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Southampton: Saints must bite the hand off those who want Tadic

By Chris Hughes

SWANSEA, WALES - MAY 08: Martin Olsen of Swansea City and Dusan Tadic of Southampton in action during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Southampton at Liberty Stadium on May 8, 2018 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
SWANSEA, WALES - MAY 08: Martin Olsen of Swansea City and Dusan Tadic of Southampton in action during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Southampton at Liberty Stadium on May 8, 2018 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /
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In recent days a handful of European news outlets have suggested that a host of different sides are interested in Southampton’s Tadic.

There was initially speculation that Ajax were interested in bringing the Serbian back to the league that put him on the map, before he was linked with AC Milan in Italy and more recently with rivals Leicester City.

Whilst these rumours have been reported by several sites, it remains unclear whether the interest from the teams in question are genuine. What is certain though, is that the Saints should bite the hand off of any teams that offers their desired price.

Tadic has improved in recent weeks, yes, but on the whole this season he has been relatively disappointing. Whether this was due to the tactics and mindset of Mauricio Pellegrino we’ll never know, but the Serbian has been a shadow of his former self in the past two campaigns.

You’d imagine that the club would drive a harder bargain if Premier League rivals Leicester were to come in, but you could see a fee of around £10-12 million being enough to take the playmaker off the team’s hands – great money for someone who has been largely inconsistent this year.

Next: Swansea 0-1 Southampton: Match recap

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – APRIL 28: Dusan Tadic of Southampton goes past Nathan Ake of Bournemouth during the Premier League match between Southampton and AFC Bournemouth at St Mary’s Stadium on April 28, 2018 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – APRIL 28: Dusan Tadic of Southampton goes past Nathan Ake of Bournemouth during the Premier League match between Southampton and AFC Bournemouth at St Mary’s Stadium on April 28, 2018 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /

Granted, Tadic’s important brace against Bournemouth may of just saved the Saints from relegation – he’s also an incredibly talented attacking-midfielder who on his day has proven he can totally turn a game on it’s head.

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The issue is, we simply don’t see it enough this season. Before the win against the Cherries, the last time we arguably saw the Serb take the game by the scruff of it’s neck was the 4-1 thumping of Everton way back in November.

Back under Ronald Koeman, many could argue Tadic was one of the best #10’s outside of the league’s big six – despite his resurgence late this season he has only been directed involved in nine goals. In the 2015/16 season, he registered 13 assists and scored on a further eight occasions.

If these rumours are legitimate then the club need to seriously think about the possibility of moving him on. Tadic is 30 this year and not getting any younger, meaning this is the highest his stock will probably be for the rest of his career.

Furthermore, one of the Saints’ biggest issues this season – especially pre-Hughes – was the isolation between midfield and attack. With Tadic partial to drifting out wide or playing at a left-midfielder all together, there wasn’t that connection between attacking-mids and the forwards – this naturally led to limited goal-mouth opportunities.

If Southampton are to move the Serbian on they could bring in a new, big-money #10 who is younger and more dynamic – this could do great lengths in returning the Saints to their free-scoring days until Koeman and Mauricio Pochettino.