The Saints ace has come in leaps and bounds following Ralph Hasenhuttl’s arrival at the Premier League club.
Sky Sports pundit and retired England international Paul Merson has praised Southampton attacker Nathan Redmond for his efforts this Premier League season which have culminated in a Three Lions call-up.
The 25-year-old had been struggling for the Saints up until December, when Ralph Hasenhuttl took the reins at St Mary’s Stadium following the departure of Mark Hughes, and he has not looked back.
In 43 appearances in all competitions, Redmond scored nine goals and registered six assists (Transfermarkt), all of his goals coming after the Austrian coach took over, and as such he has earned a place in Gareth Southgate’s provisional England squad for the UEFA Nations League finals in June.
It marked a superb turnaround for the player, who aside from not netting this season before Hasenhuttl’s arrival, also came for some criticism last season – as can be seen in a cross-section of Twitter fan reaction from the crucial 1-0 win over Swansea City last May.
“Nathan Redmond deserves his place in the England squad… I think he’s improved immensely,” Merson wrote in the Daily Star. “He’s been Southampton’s best player this season by far He’s worked really hard. His confidence has impressed me. He can go past people and he makes better decisions.
“Last year he was a bit of a ‘head down’ player. Now he knows when to pass it. He gets people out of their seats. The manager has given him belief, and that’s important. He’s done his time in the Under-21s and he’s always turned up. He hasn’t pulled out of squads because he didn’t fancy it.”
Redmond, whose tally of 38 Under-21 caps is England’s third-highest at that level, won his only senior cap to date in a friendly with Germany in March 2017.
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