Two players Southampton should offload in January transfer window
Southampton find themselves in the relegation zone and manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has a massive job in his hands to maintain the club’s top-flight status.
The Saints need to add fresh faces during the January transfer window but to do that, they will have to clear some space in their squad. With Steven Davis already gone and Manolo Gabbiadini set to join Sampdoria, Hasenhuttl needs to further trim down his squad before bringing his set of players to the St. Mary’s.
With the stakes being high for the south coast club, Hasenhuttl needs to take some bold decisions and look to make most of the January transfer window in order to secure survival.
That said, here are two players Southampton should offload this month.
Shane Long
Southampton need more goal-scorers in their ranks to ease the burden on Danny Ings and Charlie Austin’s shoulders. But to bring in a new forward, the Saints first need to clear some deadwood.
With Gabbiadini on his way to Sampdoria, Shane Long needs to be shown the door as well. Long does not boast a good goalscoring record for Southampton, who are in dire need of a prolific forward at the moment.
The Republic of Ireland international, although he provides a lot of energy and is a tireless worker off the ball, his goalscoring ability is not up to the Premier League mark. At 31 and on high wages, it’s time for Southampton to move on from Long.
Wesley Hoedt
Wesley Hoedt has not played a Premier League game since Ralph Hasenhuttl took over at Southampton in December.
The Dutch international arrived at St Mary’s from Lazio with a reputation as a talented, modern centre-half. Instead, he has struggled to make a positive impact and has become renowned among the St Mary’s faithful for making key defensive errors.
The matter of fact that Hoedt has not played a single minute of Premier League football since Ralph Hasenhuttl’s arrival a month ago speaks volumes.
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A reliable centre-half is the need of the hour for the Saints backline and the sale of Hoedt could help fund a move.