If any club knows how to roll with the punches, it’s Southampton.
After losing Virgil van Dijk, the Saints signed Jannik Vestergaard. When Dusan Tadic left, in came Stuart Armstrong.
Morgan Schneiderlin went, Oriol Romeu arrived. Manolo Gabbiadini, meanwhile, was consigned to the distant past as soon as Danny Ings started banging in the goals in red and white.
Put short, Southampton have proven time and time again that replacing key players is something they are rather good at.
And, with Ryan Bertrand out of contract in July and seemingly targeting a move to one of England’s bonafide big hitters, reports linking Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side with Brentford’s Rico Henry should come as no surprise (The Sun).
Young, technically gifted and overflowing with energy, Henry is not only a typical Saints signing he’s also exactly the kind of aggressive, attack-minded full-back who tends to thrive under former RB Leipzig boss Hasenhuttl.
The Standard claims Henry, who also has admirers at West Ham United and Arsenal, is valued at about £12 million.
And if Brentford miss out on promotion once more, the Bees may be powerless to prevent the former Walsall youngster following in the footsteps of Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa and Said Benrahma.
That trio have stepped up to the top flight impressively. And some Southampton supporters believe Henry has everything required to emulate Watkins’ impact in the Premier League.
Here’s what some of them had to say on Twitter:
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