Southampton: Guido Carrillo and Sofiane Boufal miss China tour

Southampton Football Club today announced their squad for their tour in China, with two very notable absentees from the team.

Pre-season tours often offer the strongest hints as to who may be leaving your club, as whilst some players may miss out through injury, it’s normally taken as a given that if someone is excluded there’s a bigger reason behind it.

Last season Virgil van Dijk was excluded from the Saints’ pre-season camp in response to his attempts to leave the club last summer, and whilst the Dutch defender remained at the club for another six months, it was still a sign of what was to come.

With Southampton set to tour China next month as a result of being taken over by Jisheng Gao last season, Mark Hughes has left out striker Guido Carrillo and Sofiane Boufal for the trip, strongly hinting that both of the two players’ futures on the south coast may be numbered.

The Moroccan winger was banned from Southampton’s first team for much of the end of the campaign, after a spat with Hughes saw the Welshman force Boufal to train with the Under-23’s.

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As a result it was taken as a given that the 24-year-old would search for a new club this summer, having already expressed a potential interest in returning to France – the country he left to join the Saints.

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Carrillo meanwhile hasn’t previously seen much discussion about his future in the media, despite also rarely featuring under Mark Hughes following Mauricio Pellegrino’s sacking.

The striker was brought in very much to appease the Argentine manager in January, with the two having worked together in their native country. However, Carrillo didn’t score once for the side despite arriving for nearly £20 million, and many fans have conceded to the idea that he won’t be a Saints player come August.

The striker’s exclusion backs this up, and as a result we may see some substantial rumours regarding his future – what remains unclear is how much of a loss the club may have to take on the 27-year-old.

What should be noted regarding the squad for China, is that Steven Davis, Fraser Forster and Jordy Clasie have all made the cut. The former has strongly been linked with a move to former side Rangers, whilst both Forster and Clasie have been linked with exits too.

New signing Stuart Armstrong has been named by Mark Hughes, while Mohamed Elyounoussi will join at a later date.