Earlier this month, Moussa Djenepo’s spell at Southampton came to an end when he returned to Standard Liège on a permanent transfer.
On Thursday, Le Soir reported the winger was ‘terribly unhappy’ at St Mary’s and took a pay cut to join the Jupiler Pro League side.
Southampton took the 25-year-old in 2019 and he’s now insisted the time with Saints has helped him in his career development. His comments are relayed by today’s Het Belang van Limburg.
“I learned a lot during those four seasons at Southampton. I’ve mainly become more mature. I now know that I must always remain professional and keep my cool,” he said.
At Southampton, Djenepo was used on both wings, as a wing-back and even as a left-back on a few occasions. He managed five goals and five assists from 91 games for the Saints.
The Mali international has also revealed he had his heart set on returning to Standard after they first made contact.
“I don’t see my return here as a step back. From the first contact made this summer, I knew that I wanted to play football here again,” Djenepo explained.
The versatile player spent two years, between 2017 and 2019, at the club previously, where he played alongside Zinho Vanheusden during the 2018/19 season.
Vanheusden, who has also returned to Standard on loan, played a key role in convincing Djenepo over the summer move.
“I’m very happy that I can play football for Standard again,” he added.
“When I came here for the first time, it felt like coming home. Standard are more than an ordinary club to me, this feels like family. I noticed this, for example, in the messages I received from Arnaud [Bodart] and Zinho. They convinced me to return here.”
