Southampton are reportedly hoping to push through a deal to bring Spartak Moscow forward Quincy Promes to St Mary’s before the January transfer window slams shut on Wednesday, and it is a move that could have implications for Nathan Redmond’s future.
The south coast outfit have struggled for goals this season with just 24 in their 24 Premier League matches so far, and Mauricio Pellegrino’s men currently lie in the relegation zone and a point from safety going into their crucial top flight clash against Brighton and Hove Albion at home on Wednesday.
Saints have never really looked to be the same team following the departures of Graziano Pelle and Sadio Mane in the summer of 2016, and they will hope that the arrival of Guido Carrillo from Monaco and the potential addition of Promes will finally be the like-for-like replacements they have been looking for.
The Dutchman has scored 58 goals in 115 matches for the Russian Premier League despite often playing out wide, and if he did sign he would likely go straight into the side on one of the wings in Pellegrino’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system.
Promes’ potential move to St Mary’s would certainly be bad news for Redmond though, who has had an up and down time with the south coast outfit since joining them from Norwich City in the same summer that Pelle and Mane left.
The winger wasn’t a regular for the Canaries as they were relegated from the Premier League, and some Southampton fans were certainly sceptical about him potentially being Mane’s replacement given the huge impact the Senegal international had in his final season with the club.
The fact that he was a young English player certainly worked in his favour at the start of his Saints career, with the St Mary’s faithful ready to be more accommodating than they perhaps would have been for others.
However, while the 23-year-old scored on his Premier League debut against Watford, the fact that former Southampton manager Claude Puel decided to play him as a striker and compared him to Arsenal legend Thierry Henry certainly didn’t help his case, and placed immense pressure upon his shoulders to get goals on a regular basis.
While Redmond had some highs in his first season with the club – including scoring the winning goal in his side’s 1-0 win against Liverpool in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final tie – one goal and no assists in the final nine top flight games of the campaign wasn’t too impressive.
With the fans getting on the back of Puel and the players after they failed to score in the final five top flight matches at St Mary’s last term, the wide man was one of the players that came under criticism from the supporters because he was often visibly seen moaning at his teammates on the pitch.
Of course, that could be because the 23-year-old simply wants to win, but it is a part of his character that has seen Southampton fans often turn against him.
This season, Redmond has failed to score in 21 Premier League appearances – providing three assists – despite being a regular in the starting line-up at the start of the campaign.
However, ever since the 5-2 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Boxing Day, the winger has found first-team minutes hard to come by.
Two brief substitute appearances against Manchester United and Crystal Palace were followed by him being left out of the squad in the 2-2 draw against Watford, while he was an unused substitute against Spurs earlier this month.
The 23-year-old was also left out of the 18 against the Hornets in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday, which suggests there has either been a breakdown in his relationship with Pellegrino, or he perhaps he hasn’t been showing a good attitude on the training pitch.
With Sofiane Boufal, Dusan Tadic and James Ward-Prowse all playing out wide in recent weeks – and with Promes potentially joining them – Redmond’s future with the south coast outfit looks to be in doubt, and he could be offloaded in the summer unless there is a drastic change in the current situation in the coming months.
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