Speculation continues about Southampton stars

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has a job on his hands to keep the Saints moving forward after player sales

I have to say as a neutral I loved watching Southampton play last season. Their style of play was refreshing and great to watch.

I wrote an article last month talking about the Saints losing Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Luke Shaw and how I hoped they could recover from the losses.

It now seems apparent that yet more of their star players could leave the south coast club, which would be terrible for the Saints.

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According to reports on Sky Sports, the Saints have rejected bids from Liverpool for Croatian centre-back Dejan Lovren.

Lovren arrived from Lyon for a fee in the region of £8.5million last summer and impressed at the heart of the Saints defence. The prior season the Saints had been leakier than a sieve with a few extra holes.

It seems that Liverpool think Southampton are some sort of wholesale warehouse, where they can buy players in bulk. I doubt the Saints will be giving the Reds any wholesale discount though!

Lovren was partnered in defence for much of last season by Portuguese ace Jose Fonte, who has been subject of interest from Cardiff City, who has apparently had a bid rejected for the defender. I doubt Fonte will be pushing this deal through though.

Arsenal and Tottenham are targeting Saints defensive midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin, who was part of the France squad that made it the World Cup quarter-finals, only to be defeated by Germany on Friday night.

Some reports are suggesting that the midfielder is not planning on returning to the south coast club and is apparently looking to move to north London, which would be a crying shame for a player that looked so impressive last season.

Challenge

Saints new boss Ronald Koeman will now know that he has a major challenge on his hands trying to keep the Saints moving forward, no matter how big his transfer kitty will be this summer. Most successful clubs are built on continuity and it looks like the Dutch legend may need to sign a whole new team this summer.

The Saints can rebuild if they use the big money wisely, but those new players will need time to settle in their new surroundings and that commodity is in short supply in the Premier League. If the Saints get off to a bad start then heads may drop amongst the players and fans.

Promising

Southampton may have received big money for the likes of Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana, but the promising team that was being built at St Marys has now been decimated.

The foundations of such a good young team have been ripped-up and Ronald Koeman will have to start again, almost from scratch if the likes of Lovren and Schneiderlin join the mass summer exodus.

It is a shame for the Premier League, as the Saints looked like they could move forward next season. However, the Saints coaching staff needs to make sure the club keeps progressing.

Youngsters

One factor that will help keep the club moving forward is the fact that they produce an almost constant stream of youngsters from the academy. The likes of Calum Chambers and James Ward-Prowse enjoyed promising campaigns, while young striker Sam Gallagher also broke into the first team squad.

No doubt more academy graduates will get their chance on the south coast next season and maybe the exits could be a blessing in disguise, especially for some of the Saints younger players.

Money

Just like everything in modern day life, football is now dominated by big money. The rich clubs sign the best players and the other clubs cannot do much to stop this, apart from get the most they can for their prize assets.

Every player has their price and clubs have to take the big money when it is offered. I mean just look at Liverpool and Luis Suarez. Money is more important than on the field matters, although there are obviously other mitigating circumstances involving the Suarez deal.

Well run clubs like Southampton will always be at a disadvantage, as whenever a so called ‘big club’ come calling for their players they know that they are likely to move.

Southampton cannot offer European football or big money wages, so the players decide to move elsewhere, it is just the nature of life I am afraid. Still it must be galling for Saints to see their best players leave the club.

Move On

Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has to stem the tide of players leaving the club and hopefully spend the available transfer kitty wisely. The Saints are now odds of 13/2 to be relegated from the Premier League.

I very much doubt that the Saints will implode to that extent, but it is going to be tough for Ronald Koeman to keep the team on an upward curve next season.

Can Southampton continue to move forward next season?