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Ralph Hasenhuttl has a huge task on his hands this season as he bids to steer Southampton clear of the relegation zone. There is a feeling of deja-vu around the club with a familiar pattern of domestic failure characterising the Saints’ season so far.
The current and previous campaigns have underlined the lack of strength in both the identity of the club and the calibre of players residing within the senior squad.
The arrival of Hasenhuttl, though, has helped to rebuild Southampton’s identity, but his squad still leaves plenty to be desired.
With that in mind, we’ve taken a look at the players who the south coast club should be actively looking to offload this summer in order to maximise their resources, using figures provided by Spotrac.
Players whose wage doesn’t reflect their contribution
Two of Southampton’s top earners, Charlie Austin and Fraser Forster, are draining £7.28m a year between them. Both players earn a healthy £3.64m, which equates to £70,000 per week, but their wages are not a fair representation of their importance to the club.
Austin’s lack of first-team opportunities under Hasenhuttl suggest the manager could be interested in offloading him this summer. And considering both the size of his current salary and his record with injuries, it would be a wise decision to sell the former QPR hitman if a fair offer is forthcoming.
Forster, meanwhile, is behind both Angus Gunn and Alex McCarthy in the pecking order and will surely be seeking a fresh challenge in order to resurrect his career.
Sofiane Boufal has shown some promise on loan at Celta Vigo, where he has scored two goals and provided three assists so far this season, but his previous struggle at Southampton suggests that Hasenhuttl could use his £3.38m yearly salary to much shrewder effect.
Finally, it appears abundantly clear that Cedric Soares, also earning £3.38m per year, is surplus to requirements after being sent on loan to Inter Milan in January, with Jan Valery thriving in the absence of the Portugal international.
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Trim the deadwood
Steven Davis currently pockets £3.12m per year, a huge sum of money considering the 33-year-old’s standing at the club. Fortunately for the Saints, they can be rid of the Northern Ireland international when his contract expires in June.
Jordy Clasie and Sam Gallagher, earning £2.6m and £2.08m respectively, are both burning money and should be offloaded if potential suitors are prepared to sign either player on a permanent basis.
Results of Southampton’s summer sale
Drum-roll please… a grand total of £21.84 million would be wiped from the yearly wage bill if the aforementioned talents all departed in the summer.
That’s a staggering sum of money for a club of Southampton’s relative financial power. That figure alone would be enough to pay the yearly salary of Danny Ings, the club’s top earner, more than five times over. The 2018 summer signing currently earns £75,000 per week, which works out at £3.9m per year.
The fact Hasenhuttl could free up the funds to pay another five players on Ings’ salary without having to chop a single first-team regular underlines the flaws which have been prevalent in Southampton’s transfer policy in recent years and it’s about time that changed in the summer, starting with a well needed clear-out.