One man who truly hasn’t grabbed his many lifelines at St Mary’s is Yan Valery.
The youngster somewhat burst onto the scene last season, scoring at Old Trafford against Manchester United and also netting in the win over Tottenham – however, he has failed to build on such an eye-catching start.
The Frenchman’s blossoming came while Cedric Soares was on loan at Inter Milan, but the Portugal international somehow managed to force his way back in ahead of Valery this season before Arsenal signed him in January.
The Southampton academy graduate was then introduced to Kyle Walker-Peters as fresh competition, but isn’t really doing much to prove to Ralph Hasenhuttl that he deserves to be his leading right-back.
The 21-year-old was entrusted to start against Newcastle last time out, but allowed Allan Saint-Maximin to tackle him and prod the ball home late on, seeing his teammates suffer defeat as a result.
In that respect, he has had far too long to prove himself and seems to be regressing, so Hasenhuttl must ditch him.
In his place? Well, with Walker-Peters also returning to Tottenham this summer, Southampton should swoop for a man they considered signing in January – Genk right-back Joakim Maehle.
The Danish defender could potentially become Hasenhuttl’s modern-day version of Nathaniel Clyne with his eye-catching end product and tendency to roam up and down the flank – Maehle has five goals and 14 assists across both this season and last term.
At just 22 years of age, the Jupiler Pro League star would also be a fine long-term investment – it should also be noted that Clyne was signed as a 21-year-old, so the pair are on track for similar progression in the game.
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He has long been on the Saints’ radar as the club tried to sign him in January 2019 as well, and seeing how problematic the right-back position has been of late, this is a move which should come as a no-brainer to Hasenhuttl and those who write the cheques at St Mary’s.
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