Media reports are suggesting that Saints are looking to take a cut price offer on Sofiane Boufal as he enters the final season of his contract, strangely some Saints fans think we should keep him !!!

According to a report from French publication Foot Mercato, Saints are prepared to listen to offers for Sofiane Boufal, the Morocco international who cost a then-club record £16 million to sign from Lille back in 2016 could be sold for a as little as £4 million as the club look to get some money back, but more importantly shave a big chunk off the wage bill.

Amazingly this seems to have split Saints fans down the middle with a significant number seemingly demanding that he stays at St Mary's.

The facts though don't lie, yes there have been some exciting moments, but they have been few and far between, in 31 starts and another 39 appearances off the bench he scored only 3 goals in the Premier League, granted they were all quite spectacular, but 3 goals in the 3 full seasons he played for us is not a good return.

A year ago Boufal was a player that Saints were looking to sell, he had been at Celta Vigo all season and was seen as surplus, but then came a goal at Feyenoord in a friendly and suddenly fans were demanding he stay Ralph Hasenhuttl getting his first look at the player thought that perhaps there was something there.

Now it seems that the goal in Holland was an expensive one, after a couple of early assists, Boufal spent much of the season just gone in the same way he had spent the previous two, promising a lot, showing a few glimpses of his talent here and there but ultimately having no end product.

After lockdown he featured only once in the opening restart game at Norwich, even this was as an 89th minute sub so not significant, after that he was injured, firstly with a "slight thigh injury" and then bizarrely by a toe problem seemingly gained when he ran into his own kitchen table.

Now it seems that Saints have had enough and with less than a year left on his contract, they should get some money back whilst they still can, it is time to write off the amount paid and sell him for £4-5 million and in doing so save about £3 million in wages as well.

The problem before in trying to sell him is his wages, somewhere around £3.5 million a year, he seemingly wasn't willing to give that up over the past two years hence the loan spell, but now he might be willing to take a pay cut in order to secure a long term deal elsewhere.

Our problem though is his reputation is gone, when we signed him he was 22 and a promising youngster, he will turn 27 next week and has not established himself at the top level, there will not be a queue of buyers.

Boufal would not be missed, Moussa Djenepo was signed to replace him last season and suffered with injuries as he adapted to the more intense training and games for a Premier League club, but hopefully with a year under his belt he will be fitter this season and have built up the stamina needed for this level.

So what do you think, should we cash in now, or should we gamble another £4 million in the hope that after 4 years he will suddenly turn out to the the player we hoped that he was.

Vote now in our online poll using the link below.

https://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/members//polls/2550/sofiane-b

Photo: Action Images

SaintBrock added 11:26 - Sep 7 I think we should keep him, what's strange about that Nick? He's a brilliant footballer. OK so he doesn't fit Häsenhuttl's playing style. 2/3rd of the players in the Pl probably wouldn't fit his style either. That doesn't make them or him a bad player.
-8

Billeewithers added 11:37 - Sep 7 Pretty much a waste of space. Like too many players takes a rake of money and does very little for it. Crap return on the investment and clearly thinks nothing of the club or the fans. Lazy minded and made himself irrelevant going forwards.
1

SaintPaulVW added 11:56 - Sep 7 So frustrating. Such amazing skills until that final ball. Sell.
4

davepid added 12:08 - Sep 7 Let him go and we keep the memories of his goal against West Brom. One of the best individual goals I’ve seen and certainly the funniest . And it always reminds me of Chris Marsden’s great and well deserved goal against Ipswich in about 2002!
2

claus5 added 12:41 - Sep 7 Should have been out the door after his first season. Absolute waste of space, a couple of good goals aside.
4

Sanguin added 15:03 - Sep 7 I don't understand why people think he's such a great footballer. He had that brilliant goal against West Brom but apart from that lost possession too often, went to ground too easily and never tracked back to defend. The fact no other clubs are interested in him demonstrates his footballing ability. What a waste of money.
0

ThereIn76 added 16:22 - Sep 7 On average one diamond-studded goal per season - each against a team that ended up getting relegated - is not a worthwhile return on the investment. Time to cut our losses and cut him loose.
2

deanosfc8 added 16:32 - Sep 7 I think our first 11 picks its self, I see Djenepo and Boufal as impacted players coming on with 20mins or so left when we need something to happen.
0

SanMarco added 19:25 - Sep 7 I think support for the 'keep' option is largely due to the low price. If someone offered 14m for him I don't think there would be many saying no. He really was the epitome of the 'frustrating' player. The West Brom goal is his best known but the League Cup goal against Palace (I think, or maybe Sunderland) was also superb. I would tend to side with those who say that wasn't enough and if we can get 4m then go for it.

-1

SaintNick added 19:50 - Sep 7 Saint Brock, if we get £4 million in a transfer fee and save £3.5 million in wages I think that is worth taking rather than hoping that after 4 seasons he might actually do more than a couple of assists a season
1

underweststand added 20:04 - Sep 7 YES - we all remember his amazing goals (who could forget them) .." never has one player given so little ... to so many ....over such a long period of time".... BUT sadly his contribution to the team effort is sadly lacking. Give him the ball..and he starts to nutmeg everyone in sight, twice over ..whilst still in the centre circle, if only he could do that inside the box, he'd make many more goal chances. Quite simply - he's not a team player - the archetypal SQUARE PEG. £ 4 million? (plus another £3 million saved on his salary) .. surely a no-brainer . Go for it.

-1

kristianJ added 22:13 - Sep 7 Flashy, but largely ineffective. Showed some signs of improvement last season, but that was relative to earlier dire performances. I always thought his work rate was ok for a flair player, it’s his decision making that lets him down - it’s mainly terrible both with and without the ball. Get rid, Djenepo looks a much better bet.
1

kevleykeegle added 06:21 - Sep 8 The difference between being an average footballer and a good one is consistency. Look at a past player like Steven Davis - week in, week out he performed to the best of his ability, giving his all to the side. He was 100% reliable - the same cannot be said about Boufal and that's why, despite flashes of brilliance, he'll always be remembered as a nearly man.
0

SaintBrock added 11:00 - Sep 8 The trouble is he hasn't been picked to play week-i, week-out to prove his reliability.
0

Peterx added 18:57 - Sep 8 Would rather give Elynoussi or Hesketh a go in the 4th choice attacking midfielder role after Redmond, Armstrong, Djenepo. Time to cut our losses.
0

Consigliere added 20:25 - Sep 8 I've always thought he should be smelted down for parts so maybe that's the best way of getting our money back!
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