With the Premier League season getting into full swing, Southampton are faced with fears of fellow EPL clubs trying to pry away more of their stars.
Despite strong recent performances earning the club plenty of respect, the Saints have been unable to shake their standing as something of a ‘feeder’ club.
Routinely raided over the transfer periods, losing some of their best talent to fellow English clubs, the South Coast team has faced replacing and reinventing the team season, in season out. Yet again, several high-profile names departed over the offseason.
Striker Graziano Pellè left for Shandong Luneng in the Chinese Super League, winger Sadio Mané moved north to Liverpool and midfielder Victor Wanyama joined Tottenham. Looking at Southampton with one Premier League match played, the squad still looks strong with several promising replacements brought in.
The window has not yet closed however, and there are rumours circulating of even more important names being courted by other clubs. Throughout August, there has been a series of stories around interest in club captain José Fonte with Arsenal, Manchester United and Everton those touted as possible suitors.
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The Portuguese centre-back enjoyed a strong showing at the Euros and boasts four years of EPL experience to his name. Now, reportedly, he is a target of Jose Mourinho should some of his inherited squad be moved on to free up space.
Reports indicated Ronald Koeman was interested in bringing his former club captain with him to Goodison Park with it apparent there was not a no-poaching clause in his deal. It is understood Fonte’s most recent contract with Southampton stipulated the club would not stand in his way if a better offer was made, and it appears a defensive restructure could soon be necessary for the Saints.
Despite not showing the best of form consistently last season, Fonte remains first choice in the centre of defence alongside Virgil van Dijk. With Maya Yoshida showing patchy form at best, reinforcements would likely come in if the captain departs.
Another man who has attracted attention is Charlie Austin, who only joined the club in January in a £4 million transfer from Queens Park Rangers. The English striker is reportedly keen to depart the club with it apparent manager Claude Puel favours Shane Long and Nathan Redmond as his starting combination.
Again, Everton are showing the strongest interest. Even if the 27-year-old is not a regular starting XI fixture, his departure could be costly – Puel only has two recognised strikers in his squad. If he intends on deploying Redmond to lead the line with Long, his attacking stocks will still be rather thin should Austin leave.
Blessed with an abundance of young talent churned out by one of the world’s best footballing academies, Puel is not bereft of options inside the club but it does appear that some in the current crop are not quite ready. Aside from Matt Targett, few academy products in their early 20s included in the senior squad look set to make the step up to regular starters.
It seems trivial to raise the point that Southampton will struggle to replace their outgoing stars when they have done it so successfully so consistently over the past few years. That said, in changing the team’s dynamic, there is always the possibility the new formula may not be as effective as the previous and that is the issue Saints will face should they lose more key players in 2016.
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