In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Premier League manager Paul Jewell has praised Southampton for their recruitment and ability to replace players properly.
The south coast club have had so many of their stars poached from St. Mary’s in recent years, with Virgil van Dijk, who joined Liverpool back in the 2018 January transfer window, probably the most notable.
That pattern could continue this summer, with Danny Ings’ future currently in doubt. The Athletic reported earlier this month that Southampton would find it hard to turn down a bid of £25m for the England international, who has just one year left on his contract.
For Jewell, though, the Saints losing their key players is not a doomsday scenario, with the ex-Wigan Athletic boss having confidence in them to replace those they lose.
“They’ve lost big players,” Jewell said. “Van Dijk, [Theo] Walcott, [Gareth] Bale, they’ve lost player after player.
“But they seem to replace them with terrific players, so their recruitment policy at Southampton has to be commended. Whenever they lose players, they seem to get over it really well.”
Whether this is sustainable remains to be seen, but to keep on selling your best players and be where Southampton are, not constantly battling relegation, is impressive.
There was that scare back in the 2017/18 season, but you would have to say they have done well overall given the circumstances.
