Southampton: What now for Guido Carrillo?

Over the past week or so Guido Carrillo’s potential Southampton future has been thrown into doubt for a variety of reasons.

The Argentine was somewhat seen as the saviour of Southampton’s season when the Saints splashed out a record £19.2 million on the forward in January. Fast-forward to the end of March and the 26-year-old is yet to score for the club.

Carrillo was very much seen as a ‘manager’s signing’ by supporters, having linked up with Mauricio Pellegrino in his native country and enjoying his most lucrative seasons whilst playing under the 46-year-old. It was therefore predicted that Southampton would be sticking with the under-fire manager at least until the end of the season, but the loss against Newcastle was apparently the final straw.

Saints parted ways with Pellegrino and have replaced him with Mark Hughes – the Welshman won his first game in charge with a cool 2-0 win over Wigan in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

As a tall, target-man like striker Carrillo definitely filled a void in the Southampton roster, but there’s no denial that the club brought him in upon the request of the now ex-Saints boss.

Next: January window verdict - one week on

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – MARCH 10: Guido Carrillo of Southampton looks dejected during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Southampton at St. James Park on March 10, 2018 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /

With Pellegrino gone, Carrillo’s ‘protection’ in the starting picture may be gone. Charlie Austin has returned to full training and will almost certainly return to the starting XI – assuming Mark Hughes is to stick with two up-top then either Manolo Gabbiadini or Shane Long seem the more obvious players to compliment the English striker.

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Considering Carrillo has failed to find the back of the net in nearly a dozen opportunities, it’s hard to defend him and suggest he deserves to stay in the first team when Austin returns. Granted, he tallied up two very smart assists in as many games, but that’s simply not good enough for a club’s record signing.

Whilst Southampton themselves are fighting for relegation, the club have hardly faced the toughest teams since Carrillo’s arrival.

They still have to go up against Everton, Arsenal, Chelsea (twice) and Manchester City before season’s end and if Carrillo hasn’t found the net against the likes of Wigan, why should Hughes give him the chance against top-half teams?

At the end of the day goals are precious at this point of the season for the Saints and therefore a combination of the technically-gifted Gabbiadini and the previously on-form Austin seems the logical option. The Italian is smart on the pitch and will free up room for the latter to hopefully get into goal-scoring positions.

Assuming Carrillo does fall out of the starting XI and potentially goes the entire half-season without scoring, what next? Even if the Saints stay up it’s not totally unrealistic to suggest that the misfiring forward could be moved on.

Had Southampton only spent £8-9 million on the Argentine then people would likely have more leniency, but having shed out nearly £20 million on the attacker the scrutiny is bound to be harsher. The 26-year-old has an extremely tough few months ahead of him.