If the agent of a talented young footballer was looking for a club in the Premier League which would allow his client to grow, provide him a platform, and then sell him when a bigger club came calling… Then Southampton would be a pretty good choice.
With a reputation for locating, signing and nutruing young talent, Southampton fans may well be furstrated that the process often ends with the footballer being sold.
The club’s chairman Ralph Krueger has told German magazine Kicker that this is an open situation, and it’s what happened with Sadio Mane: “Mane came from Salzburg in 2014 with a dream to one day play in a big club. He knew that he’d get the chance to develop himself, that he could make mistakes. We have patience. Players and agents have long been aware of this.”
Whilst that benefits Southampton because players see the club as a route to the very top, it’s not so fun when the time comes for a star to leave, but Krueger wants to change that.
Accepting that Pierre-Emile Højbjerg joined for the same reasons as Mane, Krueger said: “Naturally. He had a lot of offers from the Premier League, but has decided for us for exactly that reason. In the meantime, he shows regularly what he can do. But we do not always want to be just a springboard. Perhaps Pierre-Emile is the first generation of a ten-year generation. This must be our next step.”
If Højbjerg has come with the intention of moving on to bigger things sooner or later, then he may not be happy if he’s still at Southampton in a decade. It’s difficult next step for the club to take, especially with Champions League football being so hard to attain.
When it was put to Krueger that some Premier League clubs don’t know what to do with their money, and make a mess of transfers, the Southampton boss replied: “Many think only in the short term. The transfer market is evolving to madness, especially the prices for average players.”
That’s why on recruitment Krueger insists Southampton will “only listen to our scouts”, and hopefully get better value.
