Fabrizio Romano claims a deal is ‘almost complete’ for first summer sale at Southampton
Southampton look set to make their first sale of the summer according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.
Manager Russell Martin will want to focus on the players he can bring in to improve his side ahead of their Premier League return but will know sales are necessary to balance the books.
Southampton have had a busy start in their bid to improve the squad ahead of next season, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ loan deal made permanent and Adam Lallana joining as a free transfer.
Experienced duo Ryan Fraser and Saman Ghoddos also look set to seal St Mary’s moves, but with seven senior players ending last season on loan away from the club there is deadwood that needs selling.
Southampton signed Romain Perraud for £11 million in 2021, with Ralph Hasenhuttl a fan of the French full-back.
However, it became clear early in Martin’s first pre-season last summer that Perraud would not be part of the new era following Premier League relegation.
The 26-year-old instead spent last season on loan at French club Nice, but failed to make an impact.
Having started just two league games in 2023/24, Perraud’s loan club decided not to activate their option to sign the left-back permanently this summer.
Instead Perraud looks set to head to Spain, with Fabrizio Romano confirming on ‘X’ that a deal is close that will see the energetic left-sider join Real Betis for significantly less than Southampton paid three years ago.
Romano posted: ‘Real Betis will invest a bit more than €3 million to sign Romain Perraud as new full-back from Southampton.
Perraud was a well-like figure amongst Southampton fans, with many feeling he should have been kept at the club last summer.
Martin instead decided to trust Ryan Manning to carry out his philosophy at left-back and sanctioned a move away for Perraud.
It was Hasenhuttl who signed the French defender, though, and the Austrian coach was full of praise for Perraud early after securing his signing as he told Hampshire Live: “He [Perraud] has been absolutely fantastic. It is not easy and he has also shown a few very good games,”
“It is a luxury problem [having options at full-back]. It is not a problem for me, the problem was last season with not having the alternatives for these positions.
“But Romain is still a young player who will play a lot of games for us. He has shown in the games he has played that he is a different option with the left-footed player on the left side and it gives you other opportunities. He has had some very good games so far and I am very happy to have him.”
Perhaps things would have turned out differently for Perraud had Hasenhuttl stayed, but Southampton will now send him to Betis where he will hope to become a regular once more.
The excitement ahead of Southampton’s top flight return has intensified as the 2024/25 Premier League fixture list has now been released.
Southampton‘s target will be simply be to survive relegation in their first season back in the big time, with hopes they can build on that in the season that follows.
Manager Russell Martin has a huge job on his hands in what will be his first taste of the Premier League in the dugout, having played in the competition for Norwich City.
The 2022/23 season ended in misery as Southampton got through three managers and finished bottom of the Premier League, relegated with just 25 points.
Now that Martin knows how the fixtures will fall he can start to think about planning for specific opponents in a bid to finish above the relegation zone.
Leicester City and Ipswich Town were the other two clubs promoted from the Championship last season and Southampton will view both teams as direct relegation rivals, whilst the last two seasons suggest Everton and Nottingham Forest will face the threat of a bottom three finish two.
With that in mind, here is how Southampton’s first five fixtures of the 2024/25 Premier League season compares to their relegation rivals.
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