Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier has revealed in an interview that the club need to be selective as they cannot go and spend “£40 or £50m on a player”.
Speaking to the Daily Echo, the pundit gave his review for the new season and spoke about the financial situation at the club.
While Le Tissier is happy with the squad he says that they will not be able to improve it without selling a few players first.
“I think the squad is quite top-heavy at the moment so if we are going to get any more in, you might need to see a few shipped out first to get the funds in,” he said.
“I’m sure they’ve got targets in mind in that area but I think the finances will dictate that.
“We’re not in a position as a football club to go and spent 40 or 50 million pounds on a player. We have to be a bit more selective.”
If Southampton do need to sell before they buy, then they may have options available. The club currently have three players who are in the shop window (per the same outlet) – Mario Lemina, Guido Carrillo and Charlie Austin – and they are all wanted to be gone by this time next week. These three, in theory, may help bring in extra funds through wages and potential transfer fees.
Indeed, according to Transfermarkt, the trio cost the club upwards of £40m, and both Lemina and Austin alone reportedly earn more than £65,000 per week (according to Spotrac.)
Lemina has been talked about being valued in the £30m category by Manchester Evening News and Austin, meanwhile, has an £8m valuation on his head (reported by Football Insider) so there does appear to be the potential to raise cash if the club were to attempt a late flurry.
Luckily for Southampton, if they want to bring in more players they will be able to as long as they can sell at least one or two of the three in the shop market. Le Tissier is right in that they are fairly well stocked in the forward positions, but could possibly do with a bit of cover in central midfield with Mario Lemina likely to depart.
Do Saints need any more signings? Join the discussion by commenting below…
