Lyanco had just 32 minutes of Premier League football under his belt this season until Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal arrived on the South Coast on Sunday afternoon.
So handing the Brazilian his first start of 2022/23 – at right-back rather than in his usual centre-half role – was a decision Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl made out of necessity rather than desire.
Tino Livramento, one of the top-flight’s breakthrough stars last term, is unavailable until the New Year with an ACL injury. It could take until the spring or later before he is back to full match sharpness.
In Kyle Walker-Peters, Hasenhuttl at least could rely upon a high-quality replacement. Until, that is, the injury curse struck again; Walker-Peters joining Livramento on the sidelines and, thus, catapulting Lyanco back into the Saints XI.
Is Tottenham’s Djed Spence the solution to Southampton’s right-back problem?
“We have another big injury” Hasenhuttl sighed in the build-up to that hard-fought 1-1 draw with Arsenal (Daily Echo). “(An injury) that costs us a player for the long term in Kyle Walker-Peters,
“He is the next one we will definitely lose on a position where we don’t have a lot of alternatives.”
Hence the inclusion of Lyanco against the Gunners; the squarest of square pegs. Moi Elyounoussi, following a second-half shift in shape, produced one of his finest performances for some time in a wing-back role. The Norwegian set up Stuart Armstrong’s equaliser on Sunday. Neither he nor Lyanco are natural replacements for Livramento or Walker-Peters however; Elyounoussi lacks the defensive awareness, while latter is not exactly a ball-carrier.
Fortunately, the World Cup break should act as damage limitation. Southampton have just five Premier League games between now and the New Year. And with The Times reporting that Tottenham Hotspur hope to send the seldom-seen Djed Spence out on loan in January, the Saints might not have to look too far for a solution to their right-back problem.
A replacement right-back needed
According to the Northern Echo, Southampton failed with a deadline-day bid to sign Spence from Middlesbrough in August 2021. 14 months on, with Tottenham’s £19 million summer signing having featured just three times under Antonio Conte, do not be surprised to see Southampton come calling again.
Spence, after all, is exactly the kind of buccaneering, all-action full-back Hasenhuttl likes. He is stylistically very similar to both Walker-Peters and Livramento. And it’s not just Southampton who’d benefit from Spence’s arrival as a short-term quick fix either.
From Livramento to Mohammed Salisu, Armel Bella-Kotchap to Romeo Lavia and Gavin Bazunu; Hasenhuttl has shown himself at St Mary’s to be 1) a manager willing to put faith in young talent and 2) a manager capable of developing young talent. Juan Larrios and Sam Edozie both jumped at the chance to join from Manchester City a couple of months ago.
It’s not hard to imagine Spence moving to the South Coast, thriving in red-and-white, before returning to Tottenham a more rounded, confident and mature footballer.
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