According to media reports Saints are looking to get three of their wide men off the books and in doing so not only bring in some transfer money, but also trim the wage bill.

Sun journalist Tom Barclay is claiming that Southampton are looking to offload Theo Walcott, Moussa Djenepo and Nathan Redmond in this transfer window.

Walcott & Djenepo became peripheral players during 2021/22 season, Walcott who arrived on free transfer started just 5 Premier League games plus another 4 off the bench without scoring.

It was a similar story for Djenepo he too started 5 games but managed 7 off the bench, again without troubling the scoring charts.

Nathan Redmond gets stick in some quarters, but he did contribute to the team, not least in his performance away at Newcastle when he came off the bench to launch the fight back.

He is in the last year of his contract as is Djenepo so Saints might well want to cash in on them now.

Tom Barclay goes on to claim that between them they are earning £190,000 a week, I think that is a little bit high, I would say that it would be nearer £150k, I can't see any of the three earning much above £50k a week,.

From a squad perspective we are top heavy on wingers, even if we got rid of all three, we would still have Moi Elyounoussi, Stuart Armstrong, Nathan Tella able to play in these positions and new signing Joe Aribo can also play out wide.

But I also suspect that we are going to change our formation a little, 3 central defenders, 2 holding midfielders in the centre behind a central attacking midfielder and then 2 wing backs and 2 forwards.

We may adapt this a little and at times revert to 4-4-2, but I think that Ralph Hasenhuttl will feel he has more depth in his squad now, he just needs to tweak that depth to bring in a forward or two and get at least two of the three aforementioned wingers off the books.

Of course Tom Barclay is merely speculating, only those within the club truly know what the situation is, but I don't think Barclay is too far off the mark on this story, although I would say it is quite easy to put two and two together when looking at how many wide players we do have on the books.

Photo: Action Images

kingolaf added 10:31 - Jul 10 Don’t think we have much chance of shifting that trio.
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A1079 added 11:05 - Jul 10 I think in their own way, all 3 of those mentioned have been disappointing. Each capable of a moment of brilliance but those moments are all too rare and inconsistent. I don't think many will be sorry to see them go - especially if that is what they are costing in salaries - but whether there will be that much interest in them is a moot point - probably championship level is the best chance for Remond and Djenepo - and they may well do a good job for someone there. Though I am not suggesting he should go, but another one that has not stepped up consistently enough for me is Diallo. He can play well but he is very much in and out of games and is often quite anonymous and is easily brushed off the ball. But, I have seen him play well at times but all too rarely. He should be breaking through and establishing himself but so far little sign of that. This next season I think could be make or break for him at Saints.

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landsdownsaint added 12:01 - Jul 10 As I often say on here I’m totally in the Ralph camp but if I have one criticism it’s the way he seems too have affected Djennepo confidence, I still believe if we get better players in the & Ralph unshackles him we got the game changer
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Toussaint added 12:02 - Jul 10 @Kingolaf ...What a nice read , then you have me go spit my cornflakes out hahaha
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SWH1748 added 12:20 - Jul 10 100% agree with landownsaint on Djneppo, Ralph has totally blocked his potential by insisting he defends too deep. He needs to be given a free role and be allowed to express himself, I am positive there is a game changer in him if this was the case.
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felly1 added 12:42 - Jul 10 Always felt Djenpo is best utilised for somewhere between 20 and 45 mins. He always had a spirit about him I liked, even if the talent couldn't quite match. If he's given a bit of love and gametime I reckon he could be worth keeping next season. Walcott's a busted flush in my opinion. Why we ever signed him permanently is baffling. Redders has moments of quality and I think he'll be wanted by a lower /mid Prem side as an attacking option. He just got stale here and has been a consistent underachiever.

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DellBoyWally added 12:46 - Jul 10 I still don't know why we got Walcott. His performances (not much to study there!) were probably what was expected by the fans. He didn't let us down. Redmond - one good game in 2 years is hardly sufficient to keep him. As mentioned above, Championship material. Talk on TeamTalk - of course it'd be talk!! - is we are persuing Moussa Dembele from Lyon. 51 goals in 94 appearances at Celtic; 67 in 143 appearances at Lyon. That would equate to 17.8 goals in a 38 game season. That's decent and more than our 3 strikers scored combined??! Lyon bought Lacazette and what some money back so available for around £10m with only 1 year left on his contract!! OK, Ligue 1 isn't PL but certainly well above Championship so could be a decent acquisat....aqcuis...buy!

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claus5 added 13:56 - Jul 10 I can see the sense in moving on all three. But i do not understand why Redmond gets so much stick and Djenepo is seen as the great impact player? To my eyes Nathan is a far better player [although it probably is time he left] as neither have set the world alight.
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DorsetIan added 16:17 - Jul 10 Djenepos best moments have been as a defender - using his energy to hassle midfielders (often by running into them). He’s got a good attitude and a good engine, but he’s not a very good footballer. For me he’d have to drop to League 1 to do any serious damage as an attacker. A massive disappointment as a signing.
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IanRC added 19:22 - Jul 10 Can’t understand why Moi has a new contract if you are moving on Redmond and Djenepo. Still think there is a good player in the latter if given his best role and I Redmond made several useful contributions including showing much better attitude with regard to tackling back. Moi just fades out of games far too often. Don’t know why we ever considered buying Walcott.

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Block8 added 20:17 - Jul 10 Think we need to shift more than just this three but on the three mentioned, Walcott was a free punt which didn't come off, Djenepo was an expensive mistake at 14 million and in my opinion has blocked the chances of a couple of our youngsters. Redmond has that enigma effect, he had most assists for us last season works well defensively but always gives me the impression he lacks confidence. I sincerely believe he will thrive in a top level championship team. We also need to shift at least one CB and agree with A1079 about Diallo, currently another failure (10 million).

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SouthSeaSaint added 11:04 - Jul 11 Apparently weekly wages are: Walcott £72k Elyonoussi £59k Djnepo £34k So £165k per week or £8.6m per annum
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SouthSeaSaint added 11:05 - Jul 11 Apparently weekly wages are: Walcott £72k Elyonoussi £59k Djnepo £34k So £165k per week or £8.6m per annum
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Jesus_02 added 10:25 - Jul 12 Redmond needs a new challenge, I don't think he has coped with being a "senior" pro. As soon as he became more conservative in approach he lost what game he had. Djenepo is going the same way. Its probably a consequence of playing with such attaching full backs
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Peterx added 16:41 - Jul 12 Sadly from an attacking sense Djenepo was more dangerous in his first few games than the rest of his games combined. All the talk of defending has clearly put the shackles on his attacking game big time. Having said that his defending has been decent. He is one of those I would keep, maybe this new coaching setup can get something more out of him and others on the fringes (Diallo, Valery, Smallbone, A Armstrong, Stephens, Kegs). Given the new coaching set up I would be inclined not to rush into selling the younger players. Walcott if we can get him off the books unless he is playing a serious mentoring role then lets do it. Redmonds stats are decent - maybe with Shane gone and Walcott perhaps leaving he becomes that older leader figure with Romeu.

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