Hoedt quotes on Southampton prove he had wrong attitude at the club

Former Southampton defender Wesley Hoedt has spoken about his time at the club after moving on to Anderlecht permanently.

The Dutchman was signed from Lazio back in 2017 for a fee of around £14m but he did not look comfortable playing in the Premier League and forced Saints to take a big loss this summer.

Speaking to Belgian news outlet DH (via Sports Witness) about his move to Anderlecht, the 27-year-old said:

"“The club (Anderlecht) paid me my fair value. I played in England and had a ridiculously high salary. I was paid at this rate for five years. I watered my wine, and I made an effort. Otherwise, my transfer would not have been possible.“"

Southampton have shifted another mistake and must build

Saints chose to change their transfer strategy after they qualified for the Europa League in 2015/16. Players of potential started to be overlooked and they moved towards more established talent from the continent.

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Hoedt was one player signed, whilst Sofiane Boufal was the marquee signing from that time. Mario Lemina also arrived from Italian giants Juventus.

It’s fair to say that none of these players paid off as signings long-term. All of them had good individual performances on their day but Saints needed consistency for their outlay to be proven as wise, and that is not what they got.

It is good to see that Saints have changed back to their old recruitment methods with the arrival of Matt Crocker as Director of Football Operations, but he will still be dealing with past transfer mistakes.

Hoedt, Lemina and Boufal commanded a combined £46m when they were signed, and significant wages will have added to that. Saints will be lucky to have received close to £10m once Lemina follows Hoedt (minimal fee) and Boufal (free transfer) out the door.

When you add other expensive players like Guido Carrillo (£19m) onto this, things only get worse to look at.

Hoedt’s quotes in the Belgian media seem to prove that, if some players do not hit the ground running, they are happy to sit and pick up their wages. Perhaps his, in his words, “ridiculous wages” are not his fault, but he surely could have done more to change his own fortunes.

In a time when Saints were trying to grab onto the coattails of the Premier League elite, it is costly moves like this that played a part in their drop off towards lower mid-table. Now they must build upwards once again.