‘Just ridiculous’: £11m talent praised on Match of the Day after Leeds and Newcastle missed out

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Sekou Mara has impressed for Southampton after the Saints pipped Leeds United and Newcastle United to his signature this summer.

Southampton looked dead and buried against Leeds United on Saturday afternoon as they fell 2-0 down at St Mary’s Stadium.

Ralph Hasenhuttl made key substitutions though, sending on Mara and fellow new signing Joe Aribo to try and change the game.

That certainly worked with Aribo scoring to get Southampton back into the game before Mara conjured a stunning assist for Kyle Walker-Peters.

Mara played a defence-splitting pass to dissect the Leeds back line, with Walker-Peters finishing it off in style for a 2-2 draw.

Sekou Mara has impressed for Southampton

This was a sign of Mara’s quality and that has to be hugely exciting for Southampton fans.

The Saints pounced to sign Mara from Bordeaux this summer, striking a deal worth a total of £11million.

Reports suggested that Leeds United, Newcastle United and Aston Villa all wanted to swoop in and sign Mara, but Southampton won the race.

Bordeaux were in financial troubles but rather than try to take advantage, Southampton gave the French club a fair price.

Mara, 19, scored six times in just shy of 900 Ligue 1 minutes last season, showing his huge potential whilst playing as a striker or winger.

It’s no surprise that major Premier League clubs wanted to sign Mara this summer, and he is now earning major praise.

Pundit Micah Richards told Match of the Day that he thought Mara’s drag-back and pass for the Walker-Peters goal was ‘just ridiculous’.

Richards praised Mara for being forward-thinking and bold on the ball rather than take the safe option, and Southampton may well feel that they have beaten their Premier League rivals to a real gem.

“This goal was just sublime, it really was,” said Richards. “Mara with the little drag-back or whatever he wants to call it, and then the defence-splitting pass is just ridiculous – it really is. A lot of people would have just passed to the side but he wanted to keep the ball going forward and it’s a great finish,” he added.