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Maya Yoshida enjoying life under new Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino

By Chris Hughes

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 25: Maya Yoshida of Southampton signals during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on April 25, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 25: Maya Yoshida of Southampton signals during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Southampton at Stamford Bridge on April 25, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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Centre-back Maya Yoshida has heaped praise on his new manager, as the Saints conclude their week of pre-season training in France.

Ahead of this weekend’s friendly against Saint-Etienne, Southampton defender Maya Yoshida has spoken to the Saints media, offering kind words about his new Argentinian boss.

Pellegrino took over following the termination of Claude Puel’s contract in June, and he has since overseen pre-season camps in Austria and now France.

The Saints have drawn both of their games so far however, with a 0-0 scoreline against St. Gallen before a much more entertaining fixture against Brentford a week later.

Following the conclusion of this week’s camp Southampton will play host to both Augsburg and Sevilla at St. Mary’s Stadium, before facing Swansea in their opening game of the season in the Premier League.

"“We are really enjoying every moment with the new manager. He has a great philosophy and the organisation is really good.” – Maya Yoshida"

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – APRIL 05: Maya Yoshida of Southampton celebrates scoring his sides second goal during the Premier League match between Southampton and Crystal Palace at St Mary’s Stadium on April 5, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – APRIL 05: Maya Yoshida of Southampton celebrates scoring his sides second goal during the Premier League match between Southampton and Crystal Palace at St Mary’s Stadium on April 5, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images) /

Yoshida played a vital role in Southampton finishing eighth in the Premier League last season, when he formed an unlikely and unorthodox partnership with Jack Stephens.

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The Japanese international is now one of the longest-serving players at the club, following both Jay Rodriguez and Jose Fonte’s departures within the past seven months.

Despite this, Maya’s contract is set to expire next summer, and with Fraser Forster signing an extension last week it seems fair that Yoshida should follow suit.

The 28-year-old is also one of the players potentially in with a shout for team captain if Virgil van Dijk is either stripped of the role or leaves – but he’ll have plenty of competition from Oriol Romeu, Ryan Bertrand and maybe even James Ward-Prowse.

The defender will hope to continue to improve his fitness with more minutes against Saint-Etienne, with the game set to kick-off at 5:30 PM local time tomorrow.

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