Saints Marching
Fansided

Southampton: Boufal’s move back to France gathering pace

By Marc Walker

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: Sofiane Boufal of Southampton walks to the dugout for the start of the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Southampton at Selhurst Park on September 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: Sofiane Boufal of Southampton walks to the dugout for the start of the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Southampton at Selhurst Park on September 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Two more Ligue 1 clubs have reportedly entered the race to sign Southampton winger Sofiane Boufal this summer.

According to a report from Le Parisien, and cited here in French site Les Transferts, both OGC Nice and Rennes are interested in taking the Moroccan from Southampton in this window.

Boufal fell out of favour at St Mary’s last season after a bust up with Saints manager Mark Hughes and has publicly stated his desire for a transfer back to France’s top league since the season finished.

In an interview with French broadcaster SFR Sport, he pointed to Marseille as a preferred destination, but it seems that he will have to lower his expectations a little after a indifferent spell in England.

This will clearly be seen as a disrespectful mood by the club and by Hughes, and it is now looking increasingly unlikely that he will play in the red and white stripes again.

Next: Could lack of early business cost Saints?

BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 03: Sofiane Boufal of Southampton gets away from Adam Smith of AFC Bournemouth during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Southampton at Vitality Stadium on December 3, 2017 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 03: Sofiane Boufal of Southampton gets away from Adam Smith of AFC Bournemouth during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Southampton at Vitality Stadium on December 3, 2017 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /

More from Saints Marching

Saints made the 24-year-old their record signing when they brought him in for a reported £16m. He has shown flashes of brilliance in his time in the Premier League but never really secured himself a starting spot each week.

After arriving from Lille in August 2016, there were great expectations for him to add flair and creativity to the Saints attack, and former manager Claude Puel had clearly been impressed with what he’d seen from Boufal back in his homeland.

He scored arguably Southampton’s goal of the 2017/18 season with a brilliant solo effort to win the home game against West Brom. The talent is clearly there, but the consistency not so much.

Boufal even missed out on being named in Morocco’s squad for the World Cup. A poor campaign personally and collectively has clearly worked against him and a transfer back to a willing buyer in France now seems to be best for both parties.

It is unclear whether a potential move will be a season-long loan deal or a permanent transfer, but Saints will be looking to recoup a large percentage of the fee spent on the Moroccan if the latter is preferred.

Home/Transfer Rumors