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Minamino Deal A Real Coup For Southampton

Saints will feel that they have done a good nights work in signing Takumi Minamino on loan from Liverpool for the rest of the season, a deal that Sky Sports trumpeted as both the surprise and best deal of the final day of the January transfer window.

Liverpool feel that Takumi Minamino is still a big part of their transfer plans and although Saints persuaded them that game time at St Mary's would be a good thing in the short term, the Anfield club turned down Saints request for an option to buy clause to be inserted into the deal.

That means that it is highly likely he will return to Merseyside when the deal ends in May, but these days loan deals are not just about getting players out of favour at their parent club, but in doing deals that offer solutions to all parties.

Liverpool are top heavy with attacking players and low on defenders, as are Saints for that matter, but this was a deal that suited them and those Saints fans who decry the club for not spending big money on transfers and cite that as a lack of ambition should note that this window saw very few permanent deals of note.

The move went down to the wire with Saints having to submit a deal sheet to give them an extra two hours to complete the loan move and they announced that Minamino was now a Saint albeit temporarily virtually on that 1pm deadline.

The Japanese International is comfortable either out wide or in the centre of midfield and has also been employed by Liverpool as an out and out striker.

But his game time has been limited in the Premier League this season, although he has at least been on the bench in all but one of Liverpool's 21 Premier League fixtures so far, he has only started twice with another 9 games as a substitute, playing a total of 285 minutes and scoring once.

Up to the start of December he had been involved in most games, but with Liverpool's problems he struggled to get off the bench getting only 1 sub appearance in the Red's last 6 games including their defeat at St Mary's where he sat only yards from his new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl for the entire game.

He has been a regular in the Champions League and League cup and sadly for us also played in the FA Cup 3rd round win at Aston Villa so he will not be available for us in that competition.

Minamino is at having just turned 26 an experienced player having played 199 games for Red Bull Salzburg in all competitions as well as another 85 for Cerezo Osaka in Japan.

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl said: "I am very pleased to welcome Takumi to our squad for the rest of this season.

"He will help provide another good attacking option, and is importantly the right profile of player for us.

"This will give us some additional depth in our squad at an important time, and I am looking forward to beginning work with him on the training pitch.”

So we have experience but we also have hunger to get his career in England back on track.

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