Southampton Hope To Nail Down Two Loan Deals This Week Monday, 14th Aug 2023 10:28 Saints are said to be on the verge of bringing in two players on loan, with a medical for one having already taken place on Sunday according to media reports, but will they be in the positions that we need to strengthen. The first loan deal is no surprise as according to Mail Online Flynn Downes has completed his medical on Sunday and will move to St Mary's on a season long loan with an option to buy. He has worked under Russell Martin at Swansea City before joining West Ham, where last season he struggled get into the starting line up in the Premier League, starting just 7 games, plus 14 off the bench. The second likely signing is Mason Holgate from Everton, Saturday's goal fest against Norwich showed one thing, we do not have an acceptable central defensive pairing already at the club and with the Mail also reporting that Armel Bella Kotchap is in talks with Borussia Dortmund for a return to Germany, a central defender is a must. Saints lack a central defender who has both pace and experience and Holgate who turns 27 in October fits that bill, however he is not as experienced as you would hope a 27 year old would be. He burst into the Barnsley team having just turned 18 in December 2014 and was soon attracting the attention of other clubs, Manchester United had him on trial, but it was Everton who signed him in August 2015 after just 20 League One games for the Yorkshire club. However it would be a year before he made his Premier League debut or indeed any sort of debut, in 2016/17 he was given a start on the opening day of the season by new Everton manager Ronald Koeman, that season he would play 18 times in the Premier League, although many of these would be at right back. In the January of 2019 he was sent out on loan to West Bromwich Albion for the second half of the season playing 19 times in the Championship. He returned to Goodison Park for 2019/20 season and finally broke into the side on a regular basis and for three seasons he was a regular, if not completely first choice, playing 27, 28 & 25 games in the Premier League in those seasons, although in one of the seasons he spent two months out through injury. Last season he fell out of favour and played just 8 times He was mainly deployed in his natural position as a central defender, but in addition of his ability to play right back he was also used as a defensive midfielder. Everton fans although not entirely speaking highly of Holgate. do not speak ill of him either, they say he is a talent who hasn't quite managed to reach the standards his talent suggests that he could reach, they say that the one thing that holds him back is that at times he tries to play too much football, his fault is he thinks he is a little better than he actually is, perhaps as he approaches 27 at a crossroads in his career, he might look at himself and recognise why he hasn't quite hit the consistency he could attain as of yet and apply himself so that he can finally become the player that he promised to be at 18. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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