A large section of the Southampton fans were surprised when the Saints decided to bring West Ham's £17.5 million flop Maxwel Cornet on a season long loan move in the final week of the summer transfer window. French club Lyon's Ex-Champions League star had become a third-choice left-winger at West Ham in the previous two seasons and managed to start only three times for the Hammers in the Premier League.
Cornet made a name for himself in the Ligue 1 while playing for Lyon, and gave a memorable match-winning performance against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals four years ago. Cornet found the back of the net in the first-half to provide an early 1-0 lead to Lyon, who advanced through to the semi-finals with a massive 3-1 win against Manchester City.
£17.5 million Ex-Champions League star's struggles continue at Southampton
These performances attracted a lot of transfer interest in Cornet, who was rewarded with a summer transfer move to Burnley in the following season. In his debut season in the Premier League, Cornet scored nine league goals but Burnley were narrowly relegated to the Championship at the end of the season.
Since then, Cornet has struggled to consistently get more playing time under former West Ham manager David Moyes, and thus agreed to join Russell Martin's side in their ambition to avoid relegation this season. The 27-year-old made his first appearance for the Saints in a 3-0 home defeat against Manchester United but hasn't looked convincing with his performances in the ongoing season.
Recently, Cornet was given a good opportunity against Stoke City in the Carabao Cup as he came as a first-half substitute to replace Ryan Fraser at the half an hour mark, but didn't registered any attempts on goal. The left-sided forward attempted a few quick passes with Mateus Fernandes throughout the match and helped the Saints in scoring the last-minute 3-2 match-winning goal.
Cornet gave a pass to Sulemana, who laid off a good pass towards James Bree, whose long-range effort found the back of the net. This goal highlighted Cornet's playmaking ability and displayed that the 27-year-old needs to work on his pace and finishing in order to become a regular mainstay in Russell Martin's starting lineup.
Currently, in-form forward Cameron Archer is expected to continue playing as a left-sided forward which means that Cornet will need to step up his goalscoring efforts in his substitute cameos to feature more in Southampton's upcoming Premier League matches. Now, it remains to be seen whether Cornet again finds his best form in the Premier League while playing for Southampton, or the Saints decide to bring a few reinforcements in the January transfer window to bolster their front three.