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Transfers: 3 Key Moves Southampton Must Make This Week

By Aaron Preston

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 13: A general view during the Premier League match between Southampton and Watford at St Mary's Stadium on August 13, 2016 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 13: A general view during the Premier League match between Southampton and Watford at St Mary's Stadium on August 13, 2016 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images) /
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2. A Big, Physical Defensive Mid

OLDENZAAL, NETHERLANDS – JULY 27: Oriol Romeu of Southampton runs with the ball during the friendly match between Twente Enschede and FC Southampton at Q20 Stadium on July 27, 2016 in Oldenzaal, Netherlands. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)
OLDENZAAL, NETHERLANDS – JULY 27: Oriol Romeu of Southampton runs with the ball during the friendly match between Twente Enschede and FC Southampton at Q20 Stadium on July 27, 2016 in Oldenzaal, Netherlands. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images) /

The loss of Victor Wanyama to Spurs this summer was greeted with indifference by fans and media alike. The Kenyan and the North London club had had eyes for each other for quite some time, and with Oriol Romeu in the lineup, the loss wasn’t seen as serious. The last outing, with Romeu’s early injury, provided a rude awakening to that assumption. Victor Wanyama wasn’t a perfect player, and his physicality proved a double edged sword at times, but when he was on the pitch he controlled his third like a ravenous guard-dog out for blood. Come into his zone, and you were going to be picking grass from your teeth as the ball went the other way. Romeu, thus far, hasn’t demonstrated that level of physicality, and with his absence throughout the majority of the last outing Southampton struggled to find any physicality at all. The end result: a midfield that looked bossed on defence, a harried back line ultimately conceding one and setting up another, and the realization that the Wanyama-hole never got plugged.

SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND – MAY 07: Sesc Fabregas of Chelsea and Yann M’Vila of Sunderland compete for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between Sunderland and Chelsea at the Stadium of Light on May 7, 2016 in Sunderland, United Kingdom. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND – MAY 07: Sesc Fabregas of Chelsea and Yann M’Vila of Sunderland compete for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between Sunderland and Chelsea at the Stadium of Light on May 7, 2016 in Sunderland, United Kingdom. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /

Editor’s Suggestion: Yann M’Vila

Admittedly, this wasn’t my first choice, but it seems the market for defensive mids is stacked with players recently signed into long-term contracts. M’Vila recently headed back to Russian side Rubin Kazan after his loan spell at Sunderland ran down, and being out-of-contract at year’s end this could be a late sleeper buy for the club or a view toward the January window. M’Vila has 4kg on Wanyama in the weight department, and while he’s a bit shorter, the physical profile seems to match the sort of bossing midfield presence Romeu brings and Wanyama formerly brought to Southampton. Though he’s attracted some press attention for, erm, interesting off-pitch antics, age and a change of scenery should mean those days are behind him.

Next: South Coast Strike Force