Southampton: Should the Saints gamble on a Cedric sale?

With it looking like Southampton will not make any further additions before the start of the new campaign, should they sell their right-back to bring in transfer funds?

In comparison to at the start of July where the club were closing in on deals for four players, the start of August has been massively underwhelming transfer-wise, helped no less by the 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Borussia Monchengladbach at the weekend.

Despite desperately needing a striker and potentially another winger, the Saints appear to set for the window, something which was alluded to by manager Mark Hughes.

This comes as a direct result of the Saints spending the entirety of Virgil van Dijk’s £75 million, as when you take out Guido Carrillo’s £19 million that same month you’re left with roughly how much Southampton have spent this summer.

Meanwhile the Saints are yet to see Cedric Soares in action this pre-season, let alone any real proof he’s even returned to the Southampton camp. Hughes commented at the weekend to say he would miss the friendly due to a ‘stomach bug’, but we’re all taking that with a pinch of salt.

Considering he and Yoshida reached the same round of the World Cup there’s not much reason behind why the latter would return whilst it’s unclear if the other has. Without a minute of pre-season football under this belt, the Portuguese right-back is unlikely to be right back up to speed until the end of the month.

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However with the Saints being linked with Lille full-back Kevin Malcuit, we could assume the worst in that this apparent absent has to do with a potential departure for Cedric. Whilst the Premier League’s transfer window closes this coming Thursday, top leagues around Europe can still shop in England until the end of the month.

Therefore if there’s any debate about the right-back’s commitment, the club cannot hesitate in moving him on before this week’s deadline, as they don’t want to risk losing him to a Spanish or an Italian club closer to September.

Furthermore, selling him before deadline day would allow the club some fresh transfer funds to bring in some more reinforcement up front, as well as potentially a new right-back too. With the latter, the Saints could potentially rotate between Sam McQueen, Matt Targett and Harrison Reed as all three have played there in pre-season, whereas the club remain dangerously thin up top.

Even after this past season where the Saints flirted with relegation, today’s market would almost certainly see Southampton bring in £20 million for the Portuguese international, as he defines the modern-day full-back with his attacking mindset and tendency to cross.

Despite being so close to dropping to the Championship, the board have stuck with their ‘sell to buy’ transfer policy which focuses on a good net spend – this comes also less than a year after being bought out by a Chinese billionaire. As a result, the only way he can see Southampton sign that illusive and sought-after striker is by biting the bullet and selling a prized asset.

And with Sam Gallagher and maybe Steven Davis as the club’s only potential departures before the new season, the club aren’t going to add much to that £10 million they made off the Dusan Tadic sale that may or may not of been spent.

Adding a good £20 million to that could see the club bring in some serious firepower as they could also recruit more depth out wide and replace Cedric with a shrewd investment.

However, despite his performances last campaign, the 26-year-old remains one of the most talented players in the club’s ranks, and therefore it would be a massive gamble to cash in on him in this last week of the window.