£21m winger Sofiane Boufal failed to impress in the Premier League with Southampton – now he’s fighting relegation in La Liga with Celta Vigo.
Sofiane Boufal’s ability has never been in question. His attitude, mentality and end product, however, most certainly has.
A £21 million signing from Lille in 2016 (Sky Sports), Southampton made this uber-talented winger their record signing three years ago amid suggestions that he could follow in the footsteps of former Les Dogues starlet Eden Hazard.
At the time, those comparisons with Chelsea’s number 10 made perfect sense. Boufal scored 11 goals in his final Ligue 1 season while catching the eye with his ability to leave opposition defenders red-faced and choking on dust.
But it speaks volumes that Boufal is currently on loan at Celta Vigo rather than starring under Ralph Hasenhuttl at the St Mary’s. The winger flattered to deceive on the South Coast and it seems that patience ran out last summer when he was farmed out to La Liga.
In 26 games for Celta, Boufal has scored twice and produced just two assists. And another hugely frustrating performance in Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Real Madrid, featuring a dreadful ball sliced into the arms of Keylor Navas with Celta bearing down on goal, rather summed things up.
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