It would be fair to say that Sofiane Boufal never appeared to make the grade at Southampton during his time with the club.

A lot was expected of the Morocco international when Claude Puel splashed out a cool £16.83 million (as per Transfermarkt) on him in the summer of 2016.

He may have shown glimpses of the quality he could provide for the Saints, however, he failed to show anything more than that and Mark Hughes seemingly had enough and decided to let him leave on loan.

Now, Boufal seems to have found his feet for Celta de Vigo and had become a key player for the La Liga outfit in a year that has seen them struggle near the foot of the table.

Having spent the season on loan with them, the 23-year-old scored three goals and provided his team-mates with three assists in his 37 appearances, although that could have been a whole lot more if his end product had been better than what it was.

The Morocco international also had the most successful dribbles in LaLiga throughout the 2018/19 campaign, which is impressive going with the style of football played in Spain (Marca) and the quality of players in the league!

However, AS have revealed that he is likely to return to Southampton this summer and that could actually benefit the Premier League side hugely.

With Ralph Hasenhuttl now in charge, Boufal could have the perfect opportunity to show the club what he can bring to the pitch and could now have the type of manager to help him develop further and put him on the right path within English football.

Let's be honest, Puel and Hughes are hardly the right types of manager that can get the best out of a naturally gifted and technical player.

The Austrian is famed for his ability to get the best out of the younger players within a squad; you only have to look at Yann Valery to prove that point this season.

Ralph Krueger revealed in the Daily Mail back in January that the manager would be prepared to take a look at Boufal (and Guido Carrillo) in the summer and could be handed the opportunity to revive his career at Southampton should he impress.

Should Hasenhuttl be able to work with him and get the best out of him, he will feel like a new signing at the St. Mary's Stadium and one that could benefit the club immensely.

Southampton fans, do you think Hasnehuttl will be able to get the best out of Boufal? Let us know below!