It has been a strange season for Southampton so far in the Premier League, for Claude Puel’s outfit haven’t done anything spectacular but at the same time, they haven’t languished anywhere in the vicinity of the dropout zone.
After 26 league outings, the Saints are placed 10th in the league table with 33 points but then, owing to their prospective mid-table finish, some of their players are likely to be linked with an exit or look for an exit once the curtains of the summer transfer window get lifted.
Let us take a look at 3 such players.
Jay Rodriguez
A player whose name was leading the headlines of the major dailies a couple of seasons back, Jay Rodriguez’s stay at St. Mary’s is apparently numbered at this stroke of the hour. Injuries and inconsistent form have played a major role in diluting his impact and he has fallen way behind in the pecking order under Puel.
In 15 appearances so far this season, the former Burnley forward has merely collected 4 goals apart from registering 3 assists and creating just 4 chances as his once blossoming career has come to a standstill. To rediscover his former self, it would be beneficial for both the club as well as the player to end their association in the summer transfer window.
Virgil Van Dijk
A string of top quality European sides are all set to cough up a humungous amount of cash in the summer for Southampton’s quality centre-back in the shape of Virgil Van Dijk. Van Dijk has arguably been the cornerstone of consistency for Southampton’s defence this season, winning 30 tackles with a success rate of 55%, and making 55 interceptions, 139 clearances and 14 blocks in 21 league appearances for the Saints which presents itself as the evidence of his spectacular run of form.
Considering Southampton’s perennial tendency of letting their main men leave at the end of every season, we expect the 25-year-old defender to make a move to a club of much higher stature in the summer.
Ryan Bertrand
Ryan Bertrand has flourished in the left-back slot for the South Coast club and Puel may have another tough battle to keep hold of the 27-year-old beyond this season. In a total of 18 league appearances, Bertrand has won 18 tackles with a success rate of 43%, has made 31 interceptions, 34 clearances and 7 blocks apart from scoring 1 goal and creating 19 chances and would unarguably fancy a departure from Southampton for a club with much better ambition.
Statistics Courtesy: Squawka
