The signings of striker Juanmi from Spanish side Málaga CF and right-back Cédric Soares from Portuguese team Sporting Lisbon were confirmed midweek and add two quality youngsters to the Southampton side.
The two players are not exactly household names to English football fans, so there are likely two questions on the tip of many tongues: Just who are these players? What roles will they play for Southampton?
Juanmi
Juan Miguel Jiménez López, or simply Juanmi, is only a 22-year-old, but has much experience in top flight football. A part of Málaga’s senior setup for the past six seasons, Juanmi installed himself as a regular fixture in Javi Garcia’s squad for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons and even captained the team twice in the absence of regular captain, Duda.
Having made a total of 85 appearances for Málaga and scoring 18 goals, Juanmi has acquired plenty of experience in first team football. He also managed to earn his side a historic victory at the Nou Camp earlier in the year, scoring the game’s only goal to see his side leave 1-0 winners over FC Barcelona.
On 23 March this year, the young gun was called up by national coach Vincente del Bosque for a Euro 2016 qualifying game against the Netherlands to replace injured Diego Costa, a 2-0 loss in which he started and played 61 minutes.
The Spaniard operates primarily as a second striker, sitting in behind the centre-forward. This suits the Saints as they lacked a creative option in the number 10 position at times. A 5’7″ frame means the forward is not really a fit for the target man position, but Juanmi can also operate wider on the left-hand side of the park.
Juanmi signed a four-year deal for a fee rumoured to be around £5 million.
Cédric Soares
Spending the entirety of his career in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, Soares has tallied a total of 91 first team appearances, primarily for Sporting Lisbon but also spending a season on loan at Académica. Entering Sporting’s youth system aged eight, Soares has been in the senior setup since 2010 and has been a regular under Leonardo Jardim and Marco Silva the past two seasons. The full-back has played four games for the Portuguese national side since making his debut in October 2014.
A right-back, Soares has been touted by some as a replacement to the likely-to-depart Nathaniel Clyne. Seemingly not yet at the same level as the English international, the new signing would still seem the most likely to fill the position should Clyne move elsewhere during the window.
A weak part of the 23-year-old’s game is a propensity for making his way into the referee’s notebook. In the 2012-13 season, Soares accumulated nine yellows across 23 appearances for the club, 11 in 31 the following season and 12 in 35 last term including two in one game, three in the Champions League and a straight red 15 minutes into the Taça de Portugal final.
Soares has missed two league games through suspension in each of the last two seasons. This may represent an overly aggressive playing style or perhaps, more worryingly, a tendency to get caught out of position, forcing him to commit fouls. Either way, Koeman will have to encourage the Portuguese player to improve that disciplinary record.
Soares penned a four-year contract for a transfer fee put at £4.7 million.
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Two young players with an abundance of first team experience for seemingly reasonable transfer fees could prove to be next on the list of smart transfer dealings by blossoming manager Ronald Koeman. Both players look set to feature regularly in next season’s campaign, especially if some of the current starting XI move away from St. Mary’s during the offseason.
Though both are, as yet, unfamiliar with English football, being brought in so early should allow plenty of time to adapt and go into the 2015-16 campaign acclimatised to the Saints’ and Koeman’s brand of football.
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