Hoedt Seeks Final Exit From St Mary's Monday, 18th May 2020 09:45 Wesley Hoedt feels that his time at Royal Antwerp is over, but he now wants to end the loan deals and get a permanent move out of St Mary's. One thing that has become clear in Ralph Hasenhuttl's time at St Mary's is that if your face doesn't fit with him then he is ruthless, one such face that he didn't seem to take a shine to was Wesley Hoedt's. When Hasenhuttl arrived at Saints in December 2018, Hoedt had just been dropped after being just about the only constant in the centre of the Saints defence after his arrival in the summer of 2017 and although Ralph said that the slate was wiped clean and everyone would get a chance , the Dutch defender was frozen out and went out on loan to Celta Vigo. Last summer he came back to the club and was hopeful of showing what he could do but was again frozen out and went out on loan again this time to Royal Antwerp Hoedt remains the one player who has yet to play a single minute under the Austrian. Now with the Jupiler League in Belgium officially declared over, Hoedt's future is in the balance but he is aware that Antwerp will be unlikely to be able to afford the £8 million clause to buy attached to the deal. Speaking to Dutch daily paper De Telegraaf he said. "You've written often enough that the purchase option is €8m and it is currently unrealistic for a Belgian club to pay it" "Even without the corona, I think it was too much. "Antwerp can trigger the option until 31st May, but I know enough by now. "The club only has to make a statement itself, but for me it means that my time at Antwerp is over." Hoedt, whose move to Antwerp was his second loan away from Southampton, is clear that this summer he wants to leave the Premier League side on a permanent basis. "That is the intention, yes [to look for a new club in a top league]. "I already have a number of offers from clubs in those competitions, but I have to wait, and consult with Southampton. "What is clear is that I am not waiting for a year-long loan. I want a final transfer this time", the centre-back added. Hoedt helped Antwerp to 4th place in the Belgian top flight this season, with the campaign brought to an early close and Club Brugge declared champions. It seems very unlikely that he will be offered a chance by Ralph Hasenhuttl now, so his future options lie away from St Mary's, personally I think it is a big shame, Hoedt was one of those players that some took against, mostly unfairly in my opinion, they remember the bad games, but made no allowance for the fact that the rest of the defence was hardly distinguishing itself either. Although now one could really say that he was an unqualified success, he was by far not the worst of a bad bunch and those who were at Swansea City two years ago for that famous win, will testify that night he was a rock in a patched up defence. So I wish him well wherever he goes next season, for Saints it will be good if they can get a fee of around £8 million, it will go into the transfer kitty and also get some high wages off the books, yes the money we will get for Hoedt and several others will be less than what we paid with the current situation likely to reduce transfer fees, but it will also mean that the price for players we want will drop as well. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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