in the following months, and as such, Romeu hinted towards the prospect of bringing in new players to add quality.
“The beginning of the season was tough and not good enough, so getting there with two games to go was a great achievement and now we are all looking ahead to next season,” he told Sky Sports News. “We felt good the last two months and we feel we can do more and have enough potential to grow as a club.
“As a squad and a club we have great potential, not just players that have been here a long time but the youth and I’m sure some players will come in and add some extra quality to the team. I’m pretty sure things will be better but it’s going to be another tough season. The Premier League doesn’t give anything away and we need to work really hard to get in a good position.”
The Saints’ 3-3 draw with Bournemouth 27 on April ensured their top division status for another campaign.
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