Saints have confirmed that Sofiane Boufal has left the club on a free transfer rather than the expected loan deal, the Moroccan has rejoined his first club French side Angers.

The 27-year-old has made the switch to the Ligue 1 team on a free transfer, with Saints retaining a sell-on fee clause, which means that they might get something in the future, however perhaps more importantly it has freed up wages that can be used elsewhere.

Boufal certainly had the talent, but he was never able to use it with the consistency needed at this level, no one could accuse him of not trying, but he was a luxury player at a time when Saints could not afford that in a side that was struggling.

In his first season he made an impact and no one can doubt the magic of his solo goal against West Brom, a goal that went a long way to ensuring the club stayed up in that season, but only 3 goals in the Premier League during his spell here was not good enough at this level.

Boufal's contract at St Mary's was due to end next summer, so getting a fee for him was going to be hard, but the saving in wages will be vital and the sell on clause means we might get something in the future.

Photo: Action Images

underweststand added 21:30 - Oct 5 Inevitable really. Yes Sofiane had incredible skills, capable of nut-megging the same player twice but rarely getting into position to make the best of situations. We will however, remember those (very few) goals -who could forget them?, but sadly he was never a team player and always stood out as an individualist, and just became a financial liability for the club.. He may become the centre of attraction at Angers, and I will enjoy seeing if he succeeds but he was never going to become a favourite with Ralph , and in the end just frustrated the fans.

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WestSussexSaint added 21:33 - Oct 5 With all the freeing up of wages going on either Theo is costing us a lot in wages or there maybe room for another signing if not today then perhaps one from an EFL club in the next week.
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Saidou added 21:36 - Oct 5 A good cleaning up day. Is Sam Mcqueen still with us?
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underweststand added 21:41 - Oct 5 to west sussex saints... one report said that Theo was on £100K / week at Everton , and that Saints would share the cost of his salary (i.e....50K ) Carrillo was (reportably)) on a much higher salary, so just his departure should cover Theo's salary (from Saints) for the rest of the season. With Hoedt, and Boufal out of the picture I think there is room for one or two signings later.

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ElijahK added 21:42 - Oct 5 Well this transfer has to be the only one where I’ve actually got some memories from the player (especially that LEGENDARY wonder goal against West Brom, which was as funny as it was amazing!!!) but he just was missing that consistency to make the regular team. Well I certainly wish him all the best and will miss him most out of all our players sold this season! Good luck Boufal and thanks for all you have done here at Southampton, St Mary’s! 🟥⬜️🟥⬜️🟥

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Saidou added 21:42 - Oct 5 A club like us that claim to love promoting youth only needs 18 or less first team players imo. Any shortages due to injuries, suspensions or drop in form should be filled from the B team and U18s.
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HythePeer added 22:12 - Oct 5 Nooooo! So good and so badly managed!
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Flamingbankers added 23:29 - Oct 5 Good skill and potential but nobody home.
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SaintPaulVW added 04:51 - Oct 6 If only his final ball had shown one tenth of the skill that the rest of his play had....
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SaintBrock added 19:04 - Oct 8 I will miss him.
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