With a £12.5 million deal between Liverpool and Southampton for the services of right-back Nathaniel Clyne is all but confirmed, Outside90’s Jackson Delmenico looks at what the young Englishman brought to St. Mary’s and what manager Ronald Koeman can do to fill the impending void?
Signing for newly promoted Southampton on the 19th of July 2012 from Crystal Palace, at 21-years of age Clyne already offered much at the right-fullback position. Showing blistering pace and a 90 minute attitude towards attacking and defending, the youngster slotted in well to the Saints line-up and has established himself as the number one right-back in recent times.
Tallying up over 100 appearances for the South Coast club across the last three seasons, Clyne has been an integral part of the Saints squad and been one of the most consistent performers.
Should he head to Anfield, it would be another case of the team from St. Mary’s getting a player young and transforming them from a promising talent to a highly sought after commodity. The purported £12.5 million transfer fee would also be another example of the Saints turning a healthy profit on the players that they allow to leave the club.
What does Clyne bring?
The right-back position has been one of constant change and experimentation for Brendan Rogers at Liverpool over the last few seasons, with Jon Flanagan, Andre Wisdom, Javier Manquillo and the much maligned Glen Johnson all slotting in in the past few years, as well as brief stints from the likes of Lazar Markovic and Jordan Ibe this season in a more attacking right-sided wingback role.
Whilst all had some positive performances most would agree that none of the options have made the spot their own, some of course playing out of their usual position and more just filling-in, but none hoping to tie the spot down left any lasting impression.
Clyne offers essentially the same potential that the outgoing Johnson displayed in his early Reds days, bombing runs down the flanks with an ability to use the ball effectively in the final third. The incoming man perhaps offers slightly more defensively than his predecessor, being less prone to the lapses of concentration and casual attitude on the ball that have dogged Johnson over his time at Anfield.
With Clyne looking most likely to fill the starting fullback position in Rodger’s setup, expectations are surely high for the English international’s contribution towards the Reds’ 2015-16 campaign.
Clyne is already off the mark at Anfield. Here's his goal for Southampton last season https://t.co/0aPfJGBur5
— Liverpool FC News (@LivEchoLFC) June 25, 2015
#LFC wasting no time to sort out squad ahead of long-haul overseas trips & tough opening fixtures. SIX in the bag & isn't even end of June
— LFCZA (@LFCZA) June 25, 2015
What gap does Ronald Koeman need to fill?
It would appear that a replacement for Clyne is already signed, sealed and delivered with Portuguese right-sided fullback Cédric Soares arriving from Sporting Lisbon last week on a four-year deal. The same age as the seemingly departing Englishman, Soares has a lot of development to do in order to fill the role of one of the 2014-15 Premier League season’s top performing defenders.
Opta stats list Clyne as having the most tackles in the Premier League last season, nine clear of the next closest in Man City’s Pablo Zabaleta. He also recorded one of the highest number of crosses in the league, an asset both attacking and in the defensive half.
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The hole that the departure of Clyne would leave in Southampton’s XI, that demands such huge impact and work rate from its fullbacks, has left some questioning whether Koeman has intentions of possibly bringing in somebody more experienced than the young Soares. Yet to hear rumours of any possible targets there may be some action after the 100% confirmed exit of Clyne.
With the start of the 2015-16 EPL season months away, Koeman still has a lot of time to tinker with his squad and experiment with the right-back position amongst many others. It seems only time will tell how the Saints will line-up and function without their young starlet.
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