Recent reports claim that Mark Hughes is planning to bring Ryan Shawcross to Southampton next season. The duo worked together at Stoke City for the last 5 years and the Potters skipper has drawn high praise from the Saints manager.
Shawcross is one of those underrated names in Premier League fixtures whose name has escaped the headlines for good reasons. While he is solid defensively, he does not have the cutting edge for a call-up to the big times.
Shawcross has managed to make just one appearance for the England national team but is a Stoke legend with over 400 with the Staffordshire-based club. Standing at 6 feet 3 inches, Shawcross is a no-nonsense centre-back who can lead the team from the back.
He fits the picture of all old-fashioned English defenders mostly due to his grit and the high physicality he brings to the game. Shawcross is not shy about making those eye-catches challenges and is very strong in aerial duels as well.
It will interest you to know that the 30-year-old is a product of the Manchester United academy but never got to make a senior team appearance. He proved his worth during the loan spell with Stoke and ended up staying at the bet365 since the summer of 2007.
However, even with his domineering presence at the back, the club has struggled to hold out of the relegation scraps and are currently 3 points adrift of safety.
Southampton are on a similar boat as the Potters, just a point above the latter in the 18th spot of the points table. Mauricio Pellegrino’s ineffective tactical abilities saw the Saints freefall towards the bottom pits, struggling to put a winning run together.
Swansea City, Crystal Palace, West Ham United were in the danger zone as well but have resurfaced in recent times. The second half of the table is still tightly divided and it will take a lot of luck and persistence to will their way out to safety.
If Stoke, do make the drop to the Championship, it will hard for them to hold onto their best players. Shawcross might not be the biggest names in the Premier League but he is far too good for the Championship.
He also has a favourable relationship with Hughes and not with Stoke’s current manager, Paul Lambert. The centre-back was benched in the 2 of the last 4 games and not even selected for one.
