Saints stance could be blessing in disguise

Article by Joe Fish

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It seems that the Southampton sales are closing down just as Spurs were about to start shopping.

Saints chairman Ralph Krueger has insisted that reported Tottenham targets Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez will not be leaving the club this summer.

Some sources had claimed that the Lillywhites were close to sealing a double swoop for two of Mauricio Pochettino’s St Mary’s favourites.

But Kruger seems determined that these “core” players will not follow Rickie Lambert, Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Calum Chambers out of what has been a wide-open Southampton exit door this pre-season.

Why the club sees Schneiderlin and Rodriguez as more indispensable than those five players who have already been cashed in on, three of whom are graduates of the Southampton academy, is hard to explain.

Perhaps Krueger simply feels that enough is enough, or maybe he is not as willing to yield, as he was for Liverpool, to a club who poached Saints’ manager only a couple of months ago, a manager whose departure prompted this exodus.

Either way, the Schneiderlin and Rodriguez transfers suddenly look a long way off. But is that such a bad thing?

This would represent a £40m-50m deal that would erase most of Tottenham’s budget, and there are positions on which that money would be better spent.

We are well stocked for central midfielders, so much so that a couple of Sandro, Etienne Capoue, Lewis Holtby and Tom Carroll are likely to leave.

Even after these outgoings, there would be enough talent, depth and flexibility in our midfield ranks to make spending £25m on Schneiderlin redundant.

There is no doubt that the French international is a good player – he has topped the Premier League for tackles and interceptions over the past two seasons - and our transition into Pochettino’s high-intensity, pressing team would probably benefit from his presence in the centre of the park.

But unless we are going to match last summer’s septet of recruits, which we shouldn’t to avoid the same adaptation issues that influx brought, and have yet to be solved, then he should be lower down on our priority list.

Instead, that £25m can go towards two areas of the pitch that are in more urgent need of attention – central defence and the forward line.

With Michael Dawson seemingly on his way out, Vlad Chiriches yet to genuinely convince, Younes Kaboul a serious fitness concern and Ezekial Fryers lacking in experience, at least one addition is needed to what has been a fragile back four.

In normal circumstances Rodriguez, who scored 17 times in 39 games in all competitions last season, would be a smart signing for our forward ranks, increasing our goal threat from the positions behind the main striker and giving us a more direct option who is willing to run in behind.

His ability to switch seamlessly from our problem left side and a central role would also be a valuable asset to the squad, but he comes with his risks too.

The 24-year-old is currently recovering from an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury which is expected to keep him on the sidelines until Christmas.

This type of injury can ruin careers, particularly those of young, pacey attackers. Pochettino clearly has a lot of faith in Rodriguez, but not even he can predict how the England international will respond from such a severe setback.

Common sense would suggest that, seeing as we would be without him for half a season anyway, Spurs should wait until next summer to move for Rodriguez, when his fitness will be more certain and his contract expiring in 12 months.

Then again, Southampton and Spurs have both shown that there is not much common sense in football, especially in the transfer market.

Money talks, and if Tottenham are persistent and pertinent in their interest, then both Schneiderlin and Rodriguez could end up at White Hart Lane before the close of the window. But this author wouldn’t be too bothered if they didn’t.

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