Turkish giants Besiktas have opened negotiations with Southampton over a possible loan move for winger Nathan Redmond, according to journalist Sercan Dikme.
The Lowdown: Redmond’s Southampton career
Having joined the south coast club from Norwich in 2016 in an £11m deal, the 28-year-old has gone on to amass 232 appearances in a Saints shirt. This includes 195 games in the Premier League, in which the former England international bagged 21 goals and 20 assists for the club.
However, combined with injuries, Redmond started less than half of his team's top-flight matches over the last two full campaigns. Furthermore, he has played just a single minute of football so far this season, having been left out of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s matchday squad in all but one of Southampton’s games in 2022/23.
The Latest: Dikme’s news
Following Hasenhuttl’s previous comments in which he seemingly left the door open for Redmond to leave this summer, Dikme has now shared news of a potential move to Istanbul for the attacker.
Taking to Twitter, as relayed by SaintsExtra, the Turkish journalist claimed: “Beşiktaş started negotiations with Southampton to add Redmond to its loan team.”
Whereas the transfer market in England is now closed, the window in Turkey remains open until Thursday, hence the possibility of Besiktas making a late swoop for the 28-year-old.
The Verdict: Good squad player
After a curtailed pre-season due to fitness issues, Redmond is only getting up to speed now, so it is impossible to judge him so far this season given his scant involvement.
However, compared with positional peers across Europe over the past year, the 28-year-old ranks in the 87th percentile for clearances and the 84th percentile for blocks (as per FBRef).
Having earned stylistic comparisons to the likes of West Ham favourite Pablo Fornals and former Juventus star Federico Bernardeschi, it seems clear that Redmond could still do a solid job operating as a squad rotation player for Southampton.
Given the verdict of former Saints loanee Armando Broja, who claimed that the winger is 'amazing', and with no obvious benefit to the loan to Besiktas, Hasenhuttl should opt to keep the 28-year-old at St Mary's, as he may be needed later on this season if injuries pile up elsewhere.