Southampton’s form this season has been a bit up and down and it was quite expected. Everton raided them to get Ronald Koeman after the Dutchman’s two successful seasons at St. Mary’s and Claude Puel came to the helm at Southampton. It is not an overnight process to get a team going right after taking charge and Puel did not have the worst of starts considering that the Saints also have Europa League football and have done pretty well out there so far.
After two back to back losses in the Premier League, the Southampton boss has plenty to think about during the international break. We can expect the Saints to be active during the winter transfer window in order to bolster their squad if things do not improve by January. Reports are suggesting that the Saints are plotting a raid on fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace in January and Yohan Cabaye is the player they want.
Crystal Palace have struggled for form this campaign and find themselves 16th on the table right now. And despite all their struggles, a player of Cabaye’s calibre hasn’t had too many first-team opportunities in the early stages of the season although his fitness level was not at desired level back then.
Reports are surfacing that the Eagles will be open to sell their once club record signing if they fail to drag themselves out of the bottom half.
Cabaye’s quality is pretty well known to the worldwide Premier League followers. There are very few number eights in the Premier League now who are as creative as the French international. A brilliant passer of the ball, be it long or short, the 30-year-old will suit really well at a club like Southampton who play a possession based game.
Cabaye has been a bit below par this season but still has a registered passing success of 85.7% which is excellent.
Another thing Cabaye will bring with him at St. Mary’s is his experience at the top level. The French maestro has been a regular for clubs like Lille, Newcastle United, PSG and Crystal Palace and boasts 48 caps for his country. Southampton’s young central midfielders like James Ward-Prowse, Harrison Reed and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg can learn a lot from Cabaye which will help them grow.
However, Southampton should consider selling a midfielder among Clasie or Davis before going for Cabaye otherwise, the growth of a talented young player like James Ward-Prowse will get stalled.
Ward-Prowse is now 22 and should play more given the potential he has shown whenever he featured for the Saints. Cabaye is better than any midfielder they have but if the Saints bring him without shipping one of their older midfielders out, the progress of their youth will get hampered.
