Southampton got a much-needed win against defending champions Leicester City last week after losing four on the trot that had them plummet down the table. Claude Puel’s men looked quite confident and were better than Leicester in all departments. The Saints are now looking to turn around their campaign that was jolted by a sudden disruption in form.
Maya Yoshida finally gets to play in his preferred position as a centre-half after the departure of Jose Fonte to West Ham United and Puel is now looking to fill the void left by the Portuguese international in the squad. The French manager is monitoring a lot of options, which include the likes of Liverpool’s exiled defender Mamadou Sakho and Everton’s old man Phil Jagielka.
However, getting a potential central defender in the mid-season is tremendously difficult and although Southampton have the likes of Florin Gardos and Jack Stephenson on the bench to take the position as and when needed, neither of the two have the needed Premier league experience and have spent the first half of the season mostly playing for the Under-23s.
According to reports, after missing out on his primary targets, Puel has now turned to Udinese centre-half Molla Wague. The Mali international has been identified by Puel to be the ideal replacement for the departed Fonte, and at 25, he still has the age to perform at the highest level.
Although his first team action has been quite limited in the Serie A this season so far with only six appearances, his quality cannot be denied. At 181cm, Wague is very strong in the aerial duels and wins 70% of them on average. A centre-half by nature, he can also play equally well as a side back and has a knack for timely tackles. His brilliant vision enables him to read the game well and it has garnered a lot of attention from clubs across Europe.
A youth product of French side SM Caen B, Wague got his big break in the first tier of Ligue 1 team SM Caen in 2011 and spent three years there before La Liga side Granada brought him on a free transfer in 2014. The Spanish side has loaned him out to Italian side Udinese in 2014/15 and he has since been playing in the Serie A. He has now played 37 times for Udinese, scoring twice.
Wague is looking for regular first team action, something he hasn’t got in either France, Spain or Italy. With Puel’s squad rotation policy, he just might get some good game time under his belt. And although quite an unproven prospect, we know many such talents who have flourished at Southampton.
